The horror novel Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak begins by following the recovery of ex-addict and Philadelphian Mallory Quinn to what seems to be a picture-perfect suburban neighborhood in New Jersey. While she is recovering, Mallory’s new babysitting job takes a turn when young Teddy starts drawing strange pictures. The pictures start as adorable animals and drawings of Mallory and Teddy, in a childlike style with “L” shaped feet and three fingers on a hand. However, things take an eerie turn when the drawings become horrifyingly realistic of Teddy’s imaginary friend named Anya. Mallory’s past haunts her, and the novel takes the reader on her personal journey of growth that transforms into a murder mystery investigation. Hidden Pictures takes on a trope similar to The Sixth Sense as it seems that children can communicate with the afterlife. It appears that the ghost of Anya communicates with Teddy to draw different scenes of her murder.
The novel’s embedded illustrations not only add tension and suspense to the story, but also immerse the reader in their world. The drawings in the book, by Will Staehle and Doogie Horner, vary from simple to detailed but become terrifying when the horror elements are added. When Mallory notices Teddy’s gruesome drawings, it’s her instinct to ask him where he gets his inspiration. But Teddy doesn’t make it that simple; he’ll either change the subject or give a riddle of a response to Mallory, forcing her to go out on her own expedition to solve the murder. Hidden Pictures gives readers a chance to solve the mystery with Mallory and even notice small details in the illustrations that Mallory doesn’t mention. The pictorial aspect of the book helps readers focus on the story without having to try to create their own picture in their mind while also guiding them to interpret the drawings exactly how the author wants.
Mallory and her love interest, Adrian, with the information they’ve discovered from different sources along with Teddy’s drawings, start to build a theory about what happened the day of the murder. As they attempt to piece it together, each picture helps break up the scenes of the story and makes their theory clearer. Readers will enjoy finding out for themselves if and how Mallory uses Teddy’s drawings to solve the murder.
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak can be purchased here.
Hidden Pictures: A Novel
Jason Rekulak
Flatiron Books
Published May 10, 2022
384 pp.
Cassandra Stathis was born and raised in New Jersey but spent a lot of their weekends in the city of Philadelphia, where they decided to go for college to major in English and minor in psychology. Cas had ten articles published in Rider University’s school newspaper and an essay will be published in Drexel’s <i>The 33rd</i>. In their free time, Cas likes to collect comic books and create cosplays for Dungeons & Dragons characters.