MARINARA: A retro horror novel. "Get murdered. Eat pizza."

by Mr. and Mrs. Post

A group of teens break into an arcade-pizzeria for the night of their lives, only to find themselves trapped and hunted by the bloodthirsty animatronic band in this explosive debut YA horror novel. A unique mix of comedy and coming-of-age love story that dives straight into nightmare fuel, MARINARA is sure to be a favorite of those who grew up with Five Nights at Freddy's or Fear St.  It's the 1980s. Ben Cooper works at Marinara, an independently owned arcade-pizzeria on the outskirts of his middle-of-nowhere town. Ben's the type of kid who passes up house parties to rent movies from Blockbuster. He's never stood out from the crowd and that's why he's going to throw the greatest graduation party of all time. His forever crush Sarah is attending too, so it's the perfect setting to finally let her know how he's always felt about her.

Ben and five friends sneak into Marinara after hours for a night of endless tokens, booze, and make-your-own-pizzas—not to mention front row seats to the creepy animatronic band, Meaty and the Toppings. But when "It's Showtime!" blasts from the stage speaker, Meaty and his bloodthirsty gang are released one by one into the shadows, and laughs instantly turn into screams. Amongst the chaos, a message in blood is found on a bathroom mirror and a mystery will collide past with present.

Trapped and faced with death, lifelong friends will be forced to take sides. Some will hide while others will fight as monsters hide in the darkness. Pushed both mentally and physically farther than they ever thought possible, Ben and Sarah will fight for one another every step of the way as they try to survive their impending doom.

Uncover the Janitor's Vintage newspaper clippings are scattered throughout to further enhance the mystery. But can YOU solve the twist ending of what really happened that fateful night at Marinara?What readers are saying about "Like Five Nights at Freddy's for adults. I loved it!""A friend told me about this book and it lived up to the hype.""It's a quick read. The kills are original and suspenseful. They spend a lot of time setting up the story and the payoff is everything you'd want. Ending is great.""Like Jack and Rose on the Titanic if you switch out the sinking ship with a haunted building and killer animatronics. I loved it.""Found this browsing for something different. It is definately that. The blend of humor, horror, and love story is different than maybe anything I've ever read.""This book is way more sophisticated than what you think you're getting into. The mystery of "why" is deep and makes you use your head. Ben vs Meaty is an all time classic stand off."

Genres: Horror

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2023

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Marinara. The beginning did start off slow but it really picked up & became a horror story. It is set in the 80x which I love. Six friends have a party after hours in a pizza place called Marinara, similar to Showbiz or Chuck E Cheese. Little do they know what awaits them. I have never read any of the Five Nights at Freddy’s books or played the games but I have seen the movie but I didn’t consider this anything like the movie. The story was different. I wouldn’t mind a prequel to this story.

[Tracy L. Mateer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected

Don’t let the odd title fool you. This is a decent little book. There was a period where there were two movies out that involved shenanigans after hours in a pizza/games house with an animatronic band (Think Chuck E. Cheese). This is along that line but was still a thrilling read. Possible, Marinara II? Will it win a Pulitzer? No, but you’ll find yourself engrossed.

[madison eastham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think if you nix the first 11 chapters it'd be even better. Loved it after that!

[rebecca! · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Marinara! I was hooked from the first page. If you’re thinking about reading this one, do it!

[Daveia · Rating 3 out of 5]

03/20/25 edit: the author's definitely had a point, because two months later, i still think about this book. just like i still think about the ending of "twin peaks". so that's gotta count for something. upgraded my rating to a 3.

i got this as a "blind date with a book".

“Marinara” is set in the 1980s and is about a teenager who works at an arcade ("chuck e. cheese" but cooler); he borrows the keys to the place to have a night of debauchery with his crush and some friends, however, the animatronic "band" that plays music there for the kiddos comes to life, locks them in and takes them down one by one.

the world building and the character development are good, i'm just not really a fan of this type of .. ambiguous "twin peaks" type of ending. a lot of people love this type of thing though; sadly it's just not for me. doesn't mean you shouldn't check it out if it's your thing. i definitely think there's an audience for it and overall i liked the story.

[Destiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how to rate this book until I can wrap my head around what I just read.

Update: 4 stars since I’m still thinking about this book, the middle was captivating and read like you were in a movie…. The beginning and end kind of threw me off, felt like we needed more information as the reader but maybe thats on purpose… also scary af.

[Ava Winebrenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great horror novel!! Very reminiscent of Five Nights At Freddy’s and Willy’s Wonderland. Newspaper articles were a nice addition and they added complex detailed lore left for you to figure out and understand. The animatronics were terrifying and a nice addition to the story. And the kills were very disturbing and gory. Still trying to wrap my head around the story’s ending but definitely recommend reading this book.

[Lizzie Czyzniewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

So… I got this in the mail yesterday and read it today… this is definitely has a retro feel as promised… it’s set in the 80’s. A teenager who works at a children’s entertainment center called Marinara. Like Chuck E. Cheese, this place also has its own beloved animatronic musical review. So, the kid bribes The Janitor (at least that’s what everyone calls him) into giving him the keys so he and his friends can party after hours. Reveals that the land Marinara is where a prison burnt down and many prisoners died. Kid lets friends into the building and they have a good time. Turns out, animatronics come to life at night and are murderous. Chaos ensues.
ANYWAY… this felt very, very familiar to me ala Five Nights At Freddy’s or Willy’s Wonderland… BUT the characters are great. You want these kids to get out unscathed.There’s a little, cutesy teenage romance nuggets along the way that also makes you feel for these kids. It doesn’t divulge too much about the possible mystery it supposedly has and definitely has some original points. Yes, there was a part with a giant batch of marinara sauce EVERYWHERE. One thing that was odd is that it didn’t really elaborate much on WHY the animatronics were coming to life. But hey, I guess that leaves the reader to decide and I can’t argue with that.
With that being said, if you can read this for free, I’d say give it a shot it’s cute and endearing and doesn’t have the ending you’re lead to believe it should have the whole time. There are definitely some gory scenes, but I wouldn’t expect you to be scared by this book. The one thing this book does have going for it, is the writing style it feels very fluid and not as typically rigid as something with the same plot usually is. Overall, I’d say maybe like ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

[Heather Barksdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Marinara” is set in the 1980s and introduces Ben Cooper, a teenager who works at an arcade-pizzeria known as Marinara.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. The authors do a really nice job in setting a world around the tale. I especially enjoyed the newspaper clippings related to the sketchy past of Marinara. The story is written in a YA tone with the main POV coming from Ben (however, a lot of the content is anything but YA). Ben’s optimistic but guarded regarding his friendships and especially his budding relationship. Find the full blog post at heatherlbarksdale.com

I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.

[Danah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly entertaining but extremely cliche

I’ve never actually read any of the Five Nights at Freddy’s books but this struck me as extremely parallel and overdone. The authors’ note at the beginning stating that any grammatical errors were “intentional” was also a bit obnoxious.

Overall though, it was pretty entertaining and even some of the animatronics got to have a little personality.

[Maddie butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t want to compare this book to five nights at Freddy’s but in a hand basket it’s very similar but yet it’s so much more!
It had everything you would want in a horror book! The scare factor, the suspense, and the horror was chefs kiss. Honestly I want book two, I want more back story I want more haunted animatronics! This book will make you look at chuck e cheese in a different way!
Favorite animatronic was the wolf 🐺! He was so creepy I loved it.

[Debbie L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh-out-loud funny. Tear jerking. Thought provoking. Daring. These are a few descriptions of this masterful book. The ending... *chef's kiss*