It’s mid-August, still hot enough to toast bread on the asphalt, and teachers and students are getting ready to head back to school.
But wait, what else does this month have to offer? You guessed it – pumpkin spice, candy corn, and a ton of scary movie and book releases! No, we’re not jumping the gun here; just getting a head start on the best season of the year. This is my version of heaven.
Naturally, as a lover of spine-tingling, skin crawling entertainment, I’ve been diving head first into the creepy movies and books. Really, that’s a year round love, but as we near October, it becomes a visceral need. This past weekend, I went to see Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with my sister and brother-in-law (not my husband, because he’s allergic to anything even remotely related to horror. Just ask me about what happened on our second date.) Talk about nostalgic! It was like Are You Afraid of the Dark? on crack. And it definitely validated and intensified my phobia of spider bites.
During the previews, there were a slew of other horror movies I’m highly anticipating, like IT: Chapter 2, Ready or Not, and Doctor Sleep. There are also a few books I’m geeking out about getting my hands on as soon as they’re released. The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (releasing October 8th) and The Institute by Stephen King (September 10th) have been on my Watch List for months now, so to say I’m excited to devour them is an understatement.
Luckily, thanks to BOTM, I got my hands on a pre-released copy of a bone-chilling, teeth chattering, scary thriller to keep me satiated until then. The Whisper Man by Alex North is the story of childhood nightmares and parents’ worst fears. A mash up of Silence of the Lambs and the serial killing activities of John Wayne Gacy, it’s not a book to take lightly…and you might want to lock all your windows and turn the lights on when you crack open its pages…
The Whisper Man is the creak in the floorboards, the whistle of the wind, the silence in the dark…If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you…
He’s a man who plucks young, lonely boys out of their homes. He makes promises of a better life, a loving home, a family who cares. He is the monster under the bed, reciting his siren song of hope to little ears pining for acceptance and a safe place to lay their heads.
Twenty years ago, the notorious Whisper Man, Frank Carter, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after the murders of four boys. The bodies were found within his home, their faces covered by their t-shirts in death, as if Carter wanted to pretend they were someone else…
Pete Willis has been haunted by this case for years, not least of all because one child’s body was never discovered and Carter is enjoying his upper hand too much to divulge its whereabouts. Willis battles his own demons as best he can, refusing to fall back into the bottle of despair that ruined his family and endangered his career. But another boy disappears under circumstances unsettlingly similar to those established by the Whisper Man.
Tom Kennedy and his son Jake have moved to a new home in the hopes of making a fresh start after the death of Tom’s wife. Jake, a sweet but odd child, continues a concerning friendship with his imaginary friend, which causes his peers to ostracize him in school. But this friend is integral to Jake’s safety. She warns him of the man lurking behind his window. The danger that waits to spirit him away in the night.
Death moths, long buried bones, the seemingly unconnected murder of a local criminal, and an unexpected reunion all come together to create a story about the darkest of hearts that come in the most unexpected packages.
The truly chilling thing about this book is how real this story feels. As an aficionado of true crime (that’s a blatant lie, but I do find the topic fascinating), there are many similarities in this book to actual serial killers throughout history. So I think it’s safe to say that North hit the nail on the head with his storyline. In order to make a story genuinely terrifying, there has to be an element of reality included. That feeling resonated throughout the book and kept me on edge through the duration of the story.
If you like getting the creeps, you’re in good company! The Whisper Man will officially be released on August 20th – get your copy!
Happy & healthy reading!
Lexi
