What do you think?
Rate this book
Nightjars
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26
Memento
meets
Dracula
in this heart-thudding, unpredictable, and beautifully crafted novel of a man exposed for crimes he doesn’t remember committing, and the monsters that dwell at the heart of us all, from celebrated and critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.
One rainy night on a first date, Luke Oshel’s new crush never comes back from the restroom. But she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.
Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his father, who killed his victims by exsanguination before his own death. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.
As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.
One rainy night on a first date, Luke Oshel’s new crush never comes back from the restroom. But she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.
Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his father, who killed his victims by exsanguination before his own death. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.
As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 29, 2026
About the author
Michael Wehunt
44 books480 followersMICHAEL WEHUNT has been a finalist for multiple Shirley Jackson Awards and was shortlisted for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts' Crawford Award. In Spain, his stories have garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. He haunts the woods outside Atlanta with his partner and their dog. Together, they hold the horrors at bay. Find him in the digital trees at www.michaelwehunt.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Some books creep under your skin. This one practically moved in, unpacked its bags, and refused to leave.
When I saw the words "Memento meets Dracula," I immediately thought, "Well, that's either going to be absolutely brilliant or a complete disaster." Thankfully, it turned out to be the first option. And not just brilliant—deeply unsettling, wildly addictive, and the kind of story that keeps whispering in your ear long after you've closed the book.
The moment Luke receives that mysterious photograph during a disastrous blind date, I was hooked. Honestly, if someone left me a childhood photo featuring a corpse and a masked nightmare creature under a restaurant napkin, I'd probably relocate to another continent immediately. Luke, however, decides to investigate, which is great news for readers and terrible news for his mental health.
What follows is a tense, twisting descent into buried memories, family secrets, guilt, addiction, trauma, and a darkness that seems determined to consume everything in its path. Every new clue made me question everything I thought I knew. Every photograph felt like opening a door that should have remained permanently locked. Just when I convinced myself I had figured things out, the story casually grabbed my theories, threw them into the Appalachian wilderness, and left them there to die.
The atmosphere deserves special praise because it is absolutely phenomenal. The North Georgia mountain setting feels alive in the most disturbing way possible. The forests seem to watch. The shadows feel heavier. Even ordinary locations carry a sense of unease, as if something ancient is patiently waiting just beyond sight. I could practically smell the rain-soaked earth and feel the dread creeping through every page.
What impressed me most was how the novel balances its terrifying elements with genuine emotional depth. Beneath the mystery and horror lies a heartbreaking exploration of inheritance—not money or property, but pain, damage, fear, and the terrifying possibility of becoming the thing you most despise. Luke's struggle feels deeply human. His fear isn't simply about what might be hunting him. It's about what might already be inside him.
And can we talk about those photographs? Every single one felt like a miniature horror story on its own. They created some of the most chilling moments in the entire book. I found myself simultaneously desperate to discover their meaning and absolutely terrified to learn the truth.
The supernatural elements are handled beautifully. This isn't the type of story that follows a familiar roadmap. It takes recognizable horror ingredients and transforms them into something stranger, darker, and far more memorable. The mythology unfolds piece by piece, rewarding patience while constantly raising the stakes.
By the final act, my anxiety levels had officially reached "checking how many pages are left every three minutes" territory. The tension becomes almost unbearable, the revelations hit hard, and the emotional payoff landed even harder than I expected. There were moments that genuinely broke my heart.
Overall, this is one of the most captivating horror thrillers I've read in quite some time. It's eerie, intelligent, emotionally resonant, and packed with enough mystery to keep readers second-guessing themselves until the very end. Michael Wehunt has crafted a story that feels both deeply personal and nightmare-inducing, which is honestly one of my favorite combinations.
If you enjoy psychological horror, unsettling mysteries, unreliable memories, family secrets, and stories that leave you staring at the ceiling at two in the morning questioning everything, this book deserves a place at the very top of your reading list.
A very special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this captivating horror thriller's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.
medium blog
instagram
facebook
When I saw the words "Memento meets Dracula," I immediately thought, "Well, that's either going to be absolutely brilliant or a complete disaster." Thankfully, it turned out to be the first option. And not just brilliant—deeply unsettling, wildly addictive, and the kind of story that keeps whispering in your ear long after you've closed the book.
The moment Luke receives that mysterious photograph during a disastrous blind date, I was hooked. Honestly, if someone left me a childhood photo featuring a corpse and a masked nightmare creature under a restaurant napkin, I'd probably relocate to another continent immediately. Luke, however, decides to investigate, which is great news for readers and terrible news for his mental health.
What follows is a tense, twisting descent into buried memories, family secrets, guilt, addiction, trauma, and a darkness that seems determined to consume everything in its path. Every new clue made me question everything I thought I knew. Every photograph felt like opening a door that should have remained permanently locked. Just when I convinced myself I had figured things out, the story casually grabbed my theories, threw them into the Appalachian wilderness, and left them there to die.
The atmosphere deserves special praise because it is absolutely phenomenal. The North Georgia mountain setting feels alive in the most disturbing way possible. The forests seem to watch. The shadows feel heavier. Even ordinary locations carry a sense of unease, as if something ancient is patiently waiting just beyond sight. I could practically smell the rain-soaked earth and feel the dread creeping through every page.
What impressed me most was how the novel balances its terrifying elements with genuine emotional depth. Beneath the mystery and horror lies a heartbreaking exploration of inheritance—not money or property, but pain, damage, fear, and the terrifying possibility of becoming the thing you most despise. Luke's struggle feels deeply human. His fear isn't simply about what might be hunting him. It's about what might already be inside him.
And can we talk about those photographs? Every single one felt like a miniature horror story on its own. They created some of the most chilling moments in the entire book. I found myself simultaneously desperate to discover their meaning and absolutely terrified to learn the truth.
The supernatural elements are handled beautifully. This isn't the type of story that follows a familiar roadmap. It takes recognizable horror ingredients and transforms them into something stranger, darker, and far more memorable. The mythology unfolds piece by piece, rewarding patience while constantly raising the stakes.
By the final act, my anxiety levels had officially reached "checking how many pages are left every three minutes" territory. The tension becomes almost unbearable, the revelations hit hard, and the emotional payoff landed even harder than I expected. There were moments that genuinely broke my heart.
Overall, this is one of the most captivating horror thrillers I've read in quite some time. It's eerie, intelligent, emotionally resonant, and packed with enough mystery to keep readers second-guessing themselves until the very end. Michael Wehunt has crafted a story that feels both deeply personal and nightmare-inducing, which is honestly one of my favorite combinations.
If you enjoy psychological horror, unsettling mysteries, unreliable memories, family secrets, and stories that leave you staring at the ceiling at two in the morning questioning everything, this book deserves a place at the very top of your reading list.
A very special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this captivating horror thriller's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.
medium blog
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Reading for review in a future issue of Booklist
Three Words That Describe This Book: family secrets, extreme tension, horror-crime hybrid
psychological, multiple points of view (Luke and Kristin), book within a book, grief, forgotten memories, Southern Gothic, photography, atmospheric at first, visceral as we go on, trauma.
So the marketing includes mention of Dracula, which well, I don't love because I think it is a spoiler. However, since they did do that, yes there are vampires here. And there are missing and or dead women drained of all their blood.
Back to the story-- Luke is a divorced guy who owns a bookstore. He has a very good relationship with his ex-wife Kristin-- that set up matters a lot. They share a kid who they both love with all their hearts. And they both still are for each other deeply, but Luke's addictions and his inability to resolved past trauma in regards to his father made him a bad husband.
Luke goes on a date and the woman leaves him a picture of himself as a child, a dead body in his bedroom and a masked man-- he is distraught. What is this? I know I have missing memories, etc... But then the photos keep coming and they are more recent. He is posing with murder victims, covered in blood. He wakes up in his bookstore, covered in blood with no memories of what happened. Notes about his dead father are being left for him. It is as if someone is leaving him clues.
There are also real people missing and or found dead and drained of their blood. All not far from his North Georgia home near the Appalachian mountains.
Luke does not trust himself.
The POV switches to Kristin after a time as she gets involved trying to help Luke, keep their daughter safe, and figure out the truth behind everything.
It becomes a horror-crime hybrid as the terrifying truth is revealed and then Kristin must fight to save her daughter and what is left of her ex husband.
There is also the use of a book within a book, self published because no one would believe it, about a clan of serial killers in the woods titled "On the Appalachian Nightjar." It is the personal story of a man who son was killed and his life's work to find the answer.
Speaking of "nightjar," the word is used in a variety of ways here. The title of the book within a book, which is a great way to give the reader (and Luke) some background. A nightjar is a bird from that area. It is an odd bird-- large eyes, nocturnal, described as creepy and silent. They hide in plan sight. But it is also described in th prologue as a container for darkness where the lid can be screwed on and it is put on a shelf. So it is also a metaphor for Luke's forgotten, violent memories.
I do appreciate that it is plural in the title NIGHTJARS. Because there are a lot of them. And it does a good job as a metaphor for the "clan" (nest) of serial kills but the word appears in the
The use of photography as a way to fill in the gaps of missing memories was a nice literary device, however, if you are going to make photography a huge part of the story and the mystery, I really think the photos should be included. If it was like 1 or 2 fine, but Luke being give the photos of places he had clearly been, things he had done, covered in blood int he photo and waking up covered in blood-- all with no memories of the incidents-- there were many of these. I stopped counting. The story needs those on the page.
Great great alike options-- Coffin Moon by Rosson, Fiend by Katsu, Devils Kill Devils by Compton.
Also the graphic novel series American Vampire by Snyder.
Three Words That Describe This Book: family secrets, extreme tension, horror-crime hybrid
psychological, multiple points of view (Luke and Kristin), book within a book, grief, forgotten memories, Southern Gothic, photography, atmospheric at first, visceral as we go on, trauma.
So the marketing includes mention of Dracula, which well, I don't love because I think it is a spoiler. However, since they did do that, yes there are vampires here. And there are missing and or dead women drained of all their blood.
Back to the story-- Luke is a divorced guy who owns a bookstore. He has a very good relationship with his ex-wife Kristin-- that set up matters a lot. They share a kid who they both love with all their hearts. And they both still are for each other deeply, but Luke's addictions and his inability to resolved past trauma in regards to his father made him a bad husband.
Luke goes on a date and the woman leaves him a picture of himself as a child, a dead body in his bedroom and a masked man-- he is distraught. What is this? I know I have missing memories, etc... But then the photos keep coming and they are more recent. He is posing with murder victims, covered in blood. He wakes up in his bookstore, covered in blood with no memories of what happened. Notes about his dead father are being left for him. It is as if someone is leaving him clues.
There are also real people missing and or found dead and drained of their blood. All not far from his North Georgia home near the Appalachian mountains.
Luke does not trust himself.
The POV switches to Kristin after a time as she gets involved trying to help Luke, keep their daughter safe, and figure out the truth behind everything.
It becomes a horror-crime hybrid as the terrifying truth is revealed and then Kristin must fight to save her daughter and what is left of her ex husband.
There is also the use of a book within a book, self published because no one would believe it, about a clan of serial killers in the woods titled "On the Appalachian Nightjar." It is the personal story of a man who son was killed and his life's work to find the answer.
Speaking of "nightjar," the word is used in a variety of ways here. The title of the book within a book, which is a great way to give the reader (and Luke) some background. A nightjar is a bird from that area. It is an odd bird-- large eyes, nocturnal, described as creepy and silent. They hide in plan sight. But it is also described in th prologue as a container for darkness where the lid can be screwed on and it is put on a shelf. So it is also a metaphor for Luke's forgotten, violent memories.
I do appreciate that it is plural in the title NIGHTJARS. Because there are a lot of them. And it does a good job as a metaphor for the "clan" (nest) of serial kills but the word appears in the
The use of photography as a way to fill in the gaps of missing memories was a nice literary device, however, if you are going to make photography a huge part of the story and the mystery, I really think the photos should be included. If it was like 1 or 2 fine, but Luke being give the photos of places he had clearly been, things he had done, covered in blood int he photo and waking up covered in blood-- all with no memories of the incidents-- there were many of these. I stopped counting. The story needs those on the page.
Great great alike options-- Coffin Moon by Rosson, Fiend by Katsu, Devils Kill Devils by Compton.
Also the graphic novel series American Vampire by Snyder.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A thrilling tale of dark family secrets and the consequences of destiny come to fruition.
Wehunt throws us directly into the action from page one, with a breathtaking opening filled with tension and fear. I was captivated immediately. I had very little knowledge of what the story entailed, so I had no idea what could be coming next as I read. I was truly excited to keep turning the pages.
As the story unfolded, I did get lost a few times when the plot jumped around a bit. I would have to reset my brain on what was currently happening on the page, but Wehunt made sure I always found my footing and got back on track.
Now, let's discuss the ending. Holy crap, that was intense, visceral, gory, and magnificent. My heart rate definitely kicked up a notch!
My only other issue was the journal pages were unreadable in the format I had, so I'm interested to see how they added to the story. I will be sure to grab a copy to see for myself.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. I had a blast reading this one.
Wehunt throws us directly into the action from page one, with a breathtaking opening filled with tension and fear. I was captivated immediately. I had very little knowledge of what the story entailed, so I had no idea what could be coming next as I read. I was truly excited to keep turning the pages.
As the story unfolded, I did get lost a few times when the plot jumped around a bit. I would have to reset my brain on what was currently happening on the page, but Wehunt made sure I always found my footing and got back on track.
Now, let's discuss the ending. Holy crap, that was intense, visceral, gory, and magnificent. My heart rate definitely kicked up a notch!
My only other issue was the journal pages were unreadable in the format I had, so I'm interested to see how they added to the story. I will be sure to grab a copy to see for myself.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. I had a blast reading this one.
May 21, 2026
I absolutely loved this book. Michael Wehunt did a fantastic job creating a story that was both deeply creepy and unsettling while also being filled with so much love and tenderness. Reading this book felt like an emotional roller coaster. It is the first horror novel in a long time that genuinely made me feel spooked in my own house at night. At the same time, it also made my heart swell with so much respect and affection for the main characters.
Nightjars follows Luke Oshel, a small bookstore owner trying to navigate life after divorce while maintaining sobriety and co-parenting his four-year-old daughter. One night, while on a first date, he discovers a disturbing photograph from his childhood. This starts him on the dark path of resurfacing memories he had buried for decades. From there, his life descends into an absolute nightmare as he uncovers the truth about his father and himself.
This book pulls you in from the very first chapter. I flew through it because I constantly needed to know what would happen next. The writing was beautiful and created the perfect atmospheric imagery set in the Appalachian Mountains. The ending had me crying, which was probably a first for me when reading a horror novel. I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Wehunt, and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.
Nightjars follows Luke Oshel, a small bookstore owner trying to navigate life after divorce while maintaining sobriety and co-parenting his four-year-old daughter. One night, while on a first date, he discovers a disturbing photograph from his childhood. This starts him on the dark path of resurfacing memories he had buried for decades. From there, his life descends into an absolute nightmare as he uncovers the truth about his father and himself.
This book pulls you in from the very first chapter. I flew through it because I constantly needed to know what would happen next. The writing was beautiful and created the perfect atmospheric imagery set in the Appalachian Mountains. The ending had me crying, which was probably a first for me when reading a horror novel. I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Wehunt, and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.
Read
May 13, 2026Vampires meet Appalachian horror, consider me hooked. At times, this leans into mystery/thriller territory which isn’t really my preferred genre but I was along for the ride and I was excited to see how the story unfolded. The horror is skin-crawlingly eerie and blood-soaked. I always love seeing unique interpretations of vampires and these creatures are grotesque in the best way. The way their lore was interwoven with Appalachian folklore made me giddy. I had a lot of fun reading this one.
March 22, 2026
Thank you SMP/Macmillan for the e-ARC of this book! I was so gripped by the description of this book, and I started reading it immediately. It was definitely different than anything I’ve ever read, which is something I always appreciate. I really had no idea where the story was going until the actual reveal of the situation. There were definitely a lot of moments that creeped me out, and I had to wait to pick up the book again until the sun came up (I’m a baby, I know)! I’ve lived in Georgia for almost all of my life, so I quite enjoyed the familiar feeling of the setting. I’m still relatively new to the horror genre, but I think horror veterans and newbies alike will enjoy this story. It releases in late September, and I think it’ll be a fabulous one to read during spooky season!
May 4, 2026
I mean this in the best way, what the hell did I just read?
Nightjars was wacky, dark, and without a doubt one of the more creative vampire novels I’ve read.
This was my first introduction to a work by Michael Wehunt, and I must say, he would excel at writing a feature film or a limited series. In fact, I would love to see Nightjars turned into one.
It was so atmospheric. He built this world that felt so grounded in reality and yet so strange at the same time. There were many moments where I literally had goosebumps because what I was reading made my skin crawl.
I feel like the vampire thing has been overdone as of late, but y’all… there’s something about this one. Appalachian vampires for the win!!
Luke believes his father was a serial killer, and quite honestly… it’s ruining his life.
His wife divorced him. He turned to drinking. His memories of the horrible ventures his father brought him along on are bubbling to the surface, but never quite coming into focus.
And then, just when he finally has it together, a blind date blows it all up. She ditches him at the bar, but not before leaving behind an old Polaroid depicting Luke as a child… and a dead body.
It’s so insane. Just read it, please.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.
Nightjars was wacky, dark, and without a doubt one of the more creative vampire novels I’ve read.
This was my first introduction to a work by Michael Wehunt, and I must say, he would excel at writing a feature film or a limited series. In fact, I would love to see Nightjars turned into one.
It was so atmospheric. He built this world that felt so grounded in reality and yet so strange at the same time. There were many moments where I literally had goosebumps because what I was reading made my skin crawl.
I feel like the vampire thing has been overdone as of late, but y’all… there’s something about this one. Appalachian vampires for the win!!
Luke believes his father was a serial killer, and quite honestly… it’s ruining his life.
His wife divorced him. He turned to drinking. His memories of the horrible ventures his father brought him along on are bubbling to the surface, but never quite coming into focus.
And then, just when he finally has it together, a blind date blows it all up. She ditches him at the bar, but not before leaving behind an old Polaroid depicting Luke as a child… and a dead body.
It’s so insane. Just read it, please.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.
June 14, 2026
If this isn’t made into a movie….I don’t know what could be a better script. It’s so good!!! Also, how can I be horrified, disgusted, SHOCKED and then crying at the end!? Damnit some parts were so lovingly painful! Will be a top book of mine for 2026.
June 4, 2026
review of advanced readers copy thanks to netgalley
i think this book’s writing style was beautiful and had me both hooked and unsettled from the beginning. the synopsis mentions dracula and it can be assumed how it might revisit that story; however, i did not expect this plot to take a turn in the direction that it did. by the time i reach part 3 or 4, i was feeling ready for the story to end, and the dots were not connecting in a way that necessarily left me intrigued. overall, the horror in this book is palpable in the first couple of parts, but i was kind of bored and not terrified at all by the ending. i was left with several questions that i wish had been tied up in an epilogue of sorts.
i think this book’s writing style was beautiful and had me both hooked and unsettled from the beginning. the synopsis mentions dracula and it can be assumed how it might revisit that story; however, i did not expect this plot to take a turn in the direction that it did. by the time i reach part 3 or 4, i was feeling ready for the story to end, and the dots were not connecting in a way that necessarily left me intrigued. overall, the horror in this book is palpable in the first couple of parts, but i was kind of bored and not terrified at all by the ending. i was left with several questions that i wish had been tied up in an epilogue of sorts.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I had the privilege and pleasure of obtaining and consuming an ARC for Michael Wehunt's *Nightjars*, his second novel, due out 09/29/2026. I wanted to share a few thoughts here, as Michael remains one of my favorite weird fiction writers and it is exciting to see him continue to release novels to a (hopefully) wider audience. He is also hot off a Stoker award win for his debut novel, *The October Film Haunt*, for Best First Novel.
As I mentioned in [my non-review of The October Film Haunt last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdLit/com...), I am not much of a writer, nor any kind of literary reviewer. Check out [Gabino Iglesias' review of Brian Evenson's Last Days](https://www.vol1brooklyn.com/2016/04/...) if you're looking for top echelon reviewing (he made a Pixies band reference in the title of his review, goddammit.) You might like to know that no AI tools were used in the creation of this, from conception to creation. If you want to go into this totally spoiler-free, skip the rest of this and let's talk turkey later this year when you similarly devour Michael's newest book. The stars aligned and life circumstances coincided for me to blow through *Nightjars* in under a week.
The promotional tagline for *Nightjars* is "Memento meets Dracula." I'm old enough to have seen (and loved) Christopher Nolan's Memento, a film about the loss of memories and subsequent violent tragedy. Michael gives us another clue as to what *Nightjars* entails with his use of a Freudian epigraph from Freud's seminal *Beyond the Pleasure Principle*.
>The patient cannot remember the whole of what is repressed in him, and what he cannot remember may be precisely the essential part of it. He is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of remembering it as something of the past.
If that makes you guess this book moves at the pace of Freudian analysis, guess again. *Nightjars* sinks its fangs into you early and doesn't let up. I noticed the writing in *Nightjars* is shorter and punchier than I am accustomed from Wehunt's writing; a lot of succinct metaphors and analogies. The writing in this is utterly *propulsive*. I won't bore you with all of the notes I put into my phone, but a standout line from me was on p. 153 "... it's a hammer of a thought, a north star in the terrible firmament of his story." This whole damn thing is filled with lines like that!
(I will mention, as a licensed mental health professional in the real world, I felt that the therapy elements of this story were well researched and seemed quite plausible.)
Long-term readers of Wehunt's short fiction will recognize this is not his first stab at "Vampire Fiction." It's evident he has a longstanding love for (and probably a pathological obsession with) those stalkers of the night. *Nightjars* features classic vampire mythology, as well as some of Wehunt's own original vampire mythology. It honors the old and the new. In a sub dedicated to weird literature, you might be wondering, "well, is it weird?" I'm happy to report much of it curves towards the uncanny, without devolving into arguments over strict genre gatekeeping.
Michael described *Nightjars* as being both "leaner" and "meaner" than *The October Film Haunt*. I don't have the figures memorized but I believe *Nightjars* has about 4/5 of TOFH's word count. *Nightjars* is also, in fact, a mean book. Corpses pile up, and they do not shuffle from this mortal coil gladly. Bodies are mutilated in increasingly shocking and obscene ways. No one is safe, not kids, or any of the characters you fall in love with. More ranting would delve too much into too many spoilers, but *Nightjars* has the feel of a foreboding tragedy, in the best Gothic tradition. The climax and denouement were action-packed and quite satisfying.
Can we ever truly outrun our pasts? Can we change what defines us, be it our parents, to our mistakes and histories?
I've been reading a lot of really killer stuff this year. Two of my 2026 favorites so far are Nick Cutter's *The Dorians* (possibly his best novel out of all eight of them) and Brian Evenson's *Phantom Limb* (I read the ARC for that, as well, spoiler, it's freakin' awesome.) Expect *Nightjars* to complete with everything that comes out this year. I really enjoyed *The October Film Haunt* (true story, I finished it standing up) but will offer that *Nightjars* feels like a step up for Wehunt. I'll be on the lookout for whatever he cooks up next.
As I mentioned in [my non-review of The October Film Haunt last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdLit/com...), I am not much of a writer, nor any kind of literary reviewer. Check out [Gabino Iglesias' review of Brian Evenson's Last Days](https://www.vol1brooklyn.com/2016/04/...) if you're looking for top echelon reviewing (he made a Pixies band reference in the title of his review, goddammit.) You might like to know that no AI tools were used in the creation of this, from conception to creation. If you want to go into this totally spoiler-free, skip the rest of this and let's talk turkey later this year when you similarly devour Michael's newest book. The stars aligned and life circumstances coincided for me to blow through *Nightjars* in under a week.
The promotional tagline for *Nightjars* is "Memento meets Dracula." I'm old enough to have seen (and loved) Christopher Nolan's Memento, a film about the loss of memories and subsequent violent tragedy. Michael gives us another clue as to what *Nightjars* entails with his use of a Freudian epigraph from Freud's seminal *Beyond the Pleasure Principle*.
>The patient cannot remember the whole of what is repressed in him, and what he cannot remember may be precisely the essential part of it. He is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of remembering it as something of the past.
If that makes you guess this book moves at the pace of Freudian analysis, guess again. *Nightjars* sinks its fangs into you early and doesn't let up. I noticed the writing in *Nightjars* is shorter and punchier than I am accustomed from Wehunt's writing; a lot of succinct metaphors and analogies. The writing in this is utterly *propulsive*. I won't bore you with all of the notes I put into my phone, but a standout line from me was on p. 153 "... it's a hammer of a thought, a north star in the terrible firmament of his story." This whole damn thing is filled with lines like that!
(I will mention, as a licensed mental health professional in the real world, I felt that the therapy elements of this story were well researched and seemed quite plausible.)
Long-term readers of Wehunt's short fiction will recognize this is not his first stab at "Vampire Fiction." It's evident he has a longstanding love for (and probably a pathological obsession with) those stalkers of the night. *Nightjars* features classic vampire mythology, as well as some of Wehunt's own original vampire mythology. It honors the old and the new. In a sub dedicated to weird literature, you might be wondering, "well, is it weird?" I'm happy to report much of it curves towards the uncanny, without devolving into arguments over strict genre gatekeeping.
Michael described *Nightjars* as being both "leaner" and "meaner" than *The October Film Haunt*. I don't have the figures memorized but I believe *Nightjars* has about 4/5 of TOFH's word count. *Nightjars* is also, in fact, a mean book. Corpses pile up, and they do not shuffle from this mortal coil gladly. Bodies are mutilated in increasingly shocking and obscene ways. No one is safe, not kids, or any of the characters you fall in love with. More ranting would delve too much into too many spoilers, but *Nightjars* has the feel of a foreboding tragedy, in the best Gothic tradition. The climax and denouement were action-packed and quite satisfying.
Can we ever truly outrun our pasts? Can we change what defines us, be it our parents, to our mistakes and histories?
I've been reading a lot of really killer stuff this year. Two of my 2026 favorites so far are Nick Cutter's *The Dorians* (possibly his best novel out of all eight of them) and Brian Evenson's *Phantom Limb* (I read the ARC for that, as well, spoiler, it's freakin' awesome.) Expect *Nightjars* to complete with everything that comes out this year. I really enjoyed *The October Film Haunt* (true story, I finished it standing up) but will offer that *Nightjars* feels like a step up for Wehunt. I'll be on the lookout for whatever he cooks up next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book started off with a fantastic premise. Divorced dad and recovering alcoholic Luke Oshel lives in the foothills of the Appalachians and is just trying to carry on with a life that has fallen apart. Then he starts receiving mysterious vintage photographs that appear to feature him as a child, and all sorts of blocked memories start resurfacing. What was with his dad, anyway? Why was he always taking midnight trips to the family cabin? Wait, was Ed Oshel a What's going on? Well, the answer is
What was the point of this? I honestly couldn't wait for it to end. It was also incredibly repetitive. I get it, Luke struggles with drinking, he loves his daughter so much, Kristen has asthma and is pregnant. That was also exhausting and stressful to read about - In short, just very little to like here. I initially rated the book 2 stars but after writing out this review I might have to go down to 1. It wasn't fun-bad like The Death of Jane Lawrence or The Lost Apothecary - it just wouldn't end and made me tired.
What was the point of this? I honestly couldn't wait for it to end. It was also incredibly repetitive. I get it, Luke struggles with drinking, he loves his daughter so much, Kristen has asthma and is pregnant. That was also exhausting and stressful to read about - In short, just very little to like here. I initially rated the book 2 stars but after writing out this review I might have to go down to 1. It wasn't fun-bad like The Death of Jane Lawrence or The Lost Apothecary - it just wouldn't end and made me tired.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this, I DNF'd Wehunt's last book about halfway through, but I enjoyed this one so much that I may have to revisit October Film Haunt. This is such a unique take on the kind of tale it is, the 'monster' reveal doesn't become clear (though it isn't a far leap) until about 70% of the way into the book and it ties everything together so well. I really enjoyed Wehunt's story and the multiple POVs. With excerpts from a book about Nightjars strewn throughout giving just enough of a tease towards what is coming, Wehunt keeps the reader right on the knife's edge from the jump.
Luke Oshel is a recovering addict trying to get his life together and be a good father to his young daughter Sophia. His biggest concern of the night should be if mentioning his daughter and co-parenting situation with his ex-wife will scare off his date, but when she goes to the bathroom and doesn't return, the photograph left at the table becomes his biggest concern. Because that photo shows Luke when he was a child with a masked man and a dead body in his bedroom. Luke has been aware of trauma surrounding his childhood and his father for a while, he went through hypnosis sessions trying to remove the truth in his memories surrounding the women his father may have murdered. Memories of his father referring to them as Nightjars resurface, along with memories of other murders. As more photos of Luke covered in blood with murder victims pop up, he must contend with what is happening and if he can trust his own mind.
Kristin, Luke's ex-wife, is concerned about him. He's cancelling time with Sophia, and she's worried he may be using again, until a pair of detectives come to her door and tell her Luke is a suspect in multiple murders. Pregnant with her fiancée's child, it is not the ideal time to start playing detective around the North Georgia Appalachians, but she is willing to do what it takes to keep her daughter's father safe. She refuses to believe that her ex-husband could have done this, despite the evidence piling up and her fiancée's concerns about their own safety. She will do whatever it takes to protect her family, and Luke is still family.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
Luke Oshel is a recovering addict trying to get his life together and be a good father to his young daughter Sophia. His biggest concern of the night should be if mentioning his daughter and co-parenting situation with his ex-wife will scare off his date, but when she goes to the bathroom and doesn't return, the photograph left at the table becomes his biggest concern. Because that photo shows Luke when he was a child with a masked man and a dead body in his bedroom. Luke has been aware of trauma surrounding his childhood and his father for a while, he went through hypnosis sessions trying to remove the truth in his memories surrounding the women his father may have murdered. Memories of his father referring to them as Nightjars resurface, along with memories of other murders. As more photos of Luke covered in blood with murder victims pop up, he must contend with what is happening and if he can trust his own mind.
Kristin, Luke's ex-wife, is concerned about him. He's cancelling time with Sophia, and she's worried he may be using again, until a pair of detectives come to her door and tell her Luke is a suspect in multiple murders. Pregnant with her fiancée's child, it is not the ideal time to start playing detective around the North Georgia Appalachians, but she is willing to do what it takes to keep her daughter's father safe. She refuses to believe that her ex-husband could have done this, despite the evidence piling up and her fiancée's concerns about their own safety. She will do whatever it takes to protect her family, and Luke is still family.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’ll keep this review brief, because I feel if I say too much, then I will have too many spoilers. I will say that this will be a good read for the Fall/Spooky season. However, for me now, I had a hard time getting into it. There was a lot of repetitiveness in this story, and I felt that it seemed to drag on. There were some creepy and gory parts in this book, but nothing that kept me up at night.
This story starts off with Luke Oshel who goes on a date with a woman named Collette. Collette leaves an old Polaroid picture under a napkin on the table, in which a series of flashbacks and strange events begin to happen from that photo. Days later, Luke begins to wake up with no recollection of the night before- and more photos are left behind.
As a young boy, Luke had a tumultuous relationship with his father, Ed Oshel. Ed used to take Luke up to his cabin at night, only so they could become “nightjars”. Has Ed’s past come back to haunt Luke? Or is Luke drinking himself into oblivion every night?
Only one person wants to help Luke, and that is his ex-wife, Kristen. Kristen is now five or six months pregnant with her new boyfriend’s baby. However, Luke and Kristen have a daughter together, named Sophia, who they both love very much. Because of Sophia, Kristen decides to do all the police/detective work on her own, with asthma 🙄.
The book goes back and forth between Luke’s and Kristen’s POV’s, and the further along it got, I couldn’t wait for it to end. And if I’m being honest, I wasn’t too thrilled with the conclusion either.
As I stated above, this book would be perfect for the spooky season (when it is due out). While I did have some issues with this book, I am still willing to read future reads from this author.
(And sorry, because I guess this review wasn’t very brief after all 🤭).
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author, for an advanced DRC of this book in which I had the pleasure of reading for an honest review.
Publication date: September 29, 2026
Genre~ Mystery & Thrillers, Horror
This story starts off with Luke Oshel who goes on a date with a woman named Collette. Collette leaves an old Polaroid picture under a napkin on the table, in which a series of flashbacks and strange events begin to happen from that photo. Days later, Luke begins to wake up with no recollection of the night before- and more photos are left behind.
As a young boy, Luke had a tumultuous relationship with his father, Ed Oshel. Ed used to take Luke up to his cabin at night, only so they could become “nightjars”. Has Ed’s past come back to haunt Luke? Or is Luke drinking himself into oblivion every night?
Only one person wants to help Luke, and that is his ex-wife, Kristen. Kristen is now five or six months pregnant with her new boyfriend’s baby. However, Luke and Kristen have a daughter together, named Sophia, who they both love very much. Because of Sophia, Kristen decides to do all the police/detective work on her own, with asthma 🙄.
The book goes back and forth between Luke’s and Kristen’s POV’s, and the further along it got, I couldn’t wait for it to end. And if I’m being honest, I wasn’t too thrilled with the conclusion either.
As I stated above, this book would be perfect for the spooky season (when it is due out). While I did have some issues with this book, I am still willing to read future reads from this author.
(And sorry, because I guess this review wasn’t very brief after all 🤭).
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author, for an advanced DRC of this book in which I had the pleasure of reading for an honest review.
Publication date: September 29, 2026
Genre~ Mystery & Thrillers, Horror
May 31, 2026
This was a Goodreads giveaway win for me, so I would like to thank Goodreads and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC.
Luke’s life is falling apart. He’s recently divorced, working on his sobriety, and doing everything he can to ensure he still gets time with his daughter. But when Luke goes on a blind date in his effort to get back into the thick of the mundane, his date goes to the restroom and never returns. Before Luke gives up and leaves, he realizes that his date has left an old Polaroid under her napkin for him—an old Polaroid showing Luke, as a child, with a dead body and a masked man, in his childhood bedroom.
Luke doesn’t remember this photograph, and he doesn’t remember the photographs that start getting left for him. Each with another murder, each with more blood, and worse, there are photos of Luke as an adult, just days ago. He’s missing time and losing his mind trying to understand what is happening to him now, but also what happened to him before, in those snatches of childhood that he can’t remember with a cold father he’s almost certain was a serial killer. Could Luke have inherited that hunger? But then who was the masked man, and who was taking the photographs?
Nightjars was described as a cross between Memento and Dracula, a combination I couldn’t say no to. Set against the Appalachia in North Georgia, Nightjars felt close and delightfully creepy. Every Polaroid and message left for Luke was haunting, and I would quote some here if the novel had been published yet. Wehunt’s voice felt fresh for the vampire genre, and I might just have to reread this when the novel releases in September. For those who like vampires or even just good old fashioned horror, Nightjars is a great read, and you won’t see the twists until the teeth are already in your neck.
Luke’s life is falling apart. He’s recently divorced, working on his sobriety, and doing everything he can to ensure he still gets time with his daughter. But when Luke goes on a blind date in his effort to get back into the thick of the mundane, his date goes to the restroom and never returns. Before Luke gives up and leaves, he realizes that his date has left an old Polaroid under her napkin for him—an old Polaroid showing Luke, as a child, with a dead body and a masked man, in his childhood bedroom.
Luke doesn’t remember this photograph, and he doesn’t remember the photographs that start getting left for him. Each with another murder, each with more blood, and worse, there are photos of Luke as an adult, just days ago. He’s missing time and losing his mind trying to understand what is happening to him now, but also what happened to him before, in those snatches of childhood that he can’t remember with a cold father he’s almost certain was a serial killer. Could Luke have inherited that hunger? But then who was the masked man, and who was taking the photographs?
Nightjars was described as a cross between Memento and Dracula, a combination I couldn’t say no to. Set against the Appalachia in North Georgia, Nightjars felt close and delightfully creepy. Every Polaroid and message left for Luke was haunting, and I would quote some here if the novel had been published yet. Wehunt’s voice felt fresh for the vampire genre, and I might just have to reread this when the novel releases in September. For those who like vampires or even just good old fashioned horror, Nightjars is a great read, and you won’t see the twists until the teeth are already in your neck.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Michael Wehunt takes the familiar bones of serial killer horror and twists them into something far more intimate and unsettling. This isn’t just a hunt for a monster. It’s a man desperately trying to prove to himself that he isn’t one.
Nightjars is a Southern Gothic fever dream drenched in grief and the terror of inherited darkness. The atmosphere in the North Georgia Appalachians is suffocating in the best way possible. Rain-soaked roads, decaying secrets, old wounds that never healed. It all feels oppressive and alive. You can practically feel the damp air pressing against your skin while reading.
Luke is the kind of protagonist who constantly keeps you off balance. I loved how the story weaponizes uncertainty. You don’t know whether to trust his memories, his fears, or even his version of himself. Every new photograph hit like a punch to the chest. The imagery in this book is brutal without relying on nonstop gore, and the emotional horror lands even harder than the violence.
The horror here has teeth. When the supernatural threads begin tightening around the mystery, the novel transforms into something haunting and strangely tragic. There’s a quiet melancholy running beneath everything that kept this from feeling like just another serial killer thriller. It’s reflective, emotional, and deeply eerie.
Michael Wehunt’s writing is gorgeous in that sharp-edged literary horror way where even the most horrifying moments feel carefully sculpted. Some scenes genuinely crawled under my skin.
If you love horror that blends psychological dread, unreliable memory, Appalachian Gothic atmosphere, and monsters both literal and metaphorical, Nightjars absolutely delivers.
Nightjars is a Southern Gothic fever dream drenched in grief and the terror of inherited darkness. The atmosphere in the North Georgia Appalachians is suffocating in the best way possible. Rain-soaked roads, decaying secrets, old wounds that never healed. It all feels oppressive and alive. You can practically feel the damp air pressing against your skin while reading.
Luke is the kind of protagonist who constantly keeps you off balance. I loved how the story weaponizes uncertainty. You don’t know whether to trust his memories, his fears, or even his version of himself. Every new photograph hit like a punch to the chest. The imagery in this book is brutal without relying on nonstop gore, and the emotional horror lands even harder than the violence.
The horror here has teeth. When the supernatural threads begin tightening around the mystery, the novel transforms into something haunting and strangely tragic. There’s a quiet melancholy running beneath everything that kept this from feeling like just another serial killer thriller. It’s reflective, emotional, and deeply eerie.
Michael Wehunt’s writing is gorgeous in that sharp-edged literary horror way where even the most horrifying moments feel carefully sculpted. Some scenes genuinely crawled under my skin.
If you love horror that blends psychological dread, unreliable memory, Appalachian Gothic atmosphere, and monsters both literal and metaphorical, Nightjars absolutely delivers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you Negalley and St. Martins Press for an early copy to review for an honest review. After I read October Film Haunt I was elated to have been approved to read Michael Wehunts Nightjars. This book was mysterious, dark and thrilling. I went into this blind not knowing it was a vampire story. I typically don't find vampires all that creepy but this book creeped me out. It was very eerie and the tension was intense throughout the book. The feeling of being stalked, hunted and nowhere left to run could be felt throughout the pages. An ex wife who would do anything to protect her daughter and her unborn baby getting thrown into it all ups the anxiety. Luke, who may or may not have killed women as a child and as an adult is going crazy trying to figure out what happened twenty years in his past and why it's all happening now. Why is Boden targeting him specifically? This book does what few vampire books have been able to do for me. It made me feel creeped out and made me more than interested to see how the ending would play out. Wehunt does a great job at threading a mystery throughout the book without it feeling like a, "come on already!" speed read to the end just to find out. This book is a nature vs nurture scenario that is asked throughout the book with Luke. Is he evil like his father or is he a good person he believes himself to be. He doesn't remember killing anyone but he does remember his father taking him to witness the capturing of women and the strange Boden who would drink their blood. The end will reveal whether it is nature or nurture and whether he truly becomes a nightjar....After reading 2 books by Wehunt I am offocialy a fan.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one. It's dark, gritty, and fast-paced. It's something I would definitely recommend to people who like to read horror. That said, it was quite depressing. I don't think I would ever read this again, and I don't mean that in a bad way.
The main character leads a rough life, always has since his childhood. He was well-written, but did make some pretty stupid choices through the book in my opinion. I can look past that though, because I was entertained the entire time.
This is a very atmospheric and creepy read, especially the first half. The second half of the book is what moved this from a 5 star to a 4 for me. But 4 stars is still a great rating. I wish the photos would have been more frequent and gotten gradually more disturbing. They are definitely disturbing, but the plots takes a turn about halfway or so and that's when my attention wavered slightly.
It would have been cool (if possible) to have actual photos that the character receives in the book, similar to how Hidden Pictures included the child's drawings, but I understand based on the content why that may not have been doable.
It did get a little repetitive at some points. Main character received a photo, made a rash decision not necessarily in his best interest, rinse and repeat. His ex also made incredibly naive decisions for being pregnant (not a spoiler). Again though, I know these decisions were made to further the plot. I just wish we could have gotten there other ways.
The main character leads a rough life, always has since his childhood. He was well-written, but did make some pretty stupid choices through the book in my opinion. I can look past that though, because I was entertained the entire time.
This is a very atmospheric and creepy read, especially the first half. The second half of the book is what moved this from a 5 star to a 4 for me. But 4 stars is still a great rating. I wish the photos would have been more frequent and gotten gradually more disturbing. They are definitely disturbing, but the plots takes a turn about halfway or so and that's when my attention wavered slightly.
It would have been cool (if possible) to have actual photos that the character receives in the book, similar to how Hidden Pictures included the child's drawings, but I understand based on the content why that may not have been doable.
It did get a little repetitive at some points. Main character received a photo, made a rash decision not necessarily in his best interest, rinse and repeat. His ex also made incredibly naive decisions for being pregnant (not a spoiler). Again though, I know these decisions were made to further the plot. I just wish we could have gotten there other ways.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I was absolutely gripped by the beginning of 'Nightjar' so much so that it became my obsession for the entire day.
'Luke' is almost 40, divorced and has a daughter he loves. His divorce was messy due to alcoholism and drug use, but he is better now and wants to get back out there. He goes on a date where the woman disappears mid way through and only leaves him a Polaroid photo of him as a child, a dead woman, his father, and this creepy white faced/masked figure looming in the photo. Now Luke starts to relapse and remember his past as more Polaroid show up implicating him in ways he can not believe.
The first two or three parts were my favourite. Seeing Luke slowly descend into madness and learning about his past with his father.
The author writes the creepy parts very beautifully, it is easy to imagine what Luke is seeing and just how disturbing the situations are.
Towards the end when we start getting alternating perspectives between Kristen and Luke I did get a bit bored and start loosing interest. A lot of Kristen's POV felt redundant and seemed to just be there to make the book longer, I dont think she needed to be doing all that much while pregnant and married to a different man, but nice that she cares deeply for the father of her first child.
Either way I still very much enjoyed the atmosphere that was created, the mystery behind the nightjars and that not much was actually explained about them.
It was a good fun read.
For me it is a 3.5 stars, rounded up, I just wish the last half was better.
'Luke' is almost 40, divorced and has a daughter he loves. His divorce was messy due to alcoholism and drug use, but he is better now and wants to get back out there. He goes on a date where the woman disappears mid way through and only leaves him a Polaroid photo of him as a child, a dead woman, his father, and this creepy white faced/masked figure looming in the photo. Now Luke starts to relapse and remember his past as more Polaroid show up implicating him in ways he can not believe.
The first two or three parts were my favourite. Seeing Luke slowly descend into madness and learning about his past with his father.
The author writes the creepy parts very beautifully, it is easy to imagine what Luke is seeing and just how disturbing the situations are.
Towards the end when we start getting alternating perspectives between Kristen and Luke I did get a bit bored and start loosing interest. A lot of Kristen's POV felt redundant and seemed to just be there to make the book longer, I dont think she needed to be doing all that much while pregnant and married to a different man, but nice that she cares deeply for the father of her first child.
Either way I still very much enjoyed the atmosphere that was created, the mystery behind the nightjars and that not much was actually explained about them.
It was a good fun read.
For me it is a 3.5 stars, rounded up, I just wish the last half was better.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I honestly can't remember the last time a book took me this long to read it. Nightjars isn't even that long, and so of it was plain business, but there was something laborious about this novel. When I try to unpack that feeling, two highly subjective things come to mind:
1. the writing style is ... overwhelmingly literary? I'm not sure that describes it adequately. Wehunt is a very good writer, talented and with a clear and present gift for wordsmithing. But it gets away with him. When metaphors are occasional, they make you pay attention. (Some of Wehunt's are excellent.) When it's in every sentence it can be exhausting and likely to have more misses. And it does slow the book down.
2. I didn't care for its characters. Not the troubled Luke, and especially not the momma bear Kristen who can't seem to pause and consider who she's having children with. Luke was more interesting to follow, but when the author started switching up perspectives it became a bit of a drag.
Though to be fair, meeting the market's demands these days, it's very difficult to just have a male protagonist.
Full credit where credit's due, Wehunt did take a classic trope and spun it into something more or less original and did it while writing literary fiction with enough horrific aspects to please genre fans. So from that perspective, the novel succeeds. I'm sure it'll easily find more adoring audience than me, too. I did appreciate the overall quality. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
1. the writing style is ... overwhelmingly literary? I'm not sure that describes it adequately. Wehunt is a very good writer, talented and with a clear and present gift for wordsmithing. But it gets away with him. When metaphors are occasional, they make you pay attention. (Some of Wehunt's are excellent.) When it's in every sentence it can be exhausting and likely to have more misses. And it does slow the book down.
2. I didn't care for its characters. Not the troubled Luke, and especially not the momma bear Kristen who can't seem to pause and consider who she's having children with. Luke was more interesting to follow, but when the author started switching up perspectives it became a bit of a drag.
Though to be fair, meeting the market's demands these days, it's very difficult to just have a male protagonist.
Full credit where credit's due, Wehunt did take a classic trope and spun it into something more or less original and did it while writing literary fiction with enough horrific aspects to please genre fans. So from that perspective, the novel succeeds. I'm sure it'll easily find more adoring audience than me, too. I did appreciate the overall quality. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Nightjars | Michael Wehunt
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
After reading Michael Wehunt’s "Nightjars", I feel like if you scanned my fingerprints, you’d find his story embedded in the patterns of my skin. This is the kind of horror that doesn’t scream at you so much as stand silently in the doorway at 3AM while you pretend not to notice it.
Luke Oshel’s life fractures open after a failed blind date leaves him with a photograph he has no memory of ever taking: himself as a child, a corpse in the background, and something masked lurking nearby. From there, the story spirals into blood-soaked paranoia, buried trauma, generational rot, and something ancient moving through the North Georgia mountains with teeth buried deep in the dark. Every new revelation feels like peeling wet wallpaper off a condemned house and realizing there’s another room hidden underneath.
And god, this book is RELENTLESSLY eerie. The narrative itself feels haunted. The phrasing is strange in this hypnotic, off-kilter way where you keep rereading sentences because your brain is trying to decide whether you imagined them wrong.
What makes Nightjars hit so hard is that beneath all the gore, psychological unraveling, and Appalachian folk horror, there’s this incredibly raw emotional core about fractured families, addiction, memory, and the terrifying weight of inheritance. Luke is somehow deeply sympathetic even while the book keeps asking whether he’s capable of monstrous things. And Kristen? I loved her. Completely. The bond between her and Luke has this fierce, exhausted steadfastness to it that feels so real and so specific (especially dropped into a story this unhinged). Their dynamic genuinely felt unlike anything I’ve read before.
Also: if you think you know where the supernatural elements are headed, you probably don’t. Wehunt takes familiar horror territory and twists it into something far stranger and more folkloric than expected. Yes, there are shades of vampiric horror here, but not in the recycled way horror so often falls back on. There’s something deeply wrong in those hills, something ancient and hungry, and the thematic reveals kept blindsiding me right up until the final pages.
Tropes for ya:
⛰️ Appalachian folk horror
📷 Found photographs / found evidence
😶🌫️ Unreliable memories👀Dual POV
🔪 Generational trauma/serial killer legacy
🔐 Small town secrets
🧛🏼Supernatural mystery
😨 Psychological horror
👪 Co-parenting & fractured families
💊 Addiction & recovery themes
What an absolute 5-star waking nightmare, and I loved every deeply cursed second of it. You can get your copy of “Nightjars” on September 29, 2026.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Michael Wehunt for the opportunity to read and revel in this book.
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
After reading Michael Wehunt’s "Nightjars", I feel like if you scanned my fingerprints, you’d find his story embedded in the patterns of my skin. This is the kind of horror that doesn’t scream at you so much as stand silently in the doorway at 3AM while you pretend not to notice it.
Luke Oshel’s life fractures open after a failed blind date leaves him with a photograph he has no memory of ever taking: himself as a child, a corpse in the background, and something masked lurking nearby. From there, the story spirals into blood-soaked paranoia, buried trauma, generational rot, and something ancient moving through the North Georgia mountains with teeth buried deep in the dark. Every new revelation feels like peeling wet wallpaper off a condemned house and realizing there’s another room hidden underneath.
And god, this book is RELENTLESSLY eerie. The narrative itself feels haunted. The phrasing is strange in this hypnotic, off-kilter way where you keep rereading sentences because your brain is trying to decide whether you imagined them wrong.
What makes Nightjars hit so hard is that beneath all the gore, psychological unraveling, and Appalachian folk horror, there’s this incredibly raw emotional core about fractured families, addiction, memory, and the terrifying weight of inheritance. Luke is somehow deeply sympathetic even while the book keeps asking whether he’s capable of monstrous things. And Kristen? I loved her. Completely. The bond between her and Luke has this fierce, exhausted steadfastness to it that feels so real and so specific (especially dropped into a story this unhinged). Their dynamic genuinely felt unlike anything I’ve read before.
Also: if you think you know where the supernatural elements are headed, you probably don’t. Wehunt takes familiar horror territory and twists it into something far stranger and more folkloric than expected. Yes, there are shades of vampiric horror here, but not in the recycled way horror so often falls back on. There’s something deeply wrong in those hills, something ancient and hungry, and the thematic reveals kept blindsiding me right up until the final pages.
Tropes for ya:
⛰️ Appalachian folk horror
📷 Found photographs / found evidence
😶🌫️ Unreliable memories👀Dual POV
🔪 Generational trauma/serial killer legacy
🔐 Small town secrets
🧛🏼Supernatural mystery
😨 Psychological horror
👪 Co-parenting & fractured families
💊 Addiction & recovery themes
What an absolute 5-star waking nightmare, and I loved every deeply cursed second of it. You can get your copy of “Nightjars” on September 29, 2026.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Michael Wehunt for the opportunity to read and revel in this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
🛁 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 🛁
Nightjars by Michael Wehunt
“The hinges of haunted house doors always creak.”
I hadn’t read any of Michael Wehunts other books prior to reading this arc of Nightjars, but damn does that man know how to craft a story.
The first thing I loved about it was its atmospheric, almost too flowery at times descriptions. The author loves him a metaphor and a simile and uses them frequently and masterfully to set a scene or describe a feeling. I also loved the way that the title, Nightjar, took on many different meanings throughout the book, keeping the reader on their toes. I really enjoyed it.
The second thing I loved was that the back of the book synopsis gave nothing away and the story really took its time letting the reader figure out what was going on. Without spoilers, I do prefer when a story ends in less of a horror trope, but I think this one was done really really well.
Toward the end, about 70% through, I needed a BIT more action and a bit less exposition, because I just wanted to get to that big part of the story where everything went down, but that’s really a me problem.
Overall, this story was beautifully written, and unfolded in a gorgeous way. It played on the themes of parenthood and how much of our parents we carry with us into our own adulthoods, addiction and its effects on families, and what it means to really discover who you are when the sun goes down. I even shed some tears at the end. A great piece of modern horror. 🛁📚✨
Nightjars by Michael Wehunt
“The hinges of haunted house doors always creak.”
I hadn’t read any of Michael Wehunts other books prior to reading this arc of Nightjars, but damn does that man know how to craft a story.
The first thing I loved about it was its atmospheric, almost too flowery at times descriptions. The author loves him a metaphor and a simile and uses them frequently and masterfully to set a scene or describe a feeling. I also loved the way that the title, Nightjar, took on many different meanings throughout the book, keeping the reader on their toes. I really enjoyed it.
The second thing I loved was that the back of the book synopsis gave nothing away and the story really took its time letting the reader figure out what was going on. Without spoilers, I do prefer when a story ends in less of a horror trope, but I think this one was done really really well.
Toward the end, about 70% through, I needed a BIT more action and a bit less exposition, because I just wanted to get to that big part of the story where everything went down, but that’s really a me problem.
Overall, this story was beautifully written, and unfolded in a gorgeous way. It played on the themes of parenthood and how much of our parents we carry with us into our own adulthoods, addiction and its effects on families, and what it means to really discover who you are when the sun goes down. I even shed some tears at the end. A great piece of modern horror. 🛁📚✨
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'm always so glad to see new original life left in some of the oldest horror tropes. In the case of this book, vampires are the subject yet it's a wholly unique take on our favorite bloodsuckers.
Luke is divorced but keeps a friendly relationship with his ex and his four year old daughter. He's on a first date one evening when the woman ditches him halfway through. But underneath her napkin he's going to find an old Polaroid picture with some very disturbing things in frame.
Soon, women begin dying viciously with their blood removed and more pictures come his way with his face posing with the bodies. He wakes up bloody but has no memories of these events.
But certain memories from his childhood will slowly surface and it concerns his father and a horrifying tall figure. As the police close in on Luke he's forced to flee but he can't escape his past.
His ex wife doesn't believe he's a killer but doubt plagues her even as she begins her own investigation and will uncover the unbelievable.
This novel is a blast and really cranks up the terror of what a vampire story should be. Tensions are high, the creatures are bone chillingly horrifying, and the stakes (parden the pun) are high. This is everything you love about vampires while giving us a modern day action adventure at the same time. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Luke is divorced but keeps a friendly relationship with his ex and his four year old daughter. He's on a first date one evening when the woman ditches him halfway through. But underneath her napkin he's going to find an old Polaroid picture with some very disturbing things in frame.
Soon, women begin dying viciously with their blood removed and more pictures come his way with his face posing with the bodies. He wakes up bloody but has no memories of these events.
But certain memories from his childhood will slowly surface and it concerns his father and a horrifying tall figure. As the police close in on Luke he's forced to flee but he can't escape his past.
His ex wife doesn't believe he's a killer but doubt plagues her even as she begins her own investigation and will uncover the unbelievable.
This novel is a blast and really cranks up the terror of what a vampire story should be. Tensions are high, the creatures are bone chillingly horrifying, and the stakes (parden the pun) are high. This is everything you love about vampires while giving us a modern day action adventure at the same time. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Oh how excited I was for this after his last book, and thankfully the Netgalley God's dreamed me worthy 😅.
This had me hooked from the start, Luke's new date dissapears while going to the bathroom, but leaves some crazy stuff at the table, it's a photo of a dead body, Luke as a kid and a masked man but Luke remembers nothing. The chills I got off thst alone, were perfection.
This is a multiple POV and I loved that, Luke, well Luke might not be so reliable to get out info from, considering he remembers nothing of the creepy photos and more keep appearing from the past. His ex Kristin who they have a daughter together helps him try to figure out what is going on, something like this could affect their daughter, seemingly like it effects Luke as his dad was a infamous serial killer.
Despite being divorced they are very good friends, Luke's past made him a not so great husband but he loves his kid so he's a good dad. He wants to be a better dad then his was and it shows.
The photos coming in start becoming more recent and have Luke in them, then he wakes up covered in blood. He can't remember anything and can't trust himself, people are actually dying for real.
Every single time I thought I had this figured out I ended up being wrong, I loved that.
I do not want to give any spoilers away and this was hard to do with this one but this was such a good horror thriller, I know it sounds mostly thriller from the review but trust me the horror is there and wow.. Loved it.
This had me hooked from the start, Luke's new date dissapears while going to the bathroom, but leaves some crazy stuff at the table, it's a photo of a dead body, Luke as a kid and a masked man but Luke remembers nothing. The chills I got off thst alone, were perfection.
This is a multiple POV and I loved that, Luke, well Luke might not be so reliable to get out info from, considering he remembers nothing of the creepy photos and more keep appearing from the past. His ex Kristin who they have a daughter together helps him try to figure out what is going on, something like this could affect their daughter, seemingly like it effects Luke as his dad was a infamous serial killer.
Despite being divorced they are very good friends, Luke's past made him a not so great husband but he loves his kid so he's a good dad. He wants to be a better dad then his was and it shows.
The photos coming in start becoming more recent and have Luke in them, then he wakes up covered in blood. He can't remember anything and can't trust himself, people are actually dying for real.
Every single time I thought I had this figured out I ended up being wrong, I loved that.
I do not want to give any spoilers away and this was hard to do with this one but this was such a good horror thriller, I know it sounds mostly thriller from the review but trust me the horror is there and wow.. Loved it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
An amazing Appalachian horror and twist on vampire folklore. Recently divorced and struggling addict Luke Oshel decides he's ready to hit the dating scene again. During a blind date at a bar, his date heads to the bathroom and doesn't return, but leaves a mysterious Polaroid under her drink's napkin. Luke sees himself in the photo as a child, but doesn't remember when or where this picture took place. More and more Polaroids appear, and Luke finds himself surrounded by dead bodies. Is Luke becoming the killer the photos have suggested? Who will be his next victim? Has he inherited his father's serial killer desires?
Michael Wehunt did a fantastic job with easy to read beautiful prose, and mashed it with something as grotesque as ancient vampires. I'm a huge fan of vampire stories, podcasts, movies, ANYTHING related to them, and I feel like this book was really something new and refreshing. It was so creatively done, especially with the intertwining of "Momento" type of amnesia elements. There was non-stop creepiness, tension, and it was so enthralling to learn about Luke's secrets and life along with him as he discovers what the photographs mean and who the mysterious figures in the photos are. I read through this book so fast and could not put it down!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Michael Wehunt, and NetGalley for the ARC!
Michael Wehunt did a fantastic job with easy to read beautiful prose, and mashed it with something as grotesque as ancient vampires. I'm a huge fan of vampire stories, podcasts, movies, ANYTHING related to them, and I feel like this book was really something new and refreshing. It was so creatively done, especially with the intertwining of "Momento" type of amnesia elements. There was non-stop creepiness, tension, and it was so enthralling to learn about Luke's secrets and life along with him as he discovers what the photographs mean and who the mysterious figures in the photos are. I read through this book so fast and could not put it down!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Michael Wehunt, and NetGalley for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book gave me nightmares. The imagery in Nightjars is vivid, rich and seriously scary. Luke, our protagonist, is likeable and flawed, coping (poorly) with his disturbing childhood, until a stranger slips him a polaroid that brings deeply buried memories to the surface again. We are sent on a journey into the North Georgia mountains as Luke reckons with his past as it collides dangerously with his present, and the lines between reality and horror blur. Some things worked beautifully here - Wehunt's writing is perfectly punchy and delivers the kind of scares that feel like when you see something out of the corner of your eye, and it slips away just as you turn to look. There are two passages in particular that truly hit me with a jump scare. We also have dual POVs and having a grounded point of view feels helpful in keeping us, as readers, on track. Wehunt's world building is also clearly very thought out, and he definitely stuck the landing at the end. Definitely highly recommend for fans of folk horror, Appalachia, psychological horror and stories that incorporate found footage tropes. Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and give my honest feedback!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Nightjars is a cool novel about love, family, and above all else, generational trauma, oh and also vampires, a really interesting take on the vampire as a matter of fact, one that is both familiar, and utterly strange and new. I found myself many times amazed that Wehunt had managed to take something so familiar and twist it in ways that make it skin-crawlingly original. My hats off to him for that.
Beyond that, Nightjars is about three generations of a family, and how the sins of the father echo out, and through, tainting the lives of everyone that comes after, and how hard it can be to fight that kind of generational curse. As someone who has suffered the real world analogue to Wehunt's genre take on the subject, it was quite cathartic to root for the characters to overcome it, and prevail. He manages to pull it off quite well, with an ending that, once it gets going, grabs hold of you and never lets go.
Two for two, is what I would say about Nightjars. Wehunt is on a roll with his novels, and I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeves next. Highly recommend this one. Check it out.
Beyond that, Nightjars is about three generations of a family, and how the sins of the father echo out, and through, tainting the lives of everyone that comes after, and how hard it can be to fight that kind of generational curse. As someone who has suffered the real world analogue to Wehunt's genre take on the subject, it was quite cathartic to root for the characters to overcome it, and prevail. He manages to pull it off quite well, with an ending that, once it gets going, grabs hold of you and never lets go.
Two for two, is what I would say about Nightjars. Wehunt is on a roll with his novels, and I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeves next. Highly recommend this one. Check it out.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of this 5-star creepy, engaging read!
On a rainy evening, Luke Oshel is abandoned mid–blind date, but not before his date leaves behind a shocking photograph. It shows Luke as a child, standing in his bedroom with a dead body in the background and a masked figure nearby. The problem? Luke has no memory of this ever happening.
Soon, more disturbing photos begin to appear, each linking him to violent crimes. As his past resurfaces, Luke is forced to confront buried memories, his struggles with addiction, and the frightening possibility that he may be following in the footsteps of his father, a killer who died years ago. With new murders happening and all signs pointing to him, Luke must search for the truth deep in the Appalachian Mountains while trying to protect the people he loves most.
This book hooked me immediately. The story is tense, creepy, and full of twists, making it hard to put down. The setting feels vivid and atmospheric, adding to the unease and mystery throughout the story. I highly recommend.
On a rainy evening, Luke Oshel is abandoned mid–blind date, but not before his date leaves behind a shocking photograph. It shows Luke as a child, standing in his bedroom with a dead body in the background and a masked figure nearby. The problem? Luke has no memory of this ever happening.
Soon, more disturbing photos begin to appear, each linking him to violent crimes. As his past resurfaces, Luke is forced to confront buried memories, his struggles with addiction, and the frightening possibility that he may be following in the footsteps of his father, a killer who died years ago. With new murders happening and all signs pointing to him, Luke must search for the truth deep in the Appalachian Mountains while trying to protect the people he loves most.
This book hooked me immediately. The story is tense, creepy, and full of twists, making it hard to put down. The setting feels vivid and atmospheric, adding to the unease and mystery throughout the story. I highly recommend.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Nightjars is creepy as all get-out—dark, atmospheric, and relentlessly tense. The serial killer mystery had me hooked, and that ending? Ohhhh myyyy... absolutely excellent!
The vivid descriptions create an unsettling sense of dread that lingers long after each chapter. With superb writing, shocking twists, serial killer intrigue, vampire horror, and a mystery that constantly keeps readers off balance, this is a hard-to-put-down thriller that delivers both chills and suspense.
Fans of horror-infused thrillers, unreliable memories, sinister family secrets, and dark mysteries will find plenty to love in this haunting, addictive read.
I honestly didn't expect to give this 5 stars. Vampire stories aren't usually my preferred read, but I'm so glad I gave this one a chance. It completely surprised me with how entertaining, gripping, and memorable it was. Even after finishing, I'm still thinking about it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Author Michael Wehunt, Publisher St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the ARC.
Read / listen on release date 09 / 29 / 2026 this is PERFECT for Fall Season
The vivid descriptions create an unsettling sense of dread that lingers long after each chapter. With superb writing, shocking twists, serial killer intrigue, vampire horror, and a mystery that constantly keeps readers off balance, this is a hard-to-put-down thriller that delivers both chills and suspense.
Fans of horror-infused thrillers, unreliable memories, sinister family secrets, and dark mysteries will find plenty to love in this haunting, addictive read.
I honestly didn't expect to give this 5 stars. Vampire stories aren't usually my preferred read, but I'm so glad I gave this one a chance. It completely surprised me with how entertaining, gripping, and memorable it was. Even after finishing, I'm still thinking about it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Author Michael Wehunt, Publisher St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the ARC.
Read / listen on release date 09 / 29 / 2026 this is PERFECT for Fall Season
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was a fan of The October Film Huant (2025) so I was excited to receive an ARC of Nightjars from NetGalley that will be released September 29, 2026.
The story is told from the alternating POVs of Luke and Kristin a young divorced couple with a daughter in the North Georgia Appalachians. Luke has a troubled past, unable to remember much of his childhood other than that his father had exposed him to something very dark. The story slowly unfolds as he receives terrifying Polaroid photos that link him to old crimes of the past involving exsanguination putting everyone around him is put in danger. With the help of his ex they dig deep into the century old history of the Appalachian mountains to explain the monsters that haunt them.
At times I did get a bit lost as the story jumps around in time and from the different POVs but ultimately it all comes together. The writing uses pages torn from an old book and also journal entries that bring the story to life. Great characters, an eerie atmosphere, terrifying creatures, and an explosive ending. It’s a story about family secrets and how relationships can endure horrifying events if the love is there.
4/5 stars.
The story is told from the alternating POVs of Luke and Kristin a young divorced couple with a daughter in the North Georgia Appalachians. Luke has a troubled past, unable to remember much of his childhood other than that his father had exposed him to something very dark. The story slowly unfolds as he receives terrifying Polaroid photos that link him to old crimes of the past involving exsanguination putting everyone around him is put in danger. With the help of his ex they dig deep into the century old history of the Appalachian mountains to explain the monsters that haunt them.
At times I did get a bit lost as the story jumps around in time and from the different POVs but ultimately it all comes together. The writing uses pages torn from an old book and also journal entries that bring the story to life. Great characters, an eerie atmosphere, terrifying creatures, and an explosive ending. It’s a story about family secrets and how relationships can endure horrifying events if the love is there.
4/5 stars.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC for Nightjars ahead of its Sept, 2026 launch. I couldn’t put this book down.
There’s no slow burn to this sophomore novel debut from Michael Wehunt, those hooks sink in quick and fasten deep. His spin on vampire lore is wonderfully imagined and punishing to witness. A complex cast of characters that resonate from the quotidian affect of everyday life as the unreliable narration propels us into darker territory, chapter by chapter. The book at times leans into an old fashioned mystery, a who-or-what-dunnit, abruptly pivots the lens to an 80’s homage slasher film, wraps us in vampiric folklore, detective work and ambient dread. The scenes are immersive, palpable, the dirt and grit of old Georgia country to the tender and often heart wrenching dynamic between Luke and his 4-year old daughter Sophia, who is rendered with such care in the midst of such horror. Wehunt’s use of epistolary writing and that found footage many of us love from his Pine Arch writing is masterfully blended without being heavy handed. Does the nightjar remember the night? Hit that pre-order button and find out, it’s worth every page.
There’s no slow burn to this sophomore novel debut from Michael Wehunt, those hooks sink in quick and fasten deep. His spin on vampire lore is wonderfully imagined and punishing to witness. A complex cast of characters that resonate from the quotidian affect of everyday life as the unreliable narration propels us into darker territory, chapter by chapter. The book at times leans into an old fashioned mystery, a who-or-what-dunnit, abruptly pivots the lens to an 80’s homage slasher film, wraps us in vampiric folklore, detective work and ambient dread. The scenes are immersive, palpable, the dirt and grit of old Georgia country to the tender and often heart wrenching dynamic between Luke and his 4-year old daughter Sophia, who is rendered with such care in the midst of such horror. Wehunt’s use of epistolary writing and that found footage many of us love from his Pine Arch writing is masterfully blended without being heavy handed. Does the nightjar remember the night? Hit that pre-order button and find out, it’s worth every page.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews