Video Night - by Adam Cesare (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets The Breakfast Club in this thrilling horror novel by the bestselling author of Clown In a Cornfield--now with a new forward by Stephen Graham Jones.

"One of the most talented and engaging voices of horror fiction's newest wave." --Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home

It's 1988 and two best friends--one departing for college, one destined for bad boy townie life--decide to have a final video night before their friendship changes forever. Billy and Tom's plan is perfect. They've got pizza and beer, and Tom even managed to convince his girlfriend, Darcy, to bring a friend, Billy's neighbor and crush, Rachel. But what they don't know is that there's an invasion underway.

Across the street, Rachel's sister, Rhonda, was one of the first to turn. A slithering, chitinous evil has overtaken her body and mind, and she'll do anything to spread the alien infection. Blood, sex, rock and roll, invaders from outer space, and tender perspectives on teen male friendship: Video Night is one cult classic that has it all!

"The writing moves like a greased torpedo, compulsively readable as it rockets through your brain." --Fangoria

"Hit that first chapter. It'll hook you, and the next time you look up, you'll have swallowed the book. It'll be nesting inside you like a seed, like an egg, like an invasion." --Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of My Heart Is a Chainsaw

Review Quotes

"A gory, uproarious good time, with a perfect cinematic sensibility.This novel is perfect for fans of 80's VHS cinema or those who love books like Brian McAuley's Breathe in, Bleed Out (2025)."--Booklist

Hit that first chapter. It'll hook you, and the next time you look up, you'll have swallowed the book. It'll be nesting inside you like a seed, like an egg, like an invasion.--Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

If you put together the gore, action, monsters, and sense of excitement that made '80s horror movies so great, you'll only have about half of what makes Video Night a must-read tome for horror fans.--Horrortalk

Of all the new writers busting out on the scene, Cesare's the young guy with the greatest encyclopedic gorehound know-how, blistering cinematic pace, unquenchable love of both fiction and film, and hell-bent will to entertain. Cesare does just about everything right.--John Skipp, Fangoria

One of the most talented and engaging voices of horror fiction's newest wave.--Gabino Iglesias, award-winning author of The Devil Takes You Home

The momentum keeps building. The stakes keep escalating. The monsters just keep getting worse and worse, the catastrophic mayhem more juicy and hopeless. Best of all, the writing moves like a greased torpedo, compulsively readable as it rockets through your brain.--Fangoria

Too often modern horror is mired in self-importance and pretension, which is why Adam Cesare's Video Night is so refreshing. Video Night seeks to entertain first and foremost, a goal it achieves with spectacular success. It is also very well-written and is populated with characters who are realistic and relatable. Video Night was the most enjoyable horror novel I've read in quite some time, and Adam Cesare is one of horror's brightest new talents. Highly recommended.--Bryan Smith, author 68 Kill and Depraved

About the Author

Adam Cesare is the author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning and USA Today bestselling Clown in a Cornfield series, Influencer, the graphic novel Dead Mall, and several other novels and novellas including the cult hit Video Night and the dirtbag vampire epic Bloodsick. He's an avid fan of horror cinema, and you can watch him talk about movies on YouTube, TikTok, and the rest of his socials.

Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-five or so novels and collections, and there's some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and Killer on the Road. Next is Off the Reservation. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.