American Nightmare

• Author: Kelly McWilliams
• Genre: Horror
• Publication Date: September 15, 2026
• Publisher: Crown

Thank you to Crown for sending me a print copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In this haunting historical novel, a light-skinned Black man goes undercover to investigate lynchings in the Jim Crow South, only to be confronted by the very evil that has pursued him since childhood.

Clark Wendell White first encountered the Nightmare as a child during the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, when he and his father stood guard over their family home. In the eyes of the mob surging through his neighborhood, Clark sensed this malevolent presence. It was then that the Nightmare took shape, burrowing deep into his mind and feeding on his fear.

Years later, the same evil presence drives Clark to the NAACP’s headquarters in New York City, where he answers an ad seeking light-skinned Black men for dangerous undercover work. As a spy for the NAACP, Clark investigates lynchings, impersonating the very Nightmare that once tormented him.

As Clark descends deeper into this double life, another force rises: a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, finding a foothold in the storied streets of New York City. Among its eager recruits is Sam Cahill—the one man who can see past his disguise. Now Clark must outwit both the living and the dead, as he confronts a past that refuses to stay buried and a future where the act of passing exacts a soul-deep price.

Inspired by the life of civil rights activist Walter White, who passed as a white man to expose the brutality of lynchings from the South to the Midwest, American Nightmare is a gripping historical thriller that reveals the most terrifying monsters aren’t those that go bump in the night but those that walk among us.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one. McWilliams is a new-to-me author, but the plot summary sounded like one I’d kick myself for missing out on. While this is listed as horror, it’s not the jump-scare type of horror novel. It’s more of a historical fiction featuring a paranormal element and something infinitely more terrifying than invented horror—the scariest part of this story is the fact that it’s based in truth and focuses on the result of unchecked hatred. 

The book starts in the 1906, and opens with Clark and his father both standing on their porch, protecting their home during the Atlanta Race Riot. As a youngster, Clark visualizes the institutional and societal racism that Black people faced in America and the presence of the Ku Klux Klan as a Nightmare that spreads from person to person and is nearly impossible to escape. While I do think that the story would have been stronger without relegating vicious racism as a type of paranormal event, I was also able to put myself in Clark’s shoes and understand how a child or teen can ascribe supernatural aspects to horrific situations that no one should be exposed to, particularly young people. 

I was fascinated by the story and absolutely flew through this in two days. I couldn’t put it down, and when I had to, I would wonder what was going to happen next. While I learned about the Civil Rights Movement in school, the curriculum didn’t include the race riots and Bloody Summer faced by Black Americans at the hands of their white neighbors. For those, I learned about it through books written by Black authors and nonfiction works. This one discusses the race riots and lynchings that occurred in the early part of the 20th century, along with other heavy themes. 

Clark and his family are all very light-skinned, with Clark and his father both having blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. His father is a proud man, but he leans into his Blackness and frowns on those people he knows who have left their heritage behind and passed for white. Passing as white could ensure a person’s safety as long as they aren’t found out, but it also creates a divide within the person’s psyche. This is seen clearly within Clark, as he goes undercover for the NAACP, posing as a white man while investigating the string of lynchings throughout the South. 

The toll of passing weighs heavily on Clark. He’s always worried about slipping up and giving his true self away. Alongside Clark’s chapters are chapters from the perspective of Sam, a poor white man who burns with hate for Black people and Jews. Sam is clearly a villain but he’s a pretty flat character—almost everything about him is hateful and something I could barely stand to read. He’s ignorant and racist and somehow believes that his white skin should give him even more privileges than people he looks down on as lesser.

Chapters alternating between the POV of Clark and Sam create a cat-and-mouse dynamic that ratchets up the tension that is present throughout the story. The longer Clark stays undercover, the more of an impact it has on his psyche and his actions. While I easily identified and empathized with Clark, I was hoping that Sam would die during the story, since he was such a hateful, ignorant, and nasty character, without much else to him.

Overall, this was an outstanding read. While Clark is a fully realized character, others seem to be more one-dimensional, and had almost no overarching personality. This sheds light on a very important aspect of American history that isn’t taught in schools, and should be read by everyone. Clark himself was a fascinating character, and was based on a real Black man who passed as white while working for the NAACP. I found myself most sucked in when learning about the toll it took on Clark to pass as white, and how it impacted his relationship with his family and friends. It’s an isolating lifestyle, especially when Clark is forced to remain apart from his coworkers and live in a white neighborhood. This is a fast-paced story with high stakes, and I couldn’t help but binge read this one.

Bottom line: It’s not perfect, but it comes pretty damn close, wrapping a shameful episode in American history in Black pride and nonviolent resistance as one Black man passes as white to help their cause and hold people responsible for lynching his fellow Black men and women. 

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