Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

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What to expect

From Vulture’s “master of horror” Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and Where Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reckoning” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart—literally—as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn—but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from “one of horror’s modern masters” holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake listeners to the core.

Critics Review

“If talking politics with family has become a horror show, this book’s for you.”

New York Times

“Will hijack readers’ nervous systems…A compelling, cinematic, visceral, and disturbing tale.”

Booklist (starred review)

“Joe Hempel is the primary narrator of this apocalyptic horror story…Hempel’s narration captures Noah’s increasing anxiety…Interspersed throughout the audiobook are news stories voiced by a full cast showing how the chaos quickly accelerates. P.J. Ochlan neutrally introduces each news story and provides stage directions. Ochlan’s calm juxtaposed with the cast’s panicked voices creates an unsettling experience that is perfect for horror.”

AudioFile

“Readers may think they know where the book is heading, but Chapman offers more surprises as he ventures further into the apocalypse…This work is his most terrifying yet.”

Library Journal (starred review)

“Likely to be one of the most unforgettable reads of the whole year.”

BookRiot

“The most ambitious novel yet from a writer quietly redefining the emotional contours of contemporary horror.”

Vulture

“A profoundly terrifying, riveting, intense, nerve-shredding modern horror epic.”

Rachel Harrison, author of So Thirsty

“The proximity of Chapman’s demons is enough to make one lock the doors, turn off the television, [and] curl into a ball in the dark… A sparkling variety of narration, mad vivid energy, and even brilliantly funny bits.”

Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author

“Supercharged, gloriously maximalist, terrifying, and disgusting. But mostly it’s tragic, and hits much closer to home than any of us want it to.”

C. J. Leede, author of Maeve Fly

“[A] roller coaster of a novel, the kind that leaves you shaking and shrieking and smiling. [Chapman] takes all that’s troubling our nation in the current day and, somehow, makes it all the more frightening.”

Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women

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