Robin’s Review of Bump in the Night

Bump in the Night

A man-eating vixen is brought back to life from the eighties. Lanetta Bushar appears to be a beautiful, young woman looking for love. Yet, a few random people have noticed some of her mysterious ways. It seems that Lanetta’s just having fun, meeting high-profile men at the bar of Chil Lacz, a happening nightclub downtown St. Louis. Bump in the Night is a short horror tale that invites readers to a front-row seat in a two-person plot to catch a hungry man-eater and stop her once and for all.

Robin’s Review

Triggers: Man eating femme fatale, blood, sexual vibes, manipulation, murder, stalking behavior, mild body horror, misogyny from certain male characters, consent themes blurred for horror purposes

What Did I Just Walk Into?

Imagine if an eighties urban legend put on lip gloss, strutted into a nightclub, and decided that every sleazy flirt at the bar was officially on the menu. That is the energy here. You walk in thinking you are getting a spooky little late night snack of a story. Instead you get an unbothered man eater working her way through the local population while two people hover around trying to Decide What Must Be Done. Morality is present, just not particularly effective.

This is very much a vibes read. Neon, smoke, a bar that has seen too many bad decisions, and a woman you absolutely should not follow home under any circumstance.

Here’s What Slapped:

The central concept is fun and easy to sink into. Man eater plus nightlife plus urban legend flair is always a good time.

The pacing keeps you turning pages. You are never far from the next “oh, he is not making it out of this scene intact” moment.

There are a couple of twists that keep it from feeling like the same old cautionary tale. You can see the potential for bigger, nastier things from this author in future work.

Perfect length when your brain wants horror but your schedule says absolutely not to a full novel.

What Could’ve Been Better:

The line edits are rough. Wrong word choices, clunky spots, and a few moments that feel like spellcheck betrayed everyone involved.

The POV hops around enough that you may spend a second figuring out whose head you are in now. Not unreadable, but distracting.

The ending will not work for everyone. It lands more on “well that happened” than on deeply satisfying.

Overall it reads like a strong draft that deserved one more solid edit pass and a stricter leash on viewpoint.

Perfect for Readers Who Love:

Urban legend flavored horror

Man eaters, literal and metaphorical

Nightclub settings, smoky and suspect

Quick, bloody little palate cleansers between longer reads

Reviewed by Robin for Robin’s Review

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