Review by Booklist Review
Haven Marbury has lived under the shadow of her father's literary genius for her whole life. A struggling artist herself, Haven arrives at Malice House, her father's estate, to clean it out after his death. While looking for alcohol in the attic, she finds an unpublished manuscript called "Bedtime Stories for Monsters." Haven, broke, hopes to sell Bedtime Stories to a publisher, complete with her own illustrations. The local bookstore owner and librarian want to help her but mostly just want to get their hands on the unpublished manuscript. When Haven hears mysterious noises in the house, she begins to think her father was not suffering from Alzheimer's but that there is something deeply sinister happening in and around the estate. This feeling intensifies when savage killings happen throughout the small town. All is not what it seems at Malice House, and Shepherd uses the conventions of a gothic haunted-house tale to keep readers on the edge of their seats. In her adult debut, bestselling young adult author Shepherd has written an intensely spooky and scary tale about the power of stories and the art of creation. Highly recommended.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT In her adult debut, Shepherd (Midnight Beauties) conjures up a twisted tale--made up of even more twisted tales--perfect for adults nostalgic for Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark. When Haven returns home to settle the estate of her late father, a Pulitzer Prize--winning author, she stumbles upon his unpublished manuscript Bedtime Stories for Monsters. Hoping to finally kick-start her career as an artist, Haven begins to illustrate the creatures from the secret manuscript and negotiate book deals. Then she witnesses things she can't explain: real-life manifestations of the imaginary creatures from her father's stories, which perfectly resemble her renditions. But who manifested them? Haven, her father, or something much darker? When bodies begin to pile up, and Haven and the manuscript are the only things that all the deaths have in common, she begins to question her father's dementia and her own sanity. VERDICT Readers will love the mystery, mayhem, and terrifying look at make-believe, and the monsters that are dreamed into existence in the process. Recommend to fans of Darcy Coates's The Haunting of Leigh Harker and EV Knight's Children of Demeter.--Alana Quarles
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