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2023 Manly Wade Wellman Award (nominee)
From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd comes a complex tale of dark magic, family secrets, and monsters that don’t stay on the page.
“A propulsively charming nightmare, pooling like spilled ink across your imagination.” ― Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Hide
“Haunting and beautifully written . . . an exploration of the mysterious power of stories.” ―Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and The Last to Vanish
“One step away from our world lies another: a land of violent fantasies, of sharp-toothed delights. . . .”
Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father’s remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. Clearly just dementia whispering in his ear . . . right?
Reeling from a failed marriage, Haven hopes an illustrated Bedtime Stories can be the lucrative posthumous father-daughter collaboration she desperately needs to jump-start her art career. However, everyone in the nearby vacation town wants a piece of the manuscript: her father’s obsessive literary salon members, the Ink Drinkers; her mysterious yet charming neighbor, who has a tendency toward three a.m. bonfires; a young barista with a literary forgery business; and of course, whoever keeps trying to break into her house. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven’s bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets―completely rewriting everything she ever knew about herself in the process.
Genre: Horror
“A propulsively charming nightmare, pooling like spilled ink across your imagination.” ― Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Hide
“Haunting and beautifully written . . . an exploration of the mysterious power of stories.” ―Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and The Last to Vanish
“One step away from our world lies another: a land of violent fantasies, of sharp-toothed delights. . . .”
Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father’s remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. Clearly just dementia whispering in his ear . . . right?
Reeling from a failed marriage, Haven hopes an illustrated Bedtime Stories can be the lucrative posthumous father-daughter collaboration she desperately needs to jump-start her art career. However, everyone in the nearby vacation town wants a piece of the manuscript: her father’s obsessive literary salon members, the Ink Drinkers; her mysterious yet charming neighbor, who has a tendency toward three a.m. bonfires; a young barista with a literary forgery business; and of course, whoever keeps trying to break into her house. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven’s bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets―completely rewriting everything she ever knew about herself in the process.
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"Turn on all the lights before you start Malice House, and plan to stay up late. Megan Shepherd's novel is a sophisticated, gothic tale that will keep readers turning the pages and guessing what's next until the very end." - Gwenda Bond
"Utterly original and exquisitely terrifying, Malice House unfolds like a carefully crafted mystery. Every twist and reveal drew me deeper into its walls and the monsters within refused to let me go. Like a bone-chilling Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for grown-ups." - Elle Cosimano
"Each word of this novel felt like a blade down the spine, chilling and haunting and perfectly crafted. Megan Shepherd weaves a story like no one else, and Malice Houseis no exception." - Shea Ernshaw
"Gripping, chilling, creepy, and enthralling, Megan Shepherd's new thriller Malice House channels Shirley Jackson, if Shirley Jackson knew how to make me check under the bed every night before going to sleep. Malice House is a must for readers who love gothic horror, creaking old houses, attics overflowing with dark secrets, or for anyone who has ever secretly suspected that there is an entire other universe hovering just out of reach." - Katherine Howe
"Haunting and atmospheric, Megan Shepherd expertly blends horror and suspense in her captivating book-within-a-book adult debut. Beautifully written and steeped in Gothic lore, Malice House explores themes of family and legacy, magic and curses, and the mysterious power of stories." - Megan Miranda
"This book, like Malice House itself, contains many secrets, and you will read it voraciously to try to find and consume them all. May it compel you as swiftly as it compelled me." - Chuck Wendig
"Shepherd's deft adult debut is a propulsively charming nightmare, pooling like spilled ink across your imagination. Count me a happy resident of Malice House amidst all its monsters." - Kiersten White
"Utterly original and exquisitely terrifying, Malice House unfolds like a carefully crafted mystery. Every twist and reveal drew me deeper into its walls and the monsters within refused to let me go. Like a bone-chilling Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for grown-ups." - Elle Cosimano
"Each word of this novel felt like a blade down the spine, chilling and haunting and perfectly crafted. Megan Shepherd weaves a story like no one else, and Malice Houseis no exception." - Shea Ernshaw
"Gripping, chilling, creepy, and enthralling, Megan Shepherd's new thriller Malice House channels Shirley Jackson, if Shirley Jackson knew how to make me check under the bed every night before going to sleep. Malice House is a must for readers who love gothic horror, creaking old houses, attics overflowing with dark secrets, or for anyone who has ever secretly suspected that there is an entire other universe hovering just out of reach." - Katherine Howe
"Haunting and atmospheric, Megan Shepherd expertly blends horror and suspense in her captivating book-within-a-book adult debut. Beautifully written and steeped in Gothic lore, Malice House explores themes of family and legacy, magic and curses, and the mysterious power of stories." - Megan Miranda
"This book, like Malice House itself, contains many secrets, and you will read it voraciously to try to find and consume them all. May it compel you as swiftly as it compelled me." - Chuck Wendig
"Shepherd's deft adult debut is a propulsively charming nightmare, pooling like spilled ink across your imagination. Count me a happy resident of Malice House amidst all its monsters." - Kiersten White
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