Review: The Nightmarys by Dan Poblocki

Cover Source: GoodReads.com

Title: The Nightmarys
Author: Dan Poblocki
Version Reviewed: Finished, Paperback
Website: www.danpoblocki.com

I purchased this book myself.

GoodReads Synopsis:

Timothy July has been having nightmares. About his brother, who is in a coma after being wounded in Iraq; about his best friend, Stuart, who is behaving like a jerk; about the old biology specimens in jars lining the walls of his classroom; and about Abigail, the new girl who seems to be a magnet for trouble. Or perhaps she is the cause.
Suddenly Timothy’s nightmares are coming true. His brother, his face decaying, approaches Timothy on the street. Stuart ends up in the hospital, terrified that monsters are stalking him. And the specimen jars are tormenting not only Timothy but his teacher as well.

What is the secret in Abigail’s past that is the key to these horrors? And can Timothy figure it out before his nightmares become a deadly reality?
A follow-up to the well-received Stone Child, Dan Poblocki’s second novel will have his readers mesmerized until the last page—and sleeping with the lights on.

Review:
I bought this book a while back at a thrift store, though I had seen it a long time ago on different websites here and there. I knew that The Nightmarys would be a great read come October and when it came time to make my horror TBR for the month, I immediately put it front and center on my list.

The cover of this book has always  been super creepy to me and very reminiscent of The Shining. I always wondered who the Nightmarys were and what kind of story they had to tell.

Starting the book, I admit that I was slightly disappointed. For whatever reason, the fact that this was a middle grade book, always seemed to slip past me. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problems with middle grade novels (and this was a good one) they're just not my normal choice in reading (unless it's R.L. Stine related).  That fact was easy to dismiss however because the characters were well thought out and didn't seem as juvenile as their ages would suggest.

This story, though it did seem a big dragged out at times, had a lot of twists and turns and was not always easy to figure out. I really enjoyed the addition of the interludes and how Poblocki stuck in the point of views of some of the older characters. I feel like that was a great addition to the story and made it deeper and creepier, to know that older adults were affected by the events just as heavily as the children.

Overall, this was a great book. I would definitely recommend it to lovers of horror, especially if they're of a younger age.

Rating: 3 Stars