When six online-only friends meet one night in person for the first time at an empty school building to play THE MIDNIGHT GAME, they learn more about each other than they bargained for, including one having the desire to kill again before the night ends. THE MIDNIGHT GAME by Cynthia Murphy is a Young Adult horror/thriller that will keep readers on their toes well into the night.
When the group meets, they go over the rules, which include not leaving the building until 3:33 am, not falling asleep, not turning on the lights, and if your candle goes out, you must get it relit immediately. A salt circle is your only protection if your candle fails. The six strangers include young Mei, goth girl Toni, rich boy Hugo, impulsive Reece, pretty girl Ellie, and quiet Callum. As the game starts, the group must write down their biggest secrets or the real reason they are there, and the group begins wandering the building. As the night continues, candles go out, shadows appear, and one person is murdered. Is it the Midnight Man, or is it someone else? Who will make it to 3:33 am, and who will not make it out alive?
THE MIDNIGHT GAME is told from multiple POVs and includes dual timelines, message boards, and chat logs. There are multiple storytelling techniques used, and for the most part, they are quite effective. The main storyline plays out as glimpses of another event are detailed on social media. The beginning starts a little slow with many rules being laid out for the players, but once the action starts, it keeps up an unrelenting pace until the satisfying conclusion. There is violence and gore, reminiscent of a Scream or Halloween movie. The villains are soulless psychopaths, and the final events play out at a frenzied pace. There's a nice motivational twist for one character and some retributive justice at the end. THE MIDNIGHT GAME is a scary good time, and horror/thriller fans will enjoy the Urban Legend games and Deddit horror message boards interwoven into this frightening story.
From the next big name in YA thrillers that fans on Book Tok have dubbed, “The CEO of plot twists” comes a classic horror story for a new generation.
Six strangers. One night. But how many survivors?
When a group of six strangers who have only ever spoken on a creepy Deddit thread decide to meet IRL, they have one plan in mind: they are going to play The Midnight Game and summon the Midnight Man.
Rules of the game are simple: Do not turn on the lights. Do not go to sleep. Do not leave the building.
And once you start the game, you must finish it—there's no other way out...
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