by Hailey Piper
First published 2026
Val McQueen survived November 1994. Her younger sister and best friend did not. Three teenage girls entered their local theater to watch an obscure film. Only Val walked out. Thirty years later, she has built walls around that night. Her parents blame her. True crime podcasters hound her for interviews. She tells herself the terror was just a movie. Then a stranger dies, and the nightmare returns. Val realizes she must find that film again. She recruits Roxie de la Fontaine, a movie expert from her high school days. Together they hunt for answers about what happened in that theater. But they are not the only ones searching. Something connected to the movie is hunting too. It wants the girl who escaped three decades ago.
Genres: mystery, horror, adult-fiction, thriller, psychological-thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, haunting, psychological, suspenseful, tension-filled
Tropes: found-family, haunted-past, reunion, supernatural-threat
Setting: local theater
Period: November 1994, thirty years later
320 pages · Paperback · Titan Books
Content warnings: death, murder