Interestingly I had planned throughout to rate this book a 4: intriguing, convoluted mystery, tons of jump scares, a narrator seriously unreliable through no fault of his own, remarkable mental health issues; but still 4. Then I reached the denouement, which absolutely blew me away and exploded FRIGHTMARES into a 5! Do yourself a favor, though; read the novel all the way through, don't skip to the end: READ IT ALL.

This book had quite a bit of potential. But in the end, it just was not for me.

Dave is a young man that has just finished high school and is gearing up to leave for college, but is currently working for a not-too-great haunted attraction called Frightmares. while working his shift, he discovers the body of his friend and coworker hidden in one of the houses of horror. But later when he goes back the body is gone.

This book is a classic whodunnit/hiding in plain sight kind of trop, but with a haunted attraction twist. But what fell short for me, was the pacing. Early on Dave finds the body but it isnt until way later that he ends up doing anything to get down to the bottom of the murder. The pacing was not done very well in my opinion and just wasn't for me. All in all, the book wasn't horrible though. I feel as though this is definitely more appropriate for the YA crowd. I felt that this book almost read more like a thriller than a horror book.

A fun horror read that takes place at a haunted house called Frightmares. David is working one night and finds a dead co-worker. He rushes off to tell someone but when they come back there is no body, AND the dead co-worker had sent in their resignation. David doesn’t believe this and he knows someone at his job is a killer. He enlists his next door neighbor Maya, to help him solve it, before he becomes the next victim.

This did start off pretty slow, then the murder finally happening and trying to solve the mystery, there was a lot of no progression. Yes the characters were lovable but it didn’t move at a very quick pace or even normal pace into finding clues to the mystery.

I would recommend this for readers who like to read slower or don’t have time to finish a book within a few days. You can put it down and pick it back up and jump back into it easily. Overall it was still a fun read.

Frightmares is a slightly run down haunted house attraction in Orlando that is owned by an Elvira wannabe and employees a group of teens and young adults while they wait on something better to come along. Our main character is a 17 year old recent high school graduate who is working at Frightmares the summer before he attends college on a full scholarship. I liked Dave and he seemed like an overall good guy who made some really poor decisions when he discovers a dead body at work one evening. Rather than call the police, he freaks out and drives away which of course means that the dead body has conveniently disappeared when he decides that he needs to actually do something. This is the beginning of a mystery that Dave, along with his crush Maya, are determined to solve. When I was reading the book, I felt like I was watching the Scooby gang where Dave was Shaggy and Maya was part Velma/ part Daphne. There was even a tiny dog who could work as Scooby. But this was definitely no innocent episode of Scooby Doo. There is a lot of language, murder, alcohol, and drugs. I think the book is geared towards ages 12 and up. There’s nothing too inappropriate or language that most teens have not heard of prior to reading this book. To me this was also not a horror, but simply a mystery that occurred in an attraction haunted house. It was a pretty fun read

If you like creepy horror stories with a few good jump scares, Frightmares is for you. Frightmares is a run down haunted house tourist attraction that has a consistent turnover in employees. When Dave gets roped in to help out he's really not sure what he's getting in to. At first, it's just embarrassment of being part of such a joke of a business, but soon he realizes the real scare when he comes across a real dead body. Unsure of what to do, and definitely hoping not to get blamed for murder, Dave sets out to try to figure out who is behind the murder. He also hopes not to end up next!

Set for publication on July 5th, this would make a fun summer read, either sitting by a pool or, better yet, at night by the campfire!

I'm an older reader who loves YA horror, but based on the fact that I think a teen would rate FRIGHTMARES by Eva V. Gibson four out of five stars - that's what I'll rate it. If I were rating it as simply a horror reader, I would give it three stars.

Seeing as how this is for teen readers, I think the characters are quite relatable. Who hasn't had a crappy job as a teenager? Who hasn't had teen relationship issues? Who hasn't experienced that rush of first love? Luckily, most of us have not found a dead body on our job, but it would be exciting and scary at the same time for a teen, no?

I thought the setting - in a Universal-ish haunted house with a cast and crew was a lot of fun. It's a dump, for sure, but I could see a lot of high school seniors enjoying this type of job. However, I didn't think it was scary enough. There were a lot of moments that made me skittish, but the description of those scenes fell a bit flat.

I liked the romance subplot and appreciated there wasn't a lot of descriptions of teens "hooking up." The story talked about how they were all dating, but we weren't given explicit descriptions of what exactly that entailed.

I thought the writing was okay, but the action scenes were a bit hard to follow at times.

I think this will make a nice book for readers who are at the beach on their summer break or enjoying their day off from their job that does not include finding a dead body like in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me an e-copy of FRIGHTMARES review.

I rate FRIGHTMARES four out of five stars.

If you’ve never been to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights you’re missing out. It’s an over the top adrenaline rush for horror fans of all ages. Frightmares is a behind the scenes look at a similar attraction. There’s a dead body though, an actual dead body. Cutie employee Dave tries to find out the truth, otherwise he’ll have to check himself into a mental institution. Gibson does a good job of keeping the adrenaline pumping. I quickly grew tired of the shoulder Daves but the writing is very smart and fast-paced. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in advance

Based on the cover, I thought this was going to be in the line of R L Stine but it just did not quite make it. Also, I did not like the language used in the book

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

I was super excited to read this title, as I've been on a horror kick lately. I especially loved the idea that this story was set in a house of horrors. I thought the setting had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the story itself was not my favorite. The main character keep making decisions that made absolutely no sense to me. It was to the point that I could not suspend disbelief. I found myself being so frustrated with the character that I just couldn't really be interested in the mystery. I also had a difficult time with determining age level for this book. This could totally just be because of my original expectations. For some reason, I went into this book thinking it was a middle grade novel. Probably because the cover very much reminds me of Goosebumps covers. So I was thinking, great, a book to recommend horror fans that are graduating from Goosebumps! But I quickly realized I was wrong when I learned the character was 17 and I noticed the language in the book. The language didn't bother me, but it was a clear indication that the book was probably meant for teens. However, the maturity level of the characters, the writing style, the pacing, and events in the book seemed to bounce back and forth between middle grade and YA. So I was left feeling like I had no idea who this book was for. In many ways it felt too young for teens but too mature for middle grade. I will, however, keep this one in mind in case I find a reader this makes sense for. It just wasn't for me.

I received this eARC from NetGalley and these opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book overall. It started off slow and I almost didn’t finish it but I kept pushing and it I’m glad I stuck with it! David works for a campy Haunted House called Frightmares that is falling apart. One night on his shift he finds a dead coworker while going to tell someone else the body disappears… the only people that could have done it are his coworkers. But would anyone believe him when there is no body and the supposedly dead coworker emailed in their resignation the next day? With the help of the girl next door Maya he determines to find out who in his work is a murderer! I found David to be a likable character and the book has a lovable cast of side characters! I will say I saw who the killer was early on but I did enjoy the intrigue it to get to the end! And I definitely questioned if I was right! And while I figured out who the why and how were not things I anticipated! Eva Gibson did a good job with this one! Definitely Roth the read if you enjoy mysteries!

2.5 rounded up for the idea. Didn't flow well, writing style Didn't work for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Everyone needs a Shoulder Dave. Someone to counsel you in stressful situations. It’s helpful it they’re funny and honest, like our protagonist’s version of a conscience, a Shoulder Dave. The characters in Frightmares make this novel more fun to read. They are well rounded with whitty personalities and a likability that makes you invest in their struggle. And their struggle is real. This horror mystery takes place in a haunted house where ironically it’s the workers that are often placed in harrowing situations that cause their own palpable fear. There’s no basic, easy to spot from a mile away antagonist, but a slow simmer of possibilities that build to twisted ending. It was an engaging read that kept me coming back for more!

I would recommend this books to those who like mystery but would consider the audience. Although the protagonist and his loyal sidekick a in their late teens, I wouldn’t put it in my middle school classroom library due to the use of profanity and suggestive drug distributing at the end.

I enjoy a good a good YA Horror novel!
Frightmares by Eva V. Gibson wasn't as bad as I originally thought.
My only problem with this story is I wouldn't necessarily call this one a horror.
I liked the storyline, it was there.
For a while I had no idea what the actual plot was going to be, but it was fun reading how things tied up. I also enjoyed the characters.

Underlined,
I can't thank you enough for this ebook copy!

Was not really impressed with this title at all. I would not consider recommending this title to a friend unfortunately.

Thank you, Underlined, for allowing me to read Frightmares early!

I was instantly attracted by the frightening atmosphere the dark cover and the clown in the center create, as well as the intriguing synopsis, but alas this book did not convinced me completely. The pacing did not agree with me and it wasn't as scary as I imagined it to be and while this is mostly on me and my expectations of darker elements, I still can't say I liked the book. I can't even blame the fact that I'm not into horror because I'm into horror. I really much love it as a genre. It was just an okay reading experience for me though. Nevertheless, it's not like it is an unreadable book, it will definitely have its audience. Probably a case of it's not you, it's me.

Frightmares follows Dave who works for a horror show as a summer job. One day while working he finds one of his coworkers dead. When Dave tells his friend the body ends up missing. So Dave takes it upon himself to figure out what happened to the body. And why someone would want to kill his coworker.

I was excited to read this book because I am a big fan of R.L. Stine books. But this just feel flat for me. I thought the over all story was rushed and the characters were not that devloped. I just didn't really connect with this story and the ending wasn't really all that good. I really wanted to like this one but just wasn't one of my favorites.

Thank you Netgally for this boo.

Haunted house gone wrong, murderer hidden in plain sight… The idea behind this book is really awesome. However, I felt like the story dragged on too long. The murder itself was discovered on page 71 & by the time I got to page 281 & I realized, “damn nothing is happening.” I mean literally nothing progressed in the story to solving this mystery. You don’t know if anyone is really dead or if Dave is maybe just having a psychotic breakdown.. you have no idea who the murderer could be… nada. It too way too long to get to the point in my opinion

Also, Dave’s decision making from the time he discovers the body up until the confrontation is just dumbfounding to me. I know the kids only 17 so you could chalk it up his stupidity to adolescence but it’s hard to believe that someone could be this daft, despite the understandably frightening situation he found himself in. He annoyed me throughout a majority of this book. (See spoiler alert below for all the things I feel like Dave should have done)

Overall I didn’t hate the book or anything but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it either. It was just an “OK” rating for me thus the 2⭐️s.

⚠️❗️SPOILER ALERT ⚠️❗️

- Why would he jump in his car & drive away from the building when he discovered Bethany instead of running to get Ollie or Loretta or whipping out a phone & immediately calling 911?
- He could have just nonchalantly brought up that Bethany’s locker was still full to someone without saying anything about the body & that would have arroused curiosity as to where she was from the get-go.
- Why didn’t he ask Josie for Bethany’s number to check in on her himself?
- There were multiple times where he could have gone to the police (I know it was played out like he was worried about being found out but he could have just “quit” & then gone to the cops..)
- He was dumb to go meet up with Chet without bringing some sort of weapon with him. Dumb, dumb, dumb.