This is a great, tense, creepy horror novel. It can be read as a stand alone, but readers of Markert's earlier book, [book:The Nightmare Man|60847018] will recognize some things from the previous book, so it is somewhat of a sequel.

Description:
In the vein of T. Kingfisher and Christopher Golden, the boundary protecting our world from the monsters on the other side is weakening—and Mister Lullaby is about to break through.

The small town of Harrod’s Reach has seen its fair share of the macabre, especially inside the decrepit old train tunnel around which the town was built. After a young boy, Sully Dupree, is injured in the abandoned tunnel and left in a coma, the townspeople are determined to wall it up. Deputy sheriff Beth Gardner is reluctant to buy into the superstitions until she finds two corpses at the tunnel’s entrance, each left with strange calling cards inscribed with old lullabies. Soon after, Sully Dupree briefly awakens from his coma.

Before falling back into his slumber, Sully manages to give his older brother a message. Sully's mind, since the accident, has been imprisoned on the other side of the tunnel in Lalaland, a grotesque and unfamiliar world inhabited by evil mythical creatures of sleep. Sully is trapped there with hundreds of other coma patients, all desperately fighting to keep the evils of the dream world from escaping into the waking world.

Elsewhere, a man troubled by his painful youth has for years been hearing a voice in his head he calls Mr. Lullaby, and he has finally started to act on what that voice is telling him—to kill any coma patient he can find, quickly.

Something is waking up in the tunnel—something is trying to get through. And Mr. Lullaby is coming.

My Thoughts:
The story is gripping and I had trouble putting it down as I was so engrossed in what was happening that I had to keep reading more to find out. Old folklore comes alive to menace the town of Harrod's Reach and no one is safe. Loved the characters Gideon and Beth for their courage and determination. I found the coma patients and their role to be imaginative. Great plot complete with monsters and afflicted humans causing mayhem.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on 11/21/23.

This is a book that continues with the nostalgic steps from his previous book. It has such a great premise but sometimes the sleep theming was so heavy-handed that it detracted rom the story. I think the build of the world is really good and you can feel the terror of the characters, but I thought the ending felt really rushed and almost unfinished. The small town feels lets you meet and get to know a lot of the characters because they are all easily connected, but having a larger cast of characters can make some feel undeveloped.

This story excels in set up. It's slow and detailed and really draws you in, but a bit was left unanswered by the ending.

I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did. I struggled to finish it, over the last few weeks. The synopsis was intriguing and I really liked the supernatural + serial killer vibe to it, but I just could NOT get into it. There was a lot of back and forth, jumping in between multiple characters and time. It wasn’t necessarily hard to follow, but I felt like it dragged on. The ending felt super rushed and all I could think was, “Wow, this is it!?”

Another wild, twisted, dizzying ride from J.H. Markert. This story, like The Nightmare Man, is jam packed with creativity, mythology and terror. At turns disturbing, fantastical, terrifying and heartbreaking. Markert delivers again with characters that explode off the page. As someone who loved The Nightmare Man, I really
Loved how this expanded on that without being specifically a sequel and just like that book it has a few of the same issues of almost being too much in the end. Still Markert shows he has control and runs us right off the cliff at the end and leaves us hanging and praying for the next book! Give this one a read!

As with the first book, THE NIGHTMARE MAN, there are definite nods to 80s horror and the nostalgia that comes with it. This was a pretty typical small-town horror book with loads of characters who were difficult to keep up with initially.

Sully Dupree, a local boy from the small town of Harrod's Reach slips in a coma after playing in an old train tunnel and injuring himself, With safety at the forefront, the townspeople make the decision to seal the tunnel permanently. But when two bodies are found in front of the tunnel with lullabies attached to them and Sully briefly awakens screaming. "Run" everything changes. Sully and other coma patients around the world are trapped in Lalaland, a world filled with evil and nightmarish creatures that are trying to enter the real world. While hundreds of coma patients are working to keep them at bay, another man who hears Mister Lullabies voice is already working hard to kill as many "dead heads" as quickly as possible. Wake up, because Mister Lullaby is coming.

It took a little while to get there, but once I got the characters sorted and the pace picked up, I was hooked. Just as the momentum was going, the abrupt ending absolutely gutted me. Now to wait for book three, I guess.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

The small town of Harrod’s Reach has seen its fair share of the macabre, especially inside the decrepit old train tunnel around which the town was built. After a young boy, Sully Dupree, is injured in the abandoned tunnel and left in a coma, the townspeople are determined to wall it up. Deputy Sheriff Beth Gardner is reluctant to buy into the superstitions until she finds two corpses at the tunnel’s entrance, each left with strange calling cards inscribed with old lullabies. Soon after, Sully Dupree briefly awakens from his coma. This is where it gets really good. This is an edge-of-your-seat, quick read and I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this arc.

I really liked Markert’s previous book, The Nightmare Man, and was very excited for this one. The premise of the book was quite intriguing but unfortunately this novel did not work for me.

I thought about DNFing at 20% but kept pushing through and at the end regretted not DNFing. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This is a small town horror with a lot of characters and because there are a lot of characters I felt like they were not developed well, many of them felt flat to me. There is a lot going on in this story, too much for me! It felt like a crazy ride. I also did not like the ending.

After reading so many reviews of this novel I’m convinced a lot of people loved this story. It might not have been for me but it can definitely be a wonderful story for you. If you feel like reading it, please do not feel discouraged by my opinion!

Well written small town horror with a definite nod to Stephen King and Dan Simmons. If you’re a fan of 80’s horror you will definitely enjoy this book.

Immediately upon reading the synopsis for this book, I knew that t was one that I would not pass up. Venturing into the world of Lalaland was a true treat, and I had such a great time delving into what was a truly absorbing story with some fabulous world building. I wasn't reading about the characters, i was there alongside them being pulled in all directions trying to make sense of the horrifying, twisted events and all that transpired.

This book was set in the same universe as The Nightmare Man, with hints thrown in about at least one other big bad that we may be able to look forward to seeing in future books (I sincerely hope so anyway). The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the abrupt ending. If you don't like cliffhangers or getting to the end only to feel like it really isn't the end, then you might want to pass up on this one. There were a few too many loose ends for my liking, making it feel like the season ending of a tv show where you have to wait until the next season to find out what happens, which is all well and good in some cases, but I felt a little robbed of the closure that I felt was needed. That being said, if there is a sequel (or another book that ties in to this universe, especially one that will give answers about the ending of this one), I will most definitely be reading it

* Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. *

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read Mr. Lullaby before The Nightmare Man, both novels can be read together or as a stand alone. Mr. Lullaby was a great creepy atmospheric horror. I was able to connect with all the characters and invested really quick into the situations they were in. I love where the backstory of this series is headed, if I'm to guess correctly. I'm excited to see where the author takes the next book and how it's all going to tie together. The cliffhanger the book had at the end, I can do without, it left me very upset and angry on just how much was left open-ended! Reader beware! This second story was significantly worse than the first with the cliffhanger, but I'm invested enough to continue on with his story to see where he will go with it. So, without further ado, I recommend this book for a great fall read with a nice warm cuppa. I'm very excited to be able to discuss this one with my book groups!!

Mister Lullaby is another creepy, nightmare inducing horror story from J.H. Markert. Harrow’s Reach is a small town with a haunted tunnel. Over the years, people have entered the tunnel and never returned. But now things are coming out of the tunnel as people are awakening from comas. The horror kicks into high gear as a school bus full of serial killers are released upon the citizens. Possessed by mares from the dream world in the tunnel, the murderers are unleashing mayhem and destruction on the small town as the one called Mr. Lullaby seeks to free the nightmares of the dream realm into the world. Bloody and violent, the horror story is a creepy, adrenaline fueled scare fest full of boogeymen and weirdness. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

This is the second book I have read by this author. The first book, The Nightmare Man, is connected loosely to Mister Lullaby. However, the books can be read as standalone novels. The characters and setting are all different.
However, this book also revolves around a police sheriff and a sinister crime. A young boy lays in a coma and wakes briefly to warn others of an evil coming. There is an old train tunnel that somehow forms the boundary between the world of the living and a world of nightmares. The book is creepy and introduces us to a host of disturbing characters all being pulled towards this small town where this old train tunnel is.
The ending is very abrupt. It makes me think and hope there is a sequel? It left a lot of unanswered questions and pretty much just stopped in the middle of the climax of the story. Yet this author is very good, and I hope we can get more of a conclusion in the future. I received an eBook from the publisher in exchange for a review on Netgalley.com

Mister Lullaby is equally eerie as it is thrilling. By the 25% mark, I was completing consumed by the story. When I picked it back up yesterday, I couldn’t stop until I finished it.

At first I struggled to keep up with the various perspectives and times but it didn’t last long. It was a seamless shift between each. While vastly different perspectives, they didn’t clash like many books do. As the book progressed, the carefully executed shifts remained wonderfully consistent.

The vivid descriptions and attention to detail truly brought the story to life.

There were a lot of “big reveals” towards the end but, in the heat of the moment, they were all accepted and the goal remained the biggest focus. I really loved how that was executed.

I’m a huge fan of the quick but realistic shifts Gideon makes as a person. Maddy was also a character you quickly fell in love with. Beth was strong, smart, and driven. I really liked how she was aware of her “savior complex”, accepted it, but still retained autonomy and emotion.

With a lot of horror stories, I get annoyed at how characters with a savior complex can get “uppity” and a “holier than thou” demeanor. I didn’t feel that way with the characters of Mister Lullaby.

Mister Lullaby is easily in my top 5 favorite books. I really hope there’s a follow up or even a bonus chapter to “check in” after how everything ended. I was really hoping for a “2 years later” type epilogue. However, I wasn’t crushed that there wasn’t.

The ending was absolutely perfect and also left room for imagination. My “2 years later” view is a happily ever after.

I will absolutely be grabbing a physical copy! I loved everything about Mister Lullaby!

After reading tons of reviews saying this was genuinely scary, and as a horror fan, I had to see for myself. And indeed this was very scary! It takes a while to get there, but it does.

This book is like a mix of It and Nightmare on Elm Street. Dead bodies, people disappearing, lullaby calling cards, and all of it is tied to a place called LaLaLand, a realm where people can access when they are asleep and having a nightmare, but most don’t remember it in the morning. Unfortunately for coma patients, their minds are active and they are stuck in this realm. It almost is like being in an alternate universe, where they can talk and interact with other people who are also in comas. Maddy is one of the lucky few who wakes from her coma, therefore escaping LaLaLand, but you learn from her on what it was like in this realm. A vibrant colored world with a lake of fire, an island of bones, and monsters are as common as people. Cannibals who roast and eat severed limbs and poisonous purple snakes are other examples of commonly seen things in LaLaLand. Like in Nightmare of Elm Street, if you die in LaLaLand, you die in the real world.

On the other hand, there is Teddy, who hears from Mister Lullaby himself, convincing him to commit horrible and violent acts. You find out later that the reason Teddy is so messed up ties back to that tunnel. Mister Lullaby can communicate with people awake in the real world, like Teddy, as long as they have entered the tunnel.

The most interesting parts of this book are anything that involve the details of what LaLaLand is like, because that is what truly makes this book scary. I would love an entire book or novella just on LaLaLand alone, what it is like to be in LaLaLand and trying to survive in this horrific landscape. There are so many different lands that I wanted to learn more about. What is the Bad Place, The Land of Wrong, Kill Place, or The Island of Never like? What do they look like, which are the most dangerous? You could even create a map of LaLaLand with these details. This would be an amazing novella opportunity.

This was slower to start than I would’ve liked and took too much time setting up the story, but there is a good payoff at the end. I decided to give this 3 stars because the ending was so frustrating and inconclusive, it was basically a non ending. This is the type of ending I would expect from a series but not a stand alone, and it felt like all of this book built up to this point only to end so abruptly. This was one of the most imaginative horror novels I’ve ever read though.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

This book is very creepy. So if that is your jam, you will enjoy this. The plot is a bit long, but I will try to condense it. Basically, this man who has been hearing voices in his head since childhood is now hearing names of people he has to find and kill. The voice in his head is named Mister Lullaby. The names of people are those who are in a coma. Those people are in Lalaland which is a world that has evil creatures of sleep. Those that are in comas are trying to keep those creatures from escaping into the real world.
The book is a bit sci-fi and horror and a great different read.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a fan of J. H. Markert's The Nightmare Man, I was quick to request an ARC of his pseudo-sequel, Mister Lullaby, releasing in November of 2023. I requested. I read. I recommend. This was a fun one folks!

I'm unsure if the master, Stephen King, is an influence for this author or not, but I was picking up some very King like vibes. If a little taste of Doctor Sleep with splash of Rose Madder is in your lane, Mister Lullaby just may be in your wheelhouse!

Entertaining and unique, I was having the best time flipping pages. It was intriguing to see the loose way he weaves this story with his prior. Separate but connected. You can read alone, but ever so meaty when read together.

Markert exhibits a strength in his invention of truly horrifying villains, and their ability to send the proverbial chill down a spine. He also does a masterful job of delivering a well developed narrative: however; the cast of characters can come across as a tad convoluted. As in his previous novel, you need to remain sharp at all times.

Final thoughts? A fun, eerie hair raiser that's sure to satisfy those who enjoy a good old fashioned tale of twisted mayhem. If you like your horror macabre but not grisly gory, this is the read for you! J. H. Markert: Welcome to my automatic read author list!

I really struggled with this book. I wanted to like it so much. I’ve been in love with horror lately, and this one seemed right up my alley. I never could get into it. There really were way too many points of view that I never felt connected to any of the characters and it dragged. The book does pick up towards the end, but I spent so much time and effort getting things straight in my head that by the end I really didn’t care. I think that had this same story been told from two maybe three points of view, then I would have absolutely loved it.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for a review. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC!!!


This book took me a little while to get into. Once I got the the last 75 pages, I was hooked. I could barely go to sleep until I realized what Mister Lullaby was planning and who would stop him.

Overall a great book. Only complaint is the ending. I need some type of follow-up

This was a wild ride. I had no clue where it was taking me but I was there for it! This was my first horror novel and I’ll definitely be trying out new horror novels. I could picture Mr. Lullaby in the story and all of his “crew”. I love any book with a strong female MC and Beth was awesome!!The storyline was great up until the ending! I have so many unanswered questions! I felt like it just left it open?

Read this if you like true villains, multiple POVS, then and now timeline and a creepy story in general!