What Waits in the Shadows by Wil Forbis

Self published, 2024

ISBN: 9798877647923

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Amazon.com

Remember all those stories as a kid about the monster in the closet?  In the case of What Waits in the Shadows, there actually is a monster in the closet.  Not only can it talk, it rips heads off people and tosses them out like a basketball.  This makes for a pretty good story,

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Ever since Lisa Kallman, as a kid, witnessed the above treatment of her dad by the monster, she’s been trying to put it behind her, and after years of therapy, she seems on the verge of a normal life.  This part is a little paint-by-numbers: of course she works in mental health, has the new house, a great fiancée, and so on.  It gets more fun when the monster shows back up again and starts not just going after her, but those around her as well.  There is some decent suspense here, and the scenes where the monster destroys someone in bloody fashion are good fun.  The secondary character of Jeremiah O’Brien adds a nice flavor to the book: he’s the guy wrongfully imprisoned for killing Lisa’s dad.  Would you really expect the authorities to believe a story about a closet monster ripping off heads?  Of course not!  Jeremiah’s story thread, as he is hell-bent on revenge for a stolen life, adds a good perspective to the book and helps keep it from becoming too predictable.

The end of the book is wrapped up nicely, and the big reveal about the monster shows good imagination: it’s a nice twist on the story.  This book might have been a bit more fun if a few hints had been sprinkled throughout the story: little clues are good for keeping readers hooked.  As it is, you’ll think it’s just a garden-variety monster until the end.

The one part that really should have been fixed is the strange formatting.  The book has 1.5 spacing for the lines, but is double-spaced between each paragraph, which is not normally done. Also, there are no indents for paragraphs in the entire book: all the type is slugged to the left hand margins.  As a result, the book comes in at 245 pages, although it would probably be closer to 150-175 pages if formatted correctly.  I’m not sure if this was the author’s choice or an error, but it should be corrected in future printings.

Bottom line::it’s worth a look.  While not a must-read, it is good enough to check out when you have the time.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson