Ahoy there mateys! I had never read anything by this author but the idea of a mannequin coming to life is always fun. Wasn’t there an 80s movie about a mannequin coming to life in a department store? I believe that was a comedy and this one was a horror. I was excited but this novella ended up being just an okay read.
The beginning of the novella was excellent. I loved the premise of a prank going wrong. I loved how the mannequin comes to life. I loved the unreliable narrator who is trying to save the town and happens to be going insane because of it. How Sawyer tries to save the world was both funny and horrible. I was completely enthralled for a bit. Had the book stayed in this vein it could have been a favorite.
Unfortunately, the climax and ending were not to me taste. The story kinda took a sharp random turn that didn’t really fit with the rest of the plot. And some of the revelations were kinda random and silly. I don’t mind ambiguous endings but this one just seemed really off. That said, it was short and fun and I have no regrets. Not sure if I will read any of the author’s other works though. Arrr!
Matey Mogsy had a great review of this one in audio book format and said:
In my very limited experience with the author, I can already tell he loves his ambiguous stories, blurring the lines between reality and the supernatural. Throughout this entire tale, you can never really trust what you’re seeing or hearing through Sawyer’s eyes because as you’ve probably guessed, he’s as unreliable as they come. The writing also reflects his frame of mind, presented in an almost stream of consciousness flood of memories, thoughts and observations. It likely would have been a struggle reading this book in print, but fortunately the style wasn’t as much of an obstacle with the audio format.
Side note: I had no problems with the print version. Arrr!
Goodreads has this to say about the novella:
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?
To visit the author’s website go to:
To buy the novella go to:
night of the mannequins – Book
To add the book to Goodreads go to:
Captain's Quarters 
Great review! I’ve got a couple of the author’s other books on my TBR but haven’t heard much about this one, so it was helpful to get your perspective on it. The premise does sound fun, I’m sorry to see the ending didn’t live up to the excitement of the beginning! Sounds like I’ve made a good choice planning to start elsewhere with this author’s work.
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Thanks for the shoutout! And looks like you had the same problem as me, the same problem as a lot of readers had with this book, which was the ending. It was pretty confusing, and I DO not do well with confusing, lol.
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I don’t understand how the author didn’t get a lot of pushback to change the ending. Or if he did, I wish he would have listened. The first half was so fun. Thanks for writing yer awesome review which helped me solidify me own ideas and problems with the book.
x The Captain
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I’m not interested in this book (ambiguous horror stories are NOT my jam) but now I want to re-watch the Kim Cattrall movie Mannequin. 😉 I’m guessing that’s the 80’s movie you are referring to…
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Oh aye! That be the film. I don’t remember much about the film at all. I didn’t know that was Kim Cattrall either. Funny.
x The Captain
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That film is one of my comfort movies, for reasons that I can’t explain. 🙂 Something about it just makes me happy.
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Horror? Not for me, sir!
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What about horror makes ye unhappy? I see from yer blog, ye don’t read any if ye can help it.
x The Captain
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That’s true. I get nightmares and restless in the night, simple as that. Nearly always. Doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a short story, a movie. I get scared, I can’t sleep through.
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I see. That makes sense. As someone who suffers from annoying nightmares, I wouldn’t want to do something that added to them. Horror books and movies don’t bother me though. Though a good thriller movie can make me jump.
x The Captain
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