Picture of author.

Josh Malerman

Author of Bird Box

29+ Works 5,634 Members 402 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Josh Malerman is an author from Britain who was short listed for the James Herbert Award for Horror writing for his title Bird Box. This title has also made the bestseller list in 2019. (Bowker Author Biography)

Includes the name: by Josh Malerman

Image credit: Photo of author and musician Josh Malerman.

Series

Works by Josh Malerman

Bird Box (2014) 3,219 copies
Malorie (2020) 470 copies
Unbury Carol (2018) 391 copies
Inspection (2019) 350 copies
Goblin (2017) 240 copies
Black Mad Wheel (2017) 231 copies
Daphne: A Novel (2022) 120 copies
Pearl (2021) 117 copies
It Waits in the Woods (2023) 50 copies
Spin a Black Yarn: Novellas (2023) 43 copies
On This the Day of the Pig (2019) 25 copies
I Can Taste the Blood (2016) — Contributor — 11 copies
In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnight (2019) — Contributor — 11 copies

Associated Works

When Things Get Dark: Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021) — Contributor — 162 copies
Hark! The Herald Angels Scream (2018) — Contributor — 111 copies
Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror (2022) — Contributor — 88 copies
101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered (2023) — Foreword — 85 copies
Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories (Anthology) (2016) — Contributor — 69 copies
New Fears: New Horror Stories by Masters of the Genre (2017) — Contributor — 64 copies
Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors (2020) — Contributor — 56 copies
Scary Out There (2016) — Contributor — 45 copies
Lost Signals (2016) — Contributor — 45 copies
Doorbells at Dusk (2018) — Contributor — 37 copies
Phantoms: Haunting Tales from Masters of the Genre (2018) — Contributor — 30 copies
Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology (2022) — Contributor — 29 copies
You, Human: An Anthology of Dark Science Fiction (2016) — Contributor — 21 copies
Beyond the Veil (2021) — Contributor — 21 copies
Lost Highways: Dark Fictions From the Road (2018) — Contributor — 18 copies
Hardboiled Horror (2017) — Contributor — 15 copies
Revelations: Horror Writers for Climate Action (2022) — Contributor — 15 copies
The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors (2022) — Contributor — 15 copies
Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror (2022) — Contributor — 14 copies
Out of Tune - Book II (2016) — Contributor — 11 copies
Cemetery Dance Issue 74/75 (2016) — Contributor — 9 copies
Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas (2021) — Contributor — 5 copies
Ten-Word Tragedies (2019) — Contributor — 2 copies
Chiral Mad 5 — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1975-07-24
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Places of residence
Michigan, USA
Occupations
Musician
Agent
Kristin Nelson (Nelson Literary)
Short biography
Josh Malerman is an American author and also one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung, whose song "The Luck You Got" can be heard as the theme song to the Showtime show "Shameless." His book Bird Box is also currently being filmed as a feature film starring Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich, and Sarah Paulson. Bird Box was also nominated for the Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the James Herbert Award. His books Black Mad Wheel and Goblin have also been nominated for Stoker Awards.

Members

Reviews

4/3/2019 Edit: I'm changing my rating from 3 to 2 stars after more thinking. I've added in a little more in my review, but essentially I don't think Malerman's interesting idea for "Inspection" was well executed or excuses his clumsy pacing and characterizations, nor do I think he wrote a well-thought out or relevant narrative on anything pertaining to gender or sexuality. If anything, I think "Inspection" feels more dated than its 2019 release year. If you want a good Malerman story, go read "Bird Box"-it's way better.

I truly don’t know how I feel about “Inspection”. On one hand, I can honestly say I’ve never read a book quite like it. Malerman's story idea is one that is both enthralling and disturbing, and throughout the whole book I was very eager to see how things turned out. The ending was quite...dramatic. Harsh. Bloody. A blurb for the book calls the ending “Tarantino-esque” and I think that’s appropriate.

However, the pacing of the book felt off kilter, too. POVs are unevenly distributed, and really unsympathetic, droll characters are given the limelight (looking at you, Warren), and it takes away from the kids. It almost feels to me like Malerman had this really cool idea for a book and started outlining it, but didn’t spend enough time refining and really digging into parts of it. Portions of “Inspection” make for a very interesting suspense/horror novel, but those portions are kinda bogged down by unrefined, unrealized bits.
I'm also a little disappointed at the extreme black or white-ness of the story: because it revolves around a group of boys and a group of girls who are raised without the knowledge of the other, I thought gender and sexuality would be more of a narrative. But when it comes down to it, Malerman basically writes that boys are boys because they have a penis and girls are girls because they don't. It just feels a little dated and unaware.
I truly wish I had liked this book better because I've been looking forwards to it for some time! I think Malerman has potential (as seen with "Bird Box") but "Inspection" doesn't do it for me.
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Flagged
deborahee | 16 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
So so creepy.

This isn’t my typical kind of book and because I read mostly before bed it took me forever to get through it because I didn’t want to read this particular book right before sleeping.
 
Flagged
hmonkeyreads | 252 other reviews | Jan 25, 2024 |
I guess I found it compelling enough to read but really I'm still not sure what all the fuss is about.

Edit: I watched the movie. The movie was so much better honestly wondering why I read this at all.
 
Flagged
Blanket_Dragon | 252 other reviews | Jan 23, 2024 |
This short read is a tale of two sisters, the younger apparently a talented actor and the elder a whizz at scripting and filming her on an iPhone. Then the younger one disappears in the Ucatanani National Forest. I wasn't sure how anyone knew where she had gone. The elder sister, out partying with friends, is blamed by their parents for not watching over her sibling. She takes part in the searches in the woods and hears two policemen discussing the "urban" legend of a creature that guards a bridge and wants people to donate their faces to it.

Eventually after three years the elder sister embarks on a solitary expedition into the forest to find out what happened. I found this interval unlikely: surely she would have done so soon after the disappearance? It seems to be just so that she can be eighteen and legally able to drive and to live away from home rather than something arising from character.

The walk into the woods takes days and is rather repetitive. There are spooky moments which rack up considerably towards the end, but the ending is rushed, inconclusive and not credible for me - despite taking days to reach her destination, she is back at the car in no time. So I can rate this at 2 stars only.
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Flagged
kitsune_reader | 7 other reviews | Jan 18, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
29
Also by
28
Members
5,634
Popularity
#4,400
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
402
ISBNs
170
Languages
14
Favorited
5

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