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Valentine's is a Horror
Not all Valentine’s are cozy. Some are absolute horrors.
On a dateless Valentine’s evening, Bonnie and Jaxon were just faces in the crowd. Both trying to keep their heads down, ignore their demons, and get through a shift at the local mall. He worked the food court and she sold athletic shoes.
Then the lights went out and a hungry relentless horror came hunting them through the mall.
Running blindly for their lives, Jaxon and Bonnie have to hang on to hope and each other. With danger just a heartbeat behind, their only escape from the madness is to open their hearts and souls. If they can’t, what is stalking through the darkness will consume them both.
Curl up with a warm blanket and keep the lights on, because this Valentine’s is a Horror.
On a dateless Valentine’s evening, Bonnie and Jaxon were just faces in the crowd. Both trying to keep their heads down, ignore their demons, and get through a shift at the local mall. He worked the food court and she sold athletic shoes.
Then the lights went out and a hungry relentless horror came hunting them through the mall.
Running blindly for their lives, Jaxon and Bonnie have to hang on to hope and each other. With danger just a heartbeat behind, their only escape from the madness is to open their hearts and souls. If they can’t, what is stalking through the darkness will consume them both.
Curl up with a warm blanket and keep the lights on, because this Valentine’s is a Horror.
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy
This was a pretty good book, I personally found it slow at times and felt parts of it maybe could've been missed but overall it was good! I did enjoy reading it and I loved the ending, especially what happened to Bruce!
I would recommend if you like a chilled valentines night turned monster story
I would recommend if you like a chilled valentines night turned monster story
May 11, 2026
Valentines Is a Horror by Sam Hertz is a "romantic horror" novel, in the author's own words, about two dateless high school seniors working a shift on Valentine's Day when something happens in a creepy curio shop that causes all the mannequins in the mall to come alive and begin killing people. What follows is a fight for survival mixed in with the two leads growing closer to each other emotionally.
I like both main characters. Bonnie is a tough-as-nails independent type, and Jaxon is depressed but ultimately deeply empathetic even if he tries his best not to be. They pair up very well, and although their relationship inescapably develops very, very quickly if you look at the timeline of events (although the same can be said of any horror story with a romance plot, in my experience), I still found their affection for each other incredibly endearing. Said affection is also an interesting point, as it takes them quite a while to verbalise what they're feeling but they still communicate it with each other through actions – there is a lot of physical affection between these two.
Now that I've given my thoughts on the romantic side of this romantic horror, I'll speak some positives on the horror side of things. Living mannequins is kind of a cliché at this point (the book itself even has a meta line about the shop window dummies in Doctor Who at one point), but the way these things are described is very unsettling. You know the mannequin enemies in Silent Hill 2? The ones that are all legs? Similar to that, but not exactly. A lot of the mannequins are described as having too many or not enough limbs, and several of them scuttle around like oversized spiders. I wasn't scared, but I did find it creepy. And some spoilers here, but . That was sufficiently screwed up. And I absolutely loved the climax.
On another note, the story touched on some heavy topics (there is a very brief trigger warning at the start and some helplines in the back for people affected), and I felt it did it incredibly respectfully all things considered. Didn't romanticise it or use it for cheap shock value. The characters go through these struggles and deal with them not unlike real people. That was fantastic.
There aren't many negatives, but I will say that there were a couple of times where the emphasis on Jaxon and Bonnie's attraction/feelings for each other distracted from the horror a bit too much. Like, I feel like some of the scenes of them working their way through the mall should've focused a bit more on the tension of the moment than how the two of them felt being in such close proximity to each other, clasping hands, etc. I didn't hate it, but it occurred to me that they should probably be focusing on their situation a bit more (particularly because the first time they encounter one of the mannequin monsters, they're so focused on each other that they don't see it even though it's practically right in front of them - this incident I can forgive because they didn't know there were any actual monsters at the time, but it makes the direction of their thoughts/feelings later on come off as a little stupid of them).
Less of an issue for me, but I can see it being an issue for others, are all the pop culture references. This isn't setting out to be funny like Scream, at least I don't think it is, but there are a ton of pop culture references, and the only one that's really relevant to the plot is Jaxon and Bonnie bonding over One Piece. That I actually liked a lot, and not just because I'm a weeb. They kinda use the internal strength of the characters in that show to motivate themselves at points. That was good, I thought.
So, in summary, I thought this was a really good read that blended the horror and romance elements very well but probably could've balanced things out a bit better when the characters were in peril. I highly recommend it if you're at all interested in this sort of genre mixing.
I like both main characters. Bonnie is a tough-as-nails independent type, and Jaxon is depressed but ultimately deeply empathetic even if he tries his best not to be. They pair up very well, and although their relationship inescapably develops very, very quickly if you look at the timeline of events (although the same can be said of any horror story with a romance plot, in my experience), I still found their affection for each other incredibly endearing. Said affection is also an interesting point, as it takes them quite a while to verbalise what they're feeling but they still communicate it with each other through actions – there is a lot of physical affection between these two.
Now that I've given my thoughts on the romantic side of this romantic horror, I'll speak some positives on the horror side of things. Living mannequins is kind of a cliché at this point (the book itself even has a meta line about the shop window dummies in Doctor Who at one point), but the way these things are described is very unsettling. You know the mannequin enemies in Silent Hill 2? The ones that are all legs? Similar to that, but not exactly. A lot of the mannequins are described as having too many or not enough limbs, and several of them scuttle around like oversized spiders. I wasn't scared, but I did find it creepy. And some spoilers here, but . That was sufficiently screwed up. And I absolutely loved the climax.
On another note, the story touched on some heavy topics (there is a very brief trigger warning at the start and some helplines in the back for people affected), and I felt it did it incredibly respectfully all things considered. Didn't romanticise it or use it for cheap shock value. The characters go through these struggles and deal with them not unlike real people. That was fantastic.
There aren't many negatives, but I will say that there were a couple of times where the emphasis on Jaxon and Bonnie's attraction/feelings for each other distracted from the horror a bit too much. Like, I feel like some of the scenes of them working their way through the mall should've focused a bit more on the tension of the moment than how the two of them felt being in such close proximity to each other, clasping hands, etc. I didn't hate it, but it occurred to me that they should probably be focusing on their situation a bit more (particularly because the first time they encounter one of the mannequin monsters, they're so focused on each other that they don't see it even though it's practically right in front of them - this incident I can forgive because they didn't know there were any actual monsters at the time, but it makes the direction of their thoughts/feelings later on come off as a little stupid of them).
Less of an issue for me, but I can see it being an issue for others, are all the pop culture references. This isn't setting out to be funny like Scream, at least I don't think it is, but there are a ton of pop culture references, and the only one that's really relevant to the plot is Jaxon and Bonnie bonding over One Piece. That I actually liked a lot, and not just because I'm a weeb. They kinda use the internal strength of the characters in that show to motivate themselves at points. That was good, I thought.
So, in summary, I thought this was a really good read that blended the horror and romance elements very well but probably could've balanced things out a bit better when the characters were in peril. I highly recommend it if you're at all interested in this sort of genre mixing.
February 10, 2026
Monsters….. Check
Romance……. Check
Emotional roller coaster……. Check!
We follow Bonnie and Jaxon, 2 dateless teenagers working in the mall on valentines day……… Then all hell breaks loose!!
This is a tense, claustrophobic story about first loves, navigating friendships and confronting your demons.
For me this was a very metaphorical tale and the symbolism was very well done!
The secondary characters were very well written ( especially Bruce)!
My only gripe was that not much explanation was given about why one of characters ended up like they did…… Maybe it's open to interpretation!
I very much enjoyed it though and will look out for more from this author ☺️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Romance……. Check
Emotional roller coaster……. Check!
We follow Bonnie and Jaxon, 2 dateless teenagers working in the mall on valentines day……… Then all hell breaks loose!!
This is a tense, claustrophobic story about first loves, navigating friendships and confronting your demons.
For me this was a very metaphorical tale and the symbolism was very well done!
The secondary characters were very well written ( especially Bruce)!
My only gripe was that not much explanation was given about why one of characters ended up like they did…… Maybe it's open to interpretation!
I very much enjoyed it though and will look out for more from this author ☺️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy
A cute little friends together on Valentine's Day turns into a monster filled evening! Will they survive the night?
This story read really smooth and quick. A great book for someone who does not read a lot of horror.
This story read really smooth and quick. A great book for someone who does not read a lot of horror.
January 31, 2026
3.5⭐️
This is a light horror/ love story that does have a certain charm. While I did enjoy the read sadly at some places it got pretty slow and the pacing threw me off . It did take a turn I wasn’t expecting so that was fun . All in all not a bad read
This is a light horror/ love story that does have a certain charm. While I did enjoy the read sadly at some places it got pretty slow and the pacing threw me off . It did take a turn I wasn’t expecting so that was fun . All in all not a bad read
February 15, 2026
Surprising how horrifying and heart warming at the same time.
This was well written. The characters were 3 dimensional, the horror was truly horrifying, and the happy ish ending was earned. I will be checking out this author's other books.
This was well written. The characters were 3 dimensional, the horror was truly horrifying, and the happy ish ending was earned. I will be checking out this author's other books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews