There's a lot to love in this book: horror, thriller, paranormal. There's a riveting and gripping plot, there's gore and plenty of surprises.
I couldn't put it down even when I was very scared.
The author is a talented storyteller and this story is excellent.
Can't wait to read another by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

5 stars and a heavy recommendation for murder mystery/horror lovers! This title will not disappoint! Thank you to the publishers at Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Crooked Tree is a town plagued by nightmares. The most notable nightmare is Ben Bookman, a local horror novelist whose new book, The Scarecrow, is being brought to life by someone, page for bloody page. Who is behind these grizzly crimes and what other nightmares lurk in the Bookman past?

This book is better than anything I could have imagined. It read like a movie, like a Netflix series with each chapter asking me "Are you still watching?" to which my reply was always YES or MORE PLEASE! This book has mystery, gore, lost time, a paranormal element; everything you want from a great series all well paced into one fantastic ride readers won't soon forget. The gore was tastefully done, not just something typed onto the page for a gross factor. Everything comes together in spooky harmony with twists I didn't see coming.

Five stars and a thirst for more to come from J.H. Markert. Recommended for readers of horror who liked It Rides a Pale Horse and Within these Wicked Walls. Pick up a copy and cozy up with a spooktackular book!

A true page turner so chilling a book that kept me reading late into the night.So many twists so many turns drew me in from the first pages.#netgalley #thenightmareman.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing me with an early audiobook of The Nightmare Man in exchange for an honest review!

If The Nightmare Man would have ended around that 60% mark of the audiobook, I think this book could have been a favorite. Unfortunately, it kept going & sadly overstayed its welcome. The concept was phenomenal (writer writes a book and then the murders from the book start to happen in real life -- yes, please!), it felt weird(niiiiceeee vibes for a book with nightmares) & there is a pleasant amount of gore for the gore fans (also known as me).

But even with the pros, it didn't end up being a hit for me in the end & I just found myself hoping it'd be over soon.

This book was absolutely wild!! I had no idea where it was going from start to finish and I couldn’t stop turning pages!

What a ride this was. Definitely a worthy read if you’re a fan of horror, particularly supernatural. I haven’t read that many horror stories that have a supernatural element, but this one would definitely be up there on the list even if I’ve read a whole bunch of them.

What I loved about this book, other than it being really creepy at times, was that it was actually filled with twists and turns throughout. Don’t think that reading the synopsis is going to give you a clear idea of how the story will progress because it’ll surprise you. I liked the characters, even the unlikable ones, the plotline which was very intriguing, and I loved everything evil in this story. Do pick this up if you’re looking for a creepy story about the supernatural and the evil nature of people.

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.
Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.
As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.
As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.

This is a thrilling read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

Wowza! This book kept me mesmerized from start to finish. You initially meet Ben Bookman, horror author, husband and father. He's struggling in his home life due to "something" that happened around the time he completed his newest novel, The Scarecrow. As if his life isn't difficult enough, it appears that the murders from his book are being recreated in real life. Naturally, all suspicion points to him as the author of the book but there's obviously so much more to it.

This book weaves a web of intrigue as you learn Ben's family history and get tidbits about the mystery and fear that surround his family's home - - the Blackwood estate. You also figure out early on that things happened in that house to Ben while he was growing up - - things that forever changed him.

The Nightmare Man is told in multiple points of view. That can be good or bad -- in the case of this book, it was a good thing. Gaining insight from various people was critical in building this story the right way. In addition, there are numerous flashbacks to events from the past. It all helps to explain and blend the storyline so you see the basis for where things are going in present day.

This book did have some gruesome descriptions and a few scary moments, but what I enjoyed most was the clever plot. The way the author built this story was quite brilliant and well-executed. It's original and twisty and I was obsessed with seeing how it all played out. I did figure out a few of the twists as we went, but the author did a nice job of keeping a few surprises tucked away. Well done.

In addition, I listened to a good portion of this book via audio. The narration was great. It truly lent itself to the spooky storyline and helped to make it a bit creepier at times. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for both the ARC and the early Listening Copy. I voluntarily chose to read/and listen to each of these and review them. The opinions contained within my review are my own.

I do at least half of my reading at night while nursing a baby. It took  me a while to read "The Nightmare Man" because it was legitimately a creepy read to read at night. For being a solid horror story, it deserves its 5-star rating!
"The Nightmare Man" is a story about nightmares that come to life. Ben Bookman is horror writer with a traumatic past- his little brother disappeared in the forest near his family home. His grandfather was a famous doctor that was able to magically take away people's nightmares, but also was head of a psychiatric hospital for special cases. In present time, people are dying because of what appears to be a scarecrow that not only kills people, but cuts them apart and sews them into corn husk cocoons. The kicker? Ben has been writing about the scarecrow, and it seems like his book is predicting the death of residents in the area.

For some reason, the first week I had a newborn I had the craziest nightmares that kept me up for hours and had me pacing the house, worried about fiery pits of hell and drowning (totally unrelated to the book)-- it both put me in the mood for a scary read and also made me want to get far, far away from anything that would scare me more. I'm a sucker for punishment I guess, I love scary stories. This book does a great job with creating a dark atmosphere.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book. Happy Publication Week! "The Nightmare Man" was released on Jan 10th and is available to read. There is a mystery/detective element to this story, and while it has magical elements, parts of the story felt real (adds to the horror!). I highly recommend this book for your next scare!

Oh, I loved this! This was pure horror. Yeah, another book about someone copying an author. But this one had more. This one had a two-fer. A creepy old mansion, abandoned for years. And it had an asylum. C’mon. An asylum! Crazy people just waiting to get out and reinfect the world.

For the most part, the characters fit into some very well worn boxes. The alcoholic and haunted author. The skeptical newswoman. Granted, these two are not always married. The marriage allowed us the slightly weird but strong child. The old, worn cop and the young cop with the past she is trying to escape come as a package.

I went back and forth between classic and cliche, here. I ended on classic with nods to the past. The drunken author who knows what he is doing is wrong. The Bookman name (which does get explained but still makes me think of the Bachman books) was definitely an homage.

And you have to love the wink to those of us reading the ARC when the author mentions how many of us read early on Netgalley.

This was a lot of fun and I hope I get to read about these people and this place again.

This is a good book. A real page turner. The farther along the story goes and the mysteries start to unfold, the more intense it gets and you can’t put it down. Nightmares. We’ve all had them and sometimes they seem to be too real. This book will have you thinking about your worst nightmares and you’ll be glad (or hope) they don’t become real.

“The Nightmare Man” starts out kind of rough and maybe even a little slow, but once this story plugs in and shakes off the shaky beginning, it becomes a really fantastic horror novel. Let me tell you, I was absolutely ecstatic, because I’ve read a ton of novels claiming to be horror novels in the past 18 months or so that other people have sworn would give me the shivers and I’ve been like, “Meh”. “The Nightmare Man”, however, is the only one so far to actually give me some genuine creepy, psychotic vibes. Markert assumed his new nom de plume specifically to write horror and made this novel his debut under that new name, and I honestly think it’s a whizz bang of a horror debut, because while I wasn’t scared (I don’t get scared by horror books or movies, I just happen to be a big fan of the genre in general), I was so… happy! Excited! I was downright giggly at the scenes, imagery, and plot points that would likely horrify others–but for someone like me I was clapping like this was a terrific horror show put on just for me.

Like I pointed out, the first act of the book does suffer from some pacing and plotting issues. It could’ve used some more time in editing, is my opinion, just because it feels like Markert maybe had the second and third acts of this book set in his head and he knew where he wanted this book to go and how he wanted this book to end… but then had to come up with a way to get there, so a first act had to be crafted to set it all up. As a result, a large chunk of the first act feels disconnected from the rest of the book, in my opinion. I was bored with that section enough I kept falling asleep and hoped beyond hope the book would get better.

Luckily, it did. There were some great plot twists and character turns, as well as deeply held secrets revealed at exactly the right times for the right reasons. Some of the weirder, more paranormal/metaphysical events that happen are genuinely creepy, deliciously violent, deeply sinister, and at one point it’s all just absolute bedlam.

I loved the various ways Markert worked in various myths, folktales, and fairy tales involving sleep, dreams, and death. I thought these holistic and non-scientific points were a great juxtaposition to the psychiatric legacy of the Bookman family.

It was a fantastic read for a dark, cloudy, rainy day.

NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books provided me with access to this title. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Thank you.

File Under: Psychological Thriller/Crime Thriller/Horror/Suspense Thriller/Thriller/Paranormal Fiction/Speculative Fiction

T. Kingfisher is an absolute favorite author of mine. When I heard this novel was like a horror mesh of Fisher and Cassandra Khaw I had to add this to my TBR. I literally squealed when Crooked Lane Books approved the ebook request. If I'm being honest, it was taking a lot to get into between the multiple characters, timelines and overall length. Keep in mind though, the gorey descriptives and foreboding atmosphere were excellent. There was too much of a slow build at the beginning for me.

Then Dreamscape approved the audiobook request I submitted and it took off. I'm not certain if it was just the turning point in the novel or the fluid narration by David Bendena. Heck, it could've just been my mood, but I became engrossed.

This is like adult Goosebumps for those who've seen the recent movies. Just add more gore, character depth, psychological mind benders and some very twisted people. It became the horror book I was hoping for and you will not guess where this is going. At least not for a good bit.

I think this novel well be eaten up (no sewn mouths here) by horror lovers. This is the type of thing I'd love to see Netflix turn into a series. It has so much it brings to life. For those gore loving horror fanatics I recommend giving this little nightmare a TBR add.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and
Dreamscape Media for the digital and audio copies. All thoughts are my own. True rating 3.5/5.

Well shit!
Now that's how you write a book about nightmares. I was immediately pulled into this book. From start to finish, I was invested.

The writing, storytelling, and pacing are all so well done. You get bits of the past and present to help you understand what, why, and how all the nightmarish chaos is happening, but only just enough to help with that specific part of the story. I was like Gretel following the crumbs to the witches' oven, and the heat was worth it.

I enjoyed all the main and side characters as they all brought so much to the story and were all connected in some way. Though, I really enjoyed Ben Bookman and the story behind his family most. It is, after all, how the story starts, with an authors stories come to life.

Honestly, it's just a wonderfully constructed nightmarish thriller. I don't want to say too much, but I definitely recommend this one!

P.s. The audiobook is great, too.

𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 - 🔪🔪🔪🔪🩸

After achieving author stardom, Ben Bookman is about to finish his bestselling horror series when a local crime scene is reminiscent of his fictional world. Yet, it isn’t as simple as it seems, and as Detective Winchester Mills investigates the cases, the emerging pattern is one steeped in mystery.

“The story of Mr. Dreams and the Nightmare Man had always been Ben’s favorite.”

Narrated in dual POV, the timeline shifts between the present and past, to bring an intricately layered plot with keen character dimension. As the focus is on Ben for answers, transparency is not his strength and this begets the question as to whether he is a reliable narrator. It also adds tension to the storyline. Though Mills is the mature gruff police detective, his character is all heart.

From the beginning, the writing was engaging and pulled me right in. The characters are distinctive yet complimentary. Though Mills was my favorite character, my feelings for Ben changed throughout. With paranormal elements, the events that occur are not clearly explainable in origin, but the consequences lead to an interesting story.

The Nightmare Man is a horror story layered with paranormal folklore . This book would appeal to those seeking a smart crime mystery immersed in dark family secrets.

The Nightmare Man is a unique book. It is not what I expected, but it was certainly more than I hoped for. I enjoyed the way it kept me wanting to turn the next page to discover if my predictions were correct. More importantly, I wanted to go back into that room in Blackwood. I enjoyed the plot and the unique way the tension built. I didn't appreciate all the characters. Some made terrible choices seemingly just to make terrible choices. No real rhyme or reason. Others (mostly the short-term characters) were really interesting and I would like to have had more background on them. All in all, I really liked this book.

4.75/5 stars


Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!


The perfect read for any horror lover! Bone chillingly terrifying and creepy, that sums this book up to a tee! A book about a book. We follow Best selling horror author, Ben Bookman, who just finished writing his new horror novel called The Scarecrow, and is doing book signings for it, when eerily the book starts to unfold right before his eyes….in the flesh. What Ben wrote between the pages of his new novel is slowly coming to life.

Detective Mills and detective Blue, are a father and daughter detective duo who are investigating the eerily creepy murders that mirror Bookman’s book. They arrive at the scene to discover a family that has been murdered, but that is not all-they have been wrapped inside cocoons which have been hung on display. More murders happen that are identical to those in Ben’s new book. Things continue to spiral and turn dark, weird, and utterly creepy.

Ben’s personal life is falling apart, and he is having outbursts and weird lapses of time where he cannot remember things. What is going on? Is Ben spiraling? Or is something more sinister and dark going on? Ben is bringing to think that the old Blackwood Estate where he wrote The Scarecrow may have something to do with it. The Estate is said to have a dark history, and Ben begins to investigate, and soon realizes that something evil and sinister may be at play.

This book was SO good! The cover grabbed my attention, the synopsis made me want to read it, but this book was everything that I needed and wanted and so much more. It is chilling, horrifying, dark, and sinister, with supernatural elements intertwined. The plot is so unique, the writing is superb and sucks you in. Markert has a way of pulling the reader in and making it so hard to put this book down. I literally read it in two sittings (which is very rare for me!) Markert created the perfect dark, sinister, chilling, spine tinging & thrilling read.

The author does a great job at creating some amazing characters and bringing them to life throughout the book. I really loved the characters and how they all intertwined together.

There are several dark elements throughout this book such as torture, gruesome murder, and suicide.

The ending was amazing, it was dark & so disturbing (just how I like it!) For all the thriller and horror lovers—definitely pick this one up, just be prepared to stay up all night reading this one because it is that good!

𝙋.𝙎. Sweet dreams friends, just beware The Nightmare man…as this one may give you a few nightmares! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Wow.

I don't want to give too much away on this one, but let me tell you: it's fantastic. Part police procedural, part thriller, and a large part horror, this book has it all. Nightmares come to life, dark dream-related folklore, some truly disturbing images... what more could you want?

Markert creates characters that you are invested in almost instantly, and crafts scenes that are truly straight out of the darkest dreams the world has ever known. If you are one of those people who sees the things described in a book as actual scenes in your mind...be prepared.

A horror writer, a thirteen-year-old mystery, a strange room full of blank books, creepy black trees covered in moths, a seductress, a scarecrow, and secrets that must be brought to light if anyone is to survive... Yeah, I was blown away by this one.

After suffering weeks of writer's block, bestselling author Ben Bookman visits his family estate, Blackwood mansion, to the forbidden room filled with thousands of numbered books. Books without words. He doesn't remember anything that happened that weekend, only that he finished his book, The Scarecrow. But when the events in his horror novel begin to happen in real life, Ben starts to look into the history of the mansion and that forbidden room and to realize he may have released a nightmare too terrifying to contain.
This story that brings nightmares to life is chilling and I loved every minute of it. It has a unique plot that kept me guessing until the satisfyingly grim ending. The truth behind the books in the Atrium was soo great!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 stars for me. While the whole moth man was creepy as hell especially in the beginning. I felt there was way to many characters to keep track of. Once the end neared a lot was happening that made it sort of confusing with all the people involved