Description

From USA Today bestselling author J.W. Ocker comes a chilling middle grade horror perfect for fans of R.L. Stine and Holly Black alike.

Noe Wiley couldn’t be more excited to move. After the slumber party sleepwalking incident of last year, she’s ready to make some new friends.

But Noe didn’t expect the sullen, strange girls who live on her new street. And she certainly didn’t expect the strange warning they give her—to stay out of her basement, no matter what.

Noe’s not going to let these girls boss her around. She’ll go in her own basement whenever she wants.

So she does. And there he is.

And now there’s no going back.


  • A Terrifying New Monster: He’s flat, he’s terrifying, and he’s oozing out of a crack in the basement wall. They call him the Smashed Man.
  • Kids Save the Day: Only the neighborhood kids can see the creature that haunts their homes. If the adults won’t listen, Noe and her new friends will have to fight back themselves.
  • Haunted House Horror: Noe thought she was moving to the perfect new house, but a dark secret lurks beneath the floorboards—and it’s in every house on Dread End.
  • Sleepwalking Danger: Noe has a history of parasomnia, but what happens when she sleepwalks her way right into the monster’s path? And what if her little sister does, too?

About the author(s)

J.W. Ocker is the USA Today bestselling and Lowell Thomas– and Edgar Award–winning author of macabre travelogues, spooky kids’ books, and horror novels. His books include Poe-Land, A Season with the Witch, Death and Douglas, and The Smashed Man of Dread End. J.W. Ocker lives in New Hampshire.

Reviews

"The imaginative and truly horrifying monster at its center makes this tale stand out." - Kirkus Reviews

"An eerie tale... readers of this effectively spine-tingling piece of horror will find it hard to ignore their own dark corners." - Publishers Weekly

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