Reviewed by Daniel Ryan Johnson
Many people share common anxieties and fears about the future. However, when you start sharing actual nightmares, with all the exact same details, it may mean the Dreamwalker is near. THE REAL DREAMWALKER PRESENTS: El Niño is an anthology series displaying vignettes of horror in Tucson, Arizona. Author Ashlyn Jacobs pulls us in and under before the book even truly gets going as concrete hands take Deke and Corey down in the prologue while the Dreamwalker watches on. Purchase Here.
While these tales of terror start by presenting us with stories that are seemingly only connected by a common location and villain, as we delve deeper into the book, we find more connecting threads that begin to suggest a larger, more complex picture. The intentions of the Dreamwalker become harder to determine, and the mysteries begin to match the fear scrawled across every page.
With few characters that appear in more than a single chapter, there isn’t much time for character development in THE REAL DREAMWALKER PRESENTS: El Niño. However, this doesn’t stop the characters who do appear in the book from being compelling in their short time on the page. We are still pulled into their world and left wanting to know more about what happens with them next. At least, that is, for those who survive.
If you love looking for new fuel for your nightmares, reading a chapter from THE REAL DREAMWALKER PRESENTS: El Niño before bed will do the trick. Each story in the book is able to stand up on its own, providing the creepy factor that fans of horror are looking for in an anthology like this one. At the same time, the pieces you get as part of the larger story will easily keep any mystery fans intrigued to keep flipping through the pages and learning more.
Ashlyn Jacobs does a wonderful job of building suspense and leaving the reader with that feeling of a tingling on the back of the neck as they put down the book and lie down in bed for the night. You can’t help but feel that you are being watched. That a figure with a black baseball cap, headphones, and wrapped in a gray blanket is outside your window, floating off the ground, watching you, reading your thoughts, and learning all about your deepest fears.