Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Hardcover. 310 pages.
A man gets into a car that can take him anywhere he can imagine--including the past, into the worst mistake of his life, a memory he does not want to relive, cannot escape, and is even more afraid to alter ...
A seemingly harmless, forgettable film about "alien hand syndrome" inspires a wave of self-harm among viewers--and even stranger things among those who become obsessed with it ...
A woman tries to bring her dead lover to life through a macabre ritual that requires attacking his corpse. Is it because she longs to be with him again ... or because the two of them have unfinished business?
The assorted characters in this thrilling collection encounter horrors that range from mysterious to murderous, discovering that darkness can find anyone, anywhere, at any hour of the day. After all, it's always Midnight Somewhere ..."
I very much enjoyed Johnny Compton's unique haunted house story The Spite House, which I read a couple years back, and I'd been meaning to check out more of his work, so I was excited to see this new collection of stories to check out and even more grateful to receive an ARC to do so.
Midnight Somewhere is an intense and eerie collection of stories that has a fantastic mix of slower, emotionally charged tales of dread and horror and faster-paced tales to deliver your horror. Johnny Compton includes a very wide range of horror in this stories, and while some dive right into straight fear, others take some time to explore deeper themes and ideas that are sure to sit with you after you finish them.
The atmosphere of this entire collection was probably my favorite aspect of this collection, along with unpredictability of them—and these two things worked really well together. I truly never knew exactly what to expect from one story to the next, and that unpredictability really added to the overall tension and creepiness of this collection. Although the stories themselves were often quite different, there was something about the eerie atmosphere of each one that allowed them all to maintain a sense of unease that had hooked.
Additionally, I liked how Compton’s writing was incredible approachable no matter what tone or style was being used in a story. Compton has a very consistent voice that runs through these stories and ties everything together, no matter what theme or idea is being explored.
Some of the stories that stuck out most for me were (though there were many that I enjoyed in addition to these):
- "The Genie and the Inquisitor": This was a thought-provoking tale that played with idea of genies and their wishes in a haunting way that I really enjoyed.
- "No Hungry Generations": I loved this simple, captivating bit of holiday horror that made me wish for some more Thanksgiving-themed horror stories.
- "The Death Grip Challenge": This was a great exploration of social media trends and how they often get taken to new lives of their own--in some very extreme ways.
- "The Merge Monster Incident": This one really just stuck out for its sheer creativity and I loved not knowing where this story was going.
- "Monster Bites": More of a short and sweet one, but one that felt so creepy and tense from the get-go and didn't let up. sticks out for its sheer creativity, and I appreciated not knowing where this story was going.
Like any collection of stories, some stories worked for me more than others, but the variety is always some of the fun for me in not knowing what’s going to hit and what might now. Overall, this is an exceptionally strong collection of stories that is perfect for horror fans who are looking some sharp, unsettling short bites of horror to add to their holiday season.
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