What do you think?
While You Sleep
Welcome to the city of Newryst - one of the most terrifying places known to mankind. On the surface, it seems to be a bustling city full of big dreams and hopeful ambitions, but upon closer inspection, it’s actually the focal point of some of the most horrifying and unexplainable cases ever documented.
In this collection, you’ll read ten pulse-pounding tales. An ordinary man experiences the most extreme form of sleep paralysis ever documented. A young boy wakes up in an unfamiliar room and must do everything it takes to escape. An antique store owner comes into possession of a mysterious music box with a cursed backstory. A man continuously hears clicking noises coming from deep inside his walls. Two radio hosts receive unsettling news while broadcasting live on air.
What do all of these stories have in common? They all occur in the city of Newryst. Take a journey into the mind of author Caillou Pettis as he walks you through all of the most disturbing events throughout the history of Newryst.
In this collection, you’ll read ten pulse-pounding tales. An ordinary man experiences the most extreme form of sleep paralysis ever documented. A young boy wakes up in an unfamiliar room and must do everything it takes to escape. An antique store owner comes into possession of a mysterious music box with a cursed backstory. A man continuously hears clicking noises coming from deep inside his walls. Two radio hosts receive unsettling news while broadcasting live on air.
What do all of these stories have in common? They all occur in the city of Newryst. Take a journey into the mind of author Caillou Pettis as he walks you through all of the most disturbing events throughout the history of Newryst.
- GenresHorror
150 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 2022
About the author
Caillou Pettis
6 books18 followersCaillou Pettis is a professional film critic and journalist as well as the author of While You Sleep, and The Inspiring World of Horror. He has been writing in the entertainment industry for over seven professionally. Throughout the years, he has written articles for publications including Exclaim!, Ready Steady Cut, Awards Radar, Awards Watch, Flickering Myth, BRWC, Starburst Magazine, Punch Drunk Critics, Mediaversity Reviews, Vinyl Chapters, Northern Transmissions, and Beats Per Minute.
He has also worked with YouTube channels boasting more than 10 million subscribers and more than 1 billion video views, including Chills, Sir Spooks, Rob Gavagan, and Slapped Ham.
Additionally, he worked as an SEO Editor for Static Media, which houses brands such as Looper, SVG, Slashfilm, Nicki Swift, Mashed, and House Digest.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes critic and a member of the Online Film and Television Association (OFTA), and the Celebrity Film Awards (CFA).
He has also worked with YouTube channels boasting more than 10 million subscribers and more than 1 billion video views, including Chills, Sir Spooks, Rob Gavagan, and Slapped Ham.
Additionally, he worked as an SEO Editor for Static Media, which houses brands such as Looper, SVG, Slashfilm, Nicki Swift, Mashed, and House Digest.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes critic and a member of the Online Film and Television Association (OFTA), and the Celebrity Film Awards (CFA).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 7, 2022
"Do you ever worry that you are being watched by an unwanted visitor? Maybe somebody has managed to creep into your house and they are now hiding in your closet, peeking at you while you lay in bed completely oblivious."
Don’t hesitate to pick this one up. Every story was magnificent.
These stories will make your skin crawl and blood drip from your eyes.
Don’t hesitate to pick this one up. Every story was magnificent.
These stories will make your skin crawl and blood drip from your eyes.
April 5, 2022
I enjoyed all the stories a lot. All of them have topics that involve nightmares, sleep paralysis or a little bit of classic horror flicks. All of them are written very well and just enough to give you the proper spooky vibes.
Short horror stories will never cease to amaze me. How little words you need to scare someone, how it always comes down to situations or feelings we can't really control and how we don't need any background or too much explanation to imagine what's going on.
I'm looking forward to more work from the author 🖤🐰
Short horror stories will never cease to amaze me. How little words you need to scare someone, how it always comes down to situations or feelings we can't really control and how we don't need any background or too much explanation to imagine what's going on.
I'm looking forward to more work from the author 🖤🐰
July 15, 2022
Huge thanks to Caillou for reaching out to me over on IG and sending me a digital ARC. I’m constantly trying my best to fit in new to me authors as well as authors who’ve not got a lot of ratings/reviews posted on GR and/or Amazon.
‘While You Sleep’ intrigued me, because of the consistent location aspect. Much like King does with his work, and recently Josh Malerman with ‘Goblin’ (which I still need to read) and Alan Baxter’s fantastic Gulp novellas, there’s something about a constant connection in dark fiction that seems to grab and hold a reader’s mind.
This one is made up of ten stories, all interconnected based on taking place in the town of Newryst. The stories are of varying lengths, though the majority of them are short and snappy. I’d guess 3-5k words. It featured one longer story, but for the most part, I think you’d be able to consume this in a single sitting.
What I liked: For a debut collection, there are some really strong stories in here. Some of them fall into “tried and true” plotlines, but in dark fiction, that’s a given at this point. As I said in a different review for a book recently – it’s really about what the author can do with that narrative that matters.
In this case the highlights for me were;
‘Birthday Bumps’ – our character, Gavin, wakes up confused on his birthday and things spiral
‘He’ll Be Back’ – the best story of the batch in my opinion – two boys have a sleep over and inadvertently notice something in the backyard. Great stuff.
‘The Antique Store’ – the longest story in the collection, this one was a ton of fun. I’ll actually leave it there, not wanting to give anything away.
‘Webs’ – a well done, quick story that went in some fun directions.
I would gather these stories were written separately over time and ultimately combined and edited to work for this collection. I say this because the stories that seem more polished and as though Pettis grew as a writer are the ones that had the best ‘readibility’ and the ones that had my interest the most.
What I didn’t like: As mentioned, the ones that seemed more realized really grabbed me. A few felt as though they were either written a while ago and not as matured/polished or were written by a writer not as sure of themselves. I wasn’t a fan of the writing voice in ‘While We Sleep’ or ‘Paralysis’ which bummed me out because the idea’s in both were great. Those stories read more like we were being given directions to find a store, not reading a story that unraveled in front of us.
Why you should buy this: I think this is a great addition to people’s TBR’s if they’re fans of collections set in a single location. Pettis has some really fun ideas that he delivers to us and the characters felt solid which really created engaging events.
Overall, a solid collection, but as always reader mileage may vary!
‘While You Sleep’ intrigued me, because of the consistent location aspect. Much like King does with his work, and recently Josh Malerman with ‘Goblin’ (which I still need to read) and Alan Baxter’s fantastic Gulp novellas, there’s something about a constant connection in dark fiction that seems to grab and hold a reader’s mind.
This one is made up of ten stories, all interconnected based on taking place in the town of Newryst. The stories are of varying lengths, though the majority of them are short and snappy. I’d guess 3-5k words. It featured one longer story, but for the most part, I think you’d be able to consume this in a single sitting.
What I liked: For a debut collection, there are some really strong stories in here. Some of them fall into “tried and true” plotlines, but in dark fiction, that’s a given at this point. As I said in a different review for a book recently – it’s really about what the author can do with that narrative that matters.
In this case the highlights for me were;
‘Birthday Bumps’ – our character, Gavin, wakes up confused on his birthday and things spiral
‘He’ll Be Back’ – the best story of the batch in my opinion – two boys have a sleep over and inadvertently notice something in the backyard. Great stuff.
‘The Antique Store’ – the longest story in the collection, this one was a ton of fun. I’ll actually leave it there, not wanting to give anything away.
‘Webs’ – a well done, quick story that went in some fun directions.
I would gather these stories were written separately over time and ultimately combined and edited to work for this collection. I say this because the stories that seem more polished and as though Pettis grew as a writer are the ones that had the best ‘readibility’ and the ones that had my interest the most.
What I didn’t like: As mentioned, the ones that seemed more realized really grabbed me. A few felt as though they were either written a while ago and not as matured/polished or were written by a writer not as sure of themselves. I wasn’t a fan of the writing voice in ‘While We Sleep’ or ‘Paralysis’ which bummed me out because the idea’s in both were great. Those stories read more like we were being given directions to find a store, not reading a story that unraveled in front of us.
Why you should buy this: I think this is a great addition to people’s TBR’s if they’re fans of collections set in a single location. Pettis has some really fun ideas that he delivers to us and the characters felt solid which really created engaging events.
Overall, a solid collection, but as always reader mileage may vary!
March 24, 2022
4⭐
I have a full review video up on my channel. Check it out here.
https://youtu.be/7s_VMngc5Zw
This was a wild ride of a short story collection, full of creepy twist and turns. I highly recommend you check out this author's debut collection. You can tell Pettis is a true fan of horror, and paying much respect to the genre. Some stories are creepiet than others, but overall I had a great time.
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy for review in exchange for an honest review.
I have a full review video up on my channel. Check it out here.
https://youtu.be/7s_VMngc5Zw
This was a wild ride of a short story collection, full of creepy twist and turns. I highly recommend you check out this author's debut collection. You can tell Pettis is a true fan of horror, and paying much respect to the genre. Some stories are creepiet than others, but overall I had a great time.
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy for review in exchange for an honest review.
December 19, 2022
I don’t do ebooks for several reasons but the main one being I work on computers all day and my eyes need a rest from screens. I’ve been off work so have taken this opportunity to read the last ARC ebook I accepted.
While you sleep is an anthology of short horror stories based in the town of Newryst. As to be expected there were some stories I enjoyed more than others.
My favourite was The Antique Store, being the longest story in the collection it was one I could really sink my teeth into. On top of that it was also a really great tale that had me hooked and I can’t deny I wanted more.
This was a great collection overall with some truly original ideas. I have been savouring them over the last few weeks and they gave some much needed respite from some of my chunkier reads this month.
June 21, 2022
my best friend wrote this book and let me say he killed it, if you are looking for a short horror read let me point you in the direction of this book, safe to say i won’t be moving to newryst anytime sooon and can’t wait to read the next one
August 17, 2022
An excellent book or short horror stories and all set around sleep and nightmare etc. So the perfect choice for a late-night read as you lay in bed before going to sleep yourself. It is very easy reading so that also makes it a great option for late-night reading.
September 13, 2022
Felt like I was reading short stories written by classmates in junior high. The endings didn’t connect to the rest of the stories. The attempts at using high level descriptive language felt choppy. I would not recommend.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews