Hidden Pictures

Hidden Pictures is a 2022 horror/thriller novel by Jason Rekulak. It tells the story of Mallory Quinn, a 21-year-old recovering addict who becomes the nanny for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. During her summer watching their son, Teddy, Mallory begins to suspect that Teddy is in danger and that she is either in the middle of a supernatural conflict or suffering mental instability, possibly because of her drug use.

Content Warning: The source text contains depictions of child abuse, child abduction, fratricide through a car accident, drug addiction, and assault via involuntary drugging.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with a brief passage in which Mallory recalls being part of a research study that tests her sensitivity to the male gaze. She is blindfolded and asked to raise her hand each time she feels one of the five men in the room staring at her. She raises her hand correctly 97% of the time, which is unprecedented. However, she sells her phone for drugs that afternoon and never follows up with the researchers.

The story then begins with an 18-months-sober Mallory. Throughout the novel, she reveals small details explaining how she became an addict, which is at odds with her physical dedication to running, evinced by her offer from Penn State to be on the cross-country team.