Ryan Douglass had already earned a spot on my horror-reading radar with The Taking of Jake Livingston. I loved that book, and it was actually one of the first books I reviewed when I started my bookstagram account. That makes picking up Night of Madness, published by Simon Pulse, feel a little like coming full circle. I went in hoping for another story that would pull me in and give me a good scare. Douglass absolutely delivered. This one gets five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me—and possibly a bill for the emotional distress caused by those creepy spider things.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the book and my honest review.
The setup immediately caught my attention. Mara is a horror buff whose connection to the movies of filmmaker Jack Stanley is tangled up with her relationship with her dad. His eighties slasher films represent some of their few happy memories together. When Stanley announces an overnight competition on the recreated set of his movie Asylum, the opportunity sounds almost too good to pass up. Five teen influencers will spend the night, and anyone who lasts until morning can win a hundred thousand dollars.
Mara could really use that money. The problem? She isn’t exactly a famous influencer. With help from her brother and best friend, she finds a creative way to build an online presence and get noticed. Soon, she’s among the chosen contestants, heading into what should be a horror fan’s dream experience. Of course, a dream can turn into a nightmare pretty quickly when the scares stop being special effects. Suddenly, making it to morning means a whole lot more than collecting a prize.
Mara was easily one of my favorite parts of this book. She is such a badass, and I loved having her at the center of all this madness. When a horror story gets this intense, I want to care about the person trying to survive it. Mara gave me that investment. I wasn’t simply waiting to see what terrifying thing would happen next; I was rooting for her through the chaos.
I also loved her brother and her best friend. Those three felt like interesting, unique individuals, and they were the characters who stood out most to me. Even with a premise built around influencers and a competition, it was this trio that gave me the strongest connection to the story. Their involvement in helping Mara get her chance adds another reason to become invested before the overnight experience takes its frightening turn. The book has plenty of spectacle, but I appreciated having characters I actually wanted to follow.
The other contestants felt more like recognizable character types. There’s the vain, egotistical fashionista influencer, the boy who is into sports and working out, and the shy, seemingly innocent singer who has plenty of secrets. I could picture those personalities almost immediately. Compared with Mara, her brother, and her best friend, they felt more stereotypical to me. That was the main distinction I noticed in the cast, although it didn’t stop me from enjoying the story or change my five-star rating.
What really kept me hooked was the pacing. The plot moves quickly, and Douglass does a fantastic job of keeping the action engaging. I stayed invested as the situation became more dangerous, and the story kept giving me reasons to keep reading. An overnight competition already comes with a built-in countdown, but once survival becomes the real concern, that countdown takes on a much nastier meaning. Morning suddenly feels very far away.
The horror descriptions deserve their own moment here, because they did their job a little too well. The gore is vivid, the scares are unsettling, and those spider things had me checking under my bed. I am keeping that description vague on purpose because I don’t want to spoil the experience. Just know that my imagination did not need any encouragement after reading those scenes. Apparently, the space beneath my bed required an inspection. For safety. And science.
I loved how invested I remained in the action even when the descriptions made me want to squirm. That combination is a big part of why this worked so well for me: I wanted to know what happened next, even when I suspected I wouldn’t enjoy picturing it. Douglass kept me turning pages while also giving me images that lingered afterward. A horror novel that follows you away from the page has certainly accomplished something.
Then there’s the edition itself. The publisher lists sprayed stenciled edges for the first hardcover printing while the special-edition supply lasts. If that’s the version you want, I’d look for a copy while it’s available. I gave mine away, and now I kind of wish I hadn’t. Sharing books is wonderful. Remembering how much you loved the one you just handed over? That’s where the tiny bookish regret sneaks in.
Night of Madness gave me a badass main character, a memorable trio, quick-moving action, and enough gruesome scares to make my own bedroom feel suspicious. After loving The Taking of Jake Livingston, I’m happy to say Ryan Douglass didn’t disappoint me here either. Five stars all the way. If you enjoy YA horror with a slasher-movie setup and plenty of gore, this is one to check out. Just consider checking under the bed afterward, too.
About the book:
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
Author: Ryan Douglass
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young adult horror
Synopsis:
For the first printing only! This hardcover features sprayed stenciled edges while the special edition supply lasts.
Teen influencers compete in a horror movie–themed overnight competition, only to realize the real test is staying alive in this chilling, blood-soaked horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston and the production company behind Clown in a Cornfield.
Mara is a horror buff whose only fond memories of her dad are bonding over movies by Jack Stanley—the producer of the eighties. Stanley’s campy slasher movies may have kept Mara’s fraught parental relationship on life support and gained a cult following, but the man himself has faded from the public eye…until he announces a contest centered around Asylum, his most terrifying film. Five teen influencers will be invited to spend the night on the fully constructed set; whoever sticks it out until morning wins a hundred thousand dollars.
Stuck in a dead-end job, Mara seriously needs that cash. She may not be a famous influencer, but there has to be a way to manufacture an online presence that will capture Stanley’s attention. With the help of her brother and best friend, Mara finds some creative solutions to her dilemma and lands herself onto the roster of the lucky chosen few by way of her engaging authenticity.
When Mara and the other contestants arrive on set, it’s a horror fan’s dream being immersed in the asylum setting, but as the night wears on, they realize the danger is more than movie magic… They’re not there to win or lose but to live or die. As Mara fights to survive, she discovers an inner ruthlessness she didn’t know she had. Just how far will she go to see the sunrise—and will she still recognize herself by the end?
About the author:
Ryan Douglass is the author of the young adult horror novel The Taking of Jake Livingston, a New York Times bestseller and an ALA Rainbow Book List Pick; The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay, a reimagining of The Great Gatsby set in 1920s Harlem; and Night of Madness, a collaboration with the company behind Clown in a Cornfield. His work explores the ways young people fight to survive in hostile worlds. He lives in Atlanta with his dog and spends his free time baking ambitious desserts and scoping out true crime documentaries. You can follow and connect with Ryan Doulgass on Instagram @ryan_souflee