This book absolutely rocked. As a fan or horror/mystery/suspense, this checked every single box; and I truly could not recommend the audiobook more! (I think it may have even given me a nightmare or two!) So glad I requested this on a whim!

Thank you to Dreamscape Audio, LLC, for this advanced audio copy of “The Nightmare Man “. Although horror is not usually my genre, I thought this story was very subtle in presentation. In a good way. Of course there were grotesque scenes, but done with softer edges. I loved Bens character, and how he was in the first person for most of the audio presentation. All in all, a great horror, mystery book. Kudos to J.H. Markert.

The Nightmare Man is the thriller that I've been waiting for. J.H. Markert creates a world that's part dream and part reality, and where they merge is terrifying. There wasn't an aspect of this book that I didn't love, from the straight-from-your-nightmares casting to the creepy forest/asylum setting. The narration is perfect, with just the right amount of suspense. If telling scary stories around a campfire is your thing, you're going to LOVE The Nightmare Man.

Synopsis: Ben Bookman is a famous novelist writing horror books about “The Scarecrow.” He escapes to The Blackwood mansion to write his most recent novel and the night before his book releases he realizes that what he has written in his book is actually playing out in real life. Let me tell you, it is the stuff nightmares are made from, literally. Think silence if the lambs scary. Bah!

The detective arrives at the scene and what he finds is hanging cocoons with people sewn inside. Only one is alive…and all things point to Ben as being the prime suspect. Ben needs to look into the history of the house to find out where these nightmares really started from and stop the event’s from continuing to play out. As the story continues to unfold you can’t help but wonder how much is Ben involved and does he have anything to hide?

Thoughts: Holy moly macaroni this book is bone chillingly scary. I felt like the plot and characters were so well developed it kept me completely engaged from start to finish. I accidentally binged it because I needed to know what happened! I enjoyed and appreciated the family and house history which made the story that much better. To me this book gave me The Chestnut Man and Silence of the Lambs vibes because that book and movie absolutely terrifies me. This book does not have a happy ending but I think that is what made me like it even more. If you’re ready to be scared…grab yourself a copy of this one!

Ben Bookman is a best-selling Horror novelist, comparable to Stephen King. He has always wanted to be a writer and his own childhood was his inspiration for the stories. Ben grew up at his family’s mansion called Blackwood, filled with many hidden secrets.

Ben returns home for a weekend to help him finish his latest book The Scarecrow. Upon the release of the book, events from it happen in real life. The book opens up just as Ben’s very own book does as well. Families are found hanging from barn rafters, brutally murdered and bundled in cocoons of corn husks.

Father and daughter duo Detective Mills and Detective Blue are on the case to look into the Scarecrow crimes. Their dysfunctional relationship makes the job a little harder but both are determined to get to the bottom of it. As expected, Ben is their number one suspect and taken in for questioning. He doesn’t remember much, making the detectives even more suspicious. Ben quickly realizes he needs to clear his name and find the truth as a plague of horrors has been unleashed into his hometown.

There are quite a few characters introduced that can make it a little harder to keep track of with the plot however, each character does have their part of the story. There are many layers that seamlessly piece together by the end of the novel. When you think you know where it’s going, it takes you somewhere else entirely. It’s a very interesting and unique take on nightmares and the folklore behind it. Generational family trauma is also explored and how it affects the future.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and thoroughly entertained. I would recommend it for any horror and mystery lovers. I find it comparable to the works of T. Kingfisher and even Stephen King himself. Make sure to check this out when it’s released and I look forward to more from Markert!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Rating: 2.5
The story was ok. I liked the idea of it, but not so much the execution. It was predictable and a little cheesy. I wasnt expecting it to be a detective thriller, and I dont really like those. It felt like something that would have been written in the 80s.

Many of us dream of our favorite characters coming to life, or living in the world of our favorite book. For bestselling author Ben Bookman and his fans, seemingly dreams are coming true except in his case those dreams are nightmares. And those nightmares intend to kill.

I appreciated the uniqueness of this story, and how it started off with a jump and the story itself did not slow down through the end. As I was listening I found myself intrigued to figure out how it all came together, I felt like there were portions that I could tell would be connected somehow but couldn't quite put my finger on it until more information was given. I also love a story with an old house, so the scenes at Blackwood really had my attention.

I did find some parts of this a bit confusing to listen to, maybe reading it would have been a bit clearer just so I could flip pages back and forth in case I missed something. But there were a lot of perspectives and a dual timeline story that I found myself having to pause and rewind a couple of times to make sure I had things straight. While I appreciate the complexity of the story and how it all intertwined, it just took me a bit to figure out and made it a slow middle for me as it was all coming together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Only a week into 2023 and I have my first pick for top ten! I’m not sure how this one can be beat, I’m willing to predict this is going to be in my top five. Yeah, it’s that good.
The Nightmare Man is a collection of everyone’s worst nightmares in one story. It’s dark and terrifying, full of suspense and mystery. I’d say if you combined all of Stephen King’s greatest hits, you would have this book. The writing is just as good, the characters just as deep, and the fear just as real.
The characters in this book are intense. The protagonist has a backstory that is totally dysfunctional dark family influenced. The lead detective is a gruff, but tender complex character that evolves in a direction I didn’t see coming. But the Nightmares.. omg those are core of the story. Think every possible horror movie villain, escaped from a spooky mental hospital, and terrorizing a small town. Totally messed up and awesome!!
I bounced between audio and print, so I could read this faster. The narrator, David Bendena, is a vocal chameleon. He can switch from middle aged man to elderly man, woman to child, and insane maniac, like it’s nothing. I had to check to make sure it was just one narrator, as I was convinced Ben and Mills were two different people speaking. I’m blown away by his talent. He convincingly spoke with emotion, and made the story come to life. It made it that much more scary.
I will be reading more from this author. I’m totally sold on his work.

Thank you to the author, publisher, narrator, and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this title in exchange for my review.

This was my first book by Markert, and I don't typically read a lot of horror, but the description sounded interesting and I saw a lot of positive reviews, so I thought I would give it a try. I did have the audio book, and I have wondered if maybe some of my issues would have been solved had I had a print or ebook version and could see the actual pages - it seemed like the book jumped around between the fictional story and the main story, and the characters were all hard for me to visualize and come to life for me. The names are ridiculous.

Overall, I can't say I really enjoyed the book. It was hard to follow. But overall, it wasn't really bad (and some books are just really bad.) I will rate this 2 stars for 'did not like it'.

This book was a fun ride. Creepy, spooky moments. Some good horror moments. Patrons are sure to love the setting, and how the writing style flows. I really enjoyed the narrator and his expressions. It made the story flow and gave it that extra creepy element.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This year is starting out really well. Another 5 star read. Hard to believe the author hasn’t written horror before. This story was electric and gripping start to finish. I can honestly say I didn’t want to put it down at any point. The horror drive on this was high and hit all the check marks for me to be a must read for 2023. You all have to check this out. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. I’ve already ordered my physical copy of this. Now if I could just get the author to sign it!!😜

📖 A R C / A L C • R E V I E W 📖
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Title: The Nightmare Man
Author: J. H. Markert
Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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The Nightmare Man is a unique story filled with very interesting concepts, gore galore, a very large cast and a mixture of genres. I was immediately gripped into this story and loved the idea of a serial killer committing murders straight out of a book that was just published (and come on the Netgalley reference was spot on). This one started out with a lot of plot building and character introductions, and I was super intrigued. The pacing was pretty fast, but I do think the story seemed to lose some speed during the middle, the ending picked back up with some great twists, and everything was pieced together. This is one of those stories that you need to be really paying attention to (thank God for both the audio and the eBook) because there was a lot to take in on this one, and there were so many characters that things could get confusing at times. 
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There was such a uniqueness to this story, that I can’t explain unless you read it. I loved were J. H. Markert went with this one, I loved the idea of the Nightmare Man, the books without words and the mystery behind it all. Though, where I felt like there was some filler throughout the book, I wish it was instead filled with even more emphasis on the family history of the Bookman’s and Blackwood Estate. I always love a dual timeline book, so lucky for me this one was told mainly in the present with snippets of the past thrown in there to wrap everything together. While the ending was a bit twisty at times, I thought the major reveal was a bit predictable. With that being said - I still loved how everything came full circle and how it ended.
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As far as the audio goes - if you love audiobooks this one is fantastic! David Brendena really brought this story to life. He did an absolutely phenomenal job with the narration and I really enjoyed what he did with each of the characters. I think without his narration I wouldn't have enjoyed this one as much as I did.
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The Nightmare Man is a mystery/thriller/horror, police procedural, teetering with supernatural elements with a very unique premise. This one is haunting, and I cannot explain how much I really loved the concept of this one. I definitely can see myself thinking about this one for a while. I would absolutely love to see there be a sequel, to give us a bit more information, but if not, I'm happy with the ending. Overall this was a great first read of the year and I am so glad to have enjoyed it. Huge thank you to netgalley JHMarkert and crookedlanebooks for the eARC and dreamscapemedia for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.
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#firstreadof2023 #bookreview #fourstarread #interestingconcept #uniquepremise #mystery #thriller #horror #policeprocedural # supernaturalelements #eARC #ALC #electronicavdancedreaderscopy #advancedlistenerscopy #audiobook #ebook #thenightmareman #thedreamman #thenightmareman #jhmarkert #crookedlanebooks #dreamscapemedia

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert is a horror/thriller with a bit of supernatural. It tells us a story of a small town named New Haven and its residents. A series of gruesome, macabre murders shook the community and before long it becomes clear that the murders mimic the newest book written by a local horror writer, Ben Bookman. The book has JUST come out and it seems that the murders started before the book was released.

This book was narrated by David Bendena and he did a great job with portraying all the different characters. I really enjoyed the narrator and I look forward to listening to more books narrated by him. I listened at 2x speed comfortably.

I don't usually read horror stories but I actually quite enjoyed this one. It did get my heart pumping in a couple of spots. It has interesting and well-developed characters, the storyline moves along nicely, the scary characters ARE scary. I didn't think it was too gory, just a bit. Since it has a supernatural aspect, it might be less scary for those people that get scared of real things that can actually happen . Also, there is just something all-American about corn fields and scarecrows. I'd love to see a movie based on this book. I hope J.H. Markert keeps on writing novels - I would love to read more.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook. I really enjoyed it!

ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The Nightmare Man” is a horror novel that opens on the town of Crooked Tree, where Detective Winchester Mills and his daughter, Detective Samantha Blue, arrive at the strange and horrific scene of a murder that seems a bit familiar to Detective Blue. The family was slaughtered, their remains wrapped inside cocoons made of corn husks and then hung from the rafters of the family’s barn. Of course, it seems familiar to Detective Blue: she just read about this exact scene in the opening of the fictional horror novel, The Scarecrow, written by local novelist Ben Bookman.

When another family is murdered as described in the book, Ben quickly becomes a suspect. The problem is, Ben does not really remember much about the weekend he spent at his family’s home, Blackwood mansion, while writing the novel. The creepy old estate in the middle of a pine forest is full of secrets. Ben knows he wrote the book in The Atrium, his deceased grandfather’s forbidden room full of thousands of numbered books in Blackwood. Books without words. Books you may open, but which you must quickly close. Books better left alone. However, Ben does not remember what he did that weekend in The Atrium, and the more he digs into Blackwood’s history, he realizes he may have triggered the release of something long ago. Something dangerous. Something that will not be contained by his novel alone.

I was absolutely enthralled with this book right from the start. The description of the book sounded interesting to me, but the book itself absolutely wowed me. It was original, creative, and a breath of fresh air in a horror genre that is so often repetitive of the same themes. I have been a die hard horror fan my whole life, and it takes quite a bit to impress me anymore. However, I must say: I am impressed. Part horror, part mystery, part suspense, this novel grabs you from the beginning and does not let you go.

The author’s writing style was effortless and engaging, making it easy to get into the story, immersing yourself into the plot. The characters were fully developed and likeable (when they needed to be). Questions abounded as to whether certain characters were unreliable or not based upon their actions, histories, and personalities, but I am not giving away any spoilers. The plot was well thought out and well executed. Sometimes authors go off on tangents that end up not having any value to the overall story, but this author did not. The author kept to the plot and made everything count. The story arc is well done. The book flashes back to the past throughout, giving you glimpses of what came before to hint at what may be happening in the present. These glimpses merge with present revelations, building up to the climax and ending. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that I feel both the climax and the ending well done and satisfying.

My copy of this book was an audiobook, so I must comment on the narrator. I thought he did an excellent job. His narrative tone was perfect, and his pace was well-executed. Both his male and female voices were distinctive and believable. I am often critical of female voices narrated by men, as they can be tough to pull off, but this narrator did an excellent job. His narration kept me engaged in the book all the way through.

Overall, this was an original horror novel that, frankly, knocked my socks off. I loved it! I highly recommend this book for both adult and older young adult readers. I believe fans of horror novels will greatly enjoy this book, but I also think some mystery and thriller fans will enjoy it as well. I cannot wait to read more from this author in the future!

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed David Bendena’s narration of this book! He really keeps you engaged in the story and makes it easy to distinguish who’s speaking. The book might give me nightmares when I try to sleep tonight, but it was worth it! I really love all things horror and paranormal and this book fulfilled both of those! There were so many interesting twists and I really enjoyed having no idea what was coming next. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a well written horror book with paranormal elements!

I received an audio version from Netgalley for an honest review.

I thought that I was going to like this a lot more than I actually did. It seems like a straight forward plot; Ben wrote a novel and the day it’s released murders start to occur that mimic the novel and it’s up to the father-daughter team of Mills and Blue to figure out what’s happening. I don’t know if it would be better reading it than listening, but there are multiple characters going in and out of the story and some characters being given nicknames for a short time that it felt hard to keep track of who was doing what. It also feels like the book is split into a few different plots where the first half is ‘who is the scarecrow?’ And then we get hit with the nightmare plot and who is this other killer/killers. And on top of this throughout the entire book (even the climax at the end) we keep getting backstory in “Before” chapters taking you out of what’s currently going on and some of it I feel like it wasn’t needed.
Overall, I thought that it had the potential to be something more, but with confusing plot lines that are over complicated, way to many characters, a complex reasoning of why everything is happening that’s explained poorly, and a writing style that takes you out of the story, it feel short of what was expected.
That being said, if there is more from this universe or author in general I would gladly pick it up as there is very much the potential there.

The Nightmare man is an incredible novel of nightmares and a deeply involved crime mystery. It will keep you guessing to the very last page, and then leave you in complete shock and awe. This intricate story unfolds at the most unexpected times, causing you to curse out loud “what the hell!”, while gripping the edge of your seat. I will forever view nightmares differently, and hope that none of mine ever come to fruition. Absolutely loved this horror/crime thriller story and would love to see it become a movie or tv adaptation! I listened to an arc of the audiobook and can highly recommend as the narrator was excellent.

Interesting, fresh new take on a horror story! Really enjoyed and look forward to more by this author.

Alright, I binged this audiobook. It gave me a mixture of Stephen King and OG Goosebumps vibes. Fantastical, creepy and crawly, this book hooked me fairly quickly. After about a quarter of the way through I couldn’t stop listening. So many twists in what I already knew was going to be a twisty tale. I had so many out loud reactions, I’m sure it would have been entertaining to just watch my reactions. I’m talking dog head tilt, emoji 😱, the whole range. This was my first book by this author, but it definitely won’t be the last.

Ben is a horror novelist. His whole goal is to give people nightmares. But now it is starting to feel like he is living in one. Someone is copying his book, killing in the same fantastical way. The cops are leaning towards him, and he can’t tell them everything that he knows. No one would believe him. The press had dubbed him The Nightmare Man from all of his previous horror novels, and he can’t remember everything from the weekend he wrote his last book. What happened? Why can’t he remember? And who is on the killing spree?

Thank you netgalley, dreamscape Media and the author for the Alc in exchange for my honest review. I loved the short chapters however I found it on the long and confusing side. Parts of it were super creepy and suspenseful. Recommend this to Lisa jewell or Ruth ware fans.