Holy horror! Misery by J.H Markert was SO good!!! I hope there’s a next book and if there is, I need it immediately. The book was captivating, innovative, and had all the right elements of horror.

Fans of Stranger Things and Stephen King will definitely get a kick out of this book. I can see it being made into a movie. The scenes described would make for the best cinematic experience. I would 100% pay to watch the movie form of this book. Also, the story is just wild and utterly captivating!

It started a little slow but this was necessary to really set up the plot. Without understanding the fundamentals, it’s hard to get the full impact of the end of the book. The multiple POVs made it a bit confusing at first; but are essential to the book. I loved the differences in all of the characters. Each one brought their own elements to the story and their growth really made the book.

The last 100 pages really packed a punch with all of the action happening then. It felt like I was watching an action horror movie. I didn’t know what was going to happen next but I knew I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to find out!

The ending was so abrupt and didn’t really conclude every story line, which makes me think there will be second book. It is set up perfectly for one so fingers crossed. I want more of Lalaland and these characters.

Overall, I would definitely recommend picking up this book if you love horror and want a spooky read with a great plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free and give my honest feedback and review.

Quite the wild ride! When soldier Gideon reluctantly returns to his hometown he knows he will face unpleasant memories and realities. His younger brother, the family star, lies in a coma after an incident that occurred while Gideon was babysitting him. The family and the town blame him for the injuries his brother suffered in the town’s haunted tunnel. The tunnel has been bricked up but lately those bricks have been coming down. And earth tremors are threatening to let all hell break loose from that tunnel to destroy the town. One thing for sure- you will not be bored with this book. It’s well written and wild! Five stars!

Thank you NetGalley, J.H. Markert, and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Mister Lullaby in exchange for an honest review.

This one had a slow build and had a big payoff in terms of storytelling. It was spooky and intriguing throughout. It definitely had a Stephen King level of horror. The characters were able to move the plot along. The whole thing was pretty entertaining. I could see this book being turned into a very interesting movie someday.

If you enjoyed The Nightmare Man then you are going to absolutely love Mister Lullaby!
Murders, serial killers, monsters and the terrifying nightmares come to life, all combined in one small town, this is every horror fans dreams come true!
Things have been happening in the small town of Harrod’s Reach for years, terrible, unexplainable things, all centred around an old abandoned tunnel, and as with any old, scary tunnel surrounded by folklore the children are drawn towards it like moths to a flame.
One of those children was Sully Dupree who’s obsession led him to try running through the tunnel landing him halfway through resulting to him being in a coma ever since.
On the arrival of his older brother, Gideon back home, Sully suddenly wakes up and starts reciting names, names that have no meaning to anyone before slipping back into his coma. These names, they are names of other coma patients from all over the world.
One of these coma patients, Maddy Boyle, much to the surprise to everyone comes out of her coma with memories of being in a strange place, and a name, Sully. As she recovers from what put her in the coma in the first place she sets off to find Sully, unsure why, just that that’s what she needs to do.
What she, or anyone else knows is that these coma patients are all in danger. They are all being targets by one Mr Theodore ‘Teddy’ Lomax.
Teddy has been hearing a voice from a strange blue seashell he found and this voice is sending him on a trip with a mission. To kill all the coma patients, or ‘dead heads’ along the way.
As good and evil come together in Harrod’s Reach the tunnel comes to life, letting through some of the nightmare creatures from Lalaland into the town with horrific consequences……
This book is packed to the brim with so much imagination, clever plot lines and unforgettable characters that reading it time just flys by and the rest of the world disappears as it transports you to Harrod’s Reach. As I’ve already said, this is definitely the best book I have read this year, if not longer.
Mister Lullaby won’t be published until the 21 November 2023 but is available to preorder now and I can’t stress to you enough to get your copy preordered now so you can start reading straightaway on publication day. The book really is that good!

I LOVED J.H. Market’s The Nightmare Man, so I was was ecstatic to hear about Mister Lullaby.

This story was a bit slow at first, setting up the characters and the plot, but it did amp up. The character’s themselves were decently written, some fell a bit flat for me though.

The world-building of Lalaland and Harrod’s Reach was well done.

I really wasn’t a fan of the ending- the story didn’t feel finished or resolved.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Author, & Crooked Lane Books!

The book is compelling, haunting, lyrical and poetic. The book is written in third person and it has multiple point of view with alternate perspectives. The characters are really intriguing and mysterious. The book gripped me from page one and I couldn’t put it down until I figured out the mystery.

Secret are hidden in the dark tunnel and mystery has engulfed the town. It’s haunting and brilliant. Murders were lining up and childhood lullaby became the most haunting song to ears. The line between fiction and reality blurs and dark secrets unveils with investigation and horrific truth too. Something mysterious and sinister was happening in town until the mystery encapsulated and secrets unveiled. The past had some inevitable connection with tragic turn of events. The author has also created a character inspired by Slavic mythology.

This is a first! A book so terrifying that it gave me day terrors! After taking a break from reading to have lunch, I found myself screaming at my salad (no, I wasn't protesting healthy eating habits or accusing my salad of behaving like a greasy cheeseburger). I simply remembered a scene from the book and my mind got stuck in that eerie LaLaLand, causing me to be frightened even in broad daylight.

Before you dive into this truly jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, and highly disturbing read that combines the scariest elements of Peter Pan and Stephen King's masterpiece "It," let me offer you a few warnings:

Firstly, don't you dare read it late at night in silence (fortunately, I was spared as my husband's snoring, which is worse than ten thunderstorms, accompanied me during my morning reading, reminding me that there are scarier things than monsters).

Secondly, don't you dare read it in a crowded cafe or restaurant because when you forget about the people around you, they might grow concerned by your screams, and little children may point you out to their mothers, urging you to quiet down!

Lastly, don't even think about secretly reading it during one of your Zoom meetings, even if they are dreadfully boring and the only thing that keeps you from drifting off is the anticipation of stealing a glance at the book positioned next to your computer. If you scream in the middle of a meeting, your colleagues may assume you're having a nervous breakdown, and they won't believe your explanation that you were reading a scary passage about Teddy—a character so ominous it will send shivers down your spine.

Now, after issuing my cautionary notes, let's recap the main plot:

There's something incredibly sinister happening at Harrod's Reach. Corpses are appearing, left inside an old train tunnel, accompanied by eerie calling cards inscribed with old lullabies. After the brutal deaths of two individuals, the police also discover Sully Dupree, a young boy in urgent need of medical attention who is placed in a medically induced coma. When he briefly awakens, he delivers a message to his brother from LaLaLand, the nightmarish realm where his mind remains trapped alongside other children. In LaLaLand, dangerous mythical creatures lurk, seeking a way to breach the barrier into the real world and haunt the entire town.

We are introduced to two distinct characters. The first is Maddy, the sole survivor who manages to wake up from her coma. Her mission becomes finding a way to halt these creatures from conquering her hometown.

The other character is Teddy, bearing the scars of a traumatic childhood. Haunted by an eerie voice that reaches him through a seashell, Teddy devises a horrifying plan that could alter the fate of the entire population.

Overall, this book is not for the faint of heart, as it contains violent descriptions and chillingly realistic depictions. However, if you're a true horror fan who devours old-school King novels, I couldn't recommend it more. It may be the perfect fit for your taste!

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Loved it , loved how it give me the feeling that it could be something that Stephen King would come up with.

This is an amazingly well executed horror novel.. As a fan of the authors previous book, "The Nightmare Man", I was excited to be given the opportunity to read"Mister Lullaby" as an ARC. This is a solid stand alone read but.......the tie ins to the previous book were amazing! I loved the writing style, as it felt very character driven and even though the cast of characters is huge and there are two separate timelines. the skill with which the author tied everything together was top notch. Without giving any spoilers, I can only say that the originality here was stunning, the writing was fluid and engaging, and the world building was excellent. This book has solidified J.H.Markert as a top shelf horror writer, sitting comfortably among the likes of King, Nevil, and Ahlborn. 5 solid stars!!!

Another awesome book from this underrated author! There’s something seriously dark occurring in the town of Harrod’s Reach and it centers around the old, abandoned train tunnel. For over a century, there have been mysterious injuries, disappearances, and deaths inside that tunnel. Right now, there’s a young boy named Sully in a coma caused by an unfortunate accident that happened – you guessed it – inside the tunnel. But he wakes up briefly, yells out a message, then falls right back into unconsciousness. The Deputy Sheriff, Beth, wonders if it’s a coincidence that two victims were recently found horribly murdered near the tunnel. And that’s only the beginning.

Meanwhile, we meet Maddy, a young woman just waking up from her own coma. She was the only victim to escape the Horseshoe Rapist and when she awakens, she starts piecing together memories of her time in the coma in a place called Lalaland. There everything is different, alight in bold beautiful ‘wrong’ colors but also with places like The Island of Bones. There are horrible creatures borne from nightmares that are trying to break through into our world. Although it seems fantastic, she can’t help feeling that it was real and that she regained consciousness with a mission.

The reader also sees from the perspective of a man named Teddy who we quickly learn is not quite normal and plenty dangerous. He also believes he’s on a mission, but his is so much worse. He hears a voice coming out of a seashell and he will do whatever horrible deed it tells him to do. He calls the voice Mr. Lullaby which is quite ironic. He’s soon on his way to Harrod’s Reach with a gang of similar miscreants and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Literally!

I just loved this story, it’s so entertaining and even though it’s clearly a fantasy, you can almost see it happening in real life. If there was ever a book that needed to become a movie, it’s this one. It would be so amazing to see Lalaland captured on the screen. The characters are much more developed than you typically see for a book like this. I really hope there are more stories to come as I also loved The Nightmare Man from the same author. He’s incredibly talented at creating these worlds that envelop you and make you want to stay forever.

This one was a strange read for me, alternately so creepy I didn't want to go on because I was afraid I'd never get the images out of my head, and so description-laden that I didn't want to go on because nothing seemed to be happening. I couldn't keep vacillating between tension levels... Rather than sparking my interest, it caused it to wane. I really liked The Nightmare Man, which seemed to have a much smoother flow and more consistent pacing that I personally felt was more conducive to the tale. I struggled with this one mightily before finally deciding that it just wasn't for me.

But even though the book and I were not well suited, and I wasn't able to finish, I do still have to call out the absolutely stunningly evocative cover... It provides the perfect amount of creepy horrifying-ness for the concept!

Mister Lullaby

Gasp

Did your heart flutter too?

The title alone scared me, then it was the kid in the yellow coat. He might as well have been holding a red balloon (IKYK)

I was right to assume, this book is straight up terrifying and I loved every last word of it !

I mean, this is J.H. Market, we are talking about here .

I read The Nightmare Man, last year and I swear I didn’t so much as blink for a week let alone “sleep” after reading. I knew right then I would be a fan of Market but GAH! Mr. Lullaby, exceeded my already high expectations.

Here is my advice :

1. Don’t read this book at night.

2. Be prepared to sleep with the lights on for the rest of your life.

3. Buy the book.

Teaser:

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.

DNF

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for my ARC of this book! I was super excited to reas this book has I love mystery/horror/thriller books. This book is on the longer side. At first the book was very slow to me and I could not get into it. It took me a lot longer to begin this book than it normally took me. I really tried and tried to get into this book but couldn’t . It’s more of a personal thing.

Harrod’s Reach is a strange town, and by strange, I mean really bizarre. People die in brutal ways, mostly near or in The Tunnel, a place that seems tied to another world,Lalaland.
Gideon has returned from the service,injured and not the person he was. His younger brother, Sully, still lies in a coma, and not only does Gideon blame himself, he is sure his parents do too. But this town is under siege and he will have to fight for what he loves.Fantastic animals, people with a desire to kill, and Mr. Lullaby have broken through. People will run,people will die, and maybe good will win over evil.
It is so hard to write about much that happens without entering spoiler territory. Though it seems like everyone who has come through from Lalaland is evil, there are some good people fighting to protect/save the world. I was furiously flipping pages until I hit the 95% mark, and then I couldn’t imagine how everything would wrap up with so few pages left. I’m not going to say more since the ending might work better for you. I however yelled loudly at my Kindle, “No”.
My first 2024 DRC. I loved The Nightmare Man and Mr. Lullaby, just a bit less. The story and characters were so good, I’ll just have to get over the ending.

An ancient terror is awakening in the small town of Harrod's Reach and someone has to stop it.
With an unsettling atmosphere J. H. Market introduces us to a story where the main characters not only have to fight against the horrors escaping from a terrifying world called Lalaland but against their own fears.
The author manages to create the perfect tension to trap you in a story that keeps you in a constant state of unease. The characters are interesting and have stories to tell. The narrative speeds up until it reaches a shocking ending where it seems to be open for a sequel.
A novel that is perfect for fans of S. King and will undoubtedly be a great read for horror lovers.

Mr. Lullaby by J.H. Markert, published by Crooked Lane Books, is stand-alone mystery/ thriller. Set in the small town Harrod's Reach, Sully Dupree, a boy, is found injured in a tunnel.
Deputy Sheriff Beth Gardner is assigned to the case and she's pretty straight forward. She doesn't care for superstitions, but when more bodies show up and mystery whispers come to light, all bets are off.
I already read and loved the Nightmare Man and had high expectations for Mister Lullaby - and I was so not disappointed. A cutting edge read that gave me goose bumps and had me took more than one look under my bed at night. Masterfully written and told, a book that stays with you.

'This was what she imagined love should be. Messy and convoluted and silent and loud, but when shit hit the fan, when the house was on fire, you still danced.'

This was a fun and thrilling ride for me. Even though it was true to its genre and had plenty of horror-filled, macabre moments, there were several instances when it would slant toward thriller and because of the author doing such a great job at character-developing, it would cause my heart to warm up too.

Mister Lullaby and it's plot could be summed up in this line from the book: Imaginations come to life. But while that would do some justice to the plot, it wouldn't do justice to the book overall. Gideon, a young man who grew up in Harrod's Reach- a small town of a limited population where everyone knows everyone- comes back home from the army, labelled a hero. Everyone is gathered at the town's gymnasium to celebrate his coming back a hero with a surprise party. While unbeknownst to them, a surge of trouble is spurring elsewhere in the town at the tunnel that they've always considered as other-worldly and stayed clear of. There has been a whole history of strange and inexplicable happenings around that tunnel. Gruesome murders, decapacitated bodies and disappearing of children. However, the tunnel didn't get all of them. Sully Dupree, a child who went into the tunnel three years ago and came back alive but in a coma wakes up on this very night, revealing a string of names for the people to figure out. As his family realizes that someone sneaked into their house to kill Sully and that the list of names are other patients who are also comatose like Sully, they begin to try to piece together what this could possibly mean until people start dying near the tunnel again and a different world all together opens up to finish the world we know of today. As Lalaland begins to take over with Mister Lullaby leading the way.

This book delivered in every sense. From the descriptive and yet concise writing style to the characters and their depth, everything was carried out perfectly. I liked how easy it was for us readers to understand when the story had shifted to sometime in the past and when it was back in the present. There was no moment lost in confusion for that. The detective's notes incorporated as bonus details in between the chapters felt like secret insights into the whole story. It was a great touch to heighten the suspense. I also enjoyed the detail put into everything that was revealed about Lalaland. It felt like it was truly made of everything a person could imagine with its preposterous color combinations and the different monsters and their abilities that resided in there.

The eeriness that the creepy moments in the book contained sent goosebumps across my skin as it caused me to turn around and look over my shoulder continuously. Those parts were so well-written that they would suck me in and it would be impossible to block out. Not to mention the gruesomeness in here, it was extremely disturbing at times but totally added onto the vibe of this book. Lastly, even though the author had to do so much world-building, he took some time out to venture into the relationships the characters had with each other. Whether that would be platonic, familial or romantic, it created a connection with the characters that was tested when the ending of book appeared. I'm definitely going to check this author's other novel out and will keep a look out for his future works.

I thank Net Galley and the author and publisher for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. These are my honest opinions and from myself only.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. This is a book of mystery and intrigue. Disturbing story. The characters keep the story line moving, but I could not get over the horrifying details.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc copy. I wasnt expecting this from this book not normally what i like to read but i have to say i really enjoyed it alot i will at some point have to reread this one the first have of the book was a little slower and my mind drifted off a bit and some points of the book i was lost and confused but the second half picked up alot i enjoyed the different pov from every character in the book .the ending i didnt enjoy as much thats why im knocking 1 star off

DNF - I appreciated the premise of this book but, the writing style left something to be desired. I found the approach very heavy handed in exposition whereas I think this story would have benefited from some unknown as the reader struggled to find their footing alongside the characters. In that same breath, the characters felt incomplete - shadows of who they were meant to be. Ultimately, this wasn't for me.