Audiobook Review: The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen

I'm running this review again to add my audiobook experience notes.


The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen
Horror Fiction
Released January 2018
Amazon ♦ Goodreads
A boy in a basement, a man in a booth and a darkness that threatens to swallow them both...

New York audiobook narrator Peter Larson and his wife Hannah head to his hometown of Maple City to help Peter's ailing father and to put a recent tragedy behind them. Though the small, Midwestern town seems the idyllic place to start afresh, Peter and Hannah will soon learn that evil currents flow beneath its surface.

They move into an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town—a house purchased by Peter's father at auction and kept secret until now—and start to settle into their new life.

But as Peter sets up his recording studio in a small basement room, disturbing things begin to occur—mysterious voices haunt audio tracks, malevolent shadows creep about the house. And when an insidious presence emerges from the woodwork, Peter must face old demons in order to save his family and himself. 

My Thoughts:

I liked this book so much I read it twice! This time around I listened to the unabridged audiobook read by the author who just so happens to be a professional narrator himself. Since he's a pro and the material is his, his voice hits all the right notes. He's engaging, pleasant and unnervingly menacing when he needs to be and I recommend it highly! 4 1/2 Stars

The Nightmare Room lives up to its title. It is a slowly building creepfest fueled by nightmares for the first half then picks up speed in its later half.

Peter and Hannah need a new start after a devastating loss and move back to Peter’s hometown to help with his ailing parents and to heal themselves. They move into a property that Peter’s dad purchased that is huge, old and in disrepair. Hannah loves the idea of the old home but Peter’s not so sure.

"Hannah had gotten it wrong. This was not the sort of house featured on her home improvement show; this was every house in every horror movie he’d ever seen."

Despite his misgivings, Peter, who is an audiobook narrator, sets up his studio in the dark, dank basement and soon realizes that he may not be alone down there! Is it real or is he starting to lose his marbles?

I just loved some of the descriptions of the house. It makes me long for an old haunted house of my own.

". . . he was facing a narrow, grey door. A basement door. His vision had steadied and the room no longer moved about him. But the door… It’s breathing."

This is a decent little horror tale that has a lot of layers that reach far beyond the haunted house trappings. It deals with aging, grief and past regrets that come back to haunt. The main characters come across as real and imperfect and as a reader who needs decent characterization I really appreciated this. I did want to learn more about Peter’s birth mother because I’m nosy and have so many questions but perhaps that will happen in a prequel or sequel? I can only hope.


*I received an ARC for review. My review was first posted at Horror After Dark where I am a contributer.  Check 'em out! My colleagues know their horror.


Need More Creepy Houses? Don't Miss This One:



Comments

  1. Sounds like a super read. Glad I have a copy. I really need to get a copy of Burnt Offerings!

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    1. I hope you like it, Barb! And you most definitely can't go wrong with Burnt Offerings.

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  2. Replies
    1. It was nice and creepy. Just the way I like them :)

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  3. This sounds awesome! I love that quote: "this was every house in every horror movie he'd ever seen." I'd love to take a tour of a house like this! (Even if I didn't sleep well afterwards.) :D

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  4. Great review! I have this one ready and waiting for next month, I'm looking forward to it.

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  5. Sounds right up my alley and I'd love to read it. I like the idea of an audible narrator as an MC too!

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    1. Yeah, that was so cool. The author is a narrator too and it was interesting to learn some insider tidbits of about the world of an audiobook narrator. I think you'll love this one, Laura.

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  6. It certainly has the creepy atmospheric cover...

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  7. I loved this one too. And that cover for Burnt Offerings, wow.
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  8. Replies
    1. It definitely was creepy! The basement reminded me of my grandmothers dirt basement. It always terrified me.

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    2. OMG - we had a basement when I was a kid that had several doors and room had a dirt floor and chains hanging off the beams and really old washers - with those washboards. My mom made me go down a lot for supplies or laundry and I was always so terrified lol

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  9. I love the creepy feel this one seems to have.

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    1. Yeah, so many rely on gore alone to set the scene & that's ok but I love it when a writer can set the scene and chill you to the bone.

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  10. just reading the first sentence of the blurb gives me the creeps. "A Boy in a Basement" NIGHTMARE! and all those fantastic topics like grief and aging, and good realistic characterization! And you read it twice! This sounds like a MUST

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  11. This sounds great, I love the fact that the author is an audio book narrator and he's writing about a character who does the same thing:-)

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  12. I don't think I'd really want to live in a haunted house...my insomnia is bad enough at the best of times!

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    1. Haha, I'd love it but they'd have to be benevolent ghosts. I don't want of that The Entity action going on . . .

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