My favorite SGJ book so far! I loved both stories so much and physically couldn’t stop reading either story until I hit the end. I think the Babysitter Lives was my favorite out of the two, but Killer on the Road was not at all what I was expecting and loved how weird things got!

I absolutely LOVE SGJ's writing and way he spins and weaves stories. Despite these both being relatively short, I felt like they had a lot of depth (particularly Killer on the Road) and I connected to their characters and their motivations. The way that KOTR is written made me unable to put it down, I was so intrigued to see where the plot was going and who was doing what... I didn't guess entirely but had some suspicions of the ending, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment. I was absolutely along for the ride (pun intended..?) and I can't wait to pick up his next work - truly an all time favorite author!

This story leaned more into action than horror, but it still had me completely hooked. I was tense and on edge the entire time, flying through the pages because I had to know what would happen next. It gave major The Hitcher vibes,there’s something about Southern/Midwestern horror that just hits in a unique way. Huge shoutout to Stephen for dedicating this to all the girls with complicated relationships with their moms….yep, I cried.

As for The Babysitter Lives, it gave off major nostalgic horror energy, like an old-school tale or an episode of Tales from the Crypt. It was creepy, weird, and definitely anxiety-inducing in the best way. The pacing had my heart racing, especially in a Killer on the Road kind of way. Though the ending felt a bit scattered and I got a little turned around, it still worked overall. Sometimes Stephen’s books are hit or miss for me, but this one was a definite hit. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 and 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 are two short horror novellas with such vivid imagery, I had to sleep with the lights on. Haunting, gory, and spooky, they were perfect reads for summerween.

𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱
The highway boogeyman sets his sights on Harper and her friends, chasing them all over the interstate and leaving a bloody trail behind. I love a good horror story with a strong female lead and this one delievered. The plot was so unhinged, everything that could go wrong did. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There was a lot of action and surprisingly lighthearted moments amongst the characters. The ending was really solid and not what I expected at all.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀
After Charlotte's last babysitting gig almost becomes a tragedy shes determined to prove herself while watching the Willbanks twins. She expects a quiet night of putting the kids to bed and her studying for the SATs but that quickly turns into every babysitters worst nightmare.

This one was my favorite of the two. I got sucked into this eerie, ghostly tale. There's an evil sprit seeking freedom and unfortunately for Charlotte, she becomes its target. I had full body chills while reading some of these chapters. Even though I was scared and paranoid, I had to keep going. I was rooting for Charlotte to survive and the ending? A major plot twist that blindsided me. Honestly this one would make a fantastic movie.

Stephen Graham Jones will forever be one of my favorite contemporary horror authors and these might be two of his best stories!

Double the terror, double the thrills...you know I love a bloody BOGO.

Stephn Graham Jones’ "Killer on the Road" & "The Babysitter Lives" are giving me everything I could have dreamed of in a horror collection. Imagine your favorite late-night slasher but make it LITERATURE and you're halfway there.

KILLER ON THE ROAD 🚗

One part Joyride, one part Urban Legend, this story made it extremely hard to hold onto my kindle because my hands were constantly balling into fists, ready to scrap. Harper and her crew find themselves on a teen-angst inspired, runaway road trip (under cover of night in rural Wyoming) when they encounter the stuff of absolute nightmares on Route 80. Before they even realize it, the teens are squaring off against a living nightmare and racing to outsmart or at least outlive the force that’s nipping at their wheels.

Bucketmouth is hands down one of the most TERRIFYING entities I've encountered in recent horror. This isn't your typical slasher villain; there's something genuinely infernal and disturbing about this character that made my skin crawl in the best possible way. Jones has an intricate way of building tension as the kids realize how painfully alone they are, and what they’re up against. While my heart broke for every unlucky character that found themselves in Bucketmouth’s orbit, Harper’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend Dillon shattered it completely because, I remember young love with teeth.

Being in that car with them, feeling their panic, their desperation to just SURVIVE the night...I was genuinely stressed for their safety. The pacing is absolutely relentless and I found myself screaming for them to find a lifeline and get to safety, regardless of the destruction and chaos they left in their wake.

If there’s one thing you need to know before diving into this book it’s that, come hell or high water, Harper will always be MY final girl.

THE BABYSITTER LIVES 👶

We’re out here subverting expectations, baby! As babysitters go, Charlotte should be on every parents’ speed dial: even though she's got her own struggles with identity and college prep, she puts her job (and the kids) first and she's absolutely FIERCE when things go sideways.

What starts as a simple babysitting gig becomes a mind-bending journey into cosmic horror that STILL has me questioning reality. Jones masterfully layers the dread throughout the house, building on the twins' mysterious behavior and those eleven-year-old secrets (and that never ends well).

As Charlotte finds herself in a race against the echoes of the past…she looks deeper into the house for answers, and gets only supernaturally macabre tendencies in return. My disorientation mirrored Charlotte’s as she attempted to piece things together for her own survival, and that of the children in her charge.

Every part of Charlotte is written so thoughtfully and with so much intensity that it glows out of the pages like a neon sign. She’s determined, resourceful, and absolutely unwilling to give up even when faced with the impossible.

I love how this story began. I was enamored with every twist and turn of the journey. And I was on fire with how it ended, *GASP*.

THE EXPERIENCE 📚

Having these stories back-to-back in one collection is pure genius. Who wouldn’t want to be trapped on a deadly highway, and then descend into interdimensional nightmare fuel? The contrast between the open road terror and the claustrophobic house horror truly showcases Jones' incredible range.

This collection proves that Stephen Graham Jones really can do it all and I hope he never stops. 🖤

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the opportunity to read and revel in this book.

Stephen Graham Jones has never missed a day in his life. Both of these were immensely fun and fast-paced - the perfect horror book for a sweltering summer saturday.

KILLER ON THE ROAD / THE BABYSITTER LIVES – Stephen Graham Jones

I’ve never met a Stephen Graham Jones book I didn’t love, and this brilliant pairing of two novellas is no exception.

The Babysitter Lives drops us into a familiar horror setup—the night before Halloween, a teenage girl babysitting two mischievous kids—but what unfolds is anything but typical. Jones twists the haunted house trope into something stranger and more unsettling: the house has “funny places” that warp space and reality, transporting Charlotte to other parts of the house… and yet not the same house at all. Beneath the horror, this story grapples with grief, identity, social values, and the facades we maintain behind closed doors.

Killer on the Road follows Harper, a Native teen hitchhiking after running away from home. She reconnects with old friends, but their road trip takes a sharp turn when they encounter Bucketmouth—a shape-shifting creature who can steal identities by eating parts of his victims. He’s a legend who wants to stay a secret, and he’s picking them off one by one. This novella leans hard into gory, slasher-style horror while still unpacking themes of grief, identity, and what it means to be Native—especially in the context of family, survival, and erasure.

Whether surreal and psychological or bloody and brutal, these stories showcase SGJ at his best.

SGJ SATURDAY

A little late getting these posted, but that’s July. 😅 I’m reviewing them backwards because that’s the order I read them in.

THE BABYSITTER LIVES
This book will always be special to me because it’s the reason I began listening to audiobooks. I didn’t know I’d be able to hold it as a paperback one day, but I have zero complaints on that. Babysitter is a delightful and creepy genre mashup that will make you never look at beanbags the same again. There’s also this one scene with the sky… man I still think about that. Maui wanted to get in on the fun but how DID he get in the dryer? 👀

KILLER ON THE ROAD
The new read of this duology, and it’s even more batshit than babysitter! This is a pedal to the metal ride of chaos and casualties. It reminds me a lot of Don’t Fear the Reaper—and not because they both get songs stuck in my head. Like Reaper, it’s got a lot of heart spinning in the middle. Hopefully not in a jar 😬

I kept these vague because these two really need to be experienced. They’re a pretty perfect pair. Make sure you scroll to see the designs by @igreggreene!

This is my new favorite book by Stohen Graham Jones. The visceral reactions I had while reading both stories is beyond words and I was shocked by the ending of both, especially Killer on the Road. I expected a little more happiness, or redemption, but I loved how smart the FMC was. Also the opening paragraph to The Babysitter Lives? Whew!

As wild and beautifully written as his stories are, unfortunately I have come to accept that SGJ writing style is just a little too slow for me. However, these are fun stories if you don’t mind it not being super fast paced and the writing style is a bit advanced too (hard to follow at times).

This bind up of two long novellas is such a neat idea. The first one I read was Killer on the Road. I have to be honest I had to restart this story four times because I was so lost with what was happening. It’s a very fast paced story that has a lot of action and movement and if you aren’t paying close enough attention you will get lost. I did really enjoy our main character. She had a ton of heart and willpower to put up with everything she does throughout the story. Overall this one just didn’t work for me but I can see why so many people love it.
2/5 Stars

Next I read The Babysitter Lives. I was completely sucked into this story from the start. It’s so creepy and will have you second guessing everything you thought you knew. I felt like I was running through this story trying to help our main character get out of the hell she was in. I highly recommend this novella. It’s perfect for spooky season.
4/5 Stars

Overall I’m going to give this book 3.5 Stars. I had both a great time and a not so great time reading these novellas. I will still always pick up Stephen Graham Jones work. Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

these novels are wildly different but have some similar themes so they pair together nicely. and by nice i mean in terrifyingly gruesome ways!!! two supernatural horror books each with their own whip-smart teenaged MC's who end up caught in nightmares doing seemingly teenaged things (rebellion and babysitting.)

killer on the road: this really had me all kinds of messed up. it was so fast paced and so sinister!! this is only 240 pages and i was emotionally invested in Harper and the rest of the crew. reading this i was so torn between wanting to find out what happened next and having to deal with the consequences of finding out what happens next.

the babysitter lives: this one is incredibly creative and at times a little confusing, but in a way that just leaves you plot points to ruminate over. SGJ how did you come up with this?? your mind...


thank you to saga press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

✨Killer On The Road/The Baby Sitter Lives✨

What a fantastic collection! Special thanks to @sagapressbooks (#sagasayscrew ) and NetGalley for the e-arc of this book!

This book is a collection of two novellas by Stephen Graham Jones! Killer on The Road is perfect for fans of The Hitcher. The Babysitter Lives is perfect for fans of Halloween with a portal twist.

For a quick review, let’s start first with Killer on The Road. We follow Harper who decides to run away from home after a fight with her mother. But things quickly turn deadly as her and a group of friends encounter a unique serial killer who hunts them down stop after stop. This one is fast-paced with nonstop action. This is road trip horror at its finest with some gory kills and gross scenes!

The Babysitter Lives follows Charlotte. She’s a babysitter extraordinaire. She takes a babysitting job on the night before Halloween watching twins. Little does she know that the house has a sinister secret. One that could put her and the twins in grave danger. This one had a spooky atmosphere. I really loved Charlotte’s desire to take care of the twins—no matter the cost. I fully expected this one to be a slasher but was genuinely surprised when it was more of a ghost story.

Holy crap! Stephen Graham-Jones has done it again. his dual read in one book was such a fun ride. I enjoyed both of the stories, but I will say that I enjoyed The Killer on the Road a little bit more than The Babysitter Lives. That is not to say that The Babysitter Lives did not absolutely keep me out in the best though. An astounding dual novel from Stephen Graham-Jones that reasserts my love for him as an author.

Creepy, clever, and definitely unsettling, *Killer on the Road / The Babysitter Lives* had some great moments, but it didn’t fully hook me the whole way through. A solid 3.5 stars but I definitely recommend if you're a fan of his other stories.

I love Stephen Graham Jones, so seeing two books in one made me think it was my birthday! The Babysitter Lives is a story about Charlotte who is taking the SATs tomorrow, which also happens to be Halloween, and she is babysitting the night before. Add into the mix a house with a history of horror. This story was a bit confusing at times due to time loops, but I absolutely loved that it made me scared, which doesn't always happen.
In Killer on the Road, 16-year-old Harper decides to run away but her friends decide to join her as an intervention instead of her hitchhiking. Unfortunately, a serial killer already had their sites on her. I loved the twists and the bouts of horror in the story! This story was absolutely terrifying and was unforgettable!

Two terrifying tales, one unforgettable night. The Babysitter Lives is a chilling, slow-build haunted house story, while Killer on the Road delivers full-throttle slasher chaos. Stephen Graham Jones keeps you guessing and proves with this why he's the best in horror.

I unfortunately had to DNF currently. idk if its the writing style or what but im having a hard time following and getting in to it. I will definitely be trying to read this again - maybe it's my mood.

Stephen Graham Jones can do no wrong. I will buy and read everything he does. KILLER ON THE ROAD/THE BABYSITTER LIVES is such a cool, old-school horror double-bill concept, and I read it in one sitting. I'd give the edge to KILLER ON THE ROAD, but that's just my personal preference. BUY IT!