I was provided a print and audio arc of this book via Netgalley. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review this book early. All opinions expressed in my review are my own.

This was a nice balance of horror and thriller. I don't want to give too much away as it would spoil the story. I didn't find the horror elements overly gory, but this does have a nice creepy factor to go along with the police investigation that takes place as the story comes together. There are some additional horror elements to the plotline but to describe them would spoil the fun.

This follows Detectives Winchester Mills and Samantha Blue, Mills' daughter as they investigate a grisly murder scene in their small town. The murder appears to be directly copied from a recently released novel from local bestselling author Ben Bookman. The Bookman family is no stranger to tragedy or the strange, but when more murders occur mirroring things Ben has written in his books the detectives are determined to figure out if Ben is the killer or figure out what he's hiding and how he is linked. Ben is missing time from when he wrote the book that is being copied, and he knows it has something to do with his grandfather's strange atrium where the books with no works are kept. Slowly as Ben and the detectives unravel the clues and piece together the puzzle the strange tale of the Scarecrow, the Screamer, and the books all comes together in a terrifying nightmare.

I loved this! I mainly stuck with the audiobook for this one as the narrator, David Bendena, did a great job with this. I had a hard time pressing pause on this one. I was on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded. This is my first book from the author, but it will not be my last! I look forward to reading more from Markert in the future!

This book is scary!! I did enjoy most of it but there were times I was a bit confused, mostly when the characters were yalking to each other and the names would change. I do recommended you giving this book a try. It was a fast and thrilling read! Would love to read more from this author.

I was so lucky to receive this as my first ever ARC! I rated this book four stars as per the average of my six categories: writing style (five stars), relatability (three stars), originality (five stars), readability (five stars), personal impact (three stars), and plot (four stars). I loved the premise of this book. It was a little repetitive in some areas, things were said three times instead of just once, which was a little excessive. There were lots of random "twists" thrown in at the end for almost no reason. The POV switching was a tab but annoying at times, but I did enjoy the ending of this book. I would love to read more books by this author.

This ended up being my last book of 2022, only because I literally couldn’t stop reading! It was one of the scarier books I read this year and I couldn’t get enough, except when I was home alone one night, I had to put it down I was so creeped out! We have all had nightmares at some point, imagine those coming to life?? This one is focused on a horror author’s books coming to life and I was so in on that fresh idea! I loved the way the author used dual POVs to bring the detectives mindsets in along with the main character, Ben. Ben is an interesting character, with so many layers! I enjoyed reading about him and everything that made him who he was. The story also had flashbacks that included the main detective and Ben, which brought so much to light! It was just such a well done book and I was so pleased to end the year with a 5 star horror novel! I am really hoping to get more of these characters in a future novel!!

OK hold on people I’m going to do my best to give you a brief summary of this grand supernatural mystery. Winnie and Blue are detectives in Crooked Circle when they get called to the Peterson Farm and find the family sewn in to individual corn husk bags and one of them is still alive at first they’re baffled. Blue finds out they were being stalked by a scarecrow a few days previous to their demise. Ben Booker is the areas famous author he’s married to Amanda a local news lady and while he’s at his book signing for a book called The Scarecrow Man A local resident shows up blames been for his horrible nightmares and then proceeds to kill his self in front of everyone at the bookstore. That’s not all the murders aren’t over and it seems they’re being taken right out of Ben’s book. Winnie is a great cop who’s better days are behind him. He has a bad hip a drinking problem and a difficult relationship with his daughter Blue. Ben cannot account for why these murders are taking place as a matter of a fact he can’t even remember writing the book all he knows is it was written in the atrium at Blackwood Mansion, his ancestral home. Then Ben has his own issues his wife thinks he cheated with his assistant who was fired last year, For just that reason and he’s haunted by his brother Devon going missing 13 years prior and now he’s looking like a murder suspect. This book only gets crazier now let me just say they do have some very real supernatural aspects to this book but the way the author writes it it feels so authentic and it’s so clever and it is just OMG good! When you read the book and you’re like how could all these different things be connected and then when you finally find out how… You’re like oh wow that’s genius. I promise you will not be able to guess the ending to this book it is so good I am usually pretty good at guessing and I had no clue and it goes back eons. This book if it hasn’t won awards yet it really should it is a brilliant supernatural thriller that deserves five stars and more. Not to mention I listen to the audiobook in the narrator David Bendena is such a great narrator he was such a pleasure to listen to and said a great tone for the book and then a great job distinguishing between all the characters this is all around a brilliant brilliant book. I highly recommend this book what a great way to start off 2023. I received this book from NetGalley and dream scape media but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Wow, this is the second fantastic horror book I read in December. I was enthralled by the mix of different elements used by J.H. Markert - horrific nightmares, a thriller author, family secrets and a whole lot more. I really had to concentrate to keep these elements straight, but overall really enjoyed this book.

Hold onto your hats kids, The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert is a bumpy ride and boy was it a doozy!! I have never read anything like this wild and crazy book, and while some parts are just downright weird, I found myself totally loving it. It is bookish in nature since Ben Bookman is a writer (how novel with a last name like that), and Markert brings the suspense and gore with murders straight out of Ben’s book. I don’t think I fully grasped what the full plot would be since at one point, I thought the book was over, but I was nowhere close to being done. There are lots of horror elements and this definitely isn’t going to be a story for the faint of heart. Markert blends past and present together and while you would think the switches would be confusing, they really weren’t, and I was able to easily follow along. It also helped that the before chapters are labeled as such and are italicized in the book. There are also consistent viewpoint changes which I liked a lot even though at times those did get a touch confusing just for a moment. I eventually got used to them and I was fine listening to the audiobook.

And speaking of the audiobook, I loved it! The narrator is David Bendena and I just now realized I’ve actually listened to him narrate once before (he was in the cast for House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis). I enjoyed his narration quite a bit for this book and I thought he did an excellent job with the different voices he had for the various characters. He added an extra creep factor on top of what was already there, and I would definitely recommend listening to The Nightmare Man. This would be an excellent book to read around Halloween, but if you love horror and spooky books all year round like me, it would be great anytime! There is one part that was akin to a Batman movie and more than once my mouth dropped open at things that happen in the story. I just loved the twisty and otherworldly feel this book provided and I am holding out hope that there is a series in here somewhere.

Thank you to dreamscape for letting me have this as an ARC! I loved this book-doing it as an audiobook was the best way (in my mind). The narrator was exactly what I was expecting-his voice and the way he read it fit into the older style books.

There were a couple times when the time jump was a bit hard to follow but I think that was more me than the book (9 times out of 10, they said it it was present day or past).

There were multiple times when I thought I knew where the book was going and then it went in a totally different direction. #arcbookstoreview #arcbooksreview #thenightmareman #audiobook #dreamscape

Will be reviewing a physical copy of this one. Thank you again for the ARC and hopefully this opens up a space for someone else.

Rounding up from 2.5 stars. I received the audiobook from Netgalley. if I had had to pay for the book I would have been sorrowfully disappointed. There was too much going on with the plot and the name changes from previous nightmares into present day happenings was a bit confusing, while some were added for apparently no reason.

If you like that great era of King novels I think you’re gonna love this! I absolutely devoured this book. I was so interested in it from start to finish it never seemed to slow down to me. I loved that all the characters shined even if they were just side characters.
This book gave me goosebumps and the best kind of creeps multiple times well reading.
This is a story about the nightmares you can’t escape and the complexities of family. I thought the author did such a good job of not letting one of those themes outshine the other but working cohesively.
J. H. market will be an instant buy for me after listening these pages of nightmare fuel.

A horror novel where your dreams become reality…in the most terrifying way.

I can’t say enough great things about this book! It was terrifying and twisted, complex and imaginative. I was absolutely glued to this one and was amazed by how the author created this whole world within the story that flowed so well together but didn’t lose the reader along the way. Some horror goes a little too far for my imagination, but this one was just right. This one is excellent, and I would highly recommend it to horror fans! I listened to this as an audio and loved the performance of the narrator, David Bendena.

Thank you to NetGally, Dreamscape Media, Crooked Lane Books, and J. H. Markert for providing me with these gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a bit torn when it comes to The Nightmare Man, because let me tell you—the first 50% was AMAZING. Like, major Jeepers Creepers vibes. The story follows two main POVs: the detective, Winchester Mills, and the author, Benjamin Bookman. The timeline jumps back and forth, and really gets you invested on the story, and leaves you uncertain as to who exactly is reliable. My favorite thing is an unreliable narrator, and the thriller/horror aspect that wove itself into every chapter really had me anticipating the ending. And that's where it all went wrong for me.

The last half of the book tried so hard to tie up loose ends, but failed to make sense of a lot that the first half set up. And why exactly was fantasy elements necessary? A lot of questionable things were thrown at you that kind of just makes you think 'uh, all of that for this conclusion?' All in all, you can definitely tell this was Markert's first book—but I can tell there's potential. If you enjoy earlier Stephen King, I'd say give this a chance; it may be lacking but the promise is there, and the story and concept is definitely an entertaining one, if a bit meager in closing.

Ben Bookman's latest book, <i>.The Scarecrow</i>, has been out a few weeks and is doing well. However a man shows up to Ben's book signing claiming that Ben stole his nightmare, before killing himself in front of Ben and the crowd. To make matters worse, someone has taken his horror novel and begun to reenact it in real life. The book chronicles the terrifying story of a killer who dresses as a scarecrow to stalk his victims, eventually killing them and stitching them inside cornstalks.

As veteran Detective Mills and his partner/daughter, rookie Samantha Blue, dig into the murders, things are not looking good for Ben. But something weirder is going on. Mills can feel it. But can he figure it out before more people are killed?

This book threw me for a loop. This is so much more than a crazy person bringing a book to life. I don't want to give anything away, but be prepared for twists, turns, and loads of weird shit. Definitely worth your time and money!!!

This was a good audiobook. I liked this narrator, but I will say the tone of his voice made it a little challenging to hear at times. His voice is has a bit of a raspy-quality to it and at times it seemed like he was whispering. I'm not sure if he actually was or not, but regardless, I had to keep adjusting the audio which was slightly annoying.

This did not in anyway have an effect on my rating or enjoyment of this story. I just thought I would point it out. My full review can be found below:

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Ben Bookman is a best-selling Horror novelist in the vein of Stephen King. Ben's not afraid to get dark and growing up at his family's spooky estate, known as Blackwood, certainly provided him with plenty of inspiration. In fact, Ben returned to the estate for a weekend retreat to help him finish his latest book, The Scarecrow.

That weekend is shrouded in mystery. It's mentioned a few separate times in the narrative, you can tell something fairly serious went down, but it's unclear what. Even Ben can't recall what happened there. Regardless, the freaking book got finished and that's the most important thing.

Unfortunately, before the book is even officially released, the terrible events from the story begin to occur in real life. It's as if the story has crawled off the page and taken over Ben's hometown of New Haven.

New Haven native, Detective Mills and his daughter, Rookie Detective Blue, are tasked with looking into the gruesome murders that become known as the Scarecrow Crimes. Unsurprisingly, Ben is their prime suspect. How else would anyone know his text that well? It hasn't even released yet. Perhaps it was a Netgalley Reader...

This story starts out with the first bloody crime scene. An entire family butchered, individually encased in cocoons made of corn husks and hung in their own barn. Hey, I told you it gets dark. There is oozing blood, flies and let's not even consider the smell.

Mills and Blue are in for the most startling investigation of their lives. Ben Bloom is just trying to save his family from harm and his reputation. If anyone can get to the bottom of these crimes, it should be the man who wrote them.

The build-up of this had me temporarily fooled. I thought this was going in one direction, a sort of predictable direction, but enjoyably, it was not that. This is actually a unique and twisted tale that definitely kept me engaged.

There are a lot of characters and I'll admit, at times I lost track a bit. That was sort of a downfall for me. I had to relisten to some parts a few times. It's the kind of story, if you aren't 100% paying attention you are going to miss something; particularly towards the end.

Additionally, I felt this was a little drawn out. I think it could have been cut down a bit and it still would have had the same impact.

With this being said, I did really appreciate Markert's creativity and the Horror imagery was well-presented. This is a big scope kind of story and honestly, I'm not completely sure I picked up on all the different aspects of it. This was left off nicely though, where I could actually see there being a strong continuation to this story. There are definitely some things that could use further exploration. I'd absolutely be willing to go along for the ride.

I definitely recommend this to Horror fans, or fans of dark, potentially supernatural Thrillers. I think a lot of Readers will really enjoy this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with copies to read and review. I am looking forward to more from J.H. Markert!

Ben Bookman's latest horror novel, The Scarecrow, is released. Also, the murders depicted in the book start to occur in real life. Is it a crazed fan or is something more happening?!

The only complaint I have with this book is that there are a lot of people introduced at the beginning and we switch POVs, so it may be difficult for some to keep them straight. Setting that aside I thought this book was great! The book was twisty and had creepy/gory depictions of the murders without being overly gratuitous. It was paced well and the multiple story lines all come together in a great way at the end of the book. The characters felt real and had a good amount of development for the number of characters included. In particular, I enjoyed the father/daughter cop duo and how they played off each other. I found the plot entertaining and loved the way lore of dreams and nightmares was integrated into the story. This book kept me gripped from start to finish!

Also, I listened to this book on audiobook and I thought the narrator did a great job of making the characters and scenes come to life. I definitely recommend!

4.5 stars! This novel reminded me so much of young Stephen King books. So many nightmares! It seems that terrible crimes are being committed in the small town that also houses a famous horror novelist, Ben Bookman. However the crimes are mirroring grisly crimes committed inside Bookman's novels. And the book hadn't been published yet...
Detective Win Mills and his daughter, Detective Samantha Blue, are being run ragged with all the grisly murder scenes and crimes being committed throughout the town. Is Bookman to blame? And what's up w/ his creepy old estate, Blackwood Manor? The detectives are thrown into an investigation that also seems to have something to do w/ Dr. Robert Bookman, Ben's deceased grandfather and head of Oswald Sanitorium, and his missing, presumed dead, brother, Devon.
So many nuances and nightmares in this novel. There's also just enough of a supernatural element to make this extra creepy.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio e-arc.*

A really horrific book that threw in everything we fear. Nightmares, books filled with them, monsters, things jumping out of hiding places, an insane man/woman, cannibalism, asylums, cuttings, exorcisms, a spooky forest, a creepy mansion aptly named Blackwood, murder, and lots of harrowing things.

Ben Bookman, has written a new novel, one whose content seems to be coming true. The title, The Scarecrow, seems to be coming true as Detective Mills arrives at the sight of a nightmare killing of a family sewn into cocoons made of cornhusks, hanging from the rafters of a barn. The eeriness of the murder plus this being one of the tenets of Bookman's novel, brings about more chilling happenings. Then another family was found in the same condition. Along with Mills' daughter they try to find the killer, one of whom was suspected to be Ben Bookman.

Is murder imitating art?

Ben had finished his book in a room called "The Atrium" in the mansion. The Atrium held the mysterious horde of books, all without words. The books' horrors continue to reveal themselves and the secret of the mansion, releases much anxiety and of course terror and fatalism.

There was much going on in this story, many characters, and a story that might be considered a tad OTT. I did enjoy the start of the story, but as the book went on, I found myself a bit confused as to who was who. I did listen to this story and probably would have done better with the written version. Creepy, frightening, and terrifying might be the words to describe this one and perhaps too, it might be a bit too much for some.

Thank you to J.H. Markert, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book which will publish on January 10, 2023.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

The grisly murders from author Ben Bookmans novel are being committed exactly as written even though the book just came out.
THE NIGHTMARE MAN by J. H. Markert narrated by David Bendena from @dreamscape_media
This book has a similar feel Stephen King’s The Dark Half yet it is different and intriguing enough so you need to keep going.
I really enjoyed this. It is an intricate story guaranteed not to lull you to sleep. The deaths are gruesome and some characters really made me uncomfortable. It keeps you guessing until the end. If scarecrows creep you out then this is only going to add fuel to the fire.