The Nightmare Man

By: J. H. Markert

Narrated by: David Bendena

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.

Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills and his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, are determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.

As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books, thousands of books without words. As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history, he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.

©2023 J. H. Markert (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Generally solid horror thriller

I enjoyed this overall, it's a solid horror thriller with some mystery elements. My main gripes were that the concluding material ran on a bit long, and it didn't always stick the landing with all the plot revelations that were going on towards the end. But that's about my most common complaint for horror novels, so it didn't surprise or disappoint me too much. Still a solid recommend if you're in a horror mood.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kept me interested from start to finish. Listened to the whole thing in a weekend.

I listened in one day!

Such a new and unique take in horror. A new story and new ideas. If you’re tired of the same old same old in horror this is a book for you. Thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!

What a ride!

I loved everything about this book. I don’t want to spoil it so I won’t go into detail.

Great listen

Not what I expected but after re listening to it , I think it was worth the credit I hope there is more coming

Absolutely Loved It!!

I had no clue what to expect from this book tbh, I thought it was a simple story about an evil scarecrow but I was wrong. It is so much deeper than that. The world building is great. The writing keeps you hooked and weaves in information at the perfect time. I loved The Nightmare Man and look forward to the sequel, assuming there will be one. Highly recommend.

What a wild ride!

Hang on for a wild ride with this one! Markert is sure to become one of the premier horror authors of our time. What an incredible, unique tale. I can't wait to read more of his work.

Fantastic Read!

I don’t know what I was expecting. I read a few reviews and figured why not. This book was excellent. Drew me in and made me want to know how it would play out. No spoilers here. All I have the say is it was worth the listen and I hope the author continues the story.

What a great story!

One of my new favorite authors! Finished it in 2 days so good can’t wait till he puts out the next one 😊

Suspensions!!!!

Chilling descriptions, guessing game on suspects and interesting plot twists. characters from the book , compared to insane patients ,genius