Kiersten White’s Hide (2022) follows Mackenzie “Mack” Black and 13 other contestants as they compete in a hide-and-seek contest in an abandoned amusement park. Although she is desperate to win the $50,000 prize, Mack quickly realizes that all is not as it seems, and when her fellow contestants begin disappearing one by one, she must join forces with several unlikely allies and grapple with her own childhood trauma in order to survive. 

As a thriller with supernatural elements, Hide soon became a national bestseller and was adapted into a graphic novel in 2023. It is also currently in development with Universal Television and Peacock. White is a New York Times best-selling author whose work has been honored with a Bram Stoker Award. Hide is her second novel for adult readers, and she writes young adult novels as well. She is primarily known for using genre fiction to tackle contemporary social issues such as LGBTQ+ rights and feminism. Hide also focuses on themes such as The Long-Term Impact of Trauma, The Horrors of Poverty in a Classist Society, and The Necessity of Hope.

This guide refers to the e-book version of the 2022 Random House Worlds edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss murder and death, graphic violence, suicide, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a cult, racism, and anti-gay bias.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with a section describing Amazement Park, an amusement park that opened in 1953 and was wildly popular until it closed in 1974 after a five-year-old girl went missing. The park now stands abandoned.

Mackenzie “Mack” Black, the novel’s protagonist, was deeply traumatized when her father viciously massacred the rest of her family in a deadly game of hide-and-seek. Now living in a shelter for unhoused people, she is invited to join a hide-and-seek competition that offers the winner a $50,000 prize. However, unbeknownst to Mack and the other 13 contestants, the competition is really a murderous plot organized by the founding families of the town of Asterion. A century ago, they made a bargain with a dark supernatural deity, and ever since, they have sacrificed 14 people from their bloodline to a monster every seven years, in exchange for wealth and prosperity.

Now, the latest 14 competitors, all distant relatives of these families, are brought to the park under the guise of the competition. (The most prominent contestants in the narrative include Mack, Ava, LeGrand, and Brandon, who eventually form an alliance together; Jaden and a second Ava labeled “Beautiful Ava,” who band together temporarily; and a few solo contestants such as Ian and Christian.) Linda Nicely, one of the Asterion heirs, serves as their hostess. Although the contestants do not know it, she is one of the main organizers of the sacrifices. Linda explains the competition’s rules: stay hidden during the day or be found by seekers and eliminated. At night, the contestants will sleep on cots near a supply tent. The park has no cell service and is extremely isolated. 

Mack forms a cautious connection with Ava, a disabled veteran with PTSD. Before daybreak, Linda instructs the contestants to begin the competition and offers a bonus reward for finding a small, leather-bound book. (The narrative will later reveal that this book is a journal detailing the earliest days of the sacrifices.) While searching for a daytime hiding place, Mack discovers a shack with rubber duckies and is reminded of her sister, Maddie, who died by her father’s hand. During the afternoon, she hears strange, animalistic huffing nearby but doesn’t realize that it is a monster. Other contestants settle into various hiding places. The monster finds and kills two contestants before the end of the day.

That night, the remaining contestants return to camp to rest. Linda announces the names of the contestants who have been eliminated from the game. The next day, the contestants spread out through Amazement Park. Mack offers to let Ava hide with her, and Ava accepts. Jaden, deliberately trying to sabotage other players, unknowingly causes the death of a woman when he draws attention to her hiding place. Another woman, hiding in a carousel, is also found and killed. That night, as the contestants rest safely in camp, Jaden cruelly shares the story of the Hide-and-Seek Massacre, revealing Mack’s traumatic history and publicly humiliating her.

The next morning, Mack and Ava hide together and continue to bond. Another contestant discovers the bloodied site of a previous murder and screams for help, realizing that the competition is deadly. Mack and Ava hear the commotion but remain paralyzed by their past traumas and choose not to intervene. Mack realizes that the park is a literal maze. The monster eliminates more contestants.

At camp, the survivors see large amounts of food provided for them and realize that Linda has disappeared and does not mean to return. They argue. The group splits into factions, with Ava, Brandon, LeGrand, and Mack opposing Jaden and Beautiful Ava. Christian and Ian try to remain neutral. Meanwhile, Linda meets with the other heirs off-site. The narrative reveals that there are hidden cameras secreted around the park.

The next morning, Mack leaves camp before anyone else, blaming herself for failing to save her sister’s life in the past and believing that Ava and the others will be better off without her. Meanwhile, Ian discovers the book that Linda mentioned. It is an old journal that once belonged to town founder Tommy Callas, and it details the evil pact with a monster, revealing that only those from the families’ bloodline are capable of seeing the monster. Ian realizes the true ramifications of the journal and flees to the campsite, but he and Christian are soon killed by the monster. 

That night, Ava guides LeGrand and Brandon back to camp, where they find overturned cots and blood from Christian’s and Ian’s deaths. Jaden claims that the carnage is part of the game, but no one is convinced. Mack, Ava, LeGrand, and Brandon decide to establish a new base elsewhere. They offer to take Beautiful Ava with them, but she stays with Jaden. At their new campsite, Mack tells Ava about her guilt over her sister’s death, and Ava talks about losing her lover in a roadside bombing while deployed. The two share a kiss.

Meanwhile, Jaden abandons Beautiful Ava. He climbs up the pole and hides alone. Chased by the monster, Beautiful Ava stumbles into the others’ hiding spot, and Ava runs to help her. However, Ava cannot see the monster at all. The narrative implies that this is because she is not actually from an Asterion family bloodline, even though she was raised by one of the family heirs. Ava watches in horror as Beautiful Ava is ripped apart. 

The others follow and try to find them but only see bloody remains. Both Avas are gone, and Mack is devastated. 

At her home, Linda prepares for the competition’s conclusion. After being shot at by a guard in a perimeter tower, Brandon, Mack, and LeGrand seek another escape route. Along the way, Brandon confronts Jaden and then decides to sacrifice himself to save Mack and LeGrand. He pulls Jaden from a high vantage point, plunging to his death and leaving Jaden mortally wounded. As Mack beholds the carnage, the monster appears. It is a humanoid creature with a bull’s head and scarred eyes. She and LeGrand escape and later find Ava, who helps them escape the park. 

They find a suburban home and break into it, finding signs that the house belongs to Linda. They find and read the journal of Linda’s mother, Lillian, who was responsible for blinding the monster and creating the park; Linda continued the tradition. Now, when Linda arrives, they tie her up, but she is unrepentant. Mack negotiates a deal: She and LeGrand will return to the park if Linda protects LeGrand’s sister, Almera, who remains trapped in the cult led by LeGrand’s father. Linda also must give Ava the prize money and let her leave. Linda agrees. 

Back in the park, Mack and the others plan to destroy the gate and free the monster. Mack leads it through the park to the gate. In the final confrontation, Linda attacks and shoots at Ava, but LeGrand wounds Linda, and the friends unleash the monster. Linda begs them to feed the monster and compel it to return. Mack tells Linda that they don’t care what happens to her and the other Asterion heirs, and they finally make their escape.