If you liked Goosebumps as a kid this book is your jam!
The Nightmare Man by J.H. Market Pub date 1.10.2023 is basically an adult goosebumps tale with a little book-within-a-book action.

Ben Bookman(seriously, that's his name) has written his latest bestselling horror novel following a town haunted by nightmares come to life when suddenly killings begin happening exactly like he described in his book. Father & daughter detectives are on the case and also trying to solve the mystery of the town's history of missing children. There's a lot going on in here and it gets a little campy, but I love that in a horror book! And the Scarecrow killer actually creeped me out! The descriptions of the handstitched corn husk cocoons to hang his prey in just had me shooketh.

Parts of the Nightmare Man scared me and I loved it so much I restricted myself to only reading it at night for maximum creep factor.
I really hope there's a sequel in the works!!

The Nightmare Man, by J. H. Markert

Short Take: Like Stephen King said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

Hello Duckies, and welcome to my least favorite time of year! We’re pretty much out of Halloween candy, and although I got an extra hour of sleep last weekend, I can’t tell you how much I hate the afternoon darkness. The leaves are off the trees, and it’s been raining a miserable cold gray rain for the last two days, which only makes everything worse. So I was more than a little delighted when the book I chose from Netgalley, pretty much at random, turned out to be a darn good one.

There’s a very simple premise to The Nightmare Man - bestselling author Ben Bookman’s latest horror novel is about to be released, which should be an exciting time, but there’s one teensy little problem. I mean, other than the fact that Ben doesn’t really remember writing the book, or that he wrote it at his uncle’s creepy mansion, or that he may have done some pretty awful things while he was there. No, the real issue with Ben’s new book is that the gruesome murders in the story are actually happening, dismemberments and all.

Duckies, I’m not going to lie to you (have I ever? Maybe don’t answer that). The whole “writer’s book comes to life” has been done a lot. Like a lot-a lot. So in order for a story to grab me by the jibblies, it has to bring something very new and different to the table, and oh, my beloved nerdlings, Mr. Markert has succeeded and then some.

The Nightmare Man almost reads like a fairy tale, with a delicious mystery at its core, but it’s also a story of troubled marriages, addiction, the myriad ways that parents damage their children, and a strange mansion that I’d love to explore. Even though some of the characters feel a little cliche (aging cop with a drinking problem who is estranged from his adult offspring? SHOCKER), there’s enough heart and twists to keep me reading late into the night.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and some leftover Halloween candy, I could swear there’s a few more peanut butter cups hiding around here somewhere…)

Before anything, I’d like to thank Netgalley, for granting me an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

I wanted to read this book for the spooky season, sadly adulting got in the way of my plans. That being said, I LOVED THIS BOOK. Regardless of the season and time when you read it, it’s genuinely creepy.

I’m more into the scifi kind of horror but this book blew me away. It exceeded my expectations.

When I started reading it felt like something I’ve already read. The setting starts out not being super original: Murders are being committed in the exact same way they were committed in a book. That premise alone seems the be rehashed over and over. Bu that let that deceive you. The murders and setting are creepy enough to keep you reading, then, the story takes on a path that sets the plot apart from all the other similar books.

You get several different POVs that enhance the reading experience: you read from the police perspective, the author of the books and we even got some flashbacks.
I would actually watch an adaptation of this story, a movie or miniseries would be amazing!

From the start, it read like a horror classic which is why I would recommend this one to anyone wanting to get into the genre cause the plot starts being kind a generic but the story evolves into something unique and the writing style is easy to follow through.
If you are a genre vet this might seem like a rehashed premise but you might want to stick till the end for all the twists and turns.

Really surprised by this book and I’m eager to read what J.H. Markert writes next.

Imagine you've written a horror novel and it is coming true! Someone is committing murders the exact way they are described in your book. I would say how neat is that but that just sounds bad. But as far as the plot of the story it was really great.

The main male character last name was Bookman. Since he was an author I thought it was clever but it was so much more than a name.

Homemade cocoons? Nightmares? Possession? What more could you want??

The added relationship between Ben (main male character) and his wife Amanda added more of a personal touch to the book. Maybe that's not the best way to describe what I'm trying to say. I'm writing this at 1 am. Cut me some slack lol

The ending did feel a bit rushed but that could just be my personal preference

I'm honestly sad I have this as an eARC and not a paper copy because I'd love up re-read it next October! It's on my to buy list next year when it's released.

**will be posting a review on IG closer to release date.

I went into Nightmare Man cold, without reading any reviews or even the synopsis. I was so glad I did! Very original storyline and not quite like anything I’ve read.

Lots of characters and world building surrounding a small town and the asylum within it’s boundaries. Abnormal psychology has always fascinated me; why do people do the terrible things they do. This story build on that, focused on a family of child psychiatrists that focus on nightmares.

This book wasn’t all real world horror. There was a blend of the supernatural and folk horror as well. But what really kept me engaged was two of the main characters, Detective Blue and Detective Mills; their relationship as father/daughter and their relationship as fellow police officers.

Wonderful read and I’ll be getting a hard copy for my bookshelf!

The Nightmare Man is a story of suspense - part police procedural and horror adjacent, we meet a psychiatrist who is gifted to helping children rid themselves of their nightmares. The psychiatrist has a complicated family history, which brings us all the way to Ben Bookman, bestselling author, and his family. Ben's books are based on nightmares of his childhood family, and when murders occur that resemble events in Ben's books, two detective (father and daughter) are on the case.
I had high hopes for The Nightmare Man, and I think it started out really well - I felt very invested in the Bookman family. However, shifting perspectives, shifting timelines, a lot of characters made it a bit of a mess. I did not find it scary/creepy/spooky at all - I think the asylum and Blackwood could have been much more atmospheric. I also didn't find it all that suspenseful - I found myself just reading for the sake of finishing this book. It has lots of potential, and I am sure it will work for many readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this book - characters were interesting and the story moved along at a good pace. It had a unique premise that I haven't seen before. I will definitely read more horror from this author.

2.5 stars

Mysterious murders begin happening in a small town that are far too similar to the scarecrow crimes from a bestseller authors book? Could his book be coming to life? the premise sounds amazing, A book about books and murder... hell yes.

On the surface I think I liked it, but ultimately I have mixed feeling on this one. There was just too much going on at all times, something new added with each chapter but only to be briefly mentioned and moved on from. I think there was just too many ideas (with great potential) packed into one book so at the end there were too many elements that didn't wrap up for me. Personally, I wish this was dialed back a bit... maybe even done as a duology. With a little more depth and focus on the action parts that would have been "exciting and scary" instead of the characters always showing up after the fact.

I started and read up until chapter 7 but there are just so many characters I had to go back and start from page 1 again to take notes on every single character mentioned to keep track of who's who and how they are related. By the end of the book I had almost two standard size pages of paper (8.5 x 11) front and back filled out with names.... it was just too much. Trying to keep track of characters and how they are connected the entire time made this book feel like homework.
I also really disliked how characters were just added for no reason. I'll give an example and don't worry this isn't a spoiler as these characters were pointless to the story. The detective meets with his friends then it goes on and on with the details of the friends names, their professions, their spouses names and so on.... for what reason? these people added nothing to the story and are not mentioned ever again. Why add all these extra characters and cause more confusion with a book that already has way too many characters?

I think this shows that this is the authors first book. However, there was a lot of potential for a great story. I will be on the lookout for any of their future books (hopefully with less characters.)

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and J.H. Markert for sharing the digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my authentic review.

This book manages to accomplish some great scares along with page turning plot twists. You root for the MC to figure it all out, but you also don't want the scares to end. The cast is relatively big and a small drawback is that obviously some characters are one dimensional but they still add something to the story. The horror scenes were well written and not so heavily dispersed that they become ineffective. This was my first read by this author and I think it was a solid intro to their writing. I enjoyed the writing style.

The Nightmare Man was an incredible creepy tale. The story was amazing, all the spooky characters were so scary. I loved the old Detective Mills and his daughter. Mill's backstory was shocking as the story came to an end. Blackwood was totally creepy, but so interesting. Ben Bookman, Horror Author was so good and the story of his life a real nightmare. So many bits and parts that accumulate to an amazing story.I think the Scarecrow was the scariest. A shockingly great ending. I'm looking forward to reading more of this Authors work.
#TheNightmareMan #NetGalley

I give the Nightmare Man 5 stars for its scary story.
I would recommend this book to Horror fans.

Oh my Gosh!!! This book is soooo good that I sat down and didn’t get up till it was finished. From front to back in one day. I found myself rooting for the Detective to finally figure everything out. Lots of plot twists so that I was guessing the whole time. I hope to read more and more of these characters in the future. 5 stars and 2 thumbs up.

Absolutely loved this book!
Was as good as any King or Koontz novel I’ve read.
Well written with likeable characters and a really original storyline, kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and dying to know how it would end.
A normal everyday setting created an eerie backdrop to some unusual and gruesome murders right out of a horror story. Literally.
Will read more by this author.

Hi and welcome to my review of The Nightmare Man!

I was offered to read The Nightmare Man and since both the cover and the blurb set my spidey-senses all atingle, I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, I soon found the execution gelled a whole lot less with me than the premise.

To be fair to the book, I did struggle with brain fog at the time of my reading it, but I found the story and its plethora of characters hard to focus on. One of the characters is described as discombobulated a couple of times, and all I could think was: well, Winny, that makes two of us. I had a look at other reviews, just to judge whether it was me or the book, and there are a few early readers who found it as chaotic as I did, so brain fog aside, I really do think that it’s not all me and the story is at least a little bit convoluted.

I will say that I kept being triggered to continue and find out what was really going on, I never stopped caring and I never considered a DNF. There are a few really scary scenes in there and let me just state for the record that I was extremely happy I was reading it at a time of year when there were no moths to be seen and the corn field adjacent to my garden had already been plowed.

The Nightmare Man was a mixed bag for me. While I loved the premise and many of the horror scenes, there was just something in the writing and the execution that didn’t work for me. If you’re interested in this book, do give it a try and be sure to let me know your thoughts after!

The Nightmare Man is out on 10 January 2023.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

J.H. Market leads readers into a horrifying tale about a town ravaged by a spree of crimes that mimic a local horror author’s books. The Nightmare Man is a complex and intense read and while clearly a horror, it pulls on elements from the crime fiction, mystery and suspense genres. This is a book about books and there are a lot of moving parts. While there is one main plot, there are numerous subplots happening, so it’s like hopping from one nightmare right into another. I love how the reading experience truly mirrors the plot. I’m not sure what was scariest about this book—Creepy Blackwood mansion and it’s horrifying secrets, the gruesome murders and characters committing them, or the realization that something inhuman has spiraled out of control. With themes of family, lineage and humanity, The Nightmare Man is as devastating as it is terrifying and leaves you unsettled, as if waking from a nightmare. 4.5 stars

The Nightmare Man was a perfect selection for spooky season. A serial killer is on the loose, posing as a Scarecrow. Stalking and eventually killing people.

The murders follow Ben's recent novel to a tee. As Detective Mills and his daughter Sam begin to investigate, they are pulled into Ben's past, including reexamining the disappearance of his brother 13 years ago and their time spent at their grandfather's estate.

This book is atmospheric, unique, and scary. Best read with lights out at 1am for full effect. This is the first horror novel by James Markert, under his new pen name. I am looking forward to reading his other work as I think he's a creative genuis.

WARNING: the unpopular opinion train is about to hit its mark yet again!!

There was just something about The Nightmare Man that caught my attention, and I couldn't resist the invitation to read the ARC back in May. I don't read the horror genre often enough, and I thought it would make for the perfect Halloween read. The premise sounds fantastic, and I always love a bookish element in my stories... Sadly, this story ended up falling rather flat for me instead. I'll try to explain briefly why this was a miss for me below.

Before I start, I do have to say that I still love the premise of this book. There is a lot of potential in The Nightmare Man with the Blackwood mansion setting, the asylum on site and the mystery around the Atrium and its books. Like I said before, I do love a story with a bookish element, and I was excited to see how it was incorporated into the story here beyond the obvious author main character and his books. I also enjoyed the mythology references with the mares and other sleep-related myths.

Sadly, there were also multiple elements that didn't work for me in The Nightmare Man. First of all, the names of the characters are beyond cliche and simply BAD. Examples? Having an author named Bookman, a cop named Blue and baddies including The Screamer, Bad Cop and The Boogeyman. I mean, would it have hurt to spend a little more time finding more original names?! I don't know why, but the cliche names really irked me. The writing style in general didn't sit well with me though; there was just something quite off and almost cheesy about it, although I can't put my finger on the exact reason why it didn't work for me personally.

I also thought that the plot itself was all over the place, and it almost felt like you were reading several books at the same time with the amount of different elements and storylines being shucked into one messy plot. As a result, none of the elements and storylines are properly developed, and I struggled considerably to find the motivation to keep reading. It's strange with so much happening, but somehow I was rather bored by it all and there was too much information dumping going on as well. On top of this, there are too many flashbacks, which slowed down the pace even more and only distracted from the present events.

I was also surprised by the lack of properly scary scenes in The Nightmare Man. We almost never get to experience the creepy stuff first hand; instead we only learn about the events through dialogues after things happen or in the flashbacks. Like I said before, I can't believe I was actually bored during most of what was supposed to be a chilling horror read! There was no real tension or suspense, and with so many different storylines going on at the same time the plot could get rather confusing instead. The ending was a disappointment for me as well, and felt too much like the author tried to wrap up all the chaos with a big, shiny and unbelievable bow.

All in all, unfortunately The Nightmare Man ended up being another dud for me... I seem to be in the minority though, so if you think this story is your cup of tea, don't let this unpopular opinion train wreck stop you.

This book was such a fun read that hooked me right from the beginning. The story opens with the first crime scene found and I loved it. So cool and creepy and made me want to keep reading to see what would happen next. The whole story was filled with such fun imagery, such creepy scenes I really enjoyed. The story did not go as I expected it to which was great. I thought going in I knew how it would play out, the author's books being recreated in real life, but this was different than others I have read.

Now this story has a lot of moving pieces that you slowly learn the history of. From the detectives Mills and Blue to the author Ben and his family everything that has been happening in this town past and present. Ben's family was very interesting. I mean it is no wonder Ben grew up to write such great horror books with the background he has. All the creepy bedtime stories and just the house the grandpa owned that he would spend summer at. The Nightmare Man indeed. It all culminated in such a strange childhood. Now I will say that sometimes it was slightly confusing what was happening, especially in the past sections. It was just at times the writing was a bit off for some reason, but I was loving the story so much that I didn't really care that much. I still wanted to keep reading and see what would happen. Overall it was a great read and I look forward to more horror from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book

Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and J. H. Markert for the advanced copy of The Nightmare Man in exchange for my honest review.

It feels like it's been far too long since I read a book that made me dread having to do other things because I couldn't continue reading. Naturally I started this before a weekend chalk full of activities and it drove me crazy not to devour it in one sitting!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I absolutely loved this book. It was a perfect mix of creepy, mysterious, and twisty. The way it ended works well both as the end of a standalone OR a lead-off into a second book. I think it's a really tricky thing to nail an ending like that, but in my opinion Markert delivered.

This will undoubtedly be in my top 10 favorite books of 2023, don't miss it January 10!

This book had me spooked at the beginning and I actually had to put it aside for a few days. I just finished it and I can say that this is definitely a book you need to read. We follow Ben who is an author and his family. He is having marital problems and he appears to be spinning out of control. We have monsters from his book coming to life and murders in his town. We follow him to the past with his parents, brother and sister. We also follow a father, daughter detectives who are trying to figure out what is going on. This literally leaves you guessing up until the end. Please check trigger warnings.

I also did a review on my TikTok - taffylovestoread.

This wasn't really for me! I thought that it would have good halloween-y vibes and it does but it's just not what I was looking for unfortunately :(