I seem to have read quite a few books by Stephen Graham Jones, recently - the one immediately before this was THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, and before that MONGRELS.

NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS is a gripping, intelligent and chilling suspense-horror novella. Excellent prose, well-drawn characters, with plenty of intriguing and twisty elements. Surprising, kept me up well into the night. Devoured it in one sitting. Recommended.

This was my first experience with Stephen Graham Jones, and it did not disappoint. It was bananas, and I mean that in the best way possible. The way the story was told definitely made this an interesting reading experience. I also loved the concept of a prank gone wrong, and the reveal was disturbing and shocking. It was such a weird story, and I could not stop thinking about it. In my mind, that's the mark of a great book!

Short, but packs a punch! I loved this quick read from Jones and have already bought some more of his work because I enjoy his style so much.

I’m starting to think that maybe Stephen Graham Jones might just not be for me. The books always sound amazing but I always end up slightly disappointed because it wasn’t what I was expecting. Which is a shame because when I say the books always sound great, they really do but then I’m left kind of going “what was that?”. I thought this was going to be a supernatural horror story with a creepy mannequin but I will tell you right now it’s more psychological horror than anything, which was again, not what I thought it was going to be. Which is why I think I feel underwhelmed with it. This is definitely a case of “it’s me, not you” again with this author’s books so take this review with a grain of salt.

(You can read my full review of “The Only Good Indians” here)

The plot mostly revolves around a prank gone wrong with a group of teens and it involves, you guessed it, a mannequin. There’s a reason the synopsis for the book is so short and that’s because it’s pretty easy to spoil the story, which I don’t want to do so I’m not going to explain what exactly the story is about any further than that. Like I already mentioned it’s more psychological horror so take that as you will. This was unfortunate for me personally because I was expecting something scary and this novella isn’t really scary at all. However, it does give off that campy 80’s slasher horror movie vibe which made it fun.

I also thought the story was confusing and the ending especially confused me, it sort of felt like reading through someone’s fever dream. It was bizarre. Sawyer is the main character and whose POV we read the story through and I did find it to be pretty funny in a dark/morbid way, he had a very dry/sarcastic sense of humor. But like I said overall it just felt really off. The writing doesn’t vibe with me, something is just strange about it and it made my overall reading experience subpar. This is 100% me and not the author or book, it’s just a little odd. The pacing is pretty moderate, this novella is only 136 pages so it’s a fairly quick read but I did feel like it dragged a bit just because I personally wasn’t very invested in the story.

What I Loved:

    The 80’s horror vibe
    It’s a quick read, short novella
    Sawyer’s twisted POV and dark humor

What I Didn’t Love:

    The writing style
    Overall horror elements, not what I was expecting
    Story felt bizarre and at times confusing

So this is a shorter review than I usually do but that’s because it’s a fairly short book and I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who would like to give it a read. Overall I can’t really say if I’d recommend this or not because it personally was NOT for me and wasn’t what I thought it would be. I’m giving it three stars because I know in my heart of hearts it’s a decent book but not my cup of tea otherwise I’d probably be sitting around two stars. I’d say if you’re already a fan of Stephen Graham Jones and you do enjoy his writing, go for it you’ll probably have

Stephen Graham Jones can do no wrong. He’s an amazing storyteller and a brilliant writer. I need to go purchase every book of his I don’t currently own.

A short horror novella that is poorly written.  It has several run on sentences and an unreliable narrator.  I do not recommend.

This novella is pure slasher bliss. It starts as a small town tale, complete with a very unreliable narrator. What do small town kids do to make their lives interesting? They pull pranks! And what happens when murders start happening? What happens when insanity reaches a fever pitch?

This book does so much in it’s short read time. The horror and shock throughout lead to an excellent finale that you must experience.

Night of the Mannequins reads a bit like a teenage Patrick Bateman novel.
Told from the POV of Sawyer Grimes, it tells the story of a group of teens who begin to die after a prank using a mannequin in a cinema takes a wrong turn.
The violence is delivered in an oft-hand playfulness that actually makes it even more unsettling, while the narrative zips along at a pace that's easy to digest in one sitting.
Worth a look.

A group of teens in small-town Texas drag an old mannequin into a movie theater as a final prank against a friend, but things don't go exactly how they planned. Soon, our narrator Sawyer and his pals are caught in the crosshairs of a murderous, living mannequin, and Sawyer has to figure out the best course of action. What starts out campy rapidly becomes a psychological thriller where nobody knows what will happen next. Jones packs a punch in a short book, and it's fantastic horror. Can't wait to read more by him.

Jones has such a way with dialogue and the internal monologue of his characters. They think and speak in the way real people do, in fragments, fits and starts, incomplete sentences, digressions. Plus, the opening sentence of this novel really grabs you. You'll see what I mean. Just read it!

As usual, Stephen Graham Jones delivers.   Ever since the PBS show, Today's Special, I've hated mannequins, and this did nothing to help that fear.  I love it.

2.5 Stars

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but I was interested to read it.

I for the most part thought the story was interesting as a psychological horror until about the 70% mark where I felt it kind of got a bit less interesting. The main protagonist, carrying out his plan and then it just kind of fell flat and left me with unanswered questions and a feeling of being unsatisfied. 😬

Night of the Mannequins is a hilarious, outrageous, horrific take on the “prank gone wrong” concept blended with an “is it real or all in his mind” psychological thriller and culminating in an over-the-top, total destruction denouement. A good YA crossover for fans of dark humor and horror spoofs.

Great book full of twists and turns! It’s hard to give a synopsis without spoiling things, but it’s about a group of friends who find a mannequin one summer and teenage pranks ensue. Eventually, things take a darker turn. Jones is great at building suspense in every book and this one is no different. Highly suggest it!

So without spoilers and in what is hopefully true Stephen King fashion, here’s the short of it. Sawyer and his friends have decided to play one last prank with Manny the Mannequin, but when the prank falls short, Sawyer’s friends start getting picked off one by one. Sawyer just knows Manny is the source of all this death, but no one else seems to be connecting the dots, leaving Sawyer all alone to outsmart and outmaneuver the killer.

As it’s a novella, and therefore requires little investment, I’ll say that if you’re a fan of horror and Graham Jones to go ahead and give this one a read. Otherwise, this one is likely not your type.

Dark and droll humored, Night of the Mannequins is written as a sort of stream of consciousness from a bored, seemingly unremarkable teenage boy. If you’re not a fan of the style, it can make for an awfully bumpy ride. For the initiated, the casual tone is a genius foil for the madness and murder that ensues. As with The Only Good Indians, Graham Jones pulls you along for a journey that will only get more strange and more horrible the further you go. A cool slasher twist on what should have been an all too familiar coming of age story, Night of the Mannequins, overall, manages to be an original and enjoyably horrific tale.

This was one of those books that I really wanted to like.  The first half of the book goes along well with a good story line and character building.  The author does a great job of making “Manny” into a character.  The ending seemed to run up on you out of no where.  It was a sudden ending that seemed quickly thought out rather than planned.  Bottom line if you are looking for a quick horror read this is one to check out.  Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC to review.

Happy reading!

Sawyer is losing his friends one by one.  He thinks it’s a mannequin coming after them, yep you heard that right! Manny the mannequin is on the loose and wanting blood.  It all starts with a prank which leads to an accident where one of his friends dies and then his imagination just takes over. See, in his mind, Sawyer is just being a hero.  He’s protecting his friend’s families. 

This novella was such a fun time.  I absolutely love stories being told from a teenager’s perspective, it really gives it such a special feel.  Following Sawyer along in his thought process was not only frustrating at times, it was also interesting. I guess we all cope with loss differently, and Sawyer definitely takes the cake when it comes to coping. 

If you’re looking for a fun slasher / coming of age story then look no further.

3.5⭐

I'm going to be upfront and say that I was not sure about Night of the Mannequins for the first 30% or 40% of the book. I kept going, and I'm so glad that I did. I'm not going to say much else about it because you should just read it. I wasn't a huge fan of the narration style, but I enjoyed the story overall. This book made me really miss the movie theater. If you're looking for horror novellas, this is one to add to your list!

Stephen Graham Jones’ Night of the Mannequins is an homage, a “love letter” as he calls it, to slasher horror movies of the past – and present. It starts with a group of teenagers one of who works at a cinema. Sawyer is the protagonist and our narrator. The group regularly manages to sneak into movies for free thanks to Shanna, their friend working there. But soon they are discovered and blacklisted by those running the venue and Shanna gets into trouble for letting them in.

It is a brilliant idea then, when Sawyer and the rest of the group decide to pull a last prank on Shanna, you know as a thank you for letting them watch movies for free a bunch of times. They pay for tickets this time, and sneak into the cinema an old mannequin they found years ago while playing. They call him, among other things, Manny (yes, the brilliant ideas don’t stop there). Manny has been with them since they were children and Sawyer reminisces countless pranks on people in which Manny is left fully clothes on someone’s yard only to be found by a bemused owner the next day. Sawyer looks fondly back to those memories and suggests that they bring Manny in the theatre and assemble him, dress him and see the look on the face of the manager when he does the ticket control in the dark. It definitely feels like a prank on them in return when not only the ticket control goes without any issues but at the end of the movie Manny gets up and exits the theatre along with rest of the attendees.


Granted, were this to happen to me, I would be reeling as well, but Sawyer – to put it mildly – starts losing it. Just like in many popular slasher movies, the book doesn’t take itself seriously and does not try to pull something more than just entertain and tip the hat to the genre of horror Jones’ is so fond of. As Sawyer spirals out of control and his mind is taken over by delusions that guide his hand, the reader is in on the joke. This is just a short, fun, way-over-the-top novella that is more amusing than scary. The thing is, reading is a more solitary activity. Nonsense, over-exaggerated movies of this kind can be very much entertaining when watched with fun company under the influence of some alcohol. But a book of the slasher genre can only serve the purpose of a pallate cleanser from more serious works. Jones knows that and it is obvious, even among the – again – exaggerated rumblings and speech of a teenager, by well-put sentences that clearly show the intellect of the author:

And, for a while, we were so perfect for him. We were verything to him, weren’t we? He was the perfect toy, until he wasn’t. Until we started groaning when one of us had dressed him up in some hilarious outfit, left him on somebody else’s lawn.

So I think it’s safe to say that me and this author just don’t mesh and I will not be trying any more of his book ( I also didn’t like The Only Good Indian) 🙁

This sounded so good and I think part of my let down was the fact that I had envisioned something totally different than what I got.

Since it’s a novella it’s really hard to talk about it without giving away something that might spoil things so this will be brief. It’s told in the POV of a teen boy (whose name escapes me) and how he wished they never played the prank with the mannequin because of what happened afterwards.

So a group of teens found a mannequin one summer and use to use it to play all sorts of pranks but then as time went on they grew tired of it so it just got stored away until they decide to play one more prank on a friend who was working at a movie theater.

It started out pretty cool and then once I figured out what was going on it went downhill pretty quick and I just don’t jive with this author’s writing style. Some of the sentence structure was so weird it took me out of the story and for a novella it felt like it would never get over. I can’t really say more about why I didn’t like it because it would spoil but yeah I expected something different and so didn’t like it.