Children's author writes adult book

By Rose Sgarlato
SPARTA — A boy in a basement, a man in a booth and a darkness to swallow them both is the plot of Chris Sorensen’s latest release “The Nightmare Room.”
Interestingly enough, the characters and story line are fashioned after the Lake Mohawk’s resident’s own life. Sorensen is a writer and producer of plays and movies, but he is also an audiobook narrator with a recording studio in his home. His paranormal mystery “The Nightmare Room” is a fictional version of where the author grew up in Monmouth, Illinois.
Sorensen’s venture into writing books began last year with a children’s title: The “Mad Scientists of New Jersey”. The jump from writing for children to writing for adults was an easy transition for the author.
“I’ve been writing horror screenplays for years, and this was an idea I was pitching as a screenplay but decided I just wanted to get the story out and maybe it should be a book,” said Sorensen. “What scares kids is different than what scares adults. “
Sorensen provided the following background on “The Nightmare Room”:
Peter Larson, a New York audiobook narrator and his wife head home to his hometown of Maple City to help Peter’s ailing father. The plot thickens as Peter sets up his recording studio in a small basement room and disturbing things begin to occur. When an insidious presence emerges from the woodwork, Peter must face old demons in order to save his family and himself.
Sorensen had a similar experience working in his whisper room in Lake Mohawk.
“He finds out that he is a fish out of water and his past comes back to haunt him,” explains Sorensen. “It taps into real fears with Peter having to become the caretaker. And then he gets messages through his audio recordings.”
Inspired by Stephen King, Sorensen loves a good horror story.
“I wrote the book that I would want to read—an out-and-out ghost story with twists and turns and characters that you rally behind. I’m very excited to get it out there and see what everyone else thinks.”
Self-published by Harmful Monkey Press, “The Nightmare Room" is the first in "The Messy Man” series with the second title “The Hungry Ones” coming out late October 2018. Sorensen will also release his second children's title this summer in the Mad Scientists of New Jersey series: "The Defenders of Ong's Hat."
Sparta Books will host a book signing with Sorensen for “The Nightmare Room” on Friday, Mar. 9 from 6 to 7:30pm.