Overview

A searing exploration of memory, morality, and redemption, this novel follows one woman’s journey from childhood complicity in hate to adult reckoning, forgiveness, and the embrace of her Jewish identity. It illuminates how personal choices intersect with history and the enduring weight of inherited trauma. A childhood secret. A missing friend. Some monsters wear masks—others look just like your neighbor. Halloween in 1991 New York City. Donna Dorn, a journalist clawing her way out of the “entertainment fluff” trenches, is haunted by more than the city’s parade of ghouls and skeletons. Her real ghosts? They’re the memories she’s tried to bury for over a decade—memories of a friendship with her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Bardawulf, in a Pennsylvania suburb thick with secrets and whispers. Donna’s adult life is a maze of late-night writing, broken relationships, and a friendship with Mark, a rabbinical student who senses the storm beneath her sarcasm. But when Donna finally cracks open her past, she’s forced to face what she did—and what she let happen—in a town where evil didn’t hide under beds. It baked cakes, told fairy tales, and smiled across the street. Small-town nostalgia curdles into dread, and every answer leads to a new, darker question. How far would you go to belong? And what if the real monsters are the ones you loved?

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9781592117703

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Reviews

""A beautifully crafted story about haunted histories, lingering hatreds, and triumphant love.""--Rabbi David Wolpe, named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek Magazine, Max Webber Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple, author of Making Loss Matter ""As Donna reveals the truths behind the wisdom of both Pat Benatar (""Hell is for children"") and Viktor Frankl (find ""salvation, both through love, and in love""), I was entranced with this story about forgiving others and yourself for the things we do to harm one another, intentionally and otherwise. Dodds tells a hard story with warmth, wit, and delightful references to pop culture.""--Suzanne Reisman, author of Off the Beaten (Subway) Track Fascinating, artful, and un-putdownable, Beyond Where Monsters Lie covers the complicated emotional terrain of atonement with both sensitivity and humor. Not an easy feat, yet Debby Dodds has crafted a beautiful story- one that is ultimately about friendship at its core- which invites the reader to contemplate the most important of human journeys: redemption. --Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of Proof of Life Monsters can hide in plain sight. They might even be inside us. This lacerating and yet redemptive novel examines how easily we can cross the line--and the long journey back. The witty writing sparkles with honesty and the ending feels like a balm.--Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and the forthcoming The Talking Bone ""Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie is a page-turner of a novel about vengeance, guilt and forgiveness. We meet the protagonist in her fragile and innocent youth, follow her through her step-by-step indoctrination into a very dark world, and witness her struggle to make peace and find forgiveness. At once frightening and heartbreaking and, in the end, full of hope.""--Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened ""In Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie, Author Debby Dodds has written a moving, thematically complex story of a young woman's struggle to overcome the deep shame and emotional damage inflicted in childhood by a manipulative woman with a despicable agenda.""--Warren C. Easley, award-winning author of the Cal Claxton mysteries

Monsters can hide in plain sight. They might even be inside us. This lacerating and yet redemptive novel examines how easily we can cross the line—and the long journey back. The witty writing sparkles with honesty and the ending feels like a balm. -- Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and the forthcoming The Talking Bone ""A beautifully crafted story about haunted histories, lingering hatreds, and triumphant love."" -- Rabbi David Wolpe, named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek Magazine, Max Webber Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple, author of Making Loss Matter Fascinating, artful, and un-putdownable, Beyond Where Monsters Lie covers the complicated emotional terrain of atonement with both sensitivity and humor. Not an easy feat, yet Debby Dodds has crafted a beautiful story- one that is ultimately about friendship at its core- which invites the reader to contemplate the most important of human journeys: redemption.  -- Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of Proof of Life ""Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie is a page-turner of a novel about vengeance, guilt and forgiveness.  We meet the protagonist in her fragile and innocent youth, follow her through her step-by-step indoctrination into a very dark world, and witness her struggle to make peace and find forgiveness. At once frightening and heartbreaking and, in the end, full of hope."" -- Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened ""As Donna reveals the truths behind the wisdom of both Pat Benatar (""Hell is for children"") and Viktor Frankl (find ""salvation, both through love, and in love""), I was entranced with this story about forgiving others and yourself for the things we do to harm one another, intentionally and otherwise. Dodds tells a hard story with warmth, wit, and delightful references to pop culture."" -- Suzanne Reisman, author of Off the Beaten (Subway) Track ""In Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie, Author Debby Dodds has written a moving, thematically complex story of a young woman's struggle to overcome the deep shame and emotional damage inflicted in childhood by a manipulative woman with a despicable agenda."" -- Warren C. Easley, award-winning author of the Cal Claxton mysteries

Author Information

Debby Dodds is the author of Amish Guys Don't Call, named a BEST YA OF 2017 by Powell’s Books and featured in Random House’s Better with Books. She’s had over 30 short stories published, including in the NY Times best-sellers My Little Red Book (Hachette) and The Things That You Would Have Said (Penguin), as well as essays and short stories in Salon.com, Hip Mama, Judith Magazine, Manifest-Station.com, Mountain Bluebird Magazine, Living Dead Magazine, and The Sun Magazine. Debby received a 2021 Fellowship to MVICW, a 2023 AWP fellowship, was a 2024 Mineral School Resident, and was named the winner of the Fall 2025 Resident Fellow at Moss Rock Retreat. Her second novel, Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie, in the literary fiction genre, is under contract to be published by Histria Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster. She has her BFA from NYU and MFA from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She has been a keynote speaker, panel member, or teacher in many schools and literary conferences including AWP, Willamette Writers, Wordstock, Cal State Chico, Terroir Creative Writing Festival, The Poe Show, Catlin Gabel School, Salem Career Day, Time Out, Grief Rites, Telltale PDX, Off the Page at The Empty Stage, Southern Oregon University, and Oregon State University. She lectured on creativity at Oxford University in 2023. As an actress, Debby Dodds worked in film and TV and wrote and performed in plays and Improv Comedy shows in NYC and Los Angeles. She performed in shows at Disneyland and Disney World. She is also known for screaming loudly in B-horror films.

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