Your Lonely Nights Are Over

By: Adam Sass

Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin, Griffin Puatu, Torian Brackett

Scream meets Clueless in this YA horror from Adam Sass in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when a serial killer starts targeting their school’s Queer Club.

Dearie and Cole are inseparable, unlikeable, and (in bad luck for them) totally unbelievable.

From the day they met, Dearie and Cole have been two against the world. But whenever something bad happens at Stone Grove High School, they get blamed. Why? They’re beautiful, flirtatious, dangerously clever queen bees, and they’re always ready to call out their fellow students. But they’ve never faced a bigger threat than surviving senior year, when Mr. Sandman, a famous, never-caught serial killer emerges from a long retirement—and his hunting ground is their school Queer Club.

As evidence and bodies begin piling up and suspicion points at Dearie and Cole, they will need to do whatever it takes to unmask the real killer before they and the rest of Queer Club are taken down. But they’re not getting away from the killer without a fight.

Along the way, they must confront dark truths hidden beneath the surface of their small desert community. When the world is stacked against them and every flop they know is a suspect, can Dearie and Cole stop Mr. Sandman’s rampage? Or will their lonely nights soon be over . . .

©2023 Adam Sass (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Mark Sanderlin's and Griffin Puatu's performances in this vibrant slasher story bring a high school queer club to life--as the club's members fight for theirs.... The narrative shines with classic horror tropes, but Sanderlin and Puatu bring emotional expression that illuminates how queer bonds are stronger than any threat. Torian Brackett delivers interspersed excerpts from a Mr. Sandman documentary. This is a murder mystery for today's world--and it's delightfully scary." (AudioFile)

"Filled with high jinks both terrorizing and hilarious, Your Lonely Nights Are Over is the ultimate modern take on Scream but somehow gayer. Adam Sass combines a cutting teen voice with a grimly funny slasher that’s somehow still heart-felt and touching. This book will have you laughing and hiding under the covers!"—Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and The Sunbearer Trials

"In this enthusiastic homage to queer youth and friendship, Sass embraces quintessential campy slasher tropes and persuasively blends snarky humor with suspenseful horror."—Publishers Weekly

"This suspenseful slasher with a diverse, well-developed LGBTQ+ ensemble cast is also a catty, comedic celebration of queer community and identity. A campy and entertaining page-turner."—Kirkus Reviews

Great first thriller read

The book was great: seat-gripping, on the edge, exiting plot-twists basically the whole time! I just wish the voice actors would put an emphasis on the different characters they were reading for and would put emotion into what they were saying as the character would have. For example, the voice actors in “Do You Take This Man” did an incredible job at those two things! (High expectations and kind of a low blow.. I know, sorry!) Overall, I am ecstatic with my purchase!

Amazing depiction of teen friendship

What made the story for me was the friendship of Cole and Frankie. Like all friendships, it had its troubles, but they found ways to show they loved each other. Heartwarming story <3

Its gave Wes Craven screen vibes with mystery 

The story was okay it could’ve had sex thrill a little more
I feel like the audiobook itself needed a full cast

Great queer slasher

A fun queer YA slasher. A modern Scream if the queer subtext was just text. fun, thrilling

A fun teen slasher

While I thought this book could have been edited down a little bit, I wanted a fun slasher to kick off Halloween season and this didn’t disappoint. Funny and kept my interest for the most part.

Not sure why it was compared to Clueless though in the description. It feels like whoever wrote that has never seen Clueless.

A fun Fall read either way.

Fun, quirky, not super realistic

It was a fun exploration of queer life in high school while trying to survive the trauma of an abusive relationship and a serial killer on the loose. My only complaint is that it wasn't very realistic. You're telling me there was one person against multiple cops multiple times and the killer was successful every time? I understand portraying cops as not being competent, trust me, I do, but the amount of times the killer takes out MULTIPLE groups of armed people silently with no evidence left is very much a head-scratcher. Not to mention if the killer gives their victims a 24-hour notice, why are they not getting the heck out of town? Why are they just locking themselves in their house WITH NO ADULTS PRESENT!? I understand people in slashers make *terrible* decisions, but this was multiple people including alleged trained professionals dropping the ball multiple times. Make it make sense.

Overall the book was enjoyable and a lot more gruesome than I expected, which is not a bad thing for the genre, and I would recommend it with the caveat not to expect too much realism in the situations the characters find themselves in.