3.5 stars rounded up

I’ve had my eye on The Watchers by Shine for quite some time now. I haven’t taken the plunge yet. However when this popped up I tried for it immediately, and I’m glad I got approved. This book is a wonderfully paced slow burn. It’s very atmospheric and dark. I love the lord and the town, and the different characters. It would’ve been rated a bit higher but it did leave me with a few questions and an ending that didn’t quite satisfy.

Generally my tastes in horror lean toward monsters, both supernatural monsters like zombies and real world monsters like, well, humans. I love my zombies and I love me some extreme horror and splatterpunk. Give me all the gore!

However, every once in a while I pick up a book or one by an author I've seen highly recommended in one of the many bookish online communities that I follow. Something thematically different than my usual favorites. A.M. Shine is one such author. You may recognize him from his earlier work, The Watchers, which is also on my staggeringly long TBR.

This one took me a minute to get into, as it is somewhat of a slow burner and I tend to prefer a faster pace. But much like that children's tale of the tortoise and the rabbit, slow and steady wins the race. This is the story of a pair of researchers, Ben and Chloe, who are hired by an old eccentric to visit the village from which the superstition of a monster called the creeper originates. They make the trip and are warned off, but allowed to stay for one day on the condition that they conclude interviews by dark and leave the following morning. Ben makes an earnest attempt at learning the origins of the story from the village folk and feels like he's failed due to the villagers' unwillingness to talk, until he and Chloe are visited by a child as they're getting ready to settle in for the night before leaving in the morning.

The author was really good about including little details, both about the legend and events as they are happening, to tie everything together. He left no big glaring loose ends. And if you're a skeptic like Ben and myself, the ending and epilogue are quite satisfying. My one gripe is that maybe the build up was a bit too slow burning. There were some slightly creepy things early on, but it didn't get truly terrifying for Ben and Chloe until about halfway through the book. By then I was definitely on the edge of my seat, right up until we get to the twist. And at that point, the reader is resigned to their fate same as Ben is resigned to his.

Solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Before the twist, it would have been one star lower. It is well written, but there are some things my brain just isn't frightened by. So the ending was pretty satisfying. Was it scary? I didn't think so. But it was suspenseful and had lots of creepy parts that kept me engaged and rooting for the unlucky researchers. Highly recommend adding it to your spooky season reading list.

Big thanks to A.M. Shine, Head of Zeus, and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. You can buy The Creeper, by A.M. Shine on Amazon for a couple bucks, or read it as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription.

I just finished The Creeper by A. M Shine and this is how much it creeped me out.

Academic Dr Sparling, needs two researchers to help him with his project… He is willing to pay for them to go research a town that has been forgotten by time. A place so remote no one remembers it's even there. They are so excited to go, that is, until they arrive.

The locals are not friendly. They do not want them there. The duo have things they have to ask and the locals are reluctant to talk about the main reason they are there, the creeper.
As the town locks itself down as the sunsets, a small child gives them a small clue to what the creeper is… A nameless thing that stalks the streets… Three times you will see him, each night he comes closer…
The two go to the tent for the night not believing what they are hearing until they see a figure watching them from them both from a distance…
Man oh man oh MAN this one creeped me out to my very core. The storyline switches between the reclusive Dr. Sparling and Ben and Chloe. I really felt this was a clever way to do the story as it gives you a really well rounded understanding of why the whole thing happened the way it did. The creep factor was definitely there. 4 out of 5 on the creep scale. It was one of those slow crawls under the skin and once it was there, it never left.
Loved the descriptions of the town right down to the landscapes. I loved character build ups and how no one was perfect but knew they were flawed. Genius. I need to see more from this author now, so this book definitely put them on my radar!
4.5 out of 5 rounded to 5. I felt there could have been just a smidge more to liven up the horror but all in all, a great read for the spooky season!!
Thank you to #netgalley and #headofzeus for my review copy!

The Creeper | AM Shine
The Creeper by AM Shine is a standalone horror novel perfect for the upcoming spooky season. This is my second book by this author, the first being their debut, The Watchers. I enjoyed this one a lot more than The Watchers.
The Creeper will quite literally creep you out. I love the way that AM Shine creates an atmospheric, terror inducing story that makes you want to keep reading while simultaneously checking over your shoulder at that shadow in the corner of the room.
Historian and archeologist, Ben and Chloe are hired by the enigmatic and suspicious doctor, Alec and sent to investigate the remote isolated village where the superstition and legend, The Creeper originated. What they find is a closed off community, not welcoming to strangers and reluctant to talk. The villagers and the doctor seem to fear the night. Something sinister is going on, but will Ben and Chloe be able to get to the bottom of it before they too become caught in the Creeper’s sights.
I loved the fantastically eerie village setting. The story felt like it would work well as a movie and it was easy to picture it in my mind as I was reading. The pace starts off slow and builds tension and then the final half will have you glued to the page as the story races to the terrifying conclusion.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and AM Shine for an arc of this novel.

I am a sucker for eerie urban legends, as are a lot of other people. This features a creeper. Don't mention him unless you want him to 'creep' closer and closer until you die.

This could be set up to be one of the eeriest things to read in the dark. It was definitely atmospheric and did succeed in creeping me out every now and then. Not enough, though, unfortunately. You spend a good part of the time trying to figure out who the creeper is and don't really get a great answer. I've seen a lot of people say they didn't really like the ending either, it brought their rating down and I agree. I feel like the pace needed to be quicker and I desperately wished it had been scarier.

Thank you @head and @netgalley for an advance copy in return for an honest review

I jumped at the chance to read the latest instalment from AM Shine after The Watchers became one of my favourite horror books of 2021.

The Creeper is a story of superstition, see him once, twice, three times kind of tale. If you like eerie atmospheric type reads, if like me you’re terrified about looking outside your window when it’s dark and if you’re partial to sprinklings of folklore throughout your ghost stories you’ll enjoy this.

At only 293 pages it’s the perfect length and I read it over two days, however, sometimes I felt the language was overly complicated and that the author tried too hard to make me connect emotionally with the main character Ben. I didn’t feel this was necessary as the horror elements of the story were ample for me to enjoy it fully. Over all another great offering from Mr Shine ☺️

An ominous opening scene, rumors of a lost, isolated village, and a legend concerning a mysterious being called The Creeper pulled me into the story and engaged my full attention from the first page. I loved this story, with its slowly escalating sense of menace, the eerie atmosphere, and the dark, desolate setting.

Shine excels at coming up with stories that will have the reader checking a room's dark corners and giving the shadows outside our window a 2nd glance. Between the gripping story and the shocking ending, The Creeper will without a doubt add some new material to our nightmares. I look forward to what the author dreams up next!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for giving me a copy to read and review.

When historical researchers Ben and Chloe are chosen to help academic Dr Sparling with a project on a remote Irish village, it is an opportunity not to be missed. However, the more time Ben and Chloe spend in this rural village the more sinister the situation becomes. As a mysterious figure is watching everything they do, a figure that has ties with local myths and legends.

The first part of the book is the set-up for the eeriness to come. The Creeper brings the tension early on with a gradual building of horror. Added to this is the setting of a forgotten village in rural Ireland. There is a nod to Irish folklore influences and the isolated landscape. Which gives the story an eerie, spooky vibe? I also felt a homage to the film by M. Night Shyamalan ‘The Village,’ in the way that the village is isolated and cut off from society and how the local villagers treat both Ben and Chloe, using local horror myths to keep people away.

Depending upon your knowledge of horror and ghost stories, this can be a disturbing read. However, there are a few subversions of ghost/horror story tropes, enough to give this a refreshing feel to folklore and urban legends. There are a few good twists at the end making this an enjoyable spine-tingling read.

Thanks to NetGalley & Head of Zeus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a horror novel that started off beautifully creepy and had a really interesting premise. Unfortunately I found that the middle portion of the book dragged quite a lot. The payoff at the end was well done and brought me back into enjoying the book, however I found I would have been a lot better drawn in if I had enjoyed the middle portion more.

I found the writing style quite jarring at times - it seems like there is a simile or metaphor in every sentence, and after a while I started hoping for different descriptions.

Thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

With Creeper, I am discovering A.M. Shine and by God, what a discovery. I am not done with the book yet, but I can already say that it is truly a proper creepy eerie haunting type of writing that lingers with you afterwards. So detailed, STRONG visuals. As a visual human, I prefer reading horror than watching it, because usually I can escape the monstrosity. But there is no escaping here. Good God, there is no escape.
The characters are so vivid. (I just can't stand Ben, had he been my friend, I would have slapped him once or twice.).

And yeah, it's been awhile since I have had a read that made me close my windows. I was way too scared of what the fuck I would see there.

So, I'll talk about it definitely on my Instagram. Soon. In the meantime, I am going to go and finish it and just say goodbye to my night in general.

2.5 stars

🗺️The story🗺️
When Ben and Chloe are enlisted by a professor to find out more about a village that hasn’t been visited for a long time, they find more than what they bargained for.

The story started really promising, and honestly insanely creepy. This immediately made me excited for the rest of the story since it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the book. Although I loved the Watchers when I proofread it, this book didn’t surprise me as much as that one did. The promising start didn’t set the tone for the rest of the book; unlike the Watchers, most of this book focused on one character, who honestly wasn’t great. The main characters’ travels into the village seemed once again promising, but the village wasn’t nearly as creepy as I thought it’d be. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it just took a long time before the action picked back up, and the middle of the book just wasn’t as eventful as I expected. I was still creeped out, don’t get me wrong, but not as much as I expected to be after that beginning.

What I however disliked, was the ending. I was just so confused about the ending that it made my rating drop quite a lot. There just seem to be some loose ends left, and I hate that. The last book just blew me away and surprised me, but this one didn’t.


🗺️The characters🗺️
I’m not sure how I felt about Ben. His backstory was sort of interesting, but I also feel like we barely know him. I did admire his loyalty to Chloe, and I really enjoyed reading about their developing friendship. I however started to get more and more annoyed with his attitude of just denying everything. This annoyed me so much that I honestly started to hate him near the end. I mostly loved Chloe, she was so badass and quite interesting. Once again, I wish we’d learned even more about her! Alec was insanely odd, and I didn’t like him throughout the entire book; he was annoying and honestly quite creepy in his behaviour.


🗺️Writing🗺️
The writing style was easy; there were some difficult words, but it was mostly easy to read. There were only a few small mistakes in the writing, so please contact me Shine if you want to know which stood out to me.


🗺️Overall conclusion🗺️
Besides Chloe, I didn't really love many characters in this. The ending surprised me, but also made my rating drop because it was just so crazy. The creepiness of the book was good, although I expected it to be even creepier. I didn’t love this as much as I did the last book, but it was still quite enjoyable. It was just quite slow this time in my opinion, and the ending was just too confusing for me.

Ugh this book. It was tedious. Every other sentences was an alliteration. At first it was nice and descriptive, giving great detail of what was happening but after the first three chapters without let up, it became tedious and gut wrenching. It's as if the author couldn't describe the people and places on their own and had to rely on other people's thoughts. It ruined the book for me completely.

I wanted to love this and might try again later but the beginning was just too slow/didn’t give enough information to hook me into finishing. I got 15% in and gave up.

This is a story about a historian and an archaeologist who take on the quest to find out more about a secluded town where the people never leave and lock themselves in at night because they are scared of the creeper. If you are to believe the story you will see him three times before he will kill you. So better stay inside and cover your windows! 💀

The premise of this story sounds really mysterious and creepy, so I really wanted to pick this one up!

Overall, I did enjoy the time I had with this but what I didn't like was that the real "action" only started about 60% into the book. Before that, it was quite slow in my opinion. Also, I was a little bit disappointed because for me there was only one scene I found to be really creepy. Everything else "just" felt like a mystery novel to me instead of a horror novel. I wish there would have been more scary instances throughout the book. The characters were also not really loveable to me (but that might have been intended by the author?). The only people I liked in the book were Ben's parents and you only meet them once for like 2 seconds.

Nonetheless, I did like the story and how it turned out in the end. Also, I did enjoy the writing as well!

2 stars--it was OK. This book wasn't really to my taste--I didn't really like the main character, and I thought the pace was a bit slow. However, I really appreciated the ending, which didn't back down from the horror.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

If you are looking for a good, read with the light on, book then this book is for you. As the book began, I could already sense things are not as they seem. Dr. Sparling is quite the scheming narcissist that does things only to keep him safe, uncaring what might become of these people. His family had acquired a curse that was kept alive because people believed in the curse. Dr. Sparling sent unsuspecting people to gather intel on a “secret” mission. Little did these people understand what they would experience. Ben and Chloe were such people. Dr. Sparling should not have underestimated people when put in desperate situations. This book left me wondering, are superstitious real or are they kept alive purely belief? All I know is that I will have this book on my mind for awhile.

3.5**** rounded up

I loved the eeriness or this and I do love a hostile town/village with their myths/traditions. It reminds me of the wicker man or the village. Add in a malevolent being and you have a great story.

I really enjoyed the atmospheric settings of the woods and the descriptions of the isolation of this small village, making these scenes rather creepy.

This is rated lower as I would’ve liked an explanation for some things and I just wish the ending of events turned out slightly different.

Given that I enjoyed The Watchers (same author) I took the opportunity to read this one via NetGalley. The cover is similar, actually the book felt a bit similar in theme or concept as well to me even though they are different and unique stories. Felt like they could exist in the same universe. Similar to The Watchers there is a ‘monster’ that we want to avoid seeing… however in this case, our MC’s are asked to seek it out.

In The Creeper, an aging gentleman by the name of Dr. Sparling seeks out the assistance of 2 historical researchers (Ben & Chloe) to visit an isolated village and learn about their ways and superstitions - very specifically the superstition of “The Creeper”. Dr. Sparling has a keen interest in this particular superstition and has spared no expense to ensure that Ben & Chloe will be persuaded to commit to this adventure. Ben & Chloe make it to the remote village, but the locals are clearly hiding from something and as well hiding something from Ben & Chloe. It’s a little girl that gives it away, the secret, the truth passed down for years - Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer. Now Ben and Chloe try to unravel the mystery for their own sake.

The suspense in this story is deep and is routed in history, folklore, tradition and superstition. Deceptive in that everyone seems to be hiding something. Some moments of shocking horror peppered in for good measure. A good overall creepy story but maybe a less satisfying why/how ending than I was hoping for.

This is a very slow burn of a horror story from the author of the excellent 'The Watchers'. The Creeper is the bogeyman of a folk tale or perhaps an urban legend that guarantees death will come to anyone who sees him three times. The story is very atmospheric but it is so, so slow. A decent read for horror fans who are looking for a quick read but I was kind of expecting a little bit more. 3.5 stars

2.5 rounded up to 3/5.


“They were just meant to be stories”

Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen – until they arrive.
The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown.
It seems a nameless fear stalks the streets, but nobody will talk – nobody except one little girl. Her words strike dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer...
That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away...

I really wanted this story to be better than it turned out to be. I was all over the creepy, forgotten village vibes and the urban legend feel of the ‘creeper’ but for me the story just didn’t evolve into the fright fest I wanted it to be.

More time was spent clunking about ravaged highlands and countryside to find out about the ‘creeper’ than the actual stalking of its victims which for me was a tad boring. I wanted more scares, and I wanted to really find out what or who the creeper was - which was never fully explained.

Slightly disappointed.