The Creeps
-
- Pre-Order
-
- Expected Oct 6, 2026
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
Front Desk meets Stephen King! In this perfectly frightening middle grade read, a twelve-year-old boy moves into a creepy motel where breaking the rules doesn’t just mean getting kicked out—it means disappearing for good.
Dylan has a bad feeling about the Good Night Motel. Ever since he and his mom got kicked out of their apartment, their new living arrangements have given him a serious case of the creeps. The roof is sagging; the wallpaper is peeling. The weird twin owners have painted-on smiles like Victorian dolls, and the handyman always seems to be lurking.
And, of course, there are the Rules. Break three, and you’re out for good.
Dylan couldn’t care less until he’s cornered by a kid who claims to know the truth about this place. The real truth. You see, when people break the rules, they don’t just get kicked out of the motel. They disappear.
And Dylan and his mom could be next.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A financially insecure family's extended stay at a roadside motel morphs into a desperate bid for survival in this spine-tingling paranormal horror novel from Mejia (The Better to Eat You With). When 12-year-old Dylan Vega and his mother, who can no longer work because of her chronic illness, lose their apartment, they're forced to move into the Good Night Motel. Dylan finds the establishment smelly, uncomfortable, and terrifyingly dilapidated, and the sinister elderly receptionists present a list of rules, the most important of which is "DO NOT GO INTO THE BASEMENT." Rule violations earn strikes, and three strikes results in immediate eviction. Dylan's new friend Ollie St. James, a long-term resident, believes rule-breakers aren't simply expelled from the motel—they vanish entirely. Determined to uncover the truth, Dylan and Ollie delve into the Good Night Motel's secrets. But when Dylan's mom garners three strikes and disappears, the boys' inquiry takes on a new sense of urgency. Unsettling details amp up the fear factor, the tense atmosphere skillfully mirrors Dylan's feelings of overwhelm, and threads of positivity keep things light as the youths combat seemingly hopeless circumstances. It all adds up to an unnerving supernatural jaunt. Ages 8–12.
