Explore the Chilling Mysteries of the Island of the Dolls: One of the World's Most Terrifying Locations

Megan: A group of people--Jack, Pita, Eliza, Nitro, Pepper, and Jesus--travel to the infamous Island of the Dolls, for which the book is named, to help Pepper film a documentary for the Scariest Places in Mexico. From the start, things are tense between them all, but especially Jack, Nitro, and Jesus, who openly hate each other. Why do they hate each other? As the story unfolds, the reasons become clear.

Pita is superstitious while Jack is the super-rational one. When Jack discovers a little girl, Rosa, and a giant storm hits the island (trapping everybody there for the entire day and night), things quickly begin to escalate. The group is trapped in a creepy hut together, surrounded by creepy dolls. Pita has her superstitions, and Jack has his rationalizations.

Tensions that were already a live wire spark chaos as the story progresses.

By the end, you'll realize that the dolls aren't the scariest thing on the island.

Island of the Dolls is an incredible book. Wonderful pacing, characterization, setting, and writing. In particular, I loved how Bates wrote the various fight scenes. Super exciting without being overblown. The characters' motivations were...

United States on Oct 07, 2023

Marion Gee: This was a tale I couldn't put down. Great characters, well developed plot line, and skilled transitions made this a really awesome read. Thank you Jeremy Bates. Well done! 👏👏

United States on Aug 31, 2023

Rhonda Clopton: They compared him to Stephen King, not! It was a good story and I expected to be terrified. That didn’t happen.

United States on Jul 14, 2023

carey: I've now read a few by this author. This one has much of the same character development and themes as "suicide forest" so it comes off a little common, but I still enjoyed it greatly and this author continues to come up with creative stories. Lets face it, dolls are just plain creepy, so the concept works.

United States on Jul 01, 2023

shell: Yet again Jeremy bates pulls it out the bag and keeps me turning pages! What a writer! The story was truly amazing, the sort of read that makes it hard to put down. A most for anyone

United Kingdom on Nov 10, 2022

Kindle Customer: The Island of the Dolls really does exist in Mexico - a scary place with a supernatural reputation. However, this was not a ghost story but a suspense thriller. It should have been good, indeed very good. Unfortunately I found it tedious and boring and couldn't wait to get to the end. Most of the characters were straight out of central casting, the rich and famous with a bag full of dirty secrets and a poor mentally disturbed child, a victim of the Catholic Church. Maroon them all on a supposedly haunted island, light the touch paper and step well back. It could have been really good but, unfortunately, the story did not live up to my expectations.

United Kingdom on Aug 19, 2022

Amy Mitropoulos: I’ve read a few of Bates’ books and I am never disappointed. They keep you riveted until the end with suspense.

Canada on Dec 07, 2021

Kerrie Galvin: Page turner for sure

Canada on Oct 17, 2021

Kiwes: I’m a little on the fence with this story for a few reasons. Let me see if I can explain what I mean. I find dolls to be very intriguing and I had plenty of them as a little girl. In fact, I still own dolls. I love ‘em. I totally get why Maria, who was the star of this novel, enjoyed her “Angela.” Angela was her best friend and great confidante. Whatever Maria was feeling, it was Angela she sought to talk to. Her mother didn’t have an issue with her daughter relying heavily on Angela to get her through, this was a normal occurrence for an only child, but when Maria was starting school, Angela was a deterrent and her mom didn’t want her to take Angela to school.

Fast forward to present day where a film television crew head out to the infamous Isla de Las Munecas (translation: Island of the Dolls), to make a documentary about the alleged ghost that inhabits the island going around murdering anyone who happens upon it. Hmm, sort of makes you wonder why on earth you’d want to make a documentary knowing this going in, but at any rate, they had a guide take them to the island. The second clue something was wrong was the guide advised he’d pick them up the next day...

United States on Aug 11, 2020

RazorGrrl: Well written, nicely paced and un-putdownable, all the usual features of a Jeremy Bates novel. The 'World's Scariest Places ' series is such a great idea, and "Island of the Dolls"is one of the scariest so far. It reminds me most of" Suicide Forest" which is not a bad thing at all, as it's my favorite of the series to date.

In common with "Suicide Forest" " Island of the Dolls " has a fast paced narrative, attractive, likeable characters and a creepy, atmospheric setting, which Jeremy Bates ' clear, sharp prose brings to life very effectively. The youthful cast of characters share a similar mixture of friendships and emnities, and a first person narrator in the form of - in "Suicide Forest" - an American ex-pat teaching English to Japanese businessmen, and a binge drinking American race car driver in Mexico drinking himself to oblivion in "...Dolls".

Another feature both share seems to be a favourite device of Bates', insofar as the supernatural scares turn out to be less occult and more a very human tragedy...

But I won't spoil the fun ! While "Island of the Dolls" isn't quite worthy of the 4 and 5*s for "Catacombs" and "Suicide Forest" it is vintage Jeremy...

United Kingdom on May 23, 2018