Publication Date: October 6, 2026
Five friends travel back to the 1990s to solve the brutal murder and disappearance of two of their high school peers in this thrilling debut novel from a promising new voice in horror—a murderous, nightmarish romp that is nostalgic, terrifying, and impossible to put down.
Shop ’til you drop . . . dead
Colleen’s life feels as hollow as the abandoned Beechnut Mall—the 90s hangout where neon lights and endless laughter defined her teens thirty years before. When her old high school clique reassembles for one last night of rebellion inside the now condemned building, she joins them, never expecting the mall to give something back. The reunited friends do not know that inside its darkened halls, the past is waiting, and it’s not all Glamour Shots, Beanie Babies, and Lisa Frank.
Faced with their lost youth, they are drawn back into the mystery of Beth Packard—a schoolmate who vanished in 1994—and without warning, they find themselves transported to the mall in its heyday on the very night Beth disappeared. Thrust back three decades, the former mallrats must unravel the secrets hidden beneath memories, lies, and betrayals before time snaps shut around them. But each step closer to the truth of Beth’s disappearance brings them within reach of exposing ugly, fatal truths about each other.
Haunting, wistful, pulse-pounding fun, Night of the Mallrats is a time-travel thriller that asks a question with an unforgettable answer: What really happened to Beth Packard?
Places like Beechnut Mall served as a gathering spot for teens in the 1990s. Fast forward and it becomes an abandoned victim to progress.
For a group of classmates, Night of the Mallrats offers a connection to the past. Author Nicolina Torres reunites five people after three decades and gives them an opportunity to travel back in time to investigate a close friend’s disappearance.
The past/present approach provides the backstory while building the background for each character. Cultural references create a nostalgic atmosphere of life before cell phones.
As the characters interact, questions arise about whether one of them had anything to do with Beth’s disappearance. The truth proves to be shocking and quite unexpected as old secrets come to life.
Night of the Mallrats serves up a nostalgic slice of horror while incorporating time travel, multiple points of view, and a missing person.
Prior to her work as a writer, Nicolina Torres was a manager for Barnes & Noble for 15 years, in seven stores, and represented B&N on Channel 2’s Living Dayton Show for two years. She wrote horror movies reviews under the pseudonym Miss Wilkes. Nikki’s thriller This Red Fire was a 2017 Launch Pad Manuscript Competition Top 10 pick, and her dystopian novel, Young Nation, received an honorable mention in the same contest. Her short story “Aunt Dorothy in the Canoe” was published in the Deception Anthology. In 2025, Night of the Mallrats was sold at auction to HarperCollins imprint Harper Perennial.
Nikki has had multiple books and short stories optioned for film by companies such as Vuelta Group, Stampede Ventures, Exile Content Studio, Sony, and EMJAG Productions.
Nicolina Torres has never used and will never use A.I. to write or help write her stories or reviews.
