New York audiobook narrator Peter Larson and his wife Hannah head to his hometown of Maple City to help Peter’s ailing father and to put a recent tragedy behind them. Though the small, Midwestern town seems the idyllic place to start afresh, Peter and Hannah will soon learn that evil currents flow beneath its surface.
They move into an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town—a house purchased by Peter’s father at auction and kept secret until now—and start to settle into their new life.
But as Peter sets up his recording studio in a small basement room, disturbing things begin to occur—mysterious voices haunt audio tracks, and malevolent shadows creep about the house. And when an insidious presence emerges from the woodwork, Peter must face old demons in order to save his family and himself.
Horror Book Review Blog: The Nightmare Room
I knew that going into this book would lead me to a path of possibly checking out the author’s next book. Why? Because this is a series and, as “luck” would have it, this is book one of The Messy Man Series. OK, I’ll bite. Let me correct myself – reading this book was no guarantee that I would be reading the follow-up to this book, or Volume Two if you will. That would all depend on how much I enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, Volume One, of Chris Sorensen’s The Nightmare Room.
Having the protagonist’s livelihood of being an audiobook narrator, I expected more than a fair share of lonely nights shacked up within the small confines of an audio booth where, more likely than not, there would be “things” that rattled or here, Peter Larson – in effect, rattling us, the readers. And, I was right! Picture being home alone in new surroundings – an old house with an unknown history, a fixer-upper when all of a sudden you hear something. Maybe it’s your wife – no, she’s working tonight. Then, something walks past the open door, and you catch a glimpse of what it is. This glimpse of what you saw keeps you up at night, afraid that it will return. Visions of horror and doom torment you – and that thing you saw. That is what Peter Larson faces, alone, for the most part.
Always being on the prowl for a good horror novel, I picked up The Nightmare Room with very little expectations and some reluctance because, for one, I was not a big fan of the title as it screamed, albeit a small one, YA (young adult) fiction. But, never judge a book by its title, right? This was far from YA as it featured a lot of adult-oriented themes and scenarios. I was not expecting where this book eventually lead and by the book’s conclusion I softly uttered to myself, “Wow.”
Was it scary? Yes. But, there was more to it. It was also sad. There were some creepy moments alongside some heart-wrenching passages that kept me on my toes and eager to turn the pages with much enthusiasm. And, if you haven’t figured it out yet, yes I will be reading the follow-up to this book as The Nightmare Room has definitely put Sorensen on my radar and one to watch (read?).