Ghosts, Haunted Dreams and the Devil Himself in 4 New Horror Books

Riley Sager’s MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (Dutton, 376 pp., $30) is a creepy and unnerving thriller that flirts with the supernatural.

Not much happened in Hemlock Circle, a quiet cul-de-sac in New Jersey, until one July night, when everything changed. Ethan and his best friend, Billy — both 10 years old — spent the evening camping in Ethan’s backyard. When Ethan woke up the next morning, he discovered that the tent had been cut open and Billy was gone, never to be seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan comes back home after a failed relationship. Hemlock Circle is still quiet, but something is amiss — something is setting off the motion sensor lights on the street at night and someone is throwing a baseball into Ethan’s backyard, just like Billy used to do when he wanted to play. The bizarre events drive Ethan to dig into the unsolved case, and the more he investigates, the more he thinks the forces that led to Billy’s disappearance are still around.

“Middle of the Night” uses a horrific event — and maybe a ghost — to shatter the idea of American suburban tranquillity. Sager is a master of twists, and he delivers plenty of them here. The novel is also full of ’90s nostalgia, but the things stalking the backyard and the mysterious institute hidden in the nearby woods are what make this a gripping read.

Monika Kim’s THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART (Erewhon Books, 278 pp., $27) is an outstanding debut, a feminist horror novel that tackles big social issues and also delivers the gory origin story of a female serial killer.