I really enjoyed this unique take on a classic trope. The writing is sharp, and the pacing kept me turning pages well into the night.

This book is unsettling in a way that sneaks up on you… and then refuses to let go.

At first, I thought I knew what I was getting into, a creepy, slightly nostalgic thriller about a woman with a strange childhood memory. A “monster” under the bed that taught her how to read? Weird, sure. But almost… harmless?

Nope. Not even close.

This story gets dark fast, and not just in a jump-scare kind of way. It’s the kind of dark that messes with your head. The kind that makes you question what’s real, what’s memory, and what’s been twisted over time into something much more dangerous.

Willa is such a fascinating main character. She’s not your typical “likable” lead, and I actually loved that. She’s guarded, complicated, and carrying the weight of something no one, not even the reader at first, fully understands. The fact that the entire town already believes she’s capable of something horrific adds this constant pressure to every scene. You can feel it closing in on her.

And then there’s the forest.

I don’t know how to explain it other than… it feels alive. Not in an obvious, over-the-top way, but in this quiet, wrong way. The kind where you just know you shouldn’t go in there, but of course, that’s exactly where the story pulls you. Between the whistling trees, the past trauma, and whatever is waiting for Willa to come back, the atmosphere is incredibly tense.

But what really got me was how the story plays with the idea of monsters.

Is the monster something supernatural? Is it trauma? Is it Willa herself? The lines blur more and more as the book goes on, and I found myself constantly second-guessing everything I thought I understood.

And just when you think you’ve figured it out… you haven’t.

This isn’t just a thriller, it’s psychological, eerie, and honestly a little disturbing in the best way. It lingers. It sticks with you. It makes you uncomfortable and I mean that as a compliment.

If you like stories that are a little twisted, a little haunting, and don’t give you easy answers, I Am the Monster Under the Bed is absolutely worth the read.

Just don’t expect to turn off the lights and forget about it after.

Oh my goddddd this was so GOOD. I was hooked straight away and just could not put this down the entire way through. I loved the development, the characters & the plot line the entire way through, this was an absolutely delicious read! 5 stars from me!

This was my first NetGalley read, and it was fantastic! If you like books about something creepy in the woods, something creepy in the house, culty small town mentalities, unsolved murder, and/or a good splash of "good for her" revenge, I highly recommend this one! Some stories don't blend supernatural/spooky (ghosts, cursed land, myths, etc.) with human/spooky (stalkers, serial killers, blackmail, etc.), and it usually makes the story feel very disjointed. I thought the mix of elements worked very well in this plot, even as we hopped back and forth between memories and the present. The whole book was a reminder that humans really are the scariest monsters.

One of the characters you meet early on reminded me of the psychic from The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson, which was the first in one of my favorite series when I was younger, so that was a plus for me!

The ending was extremely satisfying and actually pretty wholesome. I was hooked quickly, and I had a great time throughout the whole book!

This book really grabbed me from the beginning. The main character is a recluse after being the final girl of a massacre years ago that left her as the main suspect, who returns to her home place and the thing under her bed for a funeral. And everything goes from spooky to worse. Definitely recommend this book to horror readers

My fave book of the year so far, and I've read some good ones. I'm not kidding. This had me hooked, especially the second half when I realized I really did not know what was going to happen or who did what. I thought I had it figured out at one point and was completely wrong, to my delight. This book kept me on edge with so many questions. Who was the killer? Who is the stalker? How many are there? Are the things the main character sees and hears real? ALL of them? Or just some? I loved it, and I loved the ending. I also found the main character likable despite her occasional gruffness - the flashbacks to her childhood and her understandable unhappiness at her situation really soften her to the reader.

plot ⭐️5/5⭐️
tropes ✔️are monsters real, small town murders, creepy forest, tortured artist✔️

🛏️ Six teenagers went into the woods, only one walked out. Fifteen years after the “Rapture Mystery Slayings”, the only girl who walked out of the forest returns back to the small town. She tried to live under a pen name to publish her paintings, but her secret got out. Now she has to return home to put a stop to this once and for all, but she may need help from the monster who lives under her childhood bed.

i def read this book in under 24 hours, i COULD NOT put it down. i was questioning the whole time what was real and what wasn’t, working up a sweat haha! the ending too??? love willa and elliot very very much

thank you to st martin’s press and the author for providing me this arc, all opinions are my own!

✨bookstagram @whatsvictoriareading

Was not sure I would like this book but I am shocked this book was actually really good! The suspense of the book hooked me in and I could not stop reading!

I Am the Monster Under the Bed is an excellent debut from Emily Zinnikas!! What an absolutely wild, crazy story, with so many layers. This horror thriller somehow has spirits, forest entities, and human monster but also has so much heart. Willa is an unexpected hero, but by the end of the story I was cheering for her. Could not put this down, I read it in a day. Don’t sleep on this!!

Major thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s hard for me to describe this book. It’s a little horror, a little mystery, a whole lot of thriller. Nothing is what you expect. I was hooked from the very beginning. This main character is so interesting and flawed, that I adored her. Nothing went the way I thought it would. So again, hard to describe, but you’ll hurt if you miss it. This will be out in September of 2026, and it’s a perfect addition to your spooky season TBR

This is the debut novel from Emily Zinnikas and if this book is any indication, I am really looking forward to reading more horror written by her in the future. The title alone was enough to give my husband the creeps. To be fair, my first 10 years were spent sharing a bunkbed and trundle with my sister and brother and being the oldest, I usually had the top bunk, so I wasn’t really worried about monsters under the bed. Later, though, when I had my own room, I was afraid to let my arm hang over the side of the bed, just in case there were monsters under there—still can’t do it ’til this day.

But what a great premise—a child becoming friends with the monster under the bed! And what about all the creepy things in the basement? Or the terrifying thing in the woods (because thanks to Stephen King, the Maine woods are always scary)? Or the teacher that abused her when she was 16? And what really happened in the barn that night when six of her friends were horribly slain?

It’s 15 years later and the anniversary of those horrible murders is fast approaching and suddenly the world Willa has created for herself—successful painter living alone in Pennsylvania—falls apart and she is harassed by reporters and a flamboyant not-so-nice psychic all while trying to deal with the death of the beloved art teacher who encouraged her to share her talent.

So good! So real! And I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. And the ending! Bwahaha—loved it!