Two psychological horror novels. One missing little girl. An audience that never stopped watching.
If you’ve been meaning to read Play Dead or its sequel, Play Along, now is a good time to start. Both books in my Living Dolls psychological horror series are on sale for $3.99 each through October 30, 2026.
That means you can pick up both books for $7.98 before applicable taxes, start with the nightmare that introduces Kate, Mia, and Nicole Perry, and follow the story into the aftermath with Play Along.
The series explores child abduction, obsession, psychological manipulation, surveillance, and the disturbing ways people can use the internet to control someone else’s life. The dolls might be what catches your attention, but the people behind the cameras are where the real horror begins.
If you enjoy dark psychological thrillers involving dangerous secrets, unreliable appearances, and people who have absolutely no business being trusted, welcome to Living Dolls.
Play Dead: A Psychological Horror Novel About Missing Children and Living Dolls
What would you do if you saw your missing daughter on a stranger’s livestream?
Eighteen months after her daughter Mia disappears, Kate sees something impossible while watching an online creator’s doll livestream.
A little girl appears among a collection of hyper-realistic dolls. The creator calls her Annie. To the audience, she’s part of an unusual online world built around perfectly dressed dolls, carefully arranged rooms, and an apparently loving family.
Kate recognizes her daughter. The problem is convincing anyone else.
In Play Dead, Nicole Perry has created a carefully controlled online presence where appearances matter more than reality. Behind the staged photographs and polished videos is a disturbing obsession with creating the family she wants, regardless of what the children involved might want for themselves.
As Kate struggles to prove that the little girl on the screen is Mia, the distinction between entertainment and exploitation becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
Play Dead combines the urgency of a missing-child thriller with the psychological horror of obsession, manipulation, captivity, and stolen identity. Its most unsettling element is the possibility that something terrible could happen in front of thousands of people while everyone believes they are watching harmless content.
The audience sees a doll. Kate sees her daughter.
Get Play Dead on Amazon for $3.99 through October 30
Play Along: The Psychological Horror Continues in Book Two
THE CAMERA STOPPED. THE AUDIENCE NEVER LEFT.
Play Along is the direct sequel to Play Dead, continuing the story of Kate and Mia after the events of the first novel.
Kate fought to bring her daughter home. Unfortunately, the nightmare surrounding Mia’s captivity reaches much further than one woman and her disturbing collection of dolls.
There are people who watched. People who helped. People who benefited from what happened and have every reason to keep their involvement hidden.
Someone has already been inside Kate’s house, and the people responsible for Mia’s captivity are still watching.
Play Along explores what happens when surviving something horrific doesn’t guarantee that the danger is over. Kate and Mia must navigate the emotional consequences of captivity while confronting the possibility that the people responsible still have access to their lives.
The sequel pushes deeper into the psychology of control, the damage left behind by exploitation, and the terrifying reality of being watched by people whose identities you don’t know.
While Play Dead introduces the nightmare, Play Along explores how far its consequences reach.
Get Play Along on Amazon for $3.99 through October 30
What Makes the Living Dolls Series Different From Traditional Doll Horror?
When people hear that Play Dead involves realistic dolls, they might expect haunted toys, possessed objects, or something supernatural moving in the corner of a dark room. That’s an understandable assumption. Dolls have been making horror audiences uncomfortable for decades.
But the horror in Living Dolls comes from something considerably more human.
Nicole Perry wants control over the people around her. She controls appearances, identities, behavior, and the stories other people are allowed to believe. The internet gives her an audience willing to participate in the fantasy without understanding what is happening behind the camera.
We share enormous amounts of information online without always considering who might be collecting it. Family photographs, daily routines, favorite places, and the seemingly insignificant details of our lives can tell strangers far more than we realize.
Play Dead takes that familiar behavior into frightening territory. Play Along examines what happens when the people watching refuse to disappear.
The result is a psychological horror series built around human obsession, manufactured identities, the exploitation of children, and the frightening power of someone who controls the story everyone else sees.
The Living Dolls Series Reading Order
The Living Dolls books should be read in publication order because Play Along continues directly from the ending of Play Dead.
Book 1: Play Dead (published September 22, 2026). A mother recognizes her missing daughter on a stranger’s doll livestream, setting off a desperate search for the truth behind an online creator’s disturbing family.
Book 2: Play Along (published October 10, 2026). Kate and Mia face the consequences of what happened, while the people connected to the original nightmare remain dangerously close.
Both novels are available now, and both are included in the $3.99 sale through October 30. For a closer look at the stories, see my complete guide to the Living Dolls psychological horror series.
Who Should Read Play Dead and Play Along?
If you’re looking for psychological horror that relies on human behavior, manipulation, and escalating dread, the Living Dolls series may belong on your reading list. These books are especially suited to readers interested in:
- Psychological horror and dark thrillers involving obsession and coercive control.
- Kidnapping thrillers centered on missing children and desperate families.
- Internet horror involving livestreams, online voyeurism, and dangerous parasocial relationships.
- Disturbing doll imagery without relying on supernatural possession.
- Connected horror novels where the consequences continue beyond the first book.
The series contains difficult subject matter, including child abduction, child endangerment, psychological manipulation, captivity, surveillance, and trauma. Readers should consider those themes before beginning.
A Halloween Horror Book Sale Through October 30, 2026
October is almost over, and if your Halloween reading list still has room for something unsettling, both Living Dolls novels are available at a reduced price for a few more days.
Play Dead: $3.99
Play Along: $3.99
Both books: $7.98 before applicable taxes
Sale ends October 30, 2026.
Whether you’re discovering my books for the first time or you’ve already read Play Dead and have been waiting to pick up the sequel, I wanted to make it easier to get both stories onto your Kindle.
And if you’ve already read them, thank you. Every review, recommendation, and conversation about these books helps another reader discover my work. I’m an independent Louisiana horror author, and that kind of support genuinely matters.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Living Dolls Series
What is Play Dead by M. Boudreaux about?
Play Dead is a psychological horror novel about Kate, a mother who recognizes her missing daughter during a livestream featuring hyper-realistic dolls. As she investigates the creator behind the videos, she discovers a disturbing world of obsession, child abduction, and psychological control.
Is Play Along a sequel to Play Dead?
Yes. Play Along is the second book in M. Boudreaux’s Living Dolls psychological horror series. It continues the events of Play Dead and explores the consequences of captivity, exploitation, and the people who remain involved after the original nightmare is exposed.
Can I read Play Along without reading Play Dead?
Reading Play Dead first is strongly recommended. Play Along continues directly from the first book and builds upon its characters, events, and psychological consequences.
Is Play Dead supernatural horror?
Play Dead is primarily psychological horror and a kidnapping thriller. Although realistic dolls feature prominently in the story, the central horror comes from human obsession, manipulation, and captivity rather than supernatural possession.
How much do Play Dead and Play Along cost during the October sale?
Both books are on sale for $3.99 each through October 30, 2026. Readers can purchase both for a combined $7.98 before applicable taxes during the promotional period.
Where can I buy the Living Dolls series?
Both books are available through Amazon. Readers can purchase Play Dead and Play Along individually.
Start Reading Before the Sale Ends
There are plenty of terrifying things to read about in October. For me, some of the worst possibilities come from the things people are capable of doing to each other, particularly when they’ve convinced themselves their actions are justified.
That’s the kind of horror waiting inside Living Dolls. If you haven’t met Kate, Mia, and Nicole Perry yet, start with Play Dead. If you’ve already survived the first book, Play Along is waiting.
The $3.99 promotion ends October 30, 2026.
Thank you for reading, reviewing, and supporting my books.
M. Boudreaux
Books that leave evidence.