Memento meets Dracula in this heart-thudding, unpredictable, and beautifully crafted novel of a man exposed for crimes he doesn’t remember committing, and the monsters that dwell at the heart of us all, from celebrated and critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.

Genres: serial killer | psychological horror | Southern Gothic | Appalachian horror | folklore | inherited curse | unreliable narrator | vampire horror | doppelgängers | mystery

Moods: emotional | tense | stalker | fatherhood | motherhood | investigative | literary | Southern Gothic | weirdness | autumn in North Georgia | spooky season | mysterious

For fans of: Keith Rosson’s Coffin Moon | Stephen Graham Jones’s The Buffalo Hunter Hunter | Bram Stoker’s Dracula | Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs | Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot | Let the Right One In | Longlegs | Flannery O’Connor

My second novel, Nightjars, arrives September 29, 2026 from St. Martin’s Press. Just one year after the publication of my Bram Stoker Award-winning and Georgia Author of the Year Award-winning debut novel, The October Film Haunt, this new story crawls out of the woods with multiple faces, a leaner, meaner novel that blends the best of serial killers and vampires.

Here’s a sample of what early readers are saying:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This was one of the most eloquent, poetic novels I have ever read (but, you know, with blood and gore). And, on top of that, the characters, story line and locations are just as masterfully written. Despite the fantasy realism, the entire thing felt like it was actually unfolding in front of me. I felt so deeply about the main characters. I was absolutely wrapped up in this story from start to finish. So many emotions, so much fear. I can’t say enough good things about this one. You need it, truly.

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So I finished my eARC of Nightjars this morning and I am NOT OKAY 😭😭😭

I tried to go into this with as little information as possible and it paid off big time – and now I feel like a loon looking up all of this information on nightjars because EVERYTHING was so well thought out!!! 🤌🏻 I’m pre-ordering this immediately so that I can go back to highlight and notate everything I missed on my first read through!

Without giving too much away, this book was a MASTERCLASS on unreliable narrators, the twists were INCREDIBLE, and this was just such a unique and compelling read! 🩸

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This is going to be VERY popular once people catch wind.

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“I don’t frequently label things ‘among the best,’ but in the case of Michael Wehunt’s stunning sophomore novel Nightjars, I must make an enthusiastic exception. A terrifying, heartbreaking novel that is as close to perfection as I’ve seen. Absolutely breathtaking.” —Kristi DeMeester, author of Dark Sisters and Such a Pretty Smile

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“Michael Wehunt doesn’t just simply tell you a story, he inters you in one. Nightjars is such an immersive nightmare, it feels like being buried alive by a book. You will taste the loam at the back of your throat, the earth clotting up your airways. You’re never climbing out from this novel.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

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From the publisher:

On a rainy night, Luke Oshel gets stood up halfway through dinner. But before his date walks off to the bathroom and never returns, she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.

Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his late father, who killed his victims by blood loss. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.

As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.

I can’t wait for you to meet Luke and Kristen, their four-year-old daughter Sophia, Detective Jo Sunderson, and……certain others. Hardcover, e-book, and audio editions will be available wherever books are sold on September 29, 2026. Pre-order below or ask your favorite bookshop to order it for you and support local businesses! Signed and/or personalized hardcover copies are also available at my local store, Little Shop of Stories — order from anywhere and have it shipped once the publication date arrives!