Don’t expect a twist-filled heart-pounding story start-to-finish; this book is a slow-building suspenseful thriller and love letter to vintage horror movies.

I’ve seen mixed reviews for this book, but I enjoyed it! I found it engaging, tense, and much less campy than I anticipated based on the description. Set in October of 1993, teenager Amy is babysitting for two kids named Ben and Mira. Their mother Eleanor is glamorous and trusting of the rule-abiding Amy, encouraging her to invite her boyfriend over while she sits. In the first chapter we learn from 6-year-old Ben's perspective that just after midnight, Ben is standing in the dark kitchen next to a pool of blood. The events of the book largely cover the six hours leading up to midnight, narrated in alternating chapters by Ben and Amy.

The opening chapter is six minutes after midnight (every chapter is time stamped), so readers are likely to spend the rest of the book wondering what happened and whose blood it is (understandable). You won’t get that answer until the very end, though the events leading to it were in my opinion more compelling. My advice? Manage your expectations if you thought this would be straight horror, and allow yourself to appreciate what is happening with the rest of the story—you will get answers in due time!

The narrative structure has chapters from Amy’s and Ben’s perspectives and are timestamped with how many hours before midnight they occur. The chapters largely go in chronological order, though sometimes Ben’s chapters go backwards in time to retell something from his perspective. A select few of Amy’s chapters occur when she is 11 years-old (six years before the events of this book) and has a new babysitter named Sadie who was about the same age Amy is now (in 1993).

Amy is an anxious teenager who suffers from panic attacks; she particularly likes horror movies because she finds them predictable and that is comforting for her. Ben and Mira are also anxious children—they have something that Ben describes as “the fear”. This part I found sort of confusing, but I think it was a callback to children in horror films often being all-seeing or more aware of an evil presence that adults. Ben believes their house is haunted, and at times Amy can almost believe him.

If any of you have been babysitters, I think this book will appeal to you. I babysat in high school and I remember that exhilarating but terrifying feeling of being the responsible “adult” in someone else’s home, looking after kids when you’re still a kid yourself.

The way the events unfold across the evening were well-plotted. Amy arrives to babysit, and Eleanor is this cool, beautiful, and funny woman who Amy wishes she could be like. She encourages Amy to invite her boyfriend Miles over (I cannot imagine by the point in time I was babysitting EVER inviting my boyfriend over, especially when the children were still awake! But the 90s were a different era…). A pizza is on the way (yum!), and Amy has brought movies with her.

Throughout the evening, strange things happen that increase the tension and suspense. The doorbell rings many times with a nearly exhaustive string of visitors, ranging from the pizza delivery boy to an intimidating figure from the past. Each time the doorbell rang, it spiraled further away from who would be expected. Amy knows the pizza delivery is coming, she’s not surprised when Miles shows up, but then the guests get less welcome and more ominous as the evening goes on.

At a certain point in the book, I felt a jolt of fear when the doorbell rang. I was suspicious of several of the people on the other side of the door, even ones who had a completely benign reason for being there. This was further enhanced by eerie phone calls that Amy receives throughout the evening (though the millennial in me is shocked that Amy continues to answer the door and telephone—I have barricaded myself inside my own house for much less!). Another thing that added to the tension were the stories about a string of break-ins around town, where the perpetrator left disturbing carvings in the home.

If you zoom out from the story, you can see how these elements all add to the theme of scary movies from the 80s and 90s. A babysitter alone in the house. The boyfriend comes by. Other unwelcome guests show up. A creepy neighbor enters the picture. A person from the past makes an appearance. Crank phone calls could be a joke or something much more serious. Ben is certain the house is haunted, and Amy witnesses a few things that seem unexplainable. Someone has been breaking into houses and leaving a signature behind.

As things unfold, Amy drops plenty of tidbits from scary movie franchises. By the end of the book, it’s clear that whether she knows it or not, Amy’s love of scary movies has prepared her to handle this night! Fans of scary movies will also find themselves shouting for Amy to do something different, knowing what is coming. In particular I kept thinking—I don’t care how mad she is at her boyfriend, do not send him away! But of course, Amy doesn’t know what is coming as the clock strikes midnight.

On reflection, this is really a book about anxiety and how it can be a detriment but occasionally a superpower. Amy, Ben, and Mira’s vigilance may just be the thing that saves them on this night (though you’ll have to read to find out!). I loved the tributes to the scary movie genre. In a way, it reminded me of the first Scream film where a character works at a video store and is obsessed with scary movies. He uses his knowledge to help figure out how to survive.

If you take nothing else from this book, don’t answer the door if you don’t know who is on the other side! A fun debut thriller that is a perfect cozy-horror or scary-movie-light book to curl up with!

Thank you to Harper for my copy. Opinions are my own.

It’s 1993. Amy is an anxious, horror-movie-loving seventeen year old who babysits for several different families in the local area. So, when single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out on evening for a date, she leaves her two young children — six-year-old Ben and precocious, twelve-year-old Mira— in the capable, albeit sweaty, hands of of the teenager, despite whispers of strange break-ins happening under the cloak of night all over the suburb.

The evening starts out normally enough, but as midnight approaches, events in this quiet New Jersey home take a turn for the worst —unexpected visitors at the door, ominously silent phone calls, and by the early morning hours, sweet little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood.

This was a highly anticipated release for me. The 90s in all its glory— a nod to classic horror films and the potential for a terrifying home-invasion is like the perfect recipe for visceral chills, but honestly, this wasn’t it. There’s quite a bit of rambling about topics that just didn’t matter [to me] for such a short novel. Instead of developing the character of Amy into someone more endearing, it made me understand why someone is going to get stabbed. True to ‘90s horror, there are several plot points purposely misdirecting the reader off the trail and honestly, those got a little exhausting too.

The chills weren’t chilling, the thrills weren’t thrilling, and I just wasn’t buying into it. Have I read worse? Absolutely, but this wasn’t the fun, campy, haunting ride I hoped it would be.

I did not enjoy this book, The narrative was very slow and was not what I was expecting. The reveal of the killer was anticlimactic. I appreciated the anxiety representation but it was brought up so much it took me out of the story. The only thing I liked was the references to older horror films.

Set in the 90s, Amy the teen babysitter gets more than she bargained for during her routine babysitting schedule. This short novel conveys many themes including parental abuse, panic disorders, and robberies. A main concept identified early on in this book is the prevalence of robberies in the nineties which I had not read or heard before so I thought this was a particularly interesting angle. Ultimately, I enjoyed this quick read but felt it should be in the Young Adult section as they story is told from a teenager's and child's point of view.

This was not a terrible book, but different from what I normally read so I do wonder if it just didn't hit right because of this.
I thought I was getting a horror story, but unfortunately it just didn't land that way. I will admit I didn't see the twist at the end coming, but one random character shows up in the middle, just to ratchet up the tension, then disappears from the book entirely. Fairly well written but overall, meh.

Thank you to Harper Perennial and Paperbacks and NetGalley, for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to love this book because the synopsis and node to the 90s really drew me in. Sadly this was a confusing read, that also felt like a huge waste of time. The chapters were all from different POV, but then would also jump around on the timeline of the night which made it hard to follow along. I felt like I understood where the author was trying to go with the story, but it fell completely flat. But the end of the book I was still trying to grasp what the actual plot was and what the point of it all was. I think maybe if the right reader who appreciates 90 horror movie nostalgia reads this, they could potentially enjoy it. However, I did not find this book to be a good read at all.

Amy is in high school, and the neighborhood babysitter. Her favorite thing to do when she isn’t watching kids, is watch horror movies. One night when she’s watching Ben and Mira her night turns into a real life horror film. Will she be able to protect the kids and be their heroine? Or will she die a grizzly death like most teenagers do in all the horror movies?

It’s October 1993 and Amy is babysitting two kiddos while their mom goes out on a date. The night starts off great but quickly takes a turn for the worse when unexpected visitors show up and creepy phone calls start coming in. Unfortunately for Amy all this leads up to a dead body on the kitchen floor.

Midnight On Beacon Street has all the 90s vibes and I’m here for it. From vhs tapes to babysitter horror movie vibes this one screams nostalgia. Amy is a bad ass babysitter who kicked ass even as she struggled with her severe anxiety. A solid read for anyone who wants a retro feel horror book.

Thank you @NetGalley and Harper Perennial for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review. I gave this 4 stars due to that it is different from anything I’ve read and the nice little surprise TWIST at the end. It had spooky vibes and a great plot and I liked how there were multiple point of views and how it flipped from past to present day.

The setting takes place in the 90’s, which is AWESOME! Amy is an anxious teen babysitter, sitting for two precocious children with a tragic history of abuse from their Dad. Ben is quiet, shy and has a wild imagination, fabricating being haunted by a ghost. Meanwhile, the actual ghost is older sister Mira, who protects her brother by keeping him living in fear. Making them always prepared.

One night, Amy’s boyfriend and his brother, his girlfriend (which is Amy’s former babysitter), and their friend show up unannounced and unwelcome to the house. Amy puts up with them until they become too unruly and send them home. The kids Dad, who is under a restraining order show up at the door, barging in aggressively. Mira, hearing the commotion, shows up at the staircase and yells that she has called the cops and that they are on their way. Dad leaves but later on another intruder breaks into the house and all hell breaks loose. One dead body, another seriously injured and one pretty surprising twist at the end.

Any thriller reader will enjoy this VERY FAST read.

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I graciously received an e-ARC of Midnight on Beacon Street by Emith Ruth Verona. This is my true and unprompted review:

I wanted to get into this book so badly, unfortunately the multiple timelines and POVs took away from the actual book for me. While I know that it's not always an option to publish traditionally, this may have been an easier read in physical form, allowing the reader to easily reference back to the different chapters, timelines, etc. I hate that this didn't work out for me the way that I had hoped ahead of reading it, however it will not deter me from trying another title from the author in the future.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for allowing me the chance to give this book a whirl!

Thank you for a copy of this book and the opportunity to review it!

This book was quick, slasher horror, 90s horror gold mine. I found the killer to be a little predictable to me but I still enjoyed the book.

Midnight on Beacon Street is a bit of a pensive novel, set in 1993. It follows a babysitter, Amy, who must overcome her own anxiety in order to protect the children she is responsible for on one hell of a night.

The scene is set as Eleanor Mazinski heads out on a date night, leaving her two children, Mira and Ben, with the sitter, Amy. Amy is 17-years old and skilled at taking care of children. Mira is stand-offish, but Ben is sweet and she knows she'll be able to win him over with a little patience.

The evening starts out normally enough, but takes some uncomfortable turns, escalating in their danger level.
By midnight, there's a dead body, a pool of blood, and a race for the kindly neighbor's house to call for help. How did things go so wrong? You'll have to read it to find out!

Midnight on Beacon Street turned out to be a very different story than what I thought it was going to be, and unfortunately, in this case, that's not a good thing. While I appreciated many different elements of the story, such as the many nods to classic Horror films, I can't say that I enjoyed it. For me, it sort of plodded along in an awkward way, with the tension only arriving at the final, climactic scene; too little, too late.

From the start, it felt odd to me. The way the perspectives were presented, the back and forth in time, it just didn't flow the way I would have wanted it to. Around the halfway point, I was enjoying it, but damn was it slow. There was a ton of character work and the build-out of their emotions and motivations, but not in a way that I personally found to be compelling. Nevertheless, I was still anxious for the excitement to start.

Sadly, it just never took off for me. It didn't seem to be able to establish a fluid narrative flow. The back and forth was a lot and it just felt way more literary than I was hoping for.

On a positive note, it almost felt like a Stephen Graham Jones work at times, in regards to the way it explored the Horror genre. As the synopsis says, it did feel like a love letter to Horror, which I love to see. Even though it wasn't done with the same finesse as SGJ, it was still a solid effort and that was definitely my favorite aspect of the book. Without those elements, this probably would have been a 2-star read for me.

I know that this will work for a lot of Readers though, so please don't let my jaded-old opinion sway you. If this sounds interesting to you, please give it a shot. You've got nothing to lose and in fact, you could find a new favorite.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I would be interested in picking up more from this author.

I love books set in the 90s, especially when they include things I also liked from the time period - and this one does that so many times thanks to the main character’s love of horror movies. Babysitting isn't a trope unfamiliar to horror lovers, so seeing it done differently here - with more heart, I'd go so far as to say - is refreshing. This had distinct WHEN A STRANGER CALLS vibes, but with more backstory and emotion.

This starts off with a lot of blood in the first chapter, but it's definitely more character-driven than blood-splattered slasher; the atmosphere is tense throughout, and the characters are fleshed out and detailed with their own motivations and backstories. I loved getting to know the Amy, Ben, Mira, & their mom - the main perspectives of the book are via Amy & Ben, but the writing enables us to get to know the rest of the cast fully as well (not to mention a lot of other more minor characters).


Amy’s love for the two kids she’s babysitting felt really believable, as did their characters in general - children aren’t always easy to write, but they’re so realistically done here! I also felt the anxiety representation was really well done.

One question....

How is this a debut?

Emily Ruth Verona, you have literally blown my mind and I am so honored to have been given the opportunity to read and review early in exchange for an honest review.

This book right here needs to be on everyones list :

Midnight on Beacon Street

The 90s nostalgia was real and I was completely consumed within the pages. I was lost in time and submerged in this intricate and detailed thriller that will have you gasping out loud.

I loved every minute of this book and can not wait to see what Verona, comes out with next.

Check out this teaser :

October 1993. One night. One house. One dead body.

When single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out a for a much-needed date night, she leaves her two young children—sweet, innocent six-year-old Ben and precocious, defiant twelve-year-old Mira—in the capable hands of their sitter, Amy. The quiet seventeen-year-old is good at looking after children, despite her anxiety disorder. She also loves movies, especially horror flicks. Amy likes their predictability; it calms the panic that threatens to overwhelm her.

The evening starts out normally enough, with games, pizza, and dancing. But as darkness falls, events in this quaint suburban New Jersey house take a terrifying turn—unexpected visitors at the door, mysterious phone calls, and by midnight, little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood, with a dead body at his feet.

As a huge fan of thrillers and horror movies, this book kept me guessing who was on the kitchen floor until the end. I loved the references to so many classic horror movies. I do wish the book had been a bit longer and more detailed history was given for some of the main characters. I also wish there was more to the ending and Tess’ fate as to answer why the sisters began doing this and what their end goal was.

One night in 1993, Amy babysits Mira and Ben on Beacon Street while their mother, Eleanor, has a night out. Everything seems to be going well until the mysterious phone calls and visitors appear. By the end of the night, there is one dead body, and little Ben is standing in the pool of blood.

This classic 90s-style slasher was enjoyable to read. It was campy, and I wondered, "What happened at midnight?" I felt like the characters were well-developed and the story had good pacing. I loved the ways Emily made it feel like 1993 and her draw on horror films. I felt a little nostalgic. I was also pleased to learn that something actually did happen at midnight - the title is not a misnomer. I also appreciated the Jewish representation. I could tell Emily put some of herself in the story and made it her own.

Where I thought this book could have improved with its use of point of view and timeline. I appreciate Emily using different POVs and timelines to tell the story and keep it interesting - not just another omniscient narrator. They also added important context to the night's events. I think the way that they were used convoluted the story. It became difficult to follow the thread of the story. Maybe if the thread of the story was the events of the day and the flashbacks were anything previous, it would have been a little tighter.

I love an 80’s babysitter slasher movie and this gave all the scary movie vibes! I definitely don’t want to give too much away but this was a fun in a scary movie kind of way and I was in.
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Thank you #harper and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

i feel like I had high expectations for this one but ultimately, this one left me wanting more.

although it’s a short read the pacing is slow, with multiple POVS in both past and present, which I didn’t think added a whole lot to how things ended. And the ending, a bit abrupt, the action happens the last 10-20 pages or so and even then, that’s really all we get.

while I appreciated the horror references and atmospheric feel of this story, I think it left a lot to be desired.

October 1993. One night. One house. One dead body. When single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out a for a much-needed date night, she leaves her two young children—sweet, innocent six-year-old Ben and precocious, defiant twelve-year-old Mira—in the capable hands of their sitter, Amy. The quiet seventeen-year-old is good at looking after children, despite her anxiety disorder. She also loves movies, especially horror flicks. Amy likes their predictability; it calms the panic that threatens to overwhelm her.
The evening starts out normally enough, with games, pizza, and dancing. But as darkness falls, events in this quaint suburban New Jersey house take a terrifying turn—unexpected visitors at the door, mysterious phone calls, and by midnight, little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood, with a dead body at his feet.
Senseless novel. Don't recommend this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for giving me an advance copy.

I’m going to keep this review short and sweet, just like the book.

Fans of horror movies that center around the babysitter trope, think Halloween or Better Watch Out, are definitely going to enjoy this one! I loved the setup of a babysitter home alone watching two young kids and the series of events that lead up to a dead body. The fun in this story is the journey to who that dead body belongs to. I had a great time guessing as the plot moved back and forth throughout the night from alternating perspectives. I liked that the reader got a glimpse into the past, so that they could try to pick up on clues that would lead them towards the grand reveal.

This book might be small, but it also packs a great examination in the psychological effects of fear and the lengths we will go in situations where this reaction is highest. Each of the characters adds a solid take on this, as we get to know each of them and watch them experience the events of this October night together.

The year is 1993 and Amy is babysitting 8 year old Ben and 12 year old Mira. As the evening progresses, things take a turn and Amy doesn’t feel in control of the situation. As unwanted visitors arrive, and a madman threatens them, Amy is on edge, and when someone breaks in and threatens her, someone is going to end up dead. Verona blends early horror films and trauma together to give the reader a creepy vibe throughout. Short and entertaining, but the ending was a bit too abrupt leaving me wishing for more. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.