What a fun and exciting ride! Literally!!

When I was sent the widget for this book, it was pitched as a cross between National Lampoon’s Vacation and a ghost story. It did NOT disappoint! That’s exactly what it is, and I kind of loved this supernatural take on a family road trip!

I loved both the “realness” of the most mundane and everyday things families feel and go through and also the haunting that occurs.

I thought some of the scenes were actually a little creepy (I did not expect that)! These ghosts do some hair-raising things to this poor family.

But don’t think that’s all there is to it - this is also a funny, sad, and heart-warming story!

I loved the ending - it left me a bit teary-eyed if I’m being honest.

This is a perfect read for Halloween. It's spooky and family friendly. I really enjoyed the haunted portions of the book. I really enjoy the author's writing her books are able to hook me right away. I read this book in one day because I needed to know what was happening.

Nightmare of a Trip is a fun spooky road trip filled with all the regular horrors of a family road trip and so much more!
I had so much fun while reading this! When paranormal things begin happening its easy to think along with our main character that that's easily explained away, or just your imagination playing tricks, especially after a long stress-filled day being on the road with the family. Slowly those things become less able to be explained away, and we are left with Leigh being haunted. Something is following her and her family as they travel to their destination, and it won't stop until Leigh figures out what it wants.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, moments that you can relate to if you've ever been on a family road trip, and moments that are just spooky enough that you are questioning if it's real or not, and maybe questioning that bump you just heard while reading. I loved the characters and the road the story took from beginning to end, and this is one I will definitely revisit in the future!

I loved this story! I really like spooky things but not like never sleep again spooky. Maureen Kilmer always writes so beautifully. It feels like talking with a friend or going through the story with a friend. The full circle moment in the epilogue was *chefs kiss* in my opinion. I can’t wait to add this book to my shelf!

From the publisher:
This is one family getaway they’ll never forget . . .

Leigh Somerset wants to spend some quality time with her kids before they grow up, and her husband has always fancied himself sort of a Clark Griswold figure. So the Somersets will be spending their family vacation on the road, driving from suburban Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida. Already off to a rocky start, they stumble upon an abandoned, half-burned down farmhouse in Indiana, and the Somersets inadvertently unleash an eerie history that will follow them the rest of their trip.

From creepy indoor waterparks to paranormally plagued Cracker Barrels, it’s one thing after another in the pursuit of the great American summer road trip. Will the Somersets be able to shake these bad vibes and get on with the family bonding? Or will the road less traveled quite literally become the highway to hell?

Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer was released September 10, 2024 from G.P. Putnam"s Sons.

My Thoughts: Any long trip with your family can be a nightmare in and of itself. Then you have the added fun of being haunted by a family. If one doesn't drive you crazy, the other might. I enjoyed the book overall. There were National Lampoon's Vacation references, humor, and creepiness.I like my horror with humor, so this was a good fit for me.

"Every time you are able to find humor in a difficult situation, you win." For the bulk of the book, Leigh, Nick and the kids are able to find the humor when things go wrong. It gets harder and harder as the trip goes on. I felt that telling the story from Leigh's point of view was the best choice. As a parent, I could relate to how a threat to the family would freak her out. My minor complaint is that her husband believes everything she tells him the first time. I really expected some denial there.

The humor and the horror are both low key for the most part. It seems like everything that can go wrong will. It's one of those things where if it happened to you, you would find it funny eventually, but maybe not so much at the time. Still there were a lot of good humorous moments for us as readers. I thought that there would be a little more escalation of the horror as the story progressed. It was still good and creepy though.

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It's a good story. It's well written. It kept my attention. And most importantly, there was humor to go with the horror. If you enjoyed her other books, you will enjoy this one as well. It's definitely worth a read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.

I loved Suburban Hell by Kilmer. So of course I had to request Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer. And she did not disappoint!
Well written, humorous, and with likable characters this book is sure to be a hit.
This cozy light horror/mystery has some great humor, fantastic characters and amazing storyline!
The main characters were all great and you could easily relate to all of them.
The author delivered and I found this to be a quick and satisfying read.
A fun and entertaining story for the upcoming months!

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Nightmare of a Trip is perfect for paranormal lovers who don’t like horror. It’s like a cozy horror? I saw that it was compared to National Lampoon’s Vacation, and while I think that is a stretch, it was still a quick and enjoyable read of one family’s infuriatingly chaotic and somehow haunted roadtrip for a family vacation. Maureen Kilmer is great at creating housewife characters that you can’t help but feel for. If you read and enjoyed Suburban Hell, I think you’ll like this one. Thanks to Putnam and Penguin Random House for my eARC. Nightmare of a Trip publishes tomorrow.

A nightmare of a trip proves true of the Somerset family.On a roadtrip to a Florida amusement park, ghostly things begin to happen after they see an abandoned, burnt out house in Indiana. Mother Leigh is shaken repeatedly by ghostly apparitions and incidents. It becomes an honest trip of a lifetime for the family. A little scary, a lot of family.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer a wild and spooky ride as Leigh and her family encounter everything from disappearing teeth to haunted restaurants along their pursuit of the great American summer road trip. But while it is wild and spooky, it is also real and genuine as Leigh also struggles with changes happening in their family and learning to embrace being a mother even when things are difficult.
I love how authentic the family is as the children and husband Nick are three dimensional and as important as Leigh. And while the story is written from Leigh’s point of view, it is the how the family faces things along their trip and come together as a family in the end that are the heart of the story. The story is perfectly paced as the spooky and wild events come to climatic conclusion but it is the family I fell in love with.
If you like road trip stories with spooky ghosts, this story is for you. It is a wild and spooky ride that is full of family and heart, genuine characters and family willing to be there no matter how difficult the trip becomes. The ending is beautiful and comes full circle.

Nighmare of a trip by Marueen Kilmer was the perfect paranormal comedy to say goodbye to the summer and usher in the fall.

Leigh Somerset, her husband, and three kids set off on a family road trip for some quality time. However, the family quickly encounters some odd individuals and interesting circumstances from car accident involving a boy, a burnt farm, to creepy objects that would probably be better off left untouched (if only kids could help themselves). This story offers a crazy spin on the classic griswald vacations. What Leigh hoped would be a fun normal family vacation because a hauntingly good time.

As someone who grew up on the griswolds and outrageously long road trip, this horror comedy offered everything I needed to kick off the fall. The horror comedy esc storyline was nostalgic of old disney channel movies where the horror wasn't all that scary but left you creeped out yet somehow smiling

Leigh Somerset is embarking with her husband and three kids on a road trip from Wisconsin to Orlando, Florida. The trip gets off to a rocky start when they take side roads to avoid a traffic jam and encounter an otherworldly little boy and burned-out farmhouse. Leigh tries to ignore the weird things that continue to plague their road trip--and instead to focus on worrying fact that she can't remember when she had her last period (surely it's perimenopause, not a surprise fourth baby?). But finally she faces facts. They need to return to Indiana and try to help settle the spirits that are haunting them.

Part Clark Griswold (I admit I am one of very few people my age who has never seen Family Vacation), part horror story, this novel is a lot of fun, with many relatable family road trips calamities. But I've never encountered potential demons on my road trips, so there's that. And shout out to Conyers, Georgia. #NightmareofaTrip #NetGalley

Nightmare Of A Trip by Marine Kilmer, Lee is about to take an epic family trip with husband Nick 16 year old Poppie 11 year old Leo and seven year old Sophie. Lee Somerset is a family attorney and hasn’t taken two weeks off since finishing college and husband Nick has planned a road trip to rival the GRiZ walls. Unfortunately they barely get out the neighborhood without being stopped by the time they make it to Indiana the troubles really begin. On the road full of corn feels Nick almost hit a boy when Lee gets out to check on the boy she almost gives up when she hears someone say mom… Help and so when she turns around to further investigate the family comes with her this is when they come up on a burnt farm house and son Leo finds a necklace with the initials V on it. She tells him to put it back and had he listen to his mother may be everything that happened wouldn’t of happened but unfortunately this time Leo doesn’t listen. From tornadoes inside the Cracker Barrel to “I see dead people” at roadside hotels the creepy only intensifies as the story goes along OMG what a story it is, not to mention Lee thinks she may be pregnant and doesn’t quite know how she feels about it. This was such a great book not only is it quirky but it’s also creepy, two things not easily twisted together but it seems Maureen Kilmer has a knack for doing just that. This book was so good I immediately went and bought suburban hell by the author and can’t wait to read it. If you love vacations going awry dark comedy and an all-around good time then you’ll definitely enjoy this book oh I certainly did. I definitely don’t want to end the review without mentioning the awesome ending. #Penguin group putnum,#NetGalley, #MaureenKilmer,#NightmareOfATrip,

Nick & Leigh Somerset and their 3 kids set off in the family van for a summer road trip, spanning from suburban Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida. It is one thing after another as you can imagine - they haven't even made it out of the driveway before the youngest remembers she forgot to go to the bathroom, then Leigh's best friend comes home from her night shift at the hospital as they pull onto the road and stops them to talk. When they finally make it onto the road, Leigh breathes a sigh of relief, and crosses her fingers that nothing else will go wrong on this trip. Then they get a low tire pressure light in the middle of nowhere, a boy runs in front of their van and they slam on brakes, and then pull to the side of the road in front of a creepy, half burned-down house to make sure everyone is ok. The boy is nowhere to be found, but Leigh's son finds a locket on the ground and takes it with him. After that, things just begin to go haywire for the family vacation: creepy indoor waterparks paranormally plagued Cracker Barrels, things going missing then reappearing, the same number appearing everywhere, the list goes on. What are they going to have to do to break the curse that has hit their family vacation?

I was expecting more horror with some comedy, but this was actually a paranormal comedy I think would be the best way to describe it. It really wasn't scary at all. Neil definitely gave off Clark Griswold vibes and the trip reminded me of the National Lampoon's Vacation movie. They even made a stop to visit Neil's brother Ethan, who definitely gave off Cousin Eddie vibes. Overall the book was a fun read - not my favorite book by this author, but still really enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read and review Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer. All opinions are my own.

The Somerset family is headed out on a family trip. A long family trip. Traveling all the way to Florida to visit a renowned theme park. The only catch is a set of parents, and three kids are driving all the way from Milwaukee to Orlando. Before even leaving their street, setbacks arise, and these setbacks keep happening. Some of the problems are things that will happen on a long trip, while others that you might not expect, like hauntings. The tagline is "This is one family getaway they will never forget."

I read Suburban Hell by this author last year and really enjoyed it. I thought okay, let's try another one by the same author and I loved the cover. I flew pretty quickly through it. I loved the many references the mother makes of pop culture from the past. Naming movies, etc. that fit the scene to enhance a humorous moment. This leads also to another thing I liked about the book, HUMOR. The perils of traveling with children on a long road trip are very realistic. Unfortunately, the moments that were supposed to be scary/horror were not scary at all. Probably would have been better in my opinion to label it paranormal as opposed to horror. I would have loved to have seen some more scary moments. Ultimately this one is a solid 3 star for me, and yes, I would read from this author again. A Nightmare of a trip releases on September 10. Happy Reading!

Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok, this was a solid read. Nothing great and nothing terrible. It just was.

It was a road trip. There was some humor. It was not horror. At least, I would not classify this as horror in any sense of the word other than there were spooky happenings. Other horror adjacent things: family roadtrip, impromptu family gathering, and severe weather.

The characters were ok. I didn’t think Leigh’s backstory added anything. It was all very surface level, which was fine. I didn’t particularly need more or felt compelled to learn more about them.

If you’re a fan of roadtrip stories, books with lots of current pop-cultural references, and family-oriented tales, you’ll enjoy this one.

"If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then Satan himself planned our family trip."

Ahh, the family road trip. Canvassing the highways and byways of America with the people you love the most. Until you're all ready to kill each other, that is.

Leigh and her husband, Nick, have planned a family vacation. They are driving from Wisconsin to Florida to visit Magic Land in Orlando with their three children. All is well until they stumble upon a burnt down farmhouse in Indiana. Their son decides to pocket a locket he found on the ground. It's only after leaving when they realize he has it. Leigh, disappointed in her son, takes the locket from him but once it's in her hand things start to change. First it burns her, then it gives her visions of another family, and as much as she tries to rid herself of the object it keeps returning. It's as if the locket is trying to tell her something, but what? You'll have to read this to find out!

I see a lot of reviewers have complained that this book isn't remotely scary. With that title and cover and a description comparing it to National Lampoons Vacation I'm not sure why they thought it would be. Having read her debut, Suburban Hell, I knew that jump scares is not what this author is going for. Her books are meant to be more humorous than horrifying so the lack of scares didn't bother me at all. What I was looking for was a good escape from reality book with humor and heart and I thought this would be a perfect selection. Unfortunately for me the humor didn't land. I smiled a few times but I never found this book to be all that funny. I can only assume it's because I never connected to this family of five. They were kind of boring which made this story kind of boring to this reader. I do hope other readers delight in the Nightmare of a Trip this family finds themselves on. Humor is subjective, after all. 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for my complimentary copy.

Maureen Kilmer has combined horror and comedy with a road trip vacation in Nightmare of a Trip . Leigh Somerset, her husband Nick, their teenage daughter Piper, and their pre-teen son Leo are driving from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Orlando, Florida. This is an opportunity for Leigh and Nick to spend time with their kids. Nick has enjoyed planning every detail of their trip.
However, the trip starts out with problems that follow them on this wild, creepy, and funny trip.

The characters are reasonably well-defined; especially Leigh. The story has a paranormal aspect, buy still feels like a cozy horror story perfect for fall reading. The pacing was a little uneven. It was slow in the beginning and wrapped up a little too quickly at the end. The middle part was paced well. There’s plenty of humor along the way. It also deals with the real-world themes of family adventure and bonding despite a road trip where everything goes wrong.

Overall, this engaging novel has plenty of humor and kept me entertained.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam – G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Maureen Kilmer provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for September 10, 2024.

This was such a perfect cozy horror story to start my fall ARCs. I really enjoyed how in depth she writes each member of the family but really focuses on the issues that the main character was having throughout. I also love paranormal and liked that she includes that in her stories. I am definitely recommending this to friends!

3.5 stars. Great cover. The title is accurate. This family road trip is an absolute nightmare. Imagine National Lampoon’s Vacation but horror-fied. Which the author mentions in the acknowledgements at the end. Plenty of creepy and inconvenient things happen every day of this never ending trip. But…the reason didn’t make sense. The last few pages were just really odd and didn’t match the feeling and momentum of the rest of the book. Not as good as Suburban Hell, which I loved. Still, a great spooky read that also made me laugh several times. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Thank you, Penguin Group and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Nightmare of a Trip.

I had to DNF at 68%. It sounded so good! I love a good family road trip, but this did not hit the mark. I was bored and the scary stuffy wasn't even a bit creepy. It just felt silly. The book just kind of dragged on, and I just didn't develop any type of connection with the characters. I really wanted to try to finish the book, but I am just at the point where I dread picking up my kindle knowing that it's waiting on me.