Jason Segel’s Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic Delivers Frightful Fun

The village residents stumble around like a bunch of zombies. Their eyes are bloodshot, their skin droops, and they mumble to themselves, almost as if they’re sleepwalking.
The source of the problem appears to be a new shop, Tranquility Tonight, in the village center. An odd shopkeeper has been selling blue bottles of sleeping tonic, which claims to send everyone who drinks it into a deep, dreamless sleep, and the whole town is clambering for the stuff. 
What the tonic actually does is turn people into Walkers—bumbling, drooling beings who have an inability to dream and bear little resemblance to the people they once were. The little town of Orville Falls has always been a little sleepy, but this is ridiculous.

Like the first book in the middle-grade series, this story follows young Charlie Laird, who lives in a crazy purple mansion and is one of the protectors of the portal between our world and the Netherworld, where dreams and nightmares reside.
When the people of Orville Falls stop dreaming, Charlie visits the Netherworld to see what kind of destruction has been inflicted on the other side.
The effect on the Netherworld is immense, and what Charlie finds there is chilling. The dream version of Orville Falls is deserted. What still exists of it, anyway. Part of the town has already crashed into a great, black abyss.
When Charlie realizes the chasm is widening and his town will be next to slip into the abyss, which could have an immeasurable and irrevocable effect on the Waking World, it’s up to him and his friends to save the day. (And night.)
Humans need dreams to unburden their minds each night, Charlie discovers, while nightmares are necessary for us to learn how to face our fears.
As Charlie’s late mom explains during a dream sequence, “I suppose you could say that nightmares and dreams help you clean out your brain. Every day you pack it full of thoughts and fears and hopes. At night, your dreams help you sort through the mess. Even when they don’t seem to make any sense, dreams and nightmares are helping you figure things out.”
Conversely, when people aren’t able to dream, their heads are jammed so full that their brains can no longer function.
The sleepwalkers aren’t the only problem. Charlie’s stepmother is in danger of losing her herbarium business, and the bank is ready to foreclose on the purple mansion, producing some nightmares for Charlie himself.
Actor/author Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) has said his goal was to write a story about fears, and how they are often the gateway for dreams. He and co-writer Kirsten Miller (Kiki Strike), accomplish exactly that in this funny take on the things that go bump in the night.   
Charlie is a charming, affable, and capable protagonist, a child with a strong moral compass who does the right thing even when it’s the most difficult option. He struggles with complicated family dynamics, navigates friendships with girls and boys, and grieves the loss of his mom, all while standing tall to face the things that scare him the most. 
As Charlie learns, it’s only when we’re frightened that are we able to be brave—a valuable lesson for all of us.
Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic is on B&N shelves September 8.