Review: I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

 

I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

Publication Date: September 15th 2026 by St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 320

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 34min

Narrator: Jenn Lee

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

When Willa was in high school, she was the only survivor after six people were murdered in the woods. Even though she was cleared as a suspect, the town still blamed her. After graduating, she moved away, changed her name, and became a successful artist. She's built a quiet life for herself until someone leaks her identity and the media descends on her home.

 

When she learns that her beloved art teacher has died, Willa decides to return to her hometown for the funeral. She'll be escaping the media frenzy, but she'll also be going back to a place where most people despise her.

 

I was freaked out by the flashbacks to Willa's past. I was enraged that her parents didn't believe her about the strange things happening in their house. I'd have been terrified! I was also annoyed by the way the town treated her. There was a lot going on, but everything came together in the end.

 

For most of the story, I Am the Monster Under the Bed is a mystery with horror elements, but things get wild by the end! I was completely riveted, worried about Willa, and wondering how everything would work out. This is a great read to add to your spooky TBR.

 

I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook and would recommend either version. Jenn Lee did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, performing both male and female voices across a range of ages with just the right emotions.

4 Stars

Book Description:

TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL.

Something lives under Willa’s bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them.

When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems.

As her past pulls her back to the place she swore she’d never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behind—and becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.