This book was a mind trip and a half. I am generally skeptical about horror novels, I love them so much, and the twists and turns in this book had me on the edge of my seat! I am utterly obsessed with The Nightmare Man, and now I have to do research to learn things about both nightmare monsters, and moths.

This is a haunting novel that will have you looking over your shoulder for months to come. This book took over my world and consumed every minute of my life while I was reading. I finished it in about a day and a half once I got going. I couldn't put it down and still have that creepy, unsettling feeling. I got sucked in and I could not tell the difference between reality and fiction. The characters are multi-dimensional. I love the flaws and the humanity that it shows. We aren't one-dimensional and all of these characters felt fleshed out and like they could be the folks living next door. Even the characters that weren't "main characters" were flushed out to perfection. The plot is narrated so well and keeps you guessing, and unnerved the entire time. J.H. Market's talent is immeasurable and is now an instabuy author for me.

The Nightmare Man and everyone he encompasses are going to be haunting my nightmares for a while now.

JH Markert is the penname for James Markert who has been writing historical fiction since 2010 and promises in the endnotes that anything further which is “contemporary and horrifying” will be published with this alternative. I haven’t come across any of his other work but imagine The Nightmare Man is a startling change of pace and for a debut horror/thriller, which is a complex read throwing everything at the reader except the kitchen sink. It certainly had me on the hook and I did not guess who the killer was until around 80% of the novel was done!

This is one of those thrillers that you must read very closely as there are multiple perspectives told in the third person, past and present timelines and revelations and plot twists that are dropped liberally throughout proceedings. For the most part it cleverly disguises whether there is anything supernatural going on or not (no spoilers from me!) and you will enjoy hanging around for the big revelations which come late in proceedings. If you are a fan of straight-forward police or detective procedural thrillers The Nightmare Man is significantly more far-fetched than that (probably too far for some), ridiculous it might be, but it still a lot of fun and a good old-fashioned page-turner.

Horror/thriller Ben Bookman, with a drink problem, is the first of several main characters and for the most part remains very unlikable and obnoxious for most of the book, so much so I hoped he would meet the same fate as some of the characters in his bestselling novels! When events kick-off he is doing a signing for his latest hit ‘The Scarecrow’ and a fan in the queue shoots themselves in front of Ben when he reaches the front of the line. Around the same time and in the same town a second major character, veteran Detective Winchester Mills, is investigating the murder of a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks and hung from the rafters of their barn. It is quickly revealed that this murder scene uncannily resembles the opening murder scene in Bookman’s latest novel ‘The Scarecrow’.

It would have been easy to write a thriller in which a copycat was the central theme but The Nightmare Man is significantly more complicated and it quickly expands into other plot directions. Ben Bookman might be the obnoxious, mentally tortured, and prime murder suspect, but other characters and their relationships provide more than satisfactory distractions. Winchester Mills has a daughter (Samantha Blue) who is also on the police force and they have their own family problems, as does Bookman and his heavily pregnant wife, with a whiff of infidelity in their recent history. In many ways families lie at the heart of the story, and the question of how difficult it is to leave the past behind, especially when there are secrets behind every door.

The ’before’ storyline concerns Ben’s childhood, teen years, and the family home of Blackwood Mansion, which is seen as a place of unhappy memories from which Ben’s little brother disappeared thirteen years earlier. There are also other dark shrouds and unanswered questions regarding Ben’s psychologist grandfather who built and managed his own asylum on the estate, whose speciality was helping children who had recurring bad dreams. Nightmares play a big part of the book and thread through the various characters and storylines and very cleverly connect the strands together.

There is a lot going on in The Nightmare Man which nicely blends horror, thriller, suspense and mystery whilst throwing in some psychology. Where do nightmares go you might ask? This story has some off-the-wall theories and once you read this it is very easy to see why scarecrows can become personal boogieman.

This book will be the cause of many sleepless nights to come. I read this book continuously as to find out what happened to the ‘mares’ from the books. The idea to place peoples nightmares in a book sounds plausible but the ability to let those nightmares loose at any times is horrific. What might be helpful for one poor soul might be a complete disaster for another. And what a burden to place on someone the ability to ‘take’ night from someone into one’s own psyche. You would have to be exceptionally strong to do this service. I am glad this is a fiction book….but wait is it?

ooked Tree has had its fair share of weird criminals... The Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, the Bad Cop. So when Detective Mills is called to a farm where the family is dead and hanging in cocoons from the rafters of the barn, he's not surprised. After all, he's seen his fair share of weird crimes.

Ben Bookman's life is about to change when a man in a John Deere hat comes to Ben's book signing of his new book, The Scarecrow. Coined as The Nightmare Man, Ben's new book is the exact replica of the John Deere man's nightmares. How did Ben do it? How did he get into this man's head and write down what he's most scared of? Ben immediately becomes a suspect when Detective Mills finds that the murder of the family hanging in the cocoons and other crimes in Crooked Tree tie back to Ben, his book, and his past.

Oh. My. Word. If there was a book that needed to be made into a movie, it's this one. It's the perfect mix of horror, thriller, suspense, mystery, and on and on. I was creeped out at times. I laughed at times. I was even afraid to walk out to take my dog potty in the middle of the night. I absolutely loved this book and devoured it. Definitely pick up this book if you need something that's creepy-crawly but mysterious all at once.

Thank you, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the creative backstories of many of the side characters + Winchester. It's not a super scary read but it's pretty fast paced. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

Oh man oh man oh man. I do not want to sleep after this one! What if The Nightmare Man is real? Literally how I feel after reading this book. Do I really want to see what would happen if one of my nightmares came to life? HECK NO.

I devoured this book. It was so damn good. The unique take on what nightmares are and how they come about was so interesting. The entire plot of the book had me completely hooked. Was it terrifying? YES. Did I read it before bed? Yes and REGRETTED IT. It was terrifying.

I do want to give a shout-out to detective Mills and little Bri- they were by far my favourite characters- so intrigued by Detective Mills’ perseverance and by little Bri’s courage.

If you’re looking to be hooked, terrified and just flat out don’t want to sleep for a little while in then I recommend you pick this up. Loved it!

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Blackwood forest is a brooding, dark place, and at its centre is Blackwood Manor, a house full of horrors and secrets.

This book is amazing! A real horror story with more than enough boogeymen to satisfy even the biggest horror fan.

The story starts at a pace and how it flies! Suspense and expectation abounds and it’s a true follower of the genre. Wonderfully written, fully developed characters and very scary! Impossible to put down, a definite just one more chapter kind of book.

Loved it, thoroughly recommend. More please!

Thank you NetGalley.

3.5 stars A little convoluted….lots of characters and backstories to keep straight,…but fast-paced and creepy. A quick read, as it’s hard to stop at “just one more chapter”.

Five well earned stars because holy crap did this book terrify. I had to stop reading before bed - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to take my dogs out before bed.
Lyrical horror, terrifying plot, horrific family history and of course a demented house.
Mills has been a detective for too long - old and withered, yet the town needs him. His closure rate almost perfect- missing children lingering, his quiet obsession.
Called to a crime scene - straight out of a newly released book by local celebrity Ben Bookman.
Ben has his own demons - released in his writing, creating massive success. But his family's secret, the legacy of his grandfather calls to him.
#GetThisBook #horror #thriller #wowbooks #jhmarkert #thenightmareman #mares #nightmare #horrorbooks #horrormusthave #horrormustread

The Nightmare Man by J. H. Markert is the definition of a wild story!
I was intrigued from the first page. And held my attention throughout it all.
The way Markert wrote this book is utterly fascinating.
His writing was great. I have never read anything like this before.
It being his first horror/thriller novel, he came with guns blazing!
The characters I loved.... Winchester being my favorite!
The Nightmare Man is a chilling, tense, gripping, and an angst-driven psychological thriller novel that had some exciting twists and turns that was absolutely unputdownable. 
I hope.... Fingers crossed to see a book two in the future.
But regardless, J.H. Sir, continue writing thriller/horror novels. Because it's stories like this one I crave and love!
Thank You!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Crooked Lane Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

When I first heard the premise for this book, I was intrigued. A scarecrow that kills people? Count those hay filled atrocotoes to my list of fear along with dolls and mannequins. But scarecrows are just the beginning of the horror that awaits inside of these pages and those things keep getting creepier and creepier as the pages turn.

A horror author, Ben Bookman, has just released his new novel called The Scarecrow. Soon after, someone or SOMETHING begins to act out the scenes in this book right down to the small details. Ben is decidedly a person of interest in these bizarre and truly terrifying deaths but, as we’ll find out soon enough, not everything is as it seems.

This book is about nightmares and mixes these with folklore and legends that are so deliciously frightening that you might find yourself not wanting to go to sleep. Because nightmares can break over into the real world and possess people to commit the most heinous acts against their will. One of the strengths of this book is how the author brings these nightmares into the world of the living. It’s original, fresh, and it completely, yet pleasantly, surprised me. He writes of the brutality of the deaths with a deft hand, never revealing all of the secrets this book eventually holds but always teasing us with bits of new information.

These chilling goose bump inducing living nightmares keep the body count coming as our characters try to understand the true meaning behind these events. And these characters are the backbone of this story. Sometimes, when dealing with multiple characters, authors struggle to give each a unique voice befitting their personalities. They are seen more as a collective than individuals. Not so in this book. Each character is well written and the way they act, talk, and think is unique to each one. You’ll never be wondering whose voice you’re reading. You’ll love Detective Mills and his police officer daughter, Blue as their relationship is impactful to the story especially near the end.

Ben, the author in this book, is also the main protagonist and we find out things about his family history that becomes so dark and twisted it felt like a physical punch to the gut, as many things in this book did. But these twists and horrifying turns are revealed over time, giving each revelation more importance than it would have if everything was revealed at once. More than once while reading this book I had to set it down to let my mind soak in what I had just read, trying to piece thngs together with earlier events. And just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, I was proven wrong. In this book, no characters are safe from harm and you never know what the next page will bring to them.

While people are starting to get together their “best of” horror book lists for 2022, this book will easily be my first “best of” book for 2023 (it releases in January). This one is going to grab you by the throat and not let go. It’s truly scary, expertly written, and wholly original.

I loved this book! So much better than I expected and I'm so glad I read it. Detective Mills and Detective Blue are called to a gruesome crime scene and find a murdered family in their barn, each hanging in what appear to be their own homemade cocoon. They soon discover that one of them is still alive. The young daughter, who is sent to a hospital to recover and hopefully be able to talk about who did this to her family. As if the crime itself wasn't bad enough, the detectives realize that it mirrors that of one in a just released book, The Scarecrow. Almost immediately, another crime scene is discovered. Again, the brutality is pulled directly from the pages of that book. Wasting no time, they meet with the book's author, Ben Bookman. Yes, that name is on purpose and not a terrible cliché, you'll find that out later in the story.

Ben has no idea what is happening but he does know something strange occurred as he wrote that book. He did so in his creepy family home, Blackwood. He was raised there with his sister by his Grandfather after his parents tragically passed away following the disappearance of his younger brother. Quite a loaded sentence there! Ben barely recalls the weekend he stayed there frantically writing his novel. His wife has always doubted this, as she drove up to Blackwood to make sure he was ok, and found their babysitter's car parked next to his. So their relationship isn't exactly doing too well, and these current crimes just make everything worse.

The detectives dive into Ben's family history and learn that his grandfather built and ran his own asylum, right on the grounds of Blackwood. Of course he did. And when Ben tells them about the mysterious room in their home that no one goes into and is filled with thousands of empty books...well, they don't know what to believe about this family and what they are capable of. But they do know they desperately need to find the killer before anyone else gets hurt.

And that's only the beginning, folks - there is plenty more horror to come. Unfortunately, I can't go into that because this is one twisted tale, with shocking revelations abounding. I seriously can't believe this is the author's first horror story, it's incredibly detailed and thoroughly plotted, with a tongue-in-cheek tone and hilarious characters. You almost believe that this could be a true story, it's just written so naturally. I would love to see a kind of prequel centered around the grandfather, when he founded the asylum and discovered his unique abilities to treat his patients. But no matter what this author writes next, I'll be first in line to read it!

I haven't been truly spooked by a novel in a long time by The Nightmare Man surely scared me! I love horror novels. But I especially love horror novels that make me extremely uncomfortable and this book did just that!

A decent read! Thrilling and twisty full of interesting characters. Highly recommend this as a read you take your time with.

Let me catch my breath for this one....

I was part of the "cover reveal" team for The Nightmare Man. Not only was I super excited to be a part of this team but come on, lets just take a minute to stare at this cover in complete awe.

I am completely and totally OBSESSED with The Nightmare Man. This is a haunting novel that will have you looking over your shoulder for months to come. This book took over my world and consumed every minute of my life while I was reading. I got sucked in and I could not tell the difference between reality or fiction. The characters are multi-dimensional. The plot is narrated with precision. J.H. Market's talent shines with each flip of the page. I can not rave anymore about my love for this book but....

I'm scared.

I can tell you that much. I am totally and utterly petrified of The Nightmare Man. I don't know if I will ever sleep again.

Get ready to be exposed to sheer terror....

4 stars
A great addition to the horror genre. Fully developed characters and plenty of suspense. A little gruesome at some parts (but I enjoy that). I’ll look forward to more by J.H. Markert

This book was great, the characters were well developed. The plot was interesting. Highly recommend it.

Creepy suspense with a bit of the supernatural to kick things up. Engrossing tale of fear, secrets, and family secrets - everything intertwined to deliver page turning mystery with a strong creep factor! Don't read it at night - by windows - alone - just don't!

Thank you for inviting me to review this book!
It’s a good old fashioned Horror story, for fans of Stephen King, Bentley Little or Graham Masterton. A successful but mentally tortured author, Ben Bookman, has to confront the murky past of his family, while out there…..,someone is copying the murders in his books. They are doing so pre-publication date too and I loved the little nod to “Netgalley reviewers” being on the initial Suspects List!
It’s got plenty of gore, but also a real plot to back it up, which doesn’t always happen with Horror titles.
It was difficult to put down sometimes, as the author is very good at cliffhangers and multiple character povs. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look out for other books by them.

Ben Bookman’s thriller, The Sacrecrow, is released the same day a family is found gruesomely murdered and left in a bizarre and disturbing tableau. The murder is way too similar to the opening of Bookman’s novel to be a coincidence and Mills, the detective assigned to the case, along with his daughter, rookie cop Samantha, are worried the killer may be using the novel as a guide. They search the book for clues, desperate to find an obviously deranged killer before he can strike again. Meanwhile Ben, who has become the prime suspect in the murders, tries to remember the night he finished the book at his family’s ancestral home, Blackwood Manor, and the Atrium, his grandfather’s secret room full of books with no words. There is some graphic violence and gore in this book, but it didn’t put me off. I found the book to be terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. If you want a book to give you chills this summer, then look no further