Nightbooks

Nightbooks is the first book of the Nightbooks book series. It was written by J.A. White and illustrated by Dan Burgess. It was published on July 24, 2018.
== Blurb ==
Alex has loved scary stories his whole life. He never imagined he'd be trapped in one. 
When Alex sneaks out in the middle of the night, he becomes imprisoned by the witch Natacha in her magical apartment. Another child in the apartment, Yasmin. assures Alex that she's already tried every means of escape. Only Natacha holds the bonekeys that lead back to their world, and she'll never part from them. But Natacha likes stories. And Alex's only chance for survival is to keep Natacha satisfied by reading her one of his own hair-raising tales each night. Expect Alex is running out of time——and original stories——and he's desperate for a way out of this twisted place.
Alex has loved scary stories his whole life. He knows most don't have a happy ending.... 
In Nightbooks, J. A. White, author of the Thickety series, has concocted a thrilling contemporary fantasy that explores the craft of writing and the magic of storytelling.
== Plot ==
=== The Wrong Floor ===
After his family finally falls asleep, Alex slings a backpack over his shoulder and sneaks out of his apartment. The 8th floor hallway is looking drearier than ever, but Alex needs to do this if he wants anything to change. Weirdo. Freak. Loser. He can still hear their voices in his head. He continues walking down the hall and waits for the elevator to open and take him to the basement. The door opens starts going down and stops on the 4th floor. Alex looks out in confusion and tries to push the basement button again. When this doesn't work, he resolves to take the stairs. 
He steps off the elevator and hears voices. Listening in, he realizes that it's dialogue from a movie. Night of the Living Dead! The movie that got Alex to love scary things. Alex is entranced and lured towards the apartments where he hears the movie. He knocks on the door and Natacha instantly answers. She curiously asks what he heard, and Alex explains that it was a movie. Natacha invites Alex inside, but when he enters the apartment, the doorway vanishes. Alex confusedly asks what happened and Natacha grins then reveals that she's a witch. 
=== Natacha's Apartment ===
Alex wakes up in the bottom of a bunk bed. He looks around the room and sees a door with two keyholes. The bottom one being a strange cresent shape. Alex is surpised and hopeful when he tries and succeeds to turn the doorknob, but his hopes are crushed when he gazes through the doorway and sees the room he's standing in. He then tries to shout and get the attention of someone outside the apartment, but the entire apartment starts shaking! The shaking stops and a key appears in the cresent keyhole. Natacha opens the door. 
She questions Alex on why he was screaming and he claims it was because the apartment was shaking. Alex pleads with Natacha to let him go, but Natacha asks him if he's read any fairy tales and tells him that he already knows how it is. 
Natacha leaves the room and Alex cries for a while. He feels scared and alone and fails to keep his mind from coming up with dark conclusions about his fate. Eventually, he hears footsteps which stop at the door. Alex shouts for whoever is there to help him, but the silence continues. Yasmin says that Natacha likes stories, then walks away from the door.
=== The Misting Room ===
=== Unicorn Girl ===
=== The Nursery ===
== Characters ==
* Natacha
* Yasmin
* Alex
* Lenore
* Pale Boy
* Peasant Girl
* Group of Witches
* Todd
* John
* Peasant Boy
* Jenny
* Aunt Gris
== Species ==
=== Events of Nightbooks ===
* Human
* Witch
* Familiar
* Unicorn
=== In Alex's Stories ===
* Reaper
* Vampire
* Ghost
* Monster
* Zombie
=== In the Books in the Library ===
* Dragon
* Fairy
* Kobold
== Locations ==
* The Magical Apartment
** The Library
** The Night Nursery
* Forest Outside the Apartment
** The Gingerbread House