The Nightmare Room

Messy Man Series, Book 1

By: Chris Sorensen

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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 like 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, 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.

©2018 Chris Sorensen (P)2018 Tantor

An excellent and original haunted house story...

The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen follows Peter and Hannah, a couple dealing with the loss of their son and moving to Peter's hometown to be close to his ailing parents. He's an audiobook narrator and is starting to get behind on his contract, so he's eager to get moved into his father's home now that his dad is at the Dimensia Ward nearby. There's a snag though, and the house has to be liquidated. Stranded with a rented truck full of all their belongings, they find his father actually had a second house, one he rented out but the family had known nothing about, and it's vacant.

With the housing situation handled they get moved in and Peter promptly sets up his narration booth. But strange things are going on as he records some samples. Strange spikes in the audio and something that might be...words?

From here the story builds in classic haunted house fashion, but never falls back onto cliches at any point. The mental degeneration we witness in Peter is deliberate and believable, and the fallout all around him with his family and friends rings absolutely true.

Yet, while being a haunted house story, this one is absolutely the most original I've read to date. No standard tropes here, and the author deftly weaves a wicked tale, combining the past and the present into a revelation I'd never have seen coming in a thousand years. The suspense boils throughout, and the climax was incredibly satisfying. You will not see it coming.

I recommend this to anyone in the mood for a good horror story, haunted house story, or just a good suspenseful ride in general. This isn't a blood and guts story, but it still manages to shock you. This is a terrific book. You won't regret checking it out.

Chris Sorensen did his own narration here, and he does a fine job. The characterizations are distinct and believable.

Conflicted

This book is about psychological torment- of a young boy in a bad home, of a family dealing with loss, of another boy with an illness. It was a pretty decent horror story because it taps into the discomfort and fear of sadness and sorrow. At the same time, I hate stories that exploit the experiences of children living a brutal reality. It feels sadistic. I almost stopped listening several times, but I have a pathological need to finish things.

The narration could have been much better. It wasn’t horrible, but the female character never hit the right emotional note. When he read her lines, they lacked love and sympathy. His read of her lacked depth and authenticity. His read of the spirit was also rather cheesy. It was a short listen and entertaining enough, but I won’t listen to it again.

Go boy!

I loved it. I can't wait for second installment!!! please hurry!! I love the story and there's more to come. You reading it also was fantastic.

Nightmarishly Boring

NO SPOILERS! I am 3 hours in and nothing scary has really happened. Also, there are bits of humor. I was expecting a horror story and this one just isn’t doing it for me. I’m not wasting any more time on this one. Off to be returned!

I swelled on this story for days. Still do.

This story was frightening and unsettling. It went beyond the super natural spooking the hero and reader together. It touches ideas that reach right through the page and made me cringe. I feared for the characters and had to examine my own feelings about my self.

I don’t generally get involved with a series when it’s only book 1 on the shelf but this book spoke to me from the cover art and font, to the author’s reading to the last “audible hopes you have enjoyed this program”. Yes, audible. I enjoyed this program. I am eager for the rest of the follow up books to this series and Chris Sorensen has joined the small circle of writers I look forward to being scared by.

Great work.

worth a listen!

it was a fun listen and I love it when the author does the reading

A surprise find

I was looking for something to tide me over until the release of a book I was waiting on came out. I happened on this one and am happy that I did. I enjoyed the story and am looking forward to the next one.
I like the story behind the story. The author is a narrator who wrote a book involving a narrator and then narrated the book himself.
The story was good and the performance was well done IMO. I will pass on an audiobook that I have been looking forward to if the narrator isn’t relatable and this one kept my attention.
However, I will say some of the situations with the wife wasn’t very believable. Seemed like something a man would think a woman would say, think, or do.
Regardless, I would recommend this book.

Secrets Of The Old Farm House

When Peter Larson was very young his father Bill, was not a very easy person to live with. He worked nights and needed sleep. His Mother worked days. Hard as he tried to keep quiet, Peter was abused constantly and even locked in a cellar room on many occasions. As he grew older his Dad and he became a little closer and developed a sorta Father Son relationship. Just the same when Peter later married, he and his Wife, Hannah moved East to live.



Peter received a call from the Bank's Secretary, who held the deed to his father's house. The Banker Mr. Moots wish to speak with him regarding the disposition of the house. She told him his Father was taken to a Senior Citizen's Home, had a large house and it was available for immediate occupation. Mr. Moots the Banker, would like to meet with him to discuss matters regarding his Father's estate.



That was when Peter first learned his parents being in their late years and unable to take care of each other were now living at Applegates, Senior Citizens Home. His Dad had made arrangements for Peter's Mom when she developed Dementia, because he found he could not give her the proper care she required. Later on when he lost control of his facilities and went berserk one day, a ambulance had taken him away to Applegate Home and He joined his Wife in the same room as her. He made these arrangements himself prior. The House was vacant now.



Peter and Hannah having loss their young Son Michael, were having a hard time dealing with it. Hannah and he sold out, packed up and headed back to his hometown to meet with Mr. Moots. This would be a new beginning and hopped it would help with their loss. Peter and Hannah had driven since early AM, across country back to the small home town, Maple City, out Mid West.



Upon their arrival the a small town was in worst shape than Peter remembered. The House needed some work, the inside was no better. In the kitchen he observed the complete refrigerator contents left lying on the kitchen table and counters (how long, he didn't know), a disgusting stinch, spread spread about were decomposing food. They detached car from the truck and drove into town. They went to a Dinner for dinner (how they could eat after what they just left is beyond me), but they sat and ordered.



Later the Banker Mr. Moots, ran into them there, introduced himself and was invited to sit, they discussed business. Much to Peter's supprise, the bank wanted to sell the house, liquidate the assets so the bank could recooprotate it's lost. This threw a monkey wrench into their plans of occupancy. Peter told the Banker he had a box truck with everything they owned, parked at outside. Just what is he going to do now? He had spoken to a lady from office prior and She assured him all was fine for them to move in. Mr. Moots suggested Peter go see his Dad.



Peter and Hannah left the Dinner later and checked into a Hotel while he gathered his thoughts. He had to devise a plan, for they had sold their house and had nowhere to go.



Peter received a call the next day from Mr. Moots, trying respectively to make amends for his Secretary's blunder. Peter listened and found out his Dad had bought a farm at auction a few years back. He had rented it and it did good until the last tenants moved out. It had been vaccant for quiet sometime now, but would make a nice fixer-upper. He sent a Realtor out to meet Hannah and Peter. Upon arrival , they were taken back! The place was an old two story building which had appeared no have been built in the late twenties or early thirties and in great need of help, both outside and inside. However; it appeared solid, The Realtor told him he could rent it for $1.00 a month as long as he remained in it. Peter thought a Fixer-upper! A strong wind could have blown it over. The thought also ran through his mind, could things couldn't get any worse? It was just the opposite to Hannah. She absolutely loved it. She could Immagine all the possibilities the house had to offer.



They went to a Motel while the farm house was made liveable. While there Peter starting getting calls from his Editor. You see Peter was a Audible Book Narrator and he was far behind. This house was to have the cellar converted into a reading booth. That didn't work out too well, for the first draft he sent to his Editor, she called him and said she was sending it back. She wanted him to listen to it again. He did and the unexplainable noises, voices and ghostly sounds that came from his draft shocked him. That is not all that starting happening in his new home. He thought, what else can go wrong?



This is the first book I have read by this Aurthor, but I will not be looking for others. I hate unfavorable review's. I usually give favorable reviews and seldom deviate, but this story seemed to take forever to get on tract. I listened to the Audible version. Mr. Sorensen narrated it himself, didn't do that great of a job with changing character voices to match the genders of the characters speaking. I started to stop several times and return it, but gave him the benefit of a doubt. I wasted my time and money. Also, I was into chapter thirty four before it turned from a reality type story to a Paranormal, with only twelve chapters left to get to a plot. I was disappointed and can not recommend this Aurthor.

Great Little Book To Find

I just randomly came upon this book but glad I did. Cant wait to see where the books will takes us readers too.

It was ok - but I didn’t finish it

I lost interest with what was happening with the characters. None of them grabbed me enough to listen to the outcome. The dialogue was a bit hokey.

so so

Run of the mill story with nothing particularly new or exciting. Best I can say is that it passed the time.

Uninteresting

Overall the story seemed to very mechanical...
The writers narration contributed to my abandonment of the book before the end of chapter 2
The characters were a cliche