SCREAM ALL NIGHT
from HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
DARIO HEYWARD KNOWS ONE THING: He’s never going back to Moldavia Studios, the iconic castle that served as the set, studio, and home to the cast and crew of dozens of cult classic B-horror movies. It’s been three years since Dario’s even seen the place, after getting legally emancipated from his father, the infamous director of Moldavia’s creature features.
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But then Dario’s brother invites him home to a mysterious ceremony involving his father and a tribute to his first film—The Curse of the Mummy’s Tongue. Dario swears his homecoming will be a one-time visit. A way for him to get closure on his past—and reunite with Hayley, his first love and costar of Zombie Children of the Harvest Sun, a production fraught with real-life tragedy—and say good-bye for good. But the unthinkable happens—Dario gets sucked back into the twisted world of Moldavia and the horrors, both real and imagined, he’s left there.
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With only months to rescue the sinking studio and everyone who has built their lives there, Dario must confront the demons of his past—and the uncertainties of his future. But can he escape the place that’s haunted him his whole life?
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Scream All Night is a darkly hilarious romp about growing up and finding your place in the world.
PRAISE
Derek Milman bursts onto the YA scene with a completely unique concept and a delightfully quirky setting. It has all of my favorite things: plenty of absurdity wrapped in undeniable heart. SCREAM ALL NIGHT is not to be missed.
Goldy Moldavsky, New York Times bestselling author of Kill the Boy Band and No Good Deed
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SCREAM ALL NIGHT is a hilarious, heart-wrenching, psychedelic ride. Derek Milman has written a searingly original debut. I couldn’t stop reading.
Jeff Garvin, author of Symptoms of Being Human
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Debut author Milman’s darkly comedic coming-of-age story seamlessly combines monsters—both real and imagined—with difficult subjects. Moldavia Studios is a refuge for those who don’t quite fit in anywhere else, and the paradox of it being a safe harbor while simultaneously bringing to life the things of nightmares works on an emotional and a psychological level. Dario’s journey, though more extreme than most, is relatable, but the story’s biggest lesson of all is that it is possible to go home again.”
Publishers Weekly ★ STARRED REVIEW
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Debut author Milman loads his coming-of-age comedy with classic horror references in a way that will delight genre fans without alienating outsiders. Clever writing is anchored by a sensitive emotional core, giving Dario’s personal journey a relatable quality, despite its delectably bizarre setting.
Booklist
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[A] dark and occasionally wacky tale of a young man coming to terms with his troubled past. VOYA
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Milman has a field day with horror movie tropes, walking a nerve-wrackingly fine line between gothic horror and send-up, challenging readers to discern just where the laughs and shivers are leading…The massive tease is well-played, but beneath Milman’s eerie/comedic mystery run powerful themes of family obligation, adult responsibility, and reexamining childhood trauma through the lens of maturity. And the award for genre-bending serio-comic tender horror debut goes to…Derek Milman.
Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, RECOMMENDED TITLE
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Milman graces readers with a distinctive and immersive setting and an authentically hilarious voice. It’s the summer read you never knew you needed.
Buzzfeed
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[A] darkly funny, brilliantly written, heart-wrenching debut.
Buffalo News
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At once hilarious, wrenching, and marinated in inspired details…Scream All Night slashes through the expected, trouncing the predictable with eerie power.
The Center for Fiction
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Seventeen-year-old Dario Heyward narrates–with a mix of honesty, wry humor, and unresolved resentment–growing up in a dysfunctional family who lived (and acted) in an equally dysfunctional B-horror movie studio called Moldavia. Steeped in the culture of horror filmmaking, the story is peopled by memorable, wacky characters who all play roles in Dario’s coming to terms with his weird, difficult, and unique life.
Horn Book Guide Reviews