Title: Waiting Rooms

Author: Michael Stone

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0HJBB8DM6/

Release Date: October 30^th, 2026

Summary

Powerful U.S. Senator Bob lies in a coma, his body confined to a hospital bed while his mind awakens somewhere far more sinister.

A strange waiting room.

With no memory of how he got there, Bob searches for an escape. But the only exit leads to another waiting room. An exact copy.

Then another. And another.

Trapped in a seemingly endless maze, Bob confronts mounting disorder, buried regrets, and horrors that grow worse with every room. As he searches for a way out, fragments of his life surface: a broken marriage, an estranged son, and the consequences of a lifetime spent wielding power over others.

Unbeknownst to Bob, pieces of the real world are bleeding into his nightmare. As the rooms become more personal, grotesque, and impossible to escape, he must confront the sins of his past before the waiting rooms consume him completely.

Is this a precursor to Hell? Or is he waiting for something worse?

My Review

5/5 Stars

After a car accident, Senator Bob finds himself, physically, in a coma. Mentally, however, he’s somewhere else. An endless loop of waiting rooms, each filled with their own flavor of psychological torment.

There’s something so satisfying about watching a bad person get what they have coming. We see that with Bob. He’s not a great character, but the torment that he faces was so *chef’s kiss*.

The descriptions in this book? I need a minute to tell (warn?) you guys how vivid the imagery is. Not only can you see it all in your head, but some parts, you can feel it too. I’m not going to spoil much, but let’s just say, I learned a new word.

Though this was a short read, there were a few interesting twists throughout it that I thought were really well done. This was a fun book. If you liked the Backrooms movie and you enjoy liminal horror, you’ll love this one as much as I did.