Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones returns with Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both? Praise for Night of the Mannequins “Reading Stephen Graham Jones is like sitting in the corner of a bar with an old friend, and everyone quiets down the moment they start telling a story. Night of the Mannequins is dark and twisted, funny, a little crazy, and unsettling as hell. The opening setup gets way under your skin, and then Jones takes the story somewhere much darker than you imagined. If there’s an heir apparent to the kind of no-rules, wild imagination, down home storytelling perfected by Joe R. Lansdale, it’s this guy right here. Read him.”—Christopher Golden "Sly, surprising psychic sleight-of-hand, in a tale of teenage madness where the next plastic face might be your own."—John Skipp "Wicked and wry, this is a terrific story by one of my favorite writers, Stephen Graham Jones. Tip-top with a twist of dead. The narrator's first person delivery is the most notable aspect of this surprising and creepy tale that nods to popular stalker-killer films of the past, but is so much better than the bulk of those films, and what an ending. You definitely need this."—Joe R. Lansdale "Stephen Graham Jones' has one of the most gripping, stream-of-consciousness voices in horror fiction. Night of the Mannequins is propulsive and poignant, capturing the mundane terror of adolescence, and adding that ever-so-essential dab of killer mannequin. You won't put it down." —Sarah Langan

Night of the Mannequins

Sabrina D. 

I whispered to him to wait, then went inside, scavenged for what I imagined a mannequin might eat. It turned out to be bubble wrap and packing peanuts and mayonnaise. 

if you're dumb enough to mess with a creepy mannequin this is what you get

Megan Christensen

Lara Engle

Petaco

Expected more mannequin action. Disappointing. 

dija

Award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones returns with Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both? Praise for Night of the Mannequins “Reading Stephen Graham Jones is like sitting in the corner of a bar with an old friend, and everyone quiets down the moment they start telling a story. Night of the Mannequins is dark and twisted, funny, a little crazy, and unsettling as hell. The opening setup gets way under your skin, and then Jones takes the story somewhere much darker than you imagined. If there’s an heir apparent to the kind of no-rules, wild imagination, down home storytelling perfected by Joe R. Lansdale, it’s this guy right here. Read him.”—Christopher Golden "Sly, surprising psychic sleight-of-hand, in a tale of teenage madness where the next plastic face might be your own."—John Skipp "Wicked and wry, this is a terrific story by one of my favorite writers, Stephen Graham Jones. Tip-top with a twist of dead. The narrator's first person delivery is the most notable aspect of this surprising and creepy tale that nods to popular stalker-killer films of the past, but is so much better than the bulk of those films, and what an ending. You definitely need this."—Joe R. Lansdale "Stephen Graham Jones' has one of the most gripping, stream-of-consciousness voices in horror fiction. Night of the Mannequins is propulsive and poignant, capturing the mundane terror of adolescence, and adding that ever-so-essential dab of killer mannequin. You won't put it down." —Sarah Langan "That, my friends, is talent." —Blu Gilliand, Cemetery Dance At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ryan LaFerney

This was one wild and weird novella and I absolutely loved it. Remember that Doctor Who episode "Rose" where Rose and the Doctor were chased by mannequins and how creepy that was? Now imagine if those mannequins were murders hell bent on killing you and your friends. What would you do? This is the position Sawyer Grimes finds himself in at the start of Night of the Mannequins.

Sawyer Grimes is one of five bored teens who decide to pose a discarded store mannequin as though it’s a real patron in a movie theater in a suburb of Dallas, Tex. They all think it’s a funny prank—until Sawyer sees the mannequin walk out of the theater at the movie’s end. When one of the friends is killed, along with her entire family, in a freak accident shortly thereafter, Sawyer becomes convinced that the mannequin’s to blame. Believing “Manny” has morphed into a Frankenstein-style monster bent on offing its creators with no regard for who else gets hurt in the process, Sawyer decides that it’s his responsibility to kill his fellow pranksters before Manny can get to them, and thus lessen the collateral damage for their families. As the story unfolds the border between the supernatural and psychological blends. Sawyer's innocence unravels before us as he weighs his options and plans and justifies his kills, trying to stay one step ahead of Manny. is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both? Did Sawyer Grimes really see the Mannequin walk out of the theater on that fateful night? Stephen Graham Jones never provides a clear answer. The reader is left to answer this question on their own. 

Night of the Mannequins is a twisted, wild ride about the loss of innocence, the metamorphosis of the teenage psyche, and the pain of growing up. It is also a tender story about friendship and protecting others. You can tell Jones had a blast writing this novel, cared about his characters, and really enjoyed employing and messing with the tropes found within the horror genre. I'm eager to read more of his work and highly recommend this novella.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the arc.

This book was so uncomfortable to read!! At first you’re like…laughing—this guy can’t really be jumping to these conclusions, right? But then you’re on this wild ride of delusions that keep getting worse as the book progresses, and you want it to end but you know it’s only heading in one direction 😩. Wild wild time. 

Janice Hopper

A teen prank sparks unexpected repercussions.

I thought this novella was going to go one way. It didn't. It went another way, with a sad and horrifying inevitability that's almost heart-breaking.

SGJ just does not disappoint. Wow.

Meghan

SGJ said "I'm going to write the most fucked up story about a bunch of teenagers in less than 150 pages" and then he did just that. I am not a horror or thriller reader. The opposite in fact, I read primarily romance. But I picked this up on audio for October to get into the spooky spirit and on the recommendation of a friend who is an avid reader of horror and love SGJ. The audiobook is 2 hours long (and I listen on 2x speed) and in such a short time I was left feeling anxious, paranoid, and a little bit sick. Which, I suppose, is the point of horror. 

What really impressed me was just how much plot, characterization, and fear was packed into such a short story without it feeling "cramped" or rushed so to speak. I also really enjoyed Sawyer as a narrator. I feel often when I read books from the POV of a teenager or child that isn't written by a YA author that the characters voice is either too young or too mature for the age they are supposed to be. Jones really hits the nail on the head of a teenage voice telling this story from the diversions from the story to share a point about a sibling or a time when he was a kid, to the inclusion of "my dad's saying" and "my saying" it just sounds like a conversation you might actually have with a 17 year old boy (ya know, minus the murder)

Overall I was super impressed and interested in reading more from Stephen Graham Jones. Though maybe not back to back as I have a feeling the anxiety I get from reading horror may last longer than it does for other readers.

Catarina Silva

4 stars
Short, fun, really weird, and a solid 3 hour audiobook. Had a fun time with this one

Carol

I absolutely loved the story (which wasn't at all what I was expecting). As much as I love horror, I haven't read much that has created an actual sense of dread like this one did - all while maintaining a certain sense of humour. However, as much as I liked the sort of off-beat/minimalist writing style, I genuinely struggled to make out what was happening at certain points. I don't necessarily want to dock points for that because I don't know how much of that is down to me being a dumbass. 

It's one that will stick with me, that's for sure. It may not be for everyone but I'd suggest checking it out as it's a quick read! Can't wait to try more from this author.

Imane

2.5/5

Very mixed feelings. Turns out I'm not a fan of "realistic" horror, give me supernatural killer mannequins!!

Kristina Masone

My favourite SGJ story to date. The movie theatre backdrop was a nice touch.

Belle Waters

Ahhhh...okay... don't know how to feel about this book...just giving it 3⭐

Sam Pulliam

This is my first Stephen Graham Jones but it definitely won't be my last. As soon as I realized where this story was going, I knew I would love it. It's fascinating to be in Sawyer's head. The commentary on growing up is phenomenal and the writing is top tier.

Rebecca Roper

Katie

What a wonderfully strange little novella.

I don't want to say anything about the plot because I would just spoil the whole thing because it's so short. I read SGJ's other 2020 release, The Only Good Indians, a few weeks ago, and I definitely saw some common themes. I wish this book had been a tad longer just so we had more time to get to know the characters, since they sort of felt like stereotypical teen slasher cardboard cutouts, but other than that I found this riveting. A good, quick scare!

Cat H

4 stars. Psychological horror at its finest. Small group of friends ✔️ Weird unexplained event at the beginning ✔️ killings ✔️ All I can safely say is that this novella is unique, compact, and griping. From line one I was hooked and I read this in one sitting (audiobook). I will mention that the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped. I’m noticing that is a common complaint here with the author. However, the abruptness feels better since it’s a short novella and not a 400 page novel. Also, there is a revelation that makes the story even darker and twisted! Lol. The writing at times felt clunky and scattered but it fits with the way the murders were described. 
I very much recommend picking this up! 

TW: some gory death description

Ruth Parker 

I didn’t read the synopsis for this book and I’m soooo glad I didn’t. If there’s any chance you’re at this point in goodreads and haven’t read the blurb, then save yourselves, don’t read it and instead bask in the shock at the turn this book takes. I had no idea what was coming, it was totally unexpected and I loved it. I devoured it. I was only going to read a few chapters before going to bed but instead I managed to finish it!

Adrianna Giunta

This was not for me at all. I didn't like the writing style, I didn't connect to any of the characters or really like them at all. The books seemed kind of disjointed like we were in one scene one minute and then suddenly in another. The mannequin was creepy but honestly it doesn't as big of a part in this book as I thought it would. I still want to read more from this author though.

Elizabeth Raines

The characters in this are undeveloped. We should probably feel more for them but just hearing from the narrator, we don’t. The writing was bland and just boring, I kept skimming. The plot was really interesting but there’s still a ton of loose ends. This was a lot more psychological than I expected but I enjoyed that bit.

Full thoughts in this video: https://youtu.be/S21BsN9ONiA

Should have been a longer novel. That's it. That's my only complaint.

Rebeca 

This was super confusing and although I’m sure it’s suppose to seem that way, what started off as what could be a very good fun horror book ended up being super boring and I just wanted it to end

Heather Harrington

What do you do when your harmless prank turns into a murder spree? All Sawyer wanted to do was have a little fun at his cousin, Shanna's, expense, and he knew just how to do it. A few years ago, the group had found an old mannequin they dubbed "Manny" and would set it up in various positions to scare people. The group decides to sneak Manny into the movie theater Shanna works out thinking it would give her a good laugh, but they weren't planning on Manny getting up and walking out on his own. After Shanna dies in a tragic accident, Sawyer is convinced that Manny is picking the group off one by one. To defend his friend's from this act of revenge, Sawyer will have to transform into someone else, and if that just so happens to be a murderer, well, then so be it.

I've never read anything by this author before, so I wasn't sure how I'd get on with his writing, and after finishing, I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. It all felt very conversational, which I get since you're supposed to be in the mindset of Sawyer, but it just wasn't my favorite. Also, Sawyer becomes increasingly more psychotic throughout, making him completely unreliable to follow. If the aim was for the narrative to get progressively more unhinged and senseless to mimic Sawyer's spiraling, then it achieved that, however, I don't think that it necessarily made the story good. There were a lot of things I felt weren't explained and the ending felt way too abrupt for me. You were left with more questions than when you started. It was very unsettling, so I'll give it that, I just wish it took a little more time to develop the characters enough to make me care about what happens to them. I really wanted to love this, but it just missed the mark.

Night of the Mannequins

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