In The Mouth of Madness

by Sutter Cane

Sutter Cane’s Most Anticipated Novel Has Arrived

In the Mouth of Madness is the long-lost novel fans have been waiting for.

Readers of his earlier books — The Hobbs End Horror, The Thing in the Basement, The Breathing Tunnel, and The Whisperer of the Dark — will recognize his signature blend of psychological terror and cosmic dread.

Sutter Cane has always been a figure shrouded in mystery. Critics have called his writing “dangerously immersive” and “deeply infectious.” Although sales records are incomplete or missing, many believe he has outsold every living author.

The story follows John Trent, an insurance investigator assigned to find Sutter Cane after his sudden disappearance. What begins as a simple missing person case soon spirals into a nightmare. Trent learns that Cane’s fiction doesn’t just reflect reality — it may shape it.

Will you read Sutter Cane?

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Fiction

258 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although John Carpenter directed some great films, including Halloween & The Thing, In the Mouth of Madness is still my favourite Carpenter film. I have seen In the Mouth of Madness numerous times and was amazed to see that this novelisation has finally appeared, over 30 years after the film first hit the cinemas.
Many people compare the story to HP Lovecraft, but I've always felt it reminded me of a combination of Stephen King and Clive Barker. This novel, based on the original screenplay, has some very welcome additonal dialogue and scenes not used in the film. I am incredibly pleased that not only can I rewatch the film I can now reread the novel as well.
This is probably the most bizarre book in my collection for two reasons. It is published by Arcane Publishing, a fictional publishing company. And it is written by Sutter Cane, an author who doesn't exist!
It just leaves me to ask you all one obvious question...."Do you read Sutter Cane ?!"

[James Jeans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to get this book, because I'm a big fan of the film and I was looking forward to further novelizations that are coming out under this line (particularly the novelization of Tremors, which is using an older script that has a lot of differences from the finished film).

While the writing is competent and it is a good adaptation of the film written in-character and released under the name of the publisher from the film, the book is a total mess. It is filled with missing words and typographical errors (they even show up on the dust jacket). Character names are miss-spelled (Harglow is referred to as Harlow multiple times) and dialog in particular is often missing multiple words that make it sound like the characters are stroking out mid-sentence (the fact that you can refer to the film to hear the dialog in full doesn't help).

Given that the novelization is written in-character and in-universe, I'd be pretty hacked off at Styles if I was Sutter Cane: she's done a terrible job of proofing and fixing his work.

I suppose you could write it off as the novel being a dime-store B grade schlocker -- hey, the editors just didn't care that much it's all garbage anyway, right? -- but that's cold comfort when the flow of the story is interrupted by all these errors.

I hope the editing is better in the upcoming releases in this line. I really want to pick up Beneath Perfection, Night of the Comet, and the Maniac Cop books, but at $30 a pop for the hardbacks, you expect a higher level of quality control than this.

[Mother Suspiria]

There's an art and an elegance to a well-written novelization and IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS is a hellishly superb, diabolical delight. The story we know remains remarkably relevant, fresh, and teems with (unholy) life. Poor John Trent, but lucky us: the horrors persist, and so does Sutter Cane!

I was totally impressed with this novelization: it was an absolute joy to read, even though I know this story like the back of my hand. It's still thrilling, engrossing, and horror-filled in the best way and that's a testament to both the source material AND the author. Kudos.

[Joshua Hair · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so disappointing. I’ve wanted this book for so long, and when it finally gets released we end up with this mess. There are so many errors that it genuinely feels as if the author used a dictation device and then didn’t go back and fix anything. Missing words, misspelled character names, sentences chopped up into three or four sentences with random punctuation in between…it’s awful. Every time I ran in to another egregious example it pulled me right out of the story. And why, oh why, did the author decide 100 pages in that the main character, John Trent, spoke with a Brooklyn accent despite being English in the movie? I need to stop ranting now. Suffice it to say this is my most disappointing book of the year.

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of John Carpenter's fantastatic film, 'In The Mouth of Madness' then you owe it to yourself to pick-up this fantastic novelisation. Written by 'Sutter Cane', it follows the movie pretty much perfectly, at the same time fleshing out some of the characters and situations. My only gripe, and it's a minor one, are the numerous copy edit mistakes littered throughout the book. These normally don't bother me at all, but there's a fair number of them here, and they take you out of the story at times. With that being said, this is a must-own for fans of the movie and for those readers who like Lovecraftian horror.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, FINALLY, I can truthfully answer that oh-so-important question.

Yes, I read Sutter Cane.

[Raymond St. Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a novelization

I've been wanting to read a version of the film for some time and here it is! I saw the John Carpenter movie and to some it might be confusing, but made perfect sense to me; reality could be changed from sane to insane easily. I always thought a remake would be made though uncertain if that would happen and done right a poor example is 'The Fog' a disappointment in the worst remake films to come as of late.

[Paul Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! It was so weird at first to read something that only existed as a film and does now make the film seem even more immersive.
Asides from a few descriptions and lines of dialogue this is the film. So you could say it's the screenplay.
Highly recommended for collectors and fans of the film.

[Luke Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh the lost art of the Movie Novelisation. More of a niche market now but glad to see they’re making a comeback. This one was a lot of fun.

[Kent Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Kind of bland. Pretty straightforward novelization.

[David Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely the crown jewel in Christian Francis' novelisation career to date. The movie he had always been chasing, his white whale, has not failed him.

The visuals are incredible and unlike anything I've ever read, with such incredibly vivid descriptions.

I've said it about one of his other books and I'll say it about this one.

It's f***ing excellent.

[Horror Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never really thought the 1994 John Carpenter movie would get a novelization, so this release was a VERY nice surprise. The novelization is even presented as being written by Sutter Cane (the cover only bears his name), but really this fourth wall shattering book is by author Christian Francis.
If you were expecting a straight retelling of the movie, you'd be mistaken. The book takes some bits from the original screenplay (like the extra moments with Dr Wrenn towards the end), and there are numerous additional bits sprinkled throughout the narrative that feel like missing and extended scenes from the movie. So, this book is not like the theatrical version of "In The Mouth Of Madness", but more like an expanded cut.
Though some changes seemed to be kind of random (like the song playing in the asylum is different, and Styles is now apparently a redhead). Also, I did notice a couple of spelling errors, and numerous times it felt like commas in some sentences were missing & letters were capitalized where they shouldn't. Still, despite those minor editing errors, this is a really great novelization, and it definitely goes above and beyond.
Now all the fans need is a novelization for "Prince Of Darkness", to complete the literary adaptations of John Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy.

[Colby Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved adding this to my library collection. As a big fan of Carpenter’s film, and Lovecraftian horror in general, I was stoked to have this novel FROM the movie.

And I was not disappointed. Awesome book, easy read, actually quite the page turner, and done in a way that expands on the film in ways only a book can.

I think this is a very neat addition to any horror fan’s collection - if not just for the conversation piece alone - then for its Lovecraftian subject matter.

The only issues I had with this book were what some have recently stated: numerous typos. You’d think they’d be able to hire a decent editor, but I suppose Styles was a “made up” character anyhow.

Honestly, I would love to see them publish more of Cane’s “works,” like the Hobbs End Horror. Very cool opportunity there. This was nice to revisit in a different form, and now I’m not gonna be able to stop myself from asking “Do you read Sutter Cane?”

[Michael Fredette · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Mouth of Madness, Sutter Cane [Arcane, 2025].

John Trent, a private detective who specializes in insurance fraud cases, investigates the disappearance of Sutter Cane , the wildly popular author of lurid pulpish horror fiction. Cane vanished before submitting the manuscript of his hotly anticipated new release In the Mouth of Madness to his publisher Arcane. At first, Trent suspects that the disappearance is a ruse, a publicity stunt. Based on clues embedded in the stories and cover art, Trent, accompanied by Cane’s editor, embarks on a journey in search of the missing writer, which leads them to a rural New England town that only exists in Cane’s imagination. A mindbendingly surreal work of meta fiction.

Includes an excerpt from Cane’s novel The Feeding.

***
Sutter Cane was the reclusive author of numerous bestselling horror novels including The Thing in the Basement and The Hobb’s End Horror.

[Keith Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a straightforward adaptation of the film, with some minor differences (deleted scenes?). There are several quirks in the writing: missing modifiers; a bizarre case of always stating people "had sat" or "had stood" instead of simply "sat" or "stood" - and I mean ALWAYS. There's no indication of the actual author, though screenwriter Michael De Luca has the copyright (New Line holds the trademarks); perhaps the person who wrote the other 11 books in Echo On's series?

But I suspect this was crafted by "A. I.", whether solely or with minimal human work.

There's an "excerpt" from another Sutter Cane book in the back that has a different voice to it; as it's not based on pre-existing material, maybe it was written by a human.

Still, the main reason I got the book was because it's a nifty bit of movie paraphernalia and I love the movie.

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

The book from the original screenplay of the film about a book, marvellous. One of my favourite horror films and so underrated, this is the novelisation. I enjoyed it although there was some glaring spelling mistakes which I can ignore but could be jarring.

This tells the tale of Sutter Cane, a secretive writer of terror and cosmic horror, he is the hot ticket and his new book, In The Mouth of Madness is set to break all records. In the story John Grant, an insurance investigator is tasked with finding the missing Crane and deliver his final manuscript to his publishers, Arcane.

As Grant pursues the leads the case turns into a living nightmare as reality and fiction blend into eldritch horror. Not sure about you but I Can See!

[Lucas Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

DO YOU READ SUTTER CANE?

30 Years after In the Mouth of Madness is released to cinemas, Sutter Cane's novel shows us the genesis of the madness.

A movie about an insurance investigator who learns that he is the character of a novel, the film adaptation of which serves as the climax of the film, where John Trent sets watching the movie we just watched.

This "novelization" lives up to the film. There are certainly a few moments were dialogue feels a bit sophomoric for the context it's set within, but these are fleeting moments in a novel which overwise satisfactorily grasps the gravity of the source material, and by novelising the film about a novel which ends in a film adaptation, we add another link to the Ouroboros which is The Mouth of Madness...

[Christopher Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just wow… for the longest time Mouth Of Madness has been my go to movie when I want a reality break and now to have it in book form is awesome. The extra descriptions you can only get in a book add to the story even more. You can feel Trent’s world as it unfolds and he and Styles struggle to unravel the mystery behind Sutter Cane and his latest book. The story pulls you in and keeps you turning the page to see what happens next even though it’s basically the movie all over again you will find you can’t help but read on. The way the emotion is capture on the page breaths more life into the characters that the movie created. Plus at the end that little taste of The Feeding that Sutter Cane adds on will hook you in anticipation for what to come next… DO YOU READ SUTTER CANE..?

[HUD · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s your typical movie novelization: a relatively straightforward, relatively faithful adaptation of the film, but with just a few changes because it was based on the original script and not a lot of extra bells and whistles — no real meat on the bones, so to speak. Which is to say it’s fine (especially if you like the movie). I do wish it was more a novel the movie was “based on” — something dense and intricate that had to be whittled down for the screen. Give me 4, 5, 600+ pages. And what is it with books not getting proofread? Like the last book I read, Hunter’s Moon, there were typos galore in this thing.

[Austin Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you read Sutter Cane? One of my favorite movies gets a novelization, I'm gonsta read it. I loved getting to experience this story in a different medium, loved the meta-context of having the book published in-universe with Arcane as the publishing house, and Sutter Cane as the credited author. There were some things that either got missed by the editor during their pass-through or went unnoticed because there was no editor, and the nitpicking asshole in me won't let me give 5 stars as a result, but real-life author Christian Francis knocked it out of the park and this was a blast to read. 4.5/5

[DH_reads_horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been waiting to read this novelisation of In The Mouth Of Madness for a while, written by Christian Francis based on the original screenplay by Michael De Luca. It's been quite a few years since I last watched the film, but I feel that the book stays close to the film, with a few additional sections where Sutter Cane comments on what is happening in the book.
It's very well written, unfortunately slightly marred by a few too many editing errors, where full stops seem to have been used instead of commas, resulting in short sentences that don't make sense until you realise they should run into the next sentence...
Putting these errors aside, I really enjoyed the book, and it's great to finally have a Sutter Cane book on my shelves.

Do you read Sutter Cane?

[Tom Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A capable novelization with some added meta moments that make for a fun read. There are a few missed opportunities due to the workmanlike prose, but I find this is true for the many novelizations I have read in the past.

And as a fan of the film, it's very cool to have a Sutter Cane book on my shelf.

Fun read.

[Zachary Winnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do you read Sutter Cane?” I did and had an absolute blast! This book is a fun ride! It adds to the lore of the movie and adds more spice to the characters. This is one of my favorite John Carpenter movies and if you like this movie, do yourself a favor and read this! You will not be disappointed

[Jess Saa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can see.

[tim Skaggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a great book but it had lots of typos but I did my best to look over it and still enjoyed the story

[C E · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's exactly the movie. Riddled with typos, this is nothing stellar. If it were an original idea instead of a trope rehash, I would be more interested.

[Kelsey Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 3.5/5 stars due to the apparent lack of an editor, but this will fit nicely on my bookshelf next to the Alan Wake novelization and Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

[Cameron Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid novelization but maybe edit it for typos next time guys.

[Michael D Jedlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you read Sutter Cane?

Hard-boiled, no nonsense insurance investigator John Trent is hired to find Sutter Cane. Whom has gone missing, and as we are told is the "most widely read author of the 20th century" leaving Stephen King, Matheson and Lovecraft behind.

Trent pieces together the location of Hobbs End, where Cane's novels are all set. Cane's editor Linda Styles is sent along with Trent, here she is not the dark-haired beauty Julie Carmen, but described as a blonde perhaps due to Hollywood's obsession with Marilyn Monroe.

"You're my mommy. Do you know what today is? Today is mommy's day!"

Trent and Styles witness some strange events and stumble across a race of ancient beings dead-set on bringing about the end of everything.

Can Trent stop the Old Ones and escape?

"I can't remember what came first us, or the books."

"Reality's not what it used to be."