The Glass-Face Man

by Michael Park

At her high school graduation in Manhattan, Josie sees her dead father’s ghost and thinks, 'Not again.'

He gives her a prehistoric evil is coming. She has ten days left. That night, Josie is home alone when a disfigured glass-face man breaks in. He says one word—“burn”—and the next morning, Josie’s single mom is missing. In a desperate search from New York to Kentucky, Josie realizes that the world is descending into a mass extinction event. Worse, the die off has woken something very ancient. Time is running out.

In the limestone South, where grass steams from an underground mine fire, Josie learns of the dark bargain that links her mother’s disappearance with the ghost of her father and the terrifying glass-face man.

307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Michael Park has been professionally publishing under other names since 2001. His work has been published by Scholastic Books, Sourcebooks, Tor Books, and (nonfiction) Verso Books.

Most recently, he is the author of the horror novels, Kentucky Dragon, The Glass-Face Man, and Good to Grave, all published by Fox Point Books.

An American writer, he now lives in Scotland, where he owns a pub.

Reviews

[Haly Hoards Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3☆
This is the second book by Michael Park that involves the Kentucky Dragon. In this installment Mark, the main character in book one, has been dead for four years and this book is told from the perspective of his daughter, Josie. Josie has just graduated from high school, has a steadfast girlfriend and sees her father's ghost. Mark tries to warn Josie that she has ten days. Ten days to kill the dragon.

I received an advance review copy (ARC) for free, and I am voluntarily leaving my opinions of this novel. Thank you to the author, publisher and Booksirens for this opportunity.

The way the story unfolded kept me questioning what was real and what was Josie's delusional beliefs. Who and what to trust was also hard to figure out.

This was not as enjoyable as Kentucky Dragon. It got a bit to weird for me.

[Mandy K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Glass-Faced Man 4⭐️

I was second guessing requesting this ARC once I started reading the incoming reviews, but I’m so glad I went in with an open mind and just enjoyed the ride. I liked the unique writing style: Mostly 3rd person POV with italicized 1st person POV interspersed.

This is a gory horror, paranormal/sci-fi, psychological spiral. I appreciate a good melt of reality with a nightmare feel. I was constantly wondering what was real, what wasn’t, and if it even mattered in the end. Would it all get wrapped up with a plausible ending or leave me questioning everything?

Thank you NetGalley and Fox Point Books for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.
Pub Date Sep 30 2025

[kendall · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.0 stars - unfortunately I just did not like this book. The premise sounded interesting and the book was definitely an adventure, as promised in the premise, but I just had a hard time getting into this book. I found it difficult to pay attention and to care about the story. Maybe this is due to getting laid off while I was reading this book but who knows. I would have probably given this book 1 star but the I decided to give 2 stars because there were some jump scares (love) and I feel like every chapter ended on a cliff hanger, which I do appreciate. This book read like a wild fever dream but it just wasn't for me. Thank you netgalley and Fox Point for the ARC!

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley & publisher for the ARC!
.
.
This book was wild! I wasn’t sure what direction it was going to go.. categorized as horror with an unreliable narrator? (Maybe, but that drew me in). The story took off pretty quick, sometimes I felt like scenes were a little drawn out which made for some very LONG chapters which, personally, I hate. There were a lot of twists throughout which kept me wanting to read more. The author also does do a really great job at creating the images and building the world in your mind! Definitely creepy at times, medium to face paced and a unique and intriguing storyline overall

[PlotTwist&Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, strap in, because The Glass-Face Man by Michael Park is not your standard walk through the dark, rainy, trauma-soaked woods — it’s more like getting thrown headfirst into a swirling hurricane of psychological horror, teenage trauma, hallucinations (or are they?), and aggressively metaphorical monsters. And yes, there’s spice — not of the spicy-romance kind, but of the “holy hell what just happened” emotional intensity kind.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5) — because my sanity was questioned at least twice.

Main Players:

• Josie: The anxiety-riddled main character you want to wrap in a blanket, hand a therapy plushie to, and tell, “Breathe, sweetie. Monsters can smell fear.”

• Clara: Josie’s steadfast, freckly goddess of a girlfriend, who shows up clutching knives and loyalty like a whole damn final boss fight.

• The Glass-Face Man: The stuff of your sleep paralysis nightmares. Half horse-hooves, half glass-masked terror, fully nope.

• Deadbeat Dad Ghost™: The absentee father figure who appears just in time to gaslight his way into your therapy bills.

Spice Level:

• Actual Romance Spice: Mild to warm. Josie and Clara share deeply emotional, steamy moments that are beautifully queer and unapologetically soft when the world around them is crumbling. (Think: desperate kisses, not BDSM handcuffs. At least not yet.)

• Horror Spice: Oh, buddy. Buckle up. Blood, body horror (limb removal, anyone?), mental breakdowns, unreliable perceptions, and cosmic dread are seasoned on every page like the author was personally trying to marinate your soul.

Trigger Warnings:

• Death of a parent (before and ghost-adjacent)

• Grief and trauma

• Mental illness and hallucinations

• Body horror (graphic dismemberment)

• Psychological terror and breakdowns

• Gaslighting

• Kidnapping and physical violence

(In short: Not the beach read unless your beach is next to Silent Hill.)

Witty Observations:

• Josie really said, “I’m going to give an unfiltered TED talk about my deadbeat dad at my graduation,” and honestly? Iconic behavior.

• If you’ve ever needed a good reason to never, ever open the door without checking first, Josie just provided the PSA of a lifetime.

• The monsters are either real or a very creative ad for anti-psychotic medication. Either way, 10/10 nightmare fuel.

Final Verdict:

If you want something that punches you emotionally, unsettles you existentially, and occasionally gives you tiny slices of hope via badass queer love? Read it.

If you prefer your protagonists mentally stable and your horror metaphors subtle? Maybe take a lap around the block first.

Would I read it again?

Absolutely. Preferably while aggressively side-eyeing my front door and sleeping with a baseball bat next to me.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Net Galley for this advanced reader copy. A great read with lots happening,a very unpredictable turn of events which keeps you page turning. I felt compelled to read with its key storyline to do with Josies dad who she is seeing as a ghost. There is alot more than meets the eye with this book and its a good book to read for the ultimate escape from every day life. It keeps you guessing and trying to piece it altogether. The strength of family and inherited characteristics plays a key theme in this book.

[Kat koutroumbis · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Minor spoiler alert* This review contains a quote from the book.

I received an arc of this book via Netgalley. This book sounded like it would be right up my alley.. I love the horror and mystery genres, and I am fascinated by history and mass extinction events. The issue is that I find this book to be unreadable in its current state. I understand that there are a few months to go before its release, but trying to read this felt like proof-reading the first draft of a book. It suffers from a lack of editing, to the point where I couldn't get into the story at all.

This book is written in third person POV, but we are constantly exposed to the main character's inner thoughts via italicized text. Also, the narration sounds like first person. Here's an excerpt:

"Josie checked the distracted faces of the crowd. No one listened, and even if they did--so what? Josie and Clara were anonymous here, could speak freely about ghosts and monsters--mental illness--undisturbed. And Dad did go to a hospital in Connecticut for this. Just like Dr. Laymond said. Mom lost it when Dad would up drunk about imaginary things. of course, she did. But I have to tell Clara. Can't hide this from her."

The last sentence in the clip above is in italicized font, meant to be our main character Josie's inner thoughts. The rest of it is the supposed third person narration. But why is the narrator, who is not Josie, referring to her parents as Mom and Dad? Why is the grammar so poor? You learn in elementary school that you're not supposed to begin a sentence with "Just" or "And" and it would be fine if this was written in first person, but it just feels poorly written as third. Just make it all first pov.

Characters' actions also do not make any sense. For example, Josie witnesses something absolutely horrific and disturbing outside her door. Literally 2 pages later she is in bed cuddling with her girlfriend, not thinking at all about what just happened.

I gave up on this book at 20%, I just don't think it's readable. I think it needs several more rounds of drafts and editing prior to its release.

[Ky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josie can see things that other people can't. Her dead dad. Creatures of nightmares. A Glass-Faced man. When her Mom goes missing, she sets off with her girlfriend to find her, and figure out what these creatures want from her family and the world.
I enjoyed the first third of this book a lot. The pacing and action and reveal of information was intriguing. I enjoyed not knowing what was real or not along with the characters. At some point however it just became a fever dream with no end in sight and no answers. I was waiting for it to eventually make some sense and it never really did.
Also, for a teenager seeing some messed up things, including things done to family/friends, I feel like most of the time she did not care/showed very little emotion. It was written in third person, with a lot of first person thoughts from Josie in italics, which felt often very unnecessary.
I rated it 2/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC!

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

~thank you to NetGalley & Fox Point books for giving me a chance go read and review this book ~

At first, I was hooked. Then I started to question wtf this book was about. I just feel like halfway through, it kept going on and on and on like 4 pages deep about the same situation. Super repetitive. It was creepy at first but then I just got bored of it. I kept asking myself like what is the point of this book?

[Joanne Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glass‑Face Man by Michael Park is a haunting, uneasy descent into psychological horror, memory, prophecy, and environmental collapse. It is not a novel of clean answers or tidy resolutions — it is a book that clings to your mind, unsettles you, and keeps you wondering whether Josie is slowly losing her grip… or whether reality is, in fact, the thing unraveling around her.

From the outset, Park sets a tone of disquiet. At her high school graduation in New York, Josie is confronted with the ghost of her dead father — not for the first time — who delivers a cryptic ultimatum: she has ten days left. That night, in her home alone, she is invaded by a figure with a shattered, “glass” face who murmurs only one word: “burn.” She awakens the next morning to find her mother gone. What follows is a frantic chase across states and into the underworld of old bargains and latent gods, as Josie uncovers that the world is headed toward a mass extinction — and that dark, ancient forces have awakened in response.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is the persistent tension between the real and the surreal. Josie’s visions, the prophecy, the transformations of the landscape — Park threads them so that you never quite trust whether what you see is illusion, madness, or the cracks of something monstrously true. The idea that a dying world beckons something ancient, and that a single missing mother might be at the hinge between human fragility and cosmic reckoning, gives the horror both intimacy and scope. The limestone South, the steaming grasses above underground mine fires, the subterranean fissures — the environment itself feels complicit, alive, dangerous.


Nevertheless, The Glass‑Face Man achieves what many horror novels don’t: it leaves you unsettled long after the last page. It wrestles with mortality — personal and planetary — and forces the reader to consider that apocalypse is not only external (species die, ecologies collapse) but internal (memory fractures, identities shatter). Park doesn’t offer easy distinctions between villain and victim, between madness and prophecy, between sacrifice and betrayal.

In all, this is a dark, ambitious piece of horror. It will especially appeal to readers who don’t mind wandering through misty symbolism, who want a horror novel that probes ancient bargains and slow decay, and who are willing to accept disquiet as part of the journey. It may be less ideal for those who demand linear plotting, fully fleshed secondary characters, or firm explanations. But for me, it lingers as a strange echo of dread — a glass face that reflects more than you expected.

[Wolfkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hands down the worst protagonist I've ever read. I didn't enjoy this book but there are parts I liked. I liked the girlfriend Clara I think she was great as a character and the way she was written.

I suppose there are bits that I liked. Clara I mentioned. And the opening was reasonable. There were many call of actions. I don't like how they were handled but I do like that there were a bunch of timings. When I took this arc I don't think I read the back of the book synopsis. So I went into this with zero expectations. So i spend most of the book confused on where it was going to go.

Let's talk about Josie. Joe refuses the call to adventure. This is not atypical as often the hero refuses the call and then gets pulled into it against their will or is forced to accept the call later. But Josie isn't any of those. Josie refuses the call again and again and again. 70% of the way through the book Josie is still refusing the call. Getting sucked into a fantasy world isn't new. But watching the hero get sucked into a fantasy and then reject over and over again anything in the fantasy that doesn't make sense because it's not real is just weird.

It doesn't help that, maybe because I didn't have a context of expectation, I couldn't really follow most of what was going on whenever something interesting happened. The parts I enjoyed most were when Josie was with Clara because Clara is so grounding even when it's a situation where she can't see or understand what's going on she makes more sense than Josie and we can see Josie's internal monologue.

In the end I wasn't even able to really connect dots except to wonder why they kept skipping a guidebook entry that in the end was the most explanatory. There were like five opportunities to read it before but I never understood why they kept skipping it.

I'm only going to leave a minor note here about referring to the radio as "boomer music". I promise you there are no more 60s radio stations. There's a character whose tongue was cut off and I couldn't figure that out. Also there's a character who if I understand it correctly had their thumbs cut off leaving stumps and later they handle guns and climbing with no noted issues.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jayme Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

This book is classified as horror with an unreliable narrartor. It is written in third person with first person thoughts being italicized.
It was certainly creepy and weird and you absolutely don’t know what is real.

Josie just graduated high school and speaks with her fathers ghost... (maybe?) it can't be real, right? she's been to therapy... he's warning her...
later that night, this nightmare of a man knocks on her door. He is not entirely man either. He has hooves. and there's these other creatures... they're all telling her things that make her question her reality.

Are they real and just she can see them? or is her mind making these things up?
Her father had hallucinations but he was a selfish man that drank too much to cope...

That's pretty much how the book kicks off.
Her mom goes missing and Josie and her girlfriend, Clara, ultimately decide to follow some signs to try and find her.

This is not a light mystery. There are most certainly horror elements... death in brutal/cruel fashions... there's certainly the heavy lean into psychological elements...

I enjoyed the premise of the story, the pacing, and (shockingly) enjoyed the writing style even with the shifts from third to first person.
BUT some things just don't make sense to me. Some of the plot didn't connect. Also, there was an emotional disconnect. Josie seemed to be able stomaching seeing horrific things and be relatively okay moments later. Perhaps because she spent so much energy determining what actions to take and assessing reality...

With all of that said. I did read this in one sitting and got goosebumps from the creeps. So I did have a good time.

[Krystelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Sadly, I don't think that this book worked very well. We get presented with our protagonist, Josie, who is clearly in a state where she's not quite dipping more than just her toes in our reality, and it's turning out quite badly for her. I anticipated that this book would be a really tightly-woven horror novel, with some really good imagery and scares, but it was dramatically middle of the line for me, to the point of frustration.

The plot meandered and was definitely unclear, and I just found that I didn't care enough for Josie to make this interesting. In fact, none of the characters here are overly compelling, and it makes for a bit of a sad book. There was just nowhere for it to go, and given that almost all the characters were not written in the best of ways, it just made things even more difficult.

Another trope that I am desperately tired of at the moment is 'crazy girl sees her own reality, everyone around her thinks she's nuts'. It was a cute trope for a while, especially in thrillers, but unfortunately, it doesn't work everywhere (everywhere being here). The tense, tone, and the approach to the whole of the story was also just not quite right, and sadly, this one was not a good read for me.

[Cyndi Farfsing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was an adventure. This was an absolutely unique apocalypse story. We follow Josie, who, at times questions her own sanity as she has to save the world from a very creepy and seemingly unstoppable threat. It was creepy, surreal and definitely unpredictable. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

The Appalachian setting definitely added to the ethereal and ancient creep factor of the book. There were definitely times of the book that the reader questioned Josie’s sanity right along with her. I think those were the most compelling parts of the book.

I did enjoy this book, but I did find parts seemed choppy to me. There were even times the narration seems inconsistent. Perhaps this was intentional, but it did make it more challenging to absorb as the story itself is a chaotic (I mean the apocalypse would be chaotic, right?).

Other parts seemed to slog on and had me questioning things. I think the meat of the story was fantastic but there are just the inconsistent or vague events that don’t seem to get cleared up at the end.

If you want a unique take on the apocalypse, you like unreliable narrators and are attracted to Appalachian lore, this is the book for you.

[Flutter By Night · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ghost of Josie’s father appears just after her high school graduation. That night the terrifying Glass-Face Man breaks into her home and utters only a single word, a warning. Then her mom goes missing. The search for the truth and her mom takes Josie and her girlfriends to Kentucky where they meet up with her Uncle Don, who may hold the key to it all. Together, they unravel the truth, yet the truth unravels like a drug-induced, psychotic episode and not in a good way.

The plot collapses into an unintended (?) fever dream, which equally mystified and frustrated me.

Yet the writing itself is so very good. The concepts, horror, and imagery are disturbing, compelling, and effectively horrid at times.

I really tried to overcome the convoluted, messy plot, which left me ruminating on the importance of having a very strong developmental editor.

Due to the strength of the writing itself 3/5.

[Christine Choptovy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Kentucky Dragon. This book can be read on its own but I recommend reading Kentucky Dragon first, so you can fully appreciate what happens in this book. Josie’s dad Mark thinks he’s conquered the murderous “Chicken Man” and has purged the family legacy of having to sacrifice the first child born into each generation. Mark dies in a bizarre car accident when Josie’s young. At Josie’s high school graduation, she is certain that she sees her Dad’s ghost and she starts having blackouts. Then her mom Caitlyn mysteriously disappears. Josie and her lover Clara attempt to find out why Caitlyn has vanished. Did Mark banish the monster haunting his family? Will the women find Caitlyn? Will she have to face monsters of her own? Very suspenseful, supernatural book. I found part of the storyline to be confusing, hence the 4* rating.

I received an ARC of the book and this is my personal opinion.

[Una · Rating 3 out of 5]

A haunting blend of psychological horror and apocalyptic suspense, The Glass-Face Man follows Josie, a recent high school graduate, who encounters her deceased father’s ghost warning her of impending doom. Soon after, a disfigured intruder with a glass-like face breaks into her home, uttering a single word—“burn”—before her mother disappears. Josie’s frantic search leads her from New York to Kentucky, uncovering a world unraveling into chaos and confronting ancient malevolent forces.

Michael Park crafts a narrative rich in atmosphere and dread, with critics noting that he “succeeds in creating a feeling of disquiet that pervades every sentence” . The novel’s Southern Gothic elements and psychological depth make it a standout in contemporary horror fiction.

I am giving it a 3 star because at times it fell short for me.

[sophie ☁️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had an interesting premise. Josie is a recent high-school graduate, being haunted by the ghost of her dead father who delivers her a chilling premonition - evil is coming, and fast. Later that night, Josie’s home is broken into by a disfigured glass-face man, and by the following morning, Josie’s mum is missing.

What follows is a descent into chaos and terror as Josie uncovers family secrets, dark bargains and an ancient evil that threatens mass extinction.

I’m a big fan of an unreliable narrator, and Josie definitely delivers, ramping up the tension and leaves you questioning what you should or, shouldn’t believe. An amply enjoyable and compelling read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to BookSirens for the ARC. There were so many good things about this book - the characters, the way it toed the lines of reality and insanity, and the creepy atmosphere - but I kept reading waiting for it to make sense, and that never happened. I love an unreliable narrator and I love a blurry understanding of what's going on, but I want a resolution at the end. I felt like I didn't ever really know what the plot was. I also found it really challenging to read Uncle Don's strange manner of speaking, which I understand was written to show us something about the character's history, but it was jarring to me.

[Amanda Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Glass Faced man is a horror novel by Michael Park. After reading the blurb, I was intrigued and interested in giving this book a chance. This was an interesting and new concept for a horror book. I thought the descriptions of the monsters were creepy. I appreciate the fact that the writing style was chaotic to match the unreliable narrator; but that same writing style made it difficult for me to follow the plot. The plot was choppy, and towards the end of the book I was confused. Thanks NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Christina wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved a copy of this book from Netgalley and could not wait to try and read this one. I got about half way through it and had to dnf this one. I found it confusing and I couldnt connect with any of the characters. It seemed to be lagging in the set up department. In one sentence they were in a school and the next one it jumped to a completely different place. The concept of the book itself was decent,but it just wasn't executed very well.

[Neville Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

The follow up to Kentucky Dragon it had me gripped from the beginning. Rosie graduates and the ghost of her dad, Mark comes to her with a warning. A riveting and sometimes confusing plot with plenty of twists. I really enjoyed this horror novel. Thanks to Fox Books and Netgalley for this review copy.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josie sees her dead father, then meets the Glass Faced man. Then her mother disappears and there are horror she needs to face.
Sometimes a slow read, but it kept me wanting to learn what happens. Told in a third person POV, I thought it was a great story.

I read this as an ARC

[John Bitsko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read. I was hooked from the opening pages. Definitely recommended!

[Danielle Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Fox point books via Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found this book a little slow and did not give me the creep out vibes I thought I was going to get. It was very hard to understand why and what was happening. I thought the monsters were interesting, but just not sure why they were there. It just wasn’t something I could stay into. I did finish the book, but still had no clue why things happened the way they did.

[Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ghost of Josie’s dead dad shows up again, this time at her graduation to warn her of a prehistoric evil. She doesn’t believe him. Until a disfigured glass-face man breaks into her home and her mum goes missing. As Josie and her girlfriend desperately search for her, they discover the world is indeed heading towards a mass extinction event as her father warned, with an ancient evil tied to her family for decades.

Glass-face man was a whirlwind. Immediately enticing but quickly becomes convoluted. This was partly evocative and partly what the fuck is going on. I had to reread some passages to try to make sense of it, and to be honest the ending make me think my copy was broken and I went back to NetGalley for another format to check, but no it was just that abrupt. Plot wise it was predictable but the wording felt like it had cut off a couple of words/sentences/something to finish the ending (though plot wise it could be anticipating a sequel). A lot of elements were convenient or forgotten about until they could serve the plot - why wouldn't you read all of your dead dad's notes on the issue you're facing immediately?

I really enjoyed the relationships (though was the weird potential break up at the start necessary?), and parts of the mystery were done so well, for example the flashback to when Josie was a kid was a great way to give us more lore/explanation without a tonne of exposition, and I loved the lucky fossil. However, sometimes there were long meandering sections and then leaps that left me like a nintendog with question marks above my head. The horror/gore was decent but under-utilised, as was the unreliable psychological tricks to doubt what was real, though the biggest occurrence was reminiscent of popping the bubble in labyrinth. Despite the imminent 'world ending', the stakes didn't really feel that high, we had few glimpses into the world outside of what Josie was doing, and I didn't feel that any main character was at risk and no death was impactful for me. Other reviews have pointed out the discrepancies in tense, written from Josie's perspective in a mix of first and third person which added to the confusing narrative.

I did enjoy parts of this but others felt convoluted, meandering, or like a chore; this imbalance is making it hard to rate, and I think I wanted to like it more than I did. It was more fantasy mystery than horror, unfortunately. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.