Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"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, New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds
Review
"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." Library Journal
Review
"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.” Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Megan Shepherd is a New York Times best-selling and Carnegie Medal-nominated author who grew up in her family's independent bookstore in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the author of many acclaimed novels and now lives and writes on a historic farm outside Asheville, North Carolina, with her family, an especially scruffy dog, and several ghosts.