He Sees You When You're Sleeping

by William Malmborg

Gwen thought she had escaped the nightmare.

Last Christmas, she fled from the clutches of a deranged family who planned to sacrifice her to a sinister, twisted version of Santa Claus—a being far removed from the traditional jolly figure everyone knows and loves.

Now, as Christmas approaches once again, Gwen's world begins to unravel. Her husband Ian tries to soothe her growing anxiety, but with every twinkling light and festive decoration, Gwen’s dread deepens. Is it just the trauma of last year haunting her, or is there something far more sinister lurking?

Gwen becomes convinced that the monstrous "Santa" wasn’t just a figment of her captors' twisted imagination. She knows he’s real, and she’s certain he’s coming back—for her and for her daughter Tabby.

With paranoia setting in and her sanity on a knife’s edge, Gwen will do anything to protect her family. But can she trust her own mind?

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping is a bone-chilling psychological thriller that will leave you questioning the thin line between fear and madness—right up to the heart-stopping finale.

Genres: Christmas, Horror, Thriller, Holiday

421 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

William Malmborg is the author of the novels Jimmy, Text Message, Nikki's Secret, Dark Harvest, Blind Eye, Santa Took Them, Crystal Creek, Daddy’s Little Girl, The Girl Who Played with the Ouija Board, Josiah, He Sees You When You're Sleeping and the novellas Billy's Blade, Till Death Do Us Part and Don’t Go in the Cellar. Future works will include A Taste of Pain, The Murders at Bootleggers Burrow, and Gobble, Gobble.

Reviews

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much hate for this book, but I personally loved it.

[Mikaela Owens · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so hard to get through. Honestly, the only reason I finished it was because we chose this for my work book club. Paragraph long run on sentences that I had to re read multiple times to understand what was actually going on. Repetitive and a lot of random information that didn’t help the story line at all. The end was rushed and messed up. Glad I’m finished with it.

[Danylle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just don’t read it… it sooooo bad…

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last Christmas, Gwen was kidnapped, tortured and raped by a guy in a Santa Suit and his sister. Gwen managed to kill him and escape into the snow, but it's left her with a terrible fear of Santa and everything to do with Christmas. She is absolutely certain it was the real Santa and that he isn't dead, he's just waiting until this year to come and take away her daughter Tabby. But she's determined to get him first.

What the actual fuck did I just read? This was legit a crazy book, but not in a good way. It was awful. 400 pages too long. It was just a 400 page book about a woman going bloody crazy, with everyone around her mollycoddling her thinking she'll just get over it. Meanwhile, she's plotting to kill Santa, accidentally killing someone with the trap she's making, then being convinced that there are Santa's minions keeping an eye on her. Nothing really gets resolved, the ending was terrible, and I genuinely have no idea why I bothered finishing it.
If you decide to read this, just take note of the TWs as there are a lot of mentions about the pretty brutal rape that Gwen went through.
My Christmas wish this year is for this book to be removed from my brain.

[Angie Simmons · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so bad and I wish I could remember who recommended it so I could fight them.

[Jessica Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up. The premise had so much potential but the author’s writing style ruined it. So much past perfect progressive language it drove me nuts. My high school English teacher would have ripped my paper in half over it. Half the time I didn’t know who was doing whatever was going on. The end was creative and again had a lot of potential but wasn’t worth the read. Also the whole thing with that insane doctor and his methods… WHY DID NO ONE CALL THE COPS ON HIM OVER WHAT IS CLEARLY TORTURE?!?

[Books & Vodka Sodas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was clearly a book about a man making a poor attempt at writing female trauma. It was oozing misogyny and poor grammar.

[Carol A. Pasco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadistic, ridiculous plot

Definitely would not read any other books by this author. Because I always finish books that I stalemate, I finished it. Actually hated it.

[Marlene Waldron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes humans are scarier than any supernatural horrors.

Gwen lived through a horrible experience, kidnapped, assaulted, kept captive by twisted siblings who believe Santa Claus is evil and needs a sacrifice every year. She escapes and survives, seemingly recovering, but once Halloween the next year rolls around, Christmas starts to terrify her again. Will Santa come for his lost sacrifice? Will he take her beloved daughter Tabby instead?
We watch a woman tortured by deranged people being let down by her loved ones at every turn. Her mother who believes a quack can cure Gwen with shock therapy and s*x Santa reenactments to desensitize Gwen. Her husband who acquiesced to Gwen's refusal for psychological help. Her friend, the chief of police even seems to be unable yo see Gwen's spiral deeper into delusion. When I chose this book, I thought it would be a supernatural horror, but its scarier: its a broken woman's broken mind splintering daily, while those around her are unable yo see it in the hopes that ignoring the problem will just make it disappear. "We just have to get through Christmas," is said by her husband Ian on more than one occasion. The ending is such a shocking development. I would recommend this book for anyone into psychological horror/mysteries. It was very good.

[James McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! All right around the holiday season couldn't ask for more. This is a quick paced read that keeps gripping you tighter and tighter. Wonderful well developed characters and a twisty tale indeed. Nothing will prepare you for the evil within these pages and the ending ? Well lets just say it gave me goosebumps. Read this one you won't be disappointed. Be very open minded about just who Santa Claus is and that perhaps all those cookies and egg nog will no longer bring happy feelings😂😂😂

[Christa Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It’s about a woman who hot kidnapped by two sick and twisted siblings during the Christmas season. Gwyn escapes her captors and since then does not want anything to do with Christmas but she has to as she has a 9 year old daughter who lives the season and a husband who wants his family back as they were before. For people who like horror along with their holiday reading , give this book a try.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first time reading this horror author. The story is too long and drags a good bit. The horror elements are really strong but at times gruesome. Mom Gwen is having a lot of trouble recovering from a traumatic experience at Christmas last year, with friends and family trying to help. It becomes very apparent that Gwen is pretty far gone but the reader will never be able to predict what ends up happening. Quite a horrible downer!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow ending!

This book had so much potential! It just seemed very very long, and to drag on. I did skip a bunch about 3/4 of the way through. Then I read a review that said the ending was wild and made them cry so I decided to finish it. I’m so glad I did! What an ending! But the story could’ve been condensed.

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was literally INSANE and not really the good kind. Pretty gory and descriptive and definitely felt on edge the whole time. That ending though bumped it up a star even though nothing is really resolved and it left more questions than answers.

[Ursula King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this started off strong but half way through the book it really dragged unnecessarily mainly revolving around a private investigator who got too many chapters. The ending was a bit of a shocker but overall didn’t live up to expectations.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow

This book was interesting. Huge twist on the joys of Christmas. Definatly shocked me. Only complaint was some minor repetitive moments that weren't really needed but otherwise a good read.

[Jaclyn]

DNF. Only 4% through and I'm tapping out. What I've read worries me I'll be scarred with visuals I don't need. A couple reviews on this book only reiterate my fear so I'm not going to continue. Unfortunately passing at this time.

[Kristine Hay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like this story could have been a really interesting read, but towards the middle it started to drag on. The ending felt abrupt, but kind of tied it all together and could leave room for a spin off book.

[Linda Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big yikes lots of trigger warnings esp for graphic r@pe which is repeated over and over and over ad nauseam. I skimmed through a lot because it dragged through the middle. This could have been a 200/250 page book. The extra 200+ pages wasn’t needed.

[Monique Beasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the reason I gave this only 3 is because I just couldn’t stay committed to the story. There were a lot of different things going on and it made it hard to understand. I had to go back and re read things. Interesting plot, just not what I was expecting.

[veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so hard to get through, I almost didn’t finish it. It didn’t get good till the end, then I was able to pick up the pace. Never been happier to be done with a book so I could move on to the next.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected at all. I thought I was getting a mystery or stalker thriller, but it ended up being much darker. It starts slow, but the last few chapters made it difficult to put down.

[Dave Boffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sinister Christmas read, I'll not look at eggnog the same way for a while, gripping story

[Brenda Christensen Dorsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a twisted Christmas story and I really liked it. It was hard for me to put down. I’d really like the ending, and there were still some unanswered questions that should’ve been answered.

[Jayne Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a letdown!

I loved all his other books but this wasn't as good. It didn't go into much detail as his others. I found it boring and repetitive with no actual content!

[Valerie Lookenbill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, but it did get slow at times. But....the ending was so worth it! Let's just say...I cried!

[Colby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had high hopes , but this book really had way too many filler scenes that didn’t lead to anything , ending wasn’t awful but it really could have been told in a better way .

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

hate finish. started out okay but by the end, so little had happened for this to be over 400 pages.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many unanswered questions! What actually happened to Jessica?? POOR DEE she ain’t even do nothin! Traumatized Tab?? Ugh 😑

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept, but way too long and drawn out.