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I don't know how Matthew Nordman packed this much into 18 pages but here we are.

Ben is digitizing his mother's old VHS tapes as a birthday gift when he stumbles across footage from his eighth birthday party, the day his younger brother Michael vanished. On the tape, Michael walks down a hallway and passes through a door. A door that has never existed. More than thirty years later, Ben finally has evidence that something impossible happened inside his childhood home.

That setup alone had me completely hooked. What follows is nostalgic, eerie, and deeply unsettling. The atmosphere is incredible for something this short. There's a real family story underneath the horror that makes everything hit harder, and that ending genuinely caught me off guard.

Reading the author's note and realizing this is just the beginning of what Matthew Nordman is capable of got me genuinely excited. If he keeps writing, I'll keep reading. A new favorite in the making 🖤

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If you like:

✔️ found footage horror
✔️ nostalgic dread
✔️ family grief wrapped in horror
✔️ debut authors worth watching
✔️ horror that lingers
✔️ quick reads

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Thank you to NetGalley and Matthew Nordman for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This review is cross‑posted across multiple platforms.

It is remarkably difficult for a short story to create genuine emotional attachment in just a few pages, but this one completely pulled me in.

​The story immediately sets a chilling, nostalgic tone with its premise of digitizing old VHS tapes late at night and uncovering something deeply unsettling. What truly elevates this piece, however, is the character work. The family dynamics feel completely natural and grounded, which made me genuinely worry for them as the suspense mounted.

​The author builds the atmosphere with incredible precision—no cheap tricks or unnecessary padding, just a slow, creeping dread that keeps the tension high until the very last sentence. It is classic, atmospheric horror with real heart and a strong psychological core. A fantastic, memorable read that I thoroughly enjoyed 🖤.

​(NetGalley disclosure: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.)

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ben is digitizing his mother's old VHS tapes for her birthday when he comes across a video from his eighth birthday party. While this should be a happy memory from his past, it's overshadowed by being the day his little brother, Michael, went missing. What he sees during this hidden footage changes everything.

This story is told so very well. Right from the beginning, we are painted a picture of Ben as an adult with his own family. The writing in this is fantastic, Matthew Nordman giving us a peek into what their everyday life looks like in such little time. It's paced extremely well, not overloading us with info, giving us just enough to understand how this loss has impacted their lives today.

I won't go into too much detail as this is such a short novella, and it has to be experienced rather than explained. The growing sense of dread is so subtle but kept me so very invested up until that climax. He gives us the exact amount of information we need to trust us to understand, and I absolutely love that it ended when it did. He knew exactly when to stop to make the horror hit the hardest.

The visuals I got during this made me fall madly in love with his writing. His writing built a 3d picture around me while I read, able to hear and see everything like I was a fly on the wall. I truly hope to read more from Matthew Nordman, absolutely chef kiss five star read for me.

Listen. This short story may only be 18 pages, but man was it good 😍 It was nostalgic, eerie, and heartbreaking all at once. The author made everything flow so well and the pacing was FANTASTIC. This is probably the best short story I’ve read! It had a very surprising amount of depth for being only 18 pages and everything just flowed so well! I actually can’t stop thinking about it and I really think this has the potential to be extended a little and maybe even become a novella! I would legit sell my right arm for that 🤣

HOW? How can such a short story elicit so many intense feelings?

This story was quick, but it fully sucked me in. I knew what was coming, but it still wrecked me. The dread was palpable. The story packed an emotional punch and will linger for a long time. It was so relatable and a bit nostalgic. If you like atmospheric horror and creeping dread, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I am incredibly interested to see what Matthew Nordman writes next - it will be an instant read for me. Thank you to Matthew Normdan and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!