Top-Shelf Terror - william haddix

Cold dread was already waiting.

When a group of friends arrives at Blackpine Cabin for a weekend getaway, they expect bad decisions, cheap drinks, and maybe a few ghost stories-not something ancient waking beneath the forest floor. But when a hidden stone circle is disturbed, something buried and starving rises to meet them.

It watches.
It learns.
And worst of all-it talks.

With a voice that jokes about taxes, critiques their survival skills, and develops a disturbing fascination with "flavor," the creature stalking them isn't just hunting-it's evolving. What begins as a fight to survive quickly becomes something far more terrifying: a game where the rules are changing, and the monster is getting smarter with every bite.

As the night spirals into chaos, the survivors must navigate a forest that no longer follows logic, a broken boundary that won't hold forever, and a predator that's beginning to develop... preferences.

But the horror doesn't end with them.

Because somewhere deeper in the woods, new laughter echoes-and the thing that woke up hungry is already on its way.

Blending relentless tension with dark, unhinged humor, The Thing That Woke Up Hungry is a fast-paced survival horror where the monster isn't just chasing you-

...it's thinking about what you'll taste like.