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Nightmare Hall #20
Deadly Visions
Rachel is haunted by grisly dreams after she becomes the only one who sees deadly images hidden in a series of grisly paintings at an art exhibit--except for the psychotic art major who did the paintings. Original.
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1995
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About the author
Diane Hoh
83 books285 followersDiane Hoh is the author of fifty-seven novels for young adults. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas. Reading and writing are her favorite things, alongside gardening and grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 9, 2025
Found this one on Thriftbooks. Ex-Library copy wrapped in laminate, but it is in good condition and was a decent price.
An example of don't judge a book by its cover because the story inside was really good.
A Nightmare Hall book actually written by Diane Hoh, R.I.P.
The prologue always starts out with the antagonist of the book going off about something and this one is a disgruntled artist, not happy that a certain someone noticed something about the painting they did.
The someone is Rachel Seaver who admits to her new friends at Salem U that she is not an artist and knows nothing about painting in any form of medium. At an art exhibit, Rachel notices a seascape that everyone else seems to loathe saying it isn't very good. It is what Rachel "sees" in the painting that makes her take notice.
The seascape seems to have a person drowning in terror among the waves. Rachel isn't trying to be morbid but since her parents died in a car accident a long time ago and it gave her night terrors for the longest time, her perspective is different.
Later that night, Rachel has a nightmare for the first time in years since childhood. A student she knows from math classes at school is out near the falls in town and has someone in black come behind him with a baseball bat. The young man, Ted, survives the blow to his head but going over the falls causes his death.
The next morning, Rachel wakes up and learns from her roommate, Bibi, that Ted drowned in the pool at the bottom of the falls. Everyone else goes about life as usual but Rachel is shaken since she dreamed about his death and saw the person drowning in the painting. Going back to the gallery, Rachel finds the painting has been taken down.
The others don't find it unusual since they thought the painting was absolutely horrid and that the artist must have been embarrassed by it. That is when Rachel sees a still life and at first, the colors are pretty enough to catch her eye but again, something is hidden within. The vase of flowers looks to have a body taking a fall down a flight of stairs in horror.
Then Rachel receives the seascape portrait with M.Y.O.B. on the bottom where an artist would sign their work. Rachel knows what it means - mind your own business. After a night at a party thrown in Nightmare Hall, Rachel prepares to go to bed and finds a charm on her pillow.
It is a small brass monkey representing "See No Evil" and that night, Rachel has another nightmare of an unfortunate resident of Nightmare Hall falling down the stairs of the fire escape by the pushing hands of the figure clad in black.
I won't say who for those who have read these books with the few recurring characters, but they don't die and I think might actually just slip into a coma for a while.
After this disturbing incident, Rachel knows she is running out of time when she finds the note written clear as day in her bag.
YOU WILL NEVER LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER MONDAY.
There are a lot of suspects in this book and many red herring pieces of evidence to just who is responsible for bringing these morbid paintings to life and it is never really explained just how Rachel has these "deadly visions" but that actually is in the book's favor.
Sometimes leaving the unexplainable as just that is better.
Of course, Rachel's love interest is a suspect, and he is an artist named Aidan McKay who expresses his art through life masks. Made by covering a person's face in grease and then pouring plaster over the whole head to make a mold. Straws are placed in the nostrils for the subject to breathe and cotton placed in the ears.
He keeps wanting to make a mask of Rachel's face and two other artists, Joseph and Samantha, have done it before but failed to stick with sketches and watercolors. That makes Aidan stick out like a sore thumb for most of the book.
Until you find out that Paloma makes jewelry and one of her hottest pieces is bracelets with the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil Speak No Evil" monkeys. Or you learn that Bibi is dating a guy named Rudy Samms, who has the manners and looks of a Neanderthal and apparently no talent in art.
The reveal was actually very unexpected, and the ending was slightly more positive than most Nightmare Hall books. Rachel doesn't walk away from her experiences with a complete terror of all things art but wants to understand it better so she can see the beauty in it and maybe not see any more terror.
Deadly Visions is suspenseful, and I guess the only reason I couldn't give it five stars is because the motive of the insane artist seemed a little out there but then again, I am not an artist. I may be a writer but even then, none of us see what's there or what lies beneath.
Be it in paintings, movies, books or even other people.
An example of don't judge a book by its cover because the story inside was really good.
A Nightmare Hall book actually written by Diane Hoh, R.I.P.
The prologue always starts out with the antagonist of the book going off about something and this one is a disgruntled artist, not happy that a certain someone noticed something about the painting they did.
The someone is Rachel Seaver who admits to her new friends at Salem U that she is not an artist and knows nothing about painting in any form of medium. At an art exhibit, Rachel notices a seascape that everyone else seems to loathe saying it isn't very good. It is what Rachel "sees" in the painting that makes her take notice.
The seascape seems to have a person drowning in terror among the waves. Rachel isn't trying to be morbid but since her parents died in a car accident a long time ago and it gave her night terrors for the longest time, her perspective is different.
Later that night, Rachel has a nightmare for the first time in years since childhood. A student she knows from math classes at school is out near the falls in town and has someone in black come behind him with a baseball bat. The young man, Ted, survives the blow to his head but going over the falls causes his death.
The next morning, Rachel wakes up and learns from her roommate, Bibi, that Ted drowned in the pool at the bottom of the falls. Everyone else goes about life as usual but Rachel is shaken since she dreamed about his death and saw the person drowning in the painting. Going back to the gallery, Rachel finds the painting has been taken down.
The others don't find it unusual since they thought the painting was absolutely horrid and that the artist must have been embarrassed by it. That is when Rachel sees a still life and at first, the colors are pretty enough to catch her eye but again, something is hidden within. The vase of flowers looks to have a body taking a fall down a flight of stairs in horror.
Then Rachel receives the seascape portrait with M.Y.O.B. on the bottom where an artist would sign their work. Rachel knows what it means - mind your own business. After a night at a party thrown in Nightmare Hall, Rachel prepares to go to bed and finds a charm on her pillow.
It is a small brass monkey representing "See No Evil" and that night, Rachel has another nightmare of an unfortunate resident of Nightmare Hall falling down the stairs of the fire escape by the pushing hands of the figure clad in black.
I won't say who for those who have read these books with the few recurring characters, but they don't die and I think might actually just slip into a coma for a while.
After this disturbing incident, Rachel knows she is running out of time when she finds the note written clear as day in her bag.
YOU WILL NEVER LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER MONDAY.
There are a lot of suspects in this book and many red herring pieces of evidence to just who is responsible for bringing these morbid paintings to life and it is never really explained just how Rachel has these "deadly visions" but that actually is in the book's favor.
Sometimes leaving the unexplainable as just that is better.
Of course, Rachel's love interest is a suspect, and he is an artist named Aidan McKay who expresses his art through life masks. Made by covering a person's face in grease and then pouring plaster over the whole head to make a mold. Straws are placed in the nostrils for the subject to breathe and cotton placed in the ears.
He keeps wanting to make a mask of Rachel's face and two other artists, Joseph and Samantha, have done it before but failed to stick with sketches and watercolors. That makes Aidan stick out like a sore thumb for most of the book.
Until you find out that Paloma makes jewelry and one of her hottest pieces is bracelets with the "See No Evil, Hear No Evil Speak No Evil" monkeys. Or you learn that Bibi is dating a guy named Rudy Samms, who has the manners and looks of a Neanderthal and apparently no talent in art.
The reveal was actually very unexpected, and the ending was slightly more positive than most Nightmare Hall books. Rachel doesn't walk away from her experiences with a complete terror of all things art but wants to understand it better so she can see the beauty in it and maybe not see any more terror.
Deadly Visions is suspenseful, and I guess the only reason I couldn't give it five stars is because the motive of the insane artist seemed a little out there but then again, I am not an artist. I may be a writer but even then, none of us see what's there or what lies beneath.
Be it in paintings, movies, books or even other people.
February 6, 2021
🎨🎭🖼️
The third Nightmare Hall I have read. They don't follow on from each other, which is good because it means I can read whichever book I find at the time I find it. It's a fun series, with brilliant covers and engaging stories.
In this one, Rachel sees images in an unidentified artists paintings of grisly accidents, which she dreams about with alarming specificity, and then wakes to find the events have actually taken place. Now, suspicious of all her new art student friends, she becomes increasingly paranoid, especially when she starts receiving threats.
I find these books incredibly enjoyable to read. I had always liked Diane Hoh's books, so it's been fun to read this series she wrote that I hadn't known about until somewhat recently. For such short books (about 200 pages) she packs a lot in and excellently finds the balance between being frightening, while still writing to her intended YA audience. I look forward to the other Nightmare Hall books!
The third Nightmare Hall I have read. They don't follow on from each other, which is good because it means I can read whichever book I find at the time I find it. It's a fun series, with brilliant covers and engaging stories.
In this one, Rachel sees images in an unidentified artists paintings of grisly accidents, which she dreams about with alarming specificity, and then wakes to find the events have actually taken place. Now, suspicious of all her new art student friends, she becomes increasingly paranoid, especially when she starts receiving threats.
I find these books incredibly enjoyable to read. I had always liked Diane Hoh's books, so it's been fun to read this series she wrote that I hadn't known about until somewhat recently. For such short books (about 200 pages) she packs a lot in and excellently finds the balance between being frightening, while still writing to her intended YA audience. I look forward to the other Nightmare Hall books!
February 6, 2020
This story has potential, the first Nightmare Hall book I have read with a supernatural twist. Unfortunately the ending was rushed and unsatisfying. I think it would have made more sense to make Rachel the killer but I appreciate they already used that storyline in another book, but I still feel there were better possible endings. Especially that epilogue. A better twist would have been Rachel being arrested for Samantha's murder seeing as Rachel has absolutely no proof that she did it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2014
I'm telling you this school needs to psych eval everyone who comes onto their campus.
July 22, 2024
Part of this did take place at Nightmare Hall. Things don't look good for one of the residents.
June 27, 2022
I hadn’t read this one before, and was excited to get it through Kindle Unlimited. It was decent, as most Diane Hoh books tend to be, but I wouldn’t say it was one of my faves.
I admit she kept me guessing the whole time about who the baddie was (others probably guessed sooner as I tend to be a bit slow with unravelling mysteries 😉).
Sometimes I thought Rachel was being a bit of a bitch, but I could totally understand her frustration with constantly being disbelieved.
Some things didn’t seem resolved, like the dude who’s left in a the hospital - what happened to him?!
Anyway … that’s all I’ve got for this one.
I admit she kept me guessing the whole time about who the baddie was (others probably guessed sooner as I tend to be a bit slow with unravelling mysteries 😉).
Sometimes I thought Rachel was being a bit of a bitch, but I could totally understand her frustration with constantly being disbelieved.
Some things didn’t seem resolved, like the dude who’s left in a the hospital - what happened to him?!
Anyway … that’s all I’ve got for this one.
October 5, 2019
Good little whodunit
June 27, 2021
One of my favorites in the series!
Even though I always loved this one as a kid, I couldn't quite remember who the killer was, and I was actually surprised by the reveal.
Even though I always loved this one as a kid, I couldn't quite remember who the killer was, and I was actually surprised by the reveal.
July 25, 2017
Had to read this for a challenge. At first I couldn't find a book with a college/university student that fast (and most are NA) and then I remembered that I still had this series. :)
Sadly this one was pretty bad. I didn't feel any sympathy for our main character, especially not when she stayed around Aidan/Aiden the whole time. Sorry, but why? I know love makes blind, and I know she had a few times that she was saying no to things, but in general she was still drooling over him.
Her powers (seeing things that aren't there/dreams/visions/etc.) were a bit lame and I didn't see why they suddenly POOF were there. I mean, we are talking about someone who is around 18/19 and never had such visions or saw things that weren't there. It just seemed highly unbelievable. I think it would have been fine if she only saw the things in the drawings/paintings, but add to that the whole dreams thing.. no.
I didn't like any of her friends. They all seemed pretentious and most of them were acting like our main character was a lunatic/dumb person. Guys, not everyone knows about art like you do. It is your hobby and job, that is fine, but don't push it on others. Some people just like watching art and not immediately want to dissect or discuss it. I also didn't like how they acted when she told them she saw things in the paintings. Like because they didn't see it, it wasn't there.
Aiden/Aidan was just a dick, seriously. Pretentious, annoying and thinking he is awesome and a god. If someone doesn't want to do something, don't keep pushing it, just let it go and leave it. You are not going to get a girl like this.
The whole mystery is also only so-so. I had a 2 suspects and in the end it turned out to be indeed one of those subjects. It is a bit of a shame, I don't particularly like it when the mystery is that obvious.
All in all, I wouldn't really recommend this one.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Sadly this one was pretty bad. I didn't feel any sympathy for our main character, especially not when she stayed around Aidan/Aiden the whole time. Sorry, but why? I know love makes blind, and I know she had a few times that she was saying no to things, but in general she was still drooling over him.
Her powers (seeing things that aren't there/dreams/visions/etc.) were a bit lame and I didn't see why they suddenly POOF were there. I mean, we are talking about someone who is around 18/19 and never had such visions or saw things that weren't there. It just seemed highly unbelievable. I think it would have been fine if she only saw the things in the drawings/paintings, but add to that the whole dreams thing.. no.
I didn't like any of her friends. They all seemed pretentious and most of them were acting like our main character was a lunatic/dumb person. Guys, not everyone knows about art like you do. It is your hobby and job, that is fine, but don't push it on others. Some people just like watching art and not immediately want to dissect or discuss it. I also didn't like how they acted when she told them she saw things in the paintings. Like because they didn't see it, it wasn't there.
Aiden/Aidan was just a dick, seriously. Pretentious, annoying and thinking he is awesome and a god. If someone doesn't want to do something, don't keep pushing it, just let it go and leave it. You are not going to get a girl like this.
The whole mystery is also only so-so. I had a 2 suspects and in the end it turned out to be indeed one of those subjects. It is a bit of a shame, I don't particularly like it when the mystery is that obvious.
All in all, I wouldn't really recommend this one.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
July 14, 2015
Pure Diane Hoh genius. Tense, thrilling, and chilling. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because Rachel was sooooo stoopid.
What do you do when a murderer/attempted murderer is running loose and you are a target because you know too much, and you are unsure if you should even trust your friends? You continue to blab everything you know to the very people you yourself aren't sure you can trust. One of the victims is in a near coma, you manage to get vital info about his attacker out of him, you then go flapping your gums to anybody with ears that the survivor is awake and telling what he knows. I'm sure Milo gave a great big thanks to Rachel...but he probably didn't since he mysteriously took a turn for the worse.
What do you do when a killer is commited to numbering your days? You decide to walk down about 7 flights of stairs in a dark empty stairwell instead of taking the elevator, not to mention you just survied another attack with only a busted and bloodied ankle.
What do you do when a murderer/attempted murderer is running loose and you are a target because you know too much, and you are unsure if you should even trust your friends? You continue to blab everything you know to the very people you yourself aren't sure you can trust. One of the victims is in a near coma, you manage to get vital info about his attacker out of him, you then go flapping your gums to anybody with ears that the survivor is awake and telling what he knows. I'm sure Milo gave a great big thanks to Rachel...but he probably didn't since he mysteriously took a turn for the worse.
What do you do when a killer is commited to numbering your days? You decide to walk down about 7 flights of stairs in a dark empty stairwell instead of taking the elevator, not to mention you just survied another attack with only a busted and bloodied ankle.
December 8, 2011
This book is really cool if you like scary books like me! I did not want to put this book down, I just got sucked into it! I highly recommend this book to all scary book lovers because of the intense scenes that keep you wondering.
March 14, 2016
What is up with the trend of "friends" who don't believe the protagonist in this series? If your friends treat you like you're crazy, they're not very good friends. And I basically wanted to punch Aidan the entire book. I have no idea what Rachel saw in him.
August 18, 2011
This book was OK, i knew what was going to happen at the end because i read so many books like it. So it was no surprise who committed the crimes.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews