Looking out a dark window into the woods, wondering what evils lurk within the shadows of the trees, can provoke dreadful thoughts. And MONSTER might just bring those nightmares into focus. It’s an adult, 87,0000-word contemporary horror told with a unique, non-linear narrative of a man struggling with his demons, inside and out.

Malcolm Hayes has spent his life in the city, working toward his goal of escape. But after meeting Lily, a fiery-haired girl with a mind to match, his future grows uncertain as their family develops with the birth of their daughter. Though, an unexpected illness forces decisions he’d rather soon forget and he’s led toward the bottle—a Hayes’ family tradition.

A few heartbreaking years later and he’s alone in the woods of Lake Wenatchee, exactly where he’d wanted to be. Except the family he cares so deeply for are no longer in sight, save for a box marked LILY’S THINGS, and he struggles to cope. All the while, a sinister nightmare lurks within the forest and he quickly learns that the trees hold more than just old memories. Can he confront his past before the monster comes crashing in or has his inebriated mind lost grip on what sanity it had left?