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Horror Movie
A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions—demons of the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions—demons of the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2024
3780 people are currently reading
94649 people want to read
About the author
Paul Tremblay
127 books11.8k followersPaul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, the Sheridan Le Fanu, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of the New York Times bestselling Horror Movie, The Beast You, Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted as the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. His short fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year’s-best anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his family. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 8,729 reviews
March 4, 2024
JESUS CHRIST, PAUL
July 8, 2024
yapper yapperson manages to say nothing in 277 pages
December 25, 2023
WTF did I just read, you guys? I was expecting a “haunted movie set” sort of horror and … huh. There are definitely no ghosts to be found here.
But did I enjoy it? I mean, “enjoy” is a strong word since it's not at all an easy book to read. It was engrossing, for sure, but also very unsettling. It did take me a bit to get into the story, I think mainly due to the format, but I was completely hooked by the 25% mark. There was never any chance of this novel ending happily, and yet I couldn't stop reading it.
The format is an unusual one. It switches back and forth between the past (the original filming of the movie) to the present day (the filming of the reboot), but also includes sections of the screenplay in every chapter. Oh, and the narration is actually an audiobook that the surviving cast member has written about the events. It's a lot to sort out initially, but it really works once you've gotten into the swing of things.
That screenplay, though? Yeah, never in a million, billion years would I watch a film based off of it. I'm pretty sure that scenes from the book are already going to stick in my head for years, and I'd probably need therapy after watching a film version. Fans of slasher-type horror won't bat an eye – it's really rather tame compared to a lot of stuff out there – but I haven't enjoyed gory films since my aunt took me to see A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in the theater when I was nine. I had to come home and go straight to bed and had nightmares about it for years. But, I digress.
And the ending? I mean, you kind of see it coming, I think. There's not really any other way it could end, especially once you learn about the protagonist's “tattoos.” But was I ready for it? Hell no.
As an aside, I read this book while also listening to an audiobook of guided meditations. Well, not at the exact same time, obviously, but I rotated back and forth between the two. The juxtaposition between “relax and focus on your breathing” to “things are really creepy and everyone's going to die!” was quite disconcerting. Come to think of it, perhaps that's why I sucked so much at the meditating.
So, yeah. Overall rating: 4.15 stars, rounded down. If you like artsy horror films and/or creature features, this book will be right up your alley.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
But did I enjoy it? I mean, “enjoy” is a strong word since it's not at all an easy book to read. It was engrossing, for sure, but also very unsettling. It did take me a bit to get into the story, I think mainly due to the format, but I was completely hooked by the 25% mark. There was never any chance of this novel ending happily, and yet I couldn't stop reading it.
The format is an unusual one. It switches back and forth between the past (the original filming of the movie) to the present day (the filming of the reboot), but also includes sections of the screenplay in every chapter. Oh, and the narration is actually an audiobook that the surviving cast member has written about the events. It's a lot to sort out initially, but it really works once you've gotten into the swing of things.
That screenplay, though? Yeah, never in a million, billion years would I watch a film based off of it. I'm pretty sure that scenes from the book are already going to stick in my head for years, and I'd probably need therapy after watching a film version. Fans of slasher-type horror won't bat an eye – it's really rather tame compared to a lot of stuff out there – but I haven't enjoyed gory films since my aunt took me to see A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in the theater when I was nine. I had to come home and go straight to bed and had nightmares about it for years. But, I digress.
And the ending? I mean, you kind of see it coming, I think. There's not really any other way it could end, especially once you learn about the protagonist's “tattoos.” But was I ready for it? Hell no.
As an aside, I read this book while also listening to an audiobook of guided meditations. Well, not at the exact same time, obviously, but I rotated back and forth between the two. The juxtaposition between “relax and focus on your breathing” to “things are really creepy and everyone's going to die!” was quite disconcerting. Come to think of it, perhaps that's why I sucked so much at the meditating.
So, yeah. Overall rating: 4.15 stars, rounded down. If you like artsy horror films and/or creature features, this book will be right up your alley.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.
June 13, 2024
Oh boy, am I going to get shit for this one. I was so bored during this story. I loved Survivor Song but this - the format, the characterisation (felt there was next to none character development), how it felt like you were reading forever and getting absolutely nowhere. I know that I'm in the minority here but I just didn't think it was anything special. The lost horror movie trope has been done to death and I don't think it brought anything fresh.
I didn't like any of the characters, all shallow and one dimensional. I hated them all. Motivations weren't clear and felt the story got really jumbled at one point.
The script format was annoying. I wasn't really sure what the point of the story was? It wasn't all that clear.
I didn't like any of the characters, all shallow and one dimensional. I hated them all. Motivations weren't clear and felt the story got really jumbled at one point.
The script format was annoying. I wasn't really sure what the point of the story was? It wasn't all that clear.
November 5, 2025
We're all someone's bad guy eventually.
Brilliant. I can't express how much I love this book. IMO, this is Tremblay's best work yet. A Horror Lover's dark and heartbreaking dream.
Additionally, one of the best audiobook productions I have ever experienced and trust me, this is an EXPERIENCE.
It's so funny. I read this book in less than two days over a week ago. At the time that I read it, I hadn't looked at, or listened to, any reviews yet. The whole way through, I knew this was gonna be a 5-star for me.
Additionally, I seriously thought it was going to be a 5-star for everyone. Now that over a week has passed, and this book seems to be everywhere, I have seen a lot of reviews, and admittedly, some of them aren't great.
I was shocked. Am I living in my own little Horror bubble? It's possible. It really is, but regardless, having thought about it more, I can see this might work best for a certain niche market. Luckily, I happen to be a part of that niche.
I'm happy to stake my flag on outlier island and fully anticipate this making my Best Books of 2024 list. I'm already excited to read it again someday.
I loved how it was constructed. From the present perspective, that had a confessional feel to it, to the actual screenplay sections, to the flashbacks of making the movie, I found it all so gripping. It felt like an origin story to me, but was equally a love letter to this oft misunderstood genre.
I loved the idea of the whole low-budget movie-making process and even though, only certain scenes were released, that it still managed to turn into a cult-sensation even decades later. That's absolutely something that would happen in the Horror community.
I also liked the idea of the movie itself being cursed. Our narrator is actually the only surviving member of the original production. This brought to mind Poltergeist and the curse that is said to surround the making of that trilogy.
For me, Poltergeist, which originally released in 1982, is part of that golden age of Horror cinema. It's the first movie that genuinely traumatized me as a child, instilling in me an ever present fear of clowns, and I love it so much not in spite of that, but because of that.
In my opinion, this is a good fit for Readers who end up loving I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, a book I absolutely loved a couple months back.
Basically for me, these two books felt a bit like Tremblay and SGJ had a conversation, maybe about the origins and influences in modern Horror, maybe about why we are attracted to and love Horror, or maybe on how Horror seems to be having a resurgence at the moment...
And then they both walked away from the conversation, inspired to a degree, and wrote books encapsulating those themes. Obviously, I am not saying that's ACTUALLY what happened, but I felt, as a life-long Horror Lover, seen by these books, validated by them in a way.
They both examine so many different aspects of the genre, or why people may be drawn to it, and they both contained so much heart. They may be dark hearts, but they're there nonetheless and both books broke mine.
I would recommend this to everyone who thinks it sounds interesting. Give it a shot. Go in knowing as little as possible. The synopsis really says everything you need to know about the plot. I feel like it's a pretty even mix on opinions right now, so you could end up loving it as much as I did.
Also, I cannot recommend enough reading a physical copy while listening to the audiobook simultaneously. It's a very unique reading experience and should be attempted if you do have access to both formats.
In summation, (haha) I think Paul Tremblay is a genius.
I love his imagination, his dark humor, his ability to write characters that I care about and the fact that he keeps surprising me. I find his stories smart, gripping and unpredictable. I look forward to whatever he gives us next!!
Brilliant. I can't express how much I love this book. IMO, this is Tremblay's best work yet. A Horror Lover's dark and heartbreaking dream.
Additionally, one of the best audiobook productions I have ever experienced and trust me, this is an EXPERIENCE.
It's so funny. I read this book in less than two days over a week ago. At the time that I read it, I hadn't looked at, or listened to, any reviews yet. The whole way through, I knew this was gonna be a 5-star for me.
Additionally, I seriously thought it was going to be a 5-star for everyone. Now that over a week has passed, and this book seems to be everywhere, I have seen a lot of reviews, and admittedly, some of them aren't great.
I was shocked. Am I living in my own little Horror bubble? It's possible. It really is, but regardless, having thought about it more, I can see this might work best for a certain niche market. Luckily, I happen to be a part of that niche.
I'm happy to stake my flag on outlier island and fully anticipate this making my Best Books of 2024 list. I'm already excited to read it again someday.
I loved how it was constructed. From the present perspective, that had a confessional feel to it, to the actual screenplay sections, to the flashbacks of making the movie, I found it all so gripping. It felt like an origin story to me, but was equally a love letter to this oft misunderstood genre.
I loved the idea of the whole low-budget movie-making process and even though, only certain scenes were released, that it still managed to turn into a cult-sensation even decades later. That's absolutely something that would happen in the Horror community.
I also liked the idea of the movie itself being cursed. Our narrator is actually the only surviving member of the original production. This brought to mind Poltergeist and the curse that is said to surround the making of that trilogy.
For me, Poltergeist, which originally released in 1982, is part of that golden age of Horror cinema. It's the first movie that genuinely traumatized me as a child, instilling in me an ever present fear of clowns, and I love it so much not in spite of that, but because of that.
In my opinion, this is a good fit for Readers who end up loving I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, a book I absolutely loved a couple months back.
Basically for me, these two books felt a bit like Tremblay and SGJ had a conversation, maybe about the origins and influences in modern Horror, maybe about why we are attracted to and love Horror, or maybe on how Horror seems to be having a resurgence at the moment...
And then they both walked away from the conversation, inspired to a degree, and wrote books encapsulating those themes. Obviously, I am not saying that's ACTUALLY what happened, but I felt, as a life-long Horror Lover, seen by these books, validated by them in a way.
They both examine so many different aspects of the genre, or why people may be drawn to it, and they both contained so much heart. They may be dark hearts, but they're there nonetheless and both books broke mine.
I would recommend this to everyone who thinks it sounds interesting. Give it a shot. Go in knowing as little as possible. The synopsis really says everything you need to know about the plot. I feel like it's a pretty even mix on opinions right now, so you could end up loving it as much as I did.
Also, I cannot recommend enough reading a physical copy while listening to the audiobook simultaneously. It's a very unique reading experience and should be attempted if you do have access to both formats.
In summation, (haha) I think Paul Tremblay is a genius.
I love his imagination, his dark humor, his ability to write characters that I care about and the fact that he keeps surprising me. I find his stories smart, gripping and unpredictable. I look forward to whatever he gives us next!!
June 29, 2024
TW/CW: Language, bullying, body shaming, peer pressure, abuse, gory scenes, blood, violence, cancer
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned.
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐ (I wish negative stars were a thing)
What I Liked:
1. Love the VHS cover
2. Reads fast
What I Didn't Like:
1. I hate the writing style
2. Screenplay inside book
3. Repetitive
4. Book rambles
5. Characters are just bad
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
Completely not enjoying reading the screenplay in this book. So far it's taking me out the story I'm currently suppose to be reading. It's making me remember how much I hated his other book; The Pallbearers Club and you had to read a memior inside a book.
Honestly I wish this was just the story of the Thin kid and not this weird 4th wall story.
So Thin kid's parents are trying to find him but why do they keep calling Karson, Cleo, and Valentino? Was it a known fact they were friends with him? No where (yet) has it been mentioned they are friends and this seems like the first time they've hung out.
Page 100 and I really hope something happens because so far I am bored.
"Not really. I mean, some people are going to think what they do to the Thin Kid is because of their classmates, and that’s fine. But I don’t really care about motivation. Neither do you, Cleo. We talked about how the teens do it because they can and because they’re inexplicably driven to do it and the viewers will be driven to ask why why why and not have a clear, easy answer. That’s what’s scary, that’s why I want to make this movie."
Of course it'll an ambiguous reasoning.
I don't care for reading about the story in screenplay format and the next chapter having to read about the exact same scene, but behind the scenes. It's so repetitive.
We find out that these people associated with the movie all died;
• Karson (car accident)
• Valentina (pancreatic cancer)
• Mel (drowned)
• Dan (massive coronary)
They all died at different times and different years making it feel less creepy. When reading about this dude being the last one alive - the survivor you assume it all happened during the flimimg, but it's not. I guess we still need to find out what happened to Cleo.
Karson accidentally cuts off thin kids finger but I have questions. Did they really shove his real finger in his mouth? Was that his line to say; "oh god", "why", and "I'm sorry" apart of the script or improvised at having his finger cut off? I can't imagine staying in character enough after having a finger cut off.
Omg I still have another 132 pages left of this book. Sigh.
The only mystery in this book is the ending and finding out the final scene with the unnamed character and Cleo.
How was there a cult following for a movie already if no one ever saw it before?
I still bored. Wanna dnf this....
Karson's death just rambles on and on with the author repeating "some of us" and I just wanted to rip my hair out.
We do learn that actually unnamed dude didn't lose his finger the night of filming, but on the day he went to see Valentina. She cut it off with a knife. So what was the point of telling us that it was really cut off on scene?
So Cleo knew the chainsaw had its chain on and during the fight scene with thin kid sits up or pulls the chainsaw into her neck? So did they continue filming afterwards? The rest of the scene has them walking away from the body but is this the take that used? They say they called the police after the accident happened but did they? I know some of the scenes were filmed out of order because it's what they said in the beginning does that mean the ending was filmed first before the death or they just continued on after her death?
That's the ending? The Thin kid just kills the new Thin kid. Now he's picked up the personality of the monster.
Final Thoughts:
Was this book good? Answer no. This book was so boring and dry. I was taken out of this book so much having to read the screenplay that I didn't care about anyone. Also nothing happens. Everything feels so removed from this book that it's just so boring. The writing style was atrocious. The characters were these not like other people kind of attitude.
I had a hard time wrapping my mind around why this movie would have a cult following. The story is absolutely dreadful and completely basic. There's no mystery in it really because the screenplay was released by the actual creator, so I had a hard time understanding where the mystery and cult following came from.
I feel like I left this book with a lot of questions and there were some plot holes. How did everybody know who the Thin kid was if no one ever saw his face? How did we even know that thin kid that we're listening to is the real thin kid in the movie?
I ended up skimming the end of the book so the last 30 pages and that was a struggle. I'm going to go ahead and say this was the worst book I've read of 2024, so far.
Say that this book is a horror book is grasping at straws. This reads more like a thriller than a horror book.
IG | Blog
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishing for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned.
Release Date: June 11th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐ (I wish negative stars were a thing)
What I Liked:
1. Love the VHS cover
2. Reads fast
What I Didn't Like:
1. I hate the writing style
2. Screenplay inside book
3. Repetitive
4. Book rambles
5. Characters are just bad
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
Completely not enjoying reading the screenplay in this book. So far it's taking me out the story I'm currently suppose to be reading. It's making me remember how much I hated his other book; The Pallbearers Club and you had to read a memior inside a book.
Honestly I wish this was just the story of the Thin kid and not this weird 4th wall story.
So Thin kid's parents are trying to find him but why do they keep calling Karson, Cleo, and Valentino? Was it a known fact they were friends with him? No where (yet) has it been mentioned they are friends and this seems like the first time they've hung out.
Page 100 and I really hope something happens because so far I am bored.
"Not really. I mean, some people are going to think what they do to the Thin Kid is because of their classmates, and that’s fine. But I don’t really care about motivation. Neither do you, Cleo. We talked about how the teens do it because they can and because they’re inexplicably driven to do it and the viewers will be driven to ask why why why and not have a clear, easy answer. That’s what’s scary, that’s why I want to make this movie."
Of course it'll an ambiguous reasoning.
I don't care for reading about the story in screenplay format and the next chapter having to read about the exact same scene, but behind the scenes. It's so repetitive.
We find out that these people associated with the movie all died;
• Karson (car accident)
• Valentina (pancreatic cancer)
• Mel (drowned)
• Dan (massive coronary)
They all died at different times and different years making it feel less creepy. When reading about this dude being the last one alive - the survivor you assume it all happened during the flimimg, but it's not. I guess we still need to find out what happened to Cleo.
Karson accidentally cuts off thin kids finger but I have questions. Did they really shove his real finger in his mouth? Was that his line to say; "oh god", "why", and "I'm sorry" apart of the script or improvised at having his finger cut off? I can't imagine staying in character enough after having a finger cut off.
Omg I still have another 132 pages left of this book. Sigh.
The only mystery in this book is the ending and finding out the final scene with the unnamed character and Cleo.
How was there a cult following for a movie already if no one ever saw it before?
I still bored. Wanna dnf this....
Karson's death just rambles on and on with the author repeating "some of us" and I just wanted to rip my hair out.
We do learn that actually unnamed dude didn't lose his finger the night of filming, but on the day he went to see Valentina. She cut it off with a knife. So what was the point of telling us that it was really cut off on scene?
So Cleo knew the chainsaw had its chain on and during the fight scene with thin kid sits up or pulls the chainsaw into her neck? So did they continue filming afterwards? The rest of the scene has them walking away from the body but is this the take that used? They say they called the police after the accident happened but did they? I know some of the scenes were filmed out of order because it's what they said in the beginning does that mean the ending was filmed first before the death or they just continued on after her death?
That's the ending? The Thin kid just kills the new Thin kid. Now he's picked up the personality of the monster.
Final Thoughts:
Was this book good? Answer no. This book was so boring and dry. I was taken out of this book so much having to read the screenplay that I didn't care about anyone. Also nothing happens. Everything feels so removed from this book that it's just so boring. The writing style was atrocious. The characters were these not like other people kind of attitude.
I had a hard time wrapping my mind around why this movie would have a cult following. The story is absolutely dreadful and completely basic. There's no mystery in it really because the screenplay was released by the actual creator, so I had a hard time understanding where the mystery and cult following came from.
I feel like I left this book with a lot of questions and there were some plot holes. How did everybody know who the Thin kid was if no one ever saw his face? How did we even know that thin kid that we're listening to is the real thin kid in the movie?
I ended up skimming the end of the book so the last 30 pages and that was a struggle. I'm going to go ahead and say this was the worst book I've read of 2024, so far.
Say that this book is a horror book is grasping at straws. This reads more like a thriller than a horror book.
IG | Blog
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishing for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 25, 2024
For a book called Horror Movie, there’s precious little here in the way of tension or horror… and if you have the resolve to see it out til the end, you’ll be met with a self-indulgent circle jerk where author Paul Tremblay rolls his eyes—literally and metaphorically—at the horror genre. He’s jaded, you see, by the state of horror today. If only it wasn’t so CRASS and OBVIOUS; if only it was smarter and more high-brow! Such a tragedy for him, I’m sure. I, on the other hand, nearly chipped a tooth gritting my jaw in ever-increasing fury as Tremblay’s head wended its way further and further up his own literary ass just to declare how delectable his farts smell.
April 1, 2024
I know this first line isn't going to be the most quotable line in a review but here it is anyway:
This is a total mindf*ck of a novel! And it is now my favorite Paul Tremblay book.
I finished reading this about 3 weeks ago and I still don't know what to say about it, other than that I absolutely LOVED it.
I am not going to talk about the plot, because the synopsis and many other reviews have already done that. Here, I'm going to focus on how it made me feel.
Confused. Elated. Shocked. Horrified. Nearly everything in this book is unreliable. In fact, my mind is still trying to work its way through this labyrinth of unreliability. The core group of people here, young actors and playwrights, (all devoted to making this film that ultimately is never released), were spellbinding. What happens to them as the film is being made, and then later in life, felt so exceptionally REAL to this reader. Perhaps that was the scariest thing about it?
Is this the journey of a young actor who is somehow changed by the very film he helped to create? Is it the journey of the playwright who felt such a strong need to get the film made? Is this the tale of how a group of people can somehow feed off of each other, in the end creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts? The answers to all of these questions is YES.
So yeah, a mindf*ck for sure. It might end up being my favorite novel of the year. It's still early in 2024 , and if you know how much I read, you know that's really saying something.
If you are a fan of unreliability in your horror novels, look no further my horror-loving reading friends, because this is the epitome of unreliability!
My highest recommendation!
*ARC from publisher.*
This is a total mindf*ck of a novel! And it is now my favorite Paul Tremblay book.
I finished reading this about 3 weeks ago and I still don't know what to say about it, other than that I absolutely LOVED it.
I am not going to talk about the plot, because the synopsis and many other reviews have already done that. Here, I'm going to focus on how it made me feel.
Confused. Elated. Shocked. Horrified. Nearly everything in this book is unreliable. In fact, my mind is still trying to work its way through this labyrinth of unreliability. The core group of people here, young actors and playwrights, (all devoted to making this film that ultimately is never released), were spellbinding. What happens to them as the film is being made, and then later in life, felt so exceptionally REAL to this reader. Perhaps that was the scariest thing about it?
Is this the journey of a young actor who is somehow changed by the very film he helped to create? Is it the journey of the playwright who felt such a strong need to get the film made? Is this the tale of how a group of people can somehow feed off of each other, in the end creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts? The answers to all of these questions is YES.
So yeah, a mindf*ck for sure. It might end up being my favorite novel of the year. It's still early in 2024 , and if you know how much I read, you know that's really saying something.
If you are a fan of unreliability in your horror novels, look no further my horror-loving reading friends, because this is the epitome of unreliability!
My highest recommendation!
*ARC from publisher.*
November 10, 2025
Oh my! I have so many conflicting emotions swirling in my heart! I felt terrified, rattled, and deeply disturbed while reading this book. There were parts that I found distasteful and irritating, but the creativity and uniqueness also left me in awe. If this horror movie script were adapted for the big screen, it would undoubtedly be one of the most soul-crushingly terrifying experiences for viewers, leaving them talking about it for days, sleeping with the lights on, and hiding under their blankets at every creaking sound, fearing that Thin Kid might be lurking in their room.
This slow-burn book, which could be considered a short novel or novella, defied my expectations as an avid reader. I anticipated finishing it in a few hours, but the dense material required more time to absorb fully. After reading a few chapters, I found myself allowing the themes to percolate in my mind like a complex coffee blend, taking days to fully appreciate. The scenes from the movie played over and over in my mind, creating a hellishly scary experience. Despite its slow pace, the narrative structure, shifting between different timelines to reflect Thin Kid's perspective—now a middle-aged man revisiting his past—added depth to the eerie atmosphere. The fragments of the original script and present-day production process were like scattered puzzle pieces, gradually revealing the bloody history of the cursed movie.
The main storyline revolves around the remake of the infamous "Horror Movie," originally filmed in 1993, featuring four main characters: Valentina (also the director), Cleo (the screenwriter), Karson (the male lead), and Thin Kid (a mysterious, masked figure experimented on to become a monstrous creature). Traumatic incidents on the set hinted at throughout the reading, with only three scenes from the cursed movie resurfacing online years later, leading to the idea of a remake 30 years later, involving the sole survivor, the actor who played Thin Kid, and a new generation of cast and crew. As the narrative unfolds, we piece together the clues surrounding the old movie set, becoming increasingly disturbed and unsettled by the events.
Without revealing too much, I can honestly say that this book offers a profound analysis of the monsters hidden within human beings. It's raw, bleak, dark, and terrifyingly sinister, with the most horrifying aspect being the realistic portrayal of evil incarnate in the human mind. It's certainly not for everyone, and if you're not prepared to confront your deepest fears and endure sleepless nights, this book may not be suited to you.
I award this book four disturbing, insomnia-inducing stars and bid farewell, ready to embrace more sleepless nights.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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This slow-burn book, which could be considered a short novel or novella, defied my expectations as an avid reader. I anticipated finishing it in a few hours, but the dense material required more time to absorb fully. After reading a few chapters, I found myself allowing the themes to percolate in my mind like a complex coffee blend, taking days to fully appreciate. The scenes from the movie played over and over in my mind, creating a hellishly scary experience. Despite its slow pace, the narrative structure, shifting between different timelines to reflect Thin Kid's perspective—now a middle-aged man revisiting his past—added depth to the eerie atmosphere. The fragments of the original script and present-day production process were like scattered puzzle pieces, gradually revealing the bloody history of the cursed movie.
The main storyline revolves around the remake of the infamous "Horror Movie," originally filmed in 1993, featuring four main characters: Valentina (also the director), Cleo (the screenwriter), Karson (the male lead), and Thin Kid (a mysterious, masked figure experimented on to become a monstrous creature). Traumatic incidents on the set hinted at throughout the reading, with only three scenes from the cursed movie resurfacing online years later, leading to the idea of a remake 30 years later, involving the sole survivor, the actor who played Thin Kid, and a new generation of cast and crew. As the narrative unfolds, we piece together the clues surrounding the old movie set, becoming increasingly disturbed and unsettled by the events.
Without revealing too much, I can honestly say that this book offers a profound analysis of the monsters hidden within human beings. It's raw, bleak, dark, and terrifyingly sinister, with the most horrifying aspect being the realistic portrayal of evil incarnate in the human mind. It's certainly not for everyone, and if you're not prepared to confront your deepest fears and endure sleepless nights, this book may not be suited to you.
I award this book four disturbing, insomnia-inducing stars and bid farewell, ready to embrace more sleepless nights.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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May 28, 2024
You mean to tell me I spent the whole book waiting for something truly crazy to happen and it just... never happened - zero payoff reading this
this is interjected with a screenplay and can I just say I really don't think it would make a very good film if it were to be actually made because the whole time you're just wondering why
idk maybe I'm missing something here
this is interjected with a screenplay and can I just say I really don't think it would make a very good film if it were to be actually made because the whole time you're just wondering why
idk maybe I'm missing something here
July 13, 2024
So, imagine your favorite movie actor diving headfirst into his bad man role—and I mean really diving in. He takes it way too seriously, giving off some seriously creepy vibes. The story moves at a slow burn. Good story, nice plot, just needed a bit more speed.
May 19, 2024
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay would make a perfect horror movie! Seriously, it would. This book is a little bit of an enigma. It took me some time to wrap my mind around it. This book is a slow burn and I struggled with it initially. But then it won me over! The unsettling quality of this book, the struggle to wrap my mind around it, and the perspective of the surviving cast member of the film crew proved to be a unique, riveting, and mind blowing reading experience. 📖
June 1993 - A group of filmmakers make an art house horror movie titled Horror Movie. The movie was fraught with incidents and only three scenes were released to the public making it a fan/cult favorite.🎬
Now, three decades later, Hollywood is hoping to cash in on a reboot. “The Thin Kid”, the surviving cast member is going to be involved in remaking the film......🎥
As I mentioned, this was a slow burn and yet I could not look away. This was a book that at times I wasn't even sure that I was enjoying while reading. I kept changing my mind, I liked it, I didn't like it, I was impressed by it, I wasn't sure about it, I thought it was brilliant, etc. Horror Movie is unnerving, unsettling, unreliable, shocking, riveting, horrific, and creepy. All the things that I enjoy in horror books and movies.🎥📓
Paul Tremblay is a gifted writer and flexes his skills in this book. He does a tremendous job of creating atmosphere, tension, dread, and unease in this book. This book is highly original, well thought out, and I will say it one last time, unsettling.😮
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
June 1993 - A group of filmmakers make an art house horror movie titled Horror Movie. The movie was fraught with incidents and only three scenes were released to the public making it a fan/cult favorite.🎬
Now, three decades later, Hollywood is hoping to cash in on a reboot. “The Thin Kid”, the surviving cast member is going to be involved in remaking the film......🎥
As I mentioned, this was a slow burn and yet I could not look away. This was a book that at times I wasn't even sure that I was enjoying while reading. I kept changing my mind, I liked it, I didn't like it, I was impressed by it, I wasn't sure about it, I thought it was brilliant, etc. Horror Movie is unnerving, unsettling, unreliable, shocking, riveting, horrific, and creepy. All the things that I enjoy in horror books and movies.🎥📓
Paul Tremblay is a gifted writer and flexes his skills in this book. He does a tremendous job of creating atmosphere, tension, dread, and unease in this book. This book is highly original, well thought out, and I will say it one last time, unsettling.😮
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
November 8, 2025
A horror movie from 30 years ago has become fabled when only 3 still scenes of it were posted online. The film itself has never been screened, and there is only one surviving member of the cast—our protagonist. It starts with him (we never get to know his name) meeting with a producer to discuss a remake/reboot.
Then the story reverts to June 1993, where the original movie is on its first day of filming. Our protagonist and his 3 friends, Valentina, Cleo and Karson—all in their early to mid-twenties—are making a movie titled quite simply 'Horror Movie'. They all have roles in the film; the protagonist plays the part of the mysterious 'Thin Kid'. Valentina is also the director, and Cleo the screenwriter.
The book then switches between the past and present whilst additionally taking us through the movie screenplay in a third narrative. A lot of the horror aspect is based around a mask Cleo finds in an abandoned elementary school, which is where some of the movie is filmed. The mask is used as a major plot point within the movie and is the catalyst for an eerie transition between the boundaries of what is fiction and reality.
I found the book hard to get into; it felt disjointed, the prose clunky, and the writing monotonous. It started to flow a little better as it went on, but the constant switching of narratives didn't help, and I felt no connection with any of the characters. The ending was also lacklustre.
The Author is obviously trying to throw in a lot of metaphors here—the masks that people wear, how people can be made into monsters through poor treatment, pointing out horror clichés—the message seems to be how they are all so tiresome, etc. The latter point irked me somewhat because, let's face it, this book isn't redefining anything; it's a cliché within a cliché. Therein lies the problem; it's trying to be a bit too clever for its own good, and it's all done in such a pretentious way that by the end I was just apathetic to everything about it.
It's my second book by this Author, Head Full of Ghosts being the first. I had pretty mixed reactions to that book because I had the exact same problems with it as I did here—it was too pretentious. I thought I'd give the Author another go when I saw this pop up on my reading radar, but I think it just confirmed it's a case of their writing style and philosophical ideologies just not being for me.
Then the story reverts to June 1993, where the original movie is on its first day of filming. Our protagonist and his 3 friends, Valentina, Cleo and Karson—all in their early to mid-twenties—are making a movie titled quite simply 'Horror Movie'. They all have roles in the film; the protagonist plays the part of the mysterious 'Thin Kid'. Valentina is also the director, and Cleo the screenwriter.
The book then switches between the past and present whilst additionally taking us through the movie screenplay in a third narrative. A lot of the horror aspect is based around a mask Cleo finds in an abandoned elementary school, which is where some of the movie is filmed. The mask is used as a major plot point within the movie and is the catalyst for an eerie transition between the boundaries of what is fiction and reality.
I found the book hard to get into; it felt disjointed, the prose clunky, and the writing monotonous. It started to flow a little better as it went on, but the constant switching of narratives didn't help, and I felt no connection with any of the characters. The ending was also lacklustre.
The Author is obviously trying to throw in a lot of metaphors here—the masks that people wear, how people can be made into monsters through poor treatment, pointing out horror clichés—the message seems to be how they are all so tiresome, etc. The latter point irked me somewhat because, let's face it, this book isn't redefining anything; it's a cliché within a cliché. Therein lies the problem; it's trying to be a bit too clever for its own good, and it's all done in such a pretentious way that by the end I was just apathetic to everything about it.
It's my second book by this Author, Head Full of Ghosts being the first. I had pretty mixed reactions to that book because I had the exact same problems with it as I did here—it was too pretentious. I thought I'd give the Author another go when I saw this pop up on my reading radar, but I think it just confirmed it's a case of their writing style and philosophical ideologies just not being for me.
April 8, 2025
“Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay has been on my TBR since 2024, and I’ve meant to read it due to all the hype it’s gotten. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype, or was as scary as I had hoped it would be.
Before my review, here are the trigger warnings I found while reading…
- Pandemic
- Cancer
- Suicide
If any of these trigger you, please do not read this book. Moving along, the idea behind this book had promise. I was excited to read this, even though it was initially a slow burn. Little did I know that would be a recurring theme, where nothing happens but endless dialogue, descriptions, and a weird format.
I enjoy unique ways to tell a story, especially when moving from the past to the present, when it's done right. Unfortunately, there’s just way too much going on, to the point of sheer confusion, since the pacing is all off and weird. Going from the story either in the past or in the present, with a random screenplay style of writing thrown in randomly, didn’t work out for me.
I loved the originality of trying to achieve this, but it fell flat for me. Besides that, there isn’t much horror in this book, which is odd since it’s called “Horror Movie.” There are a few excellent kills here, but for the most part, this book drags on because there is not much going on through most of the reading.
Once the horror hit, it was awesome. I wish there were more of that in the grand scheme of things. If this were scarier and lived up to the hype with better execution, this could have been a powerhouse of a read. The horror scenes, though terrific, were buried in fluff that killed the vibe.
Due to this slow pacing, “Horror Movie” lacked cohesion to tell a consistent story that was scary enough to make it memorable. Even the ending was underwhelming since I saw it coming a mile away. There was a great kill towards the end, and it left me realizing that if there had been more of that, this could have been saved. Unfortunately, it was too late.
I give “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay a 2/5 for being a slow-burn read that mostly went nowhere. I didn’t like any characters, not even the main protagonist. There were some fantastic kills here that were great to read, but overall, this needed a lot more horror, a lot less dialogue, and fewer pages dedicated to reading a screenplay format of a horror movie. Writing a horror book like this was interesting, but it ultimately didn’t deliver.
Before my review, here are the trigger warnings I found while reading…
- Pandemic
- Cancer
- Suicide
If any of these trigger you, please do not read this book. Moving along, the idea behind this book had promise. I was excited to read this, even though it was initially a slow burn. Little did I know that would be a recurring theme, where nothing happens but endless dialogue, descriptions, and a weird format.
I enjoy unique ways to tell a story, especially when moving from the past to the present, when it's done right. Unfortunately, there’s just way too much going on, to the point of sheer confusion, since the pacing is all off and weird. Going from the story either in the past or in the present, with a random screenplay style of writing thrown in randomly, didn’t work out for me.
I loved the originality of trying to achieve this, but it fell flat for me. Besides that, there isn’t much horror in this book, which is odd since it’s called “Horror Movie.” There are a few excellent kills here, but for the most part, this book drags on because there is not much going on through most of the reading.
Once the horror hit, it was awesome. I wish there were more of that in the grand scheme of things. If this were scarier and lived up to the hype with better execution, this could have been a powerhouse of a read. The horror scenes, though terrific, were buried in fluff that killed the vibe.
Due to this slow pacing, “Horror Movie” lacked cohesion to tell a consistent story that was scary enough to make it memorable. Even the ending was underwhelming since I saw it coming a mile away. There was a great kill towards the end, and it left me realizing that if there had been more of that, this could have been saved. Unfortunately, it was too late.
I give “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay a 2/5 for being a slow-burn read that mostly went nowhere. I didn’t like any characters, not even the main protagonist. There were some fantastic kills here that were great to read, but overall, this needed a lot more horror, a lot less dialogue, and fewer pages dedicated to reading a screenplay format of a horror movie. Writing a horror book like this was interesting, but it ultimately didn’t deliver.
August 6, 2024
2.5⭐️
It just took too long to get anywhere. And when it did, it was too confusing and convoluted to take seriously.
BUT!!! I feel now, and felt while reading, that this book is absolutely for many readers. It has a weirdness to it that will without a doubt land for many. Sadly, I just didn't happen to be one of them.
It just took too long to get anywhere. And when it did, it was too confusing and convoluted to take seriously.
BUT!!! I feel now, and felt while reading, that this book is absolutely for many readers. It has a weirdness to it that will without a doubt land for many. Sadly, I just didn't happen to be one of them.
July 17, 2024
A couple of young filmmakers have decided to make a movie called, Horror Movie. During the filming a death occurs. The film never gets released except for three small clips that were uploaded to Youtube. People claim the movie is cursed somehow since most of the crew members have also died since the filming. Needless to say this gives the non-film a cult following. So when they decide to make a reboot of the film decades later, The Thin Kid, as he was known in the original movie, now in his fifties, decides to reprise the role. Will the movie see the light of day this time around? You'll have to read this to find out.
This was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year so I'm a little bummed to tell you all that this was simply okay. Not terrible, I finished it after all, but far from great in my opinion. I never once found this scary or even creepy. A couple of unsettling scenes, sure, but nothing that would cause chills or heart palpitations. Most of the book reads as a screenplay and perhaps that's why I just couldn't get fully engaged. Maybe the unlikable characters kept me from being fully invested. I don't know. I think I loved the concept of the book more so than the actual execution.
A lot of readers have described this as a real mind-fuck of a novel which is why I stuck with it waiting for that jaw dropping moment. If you know me and my reading habits at all then you know how I love mind-fuckery in my books. However, when the ending finally rolled around, I didn't find it all that surprising in the least. The *WOW* moment for me failed to occur and my mind remains completely unfucked. Dammit! 3 stars.
Thanks to Overdrive for the loan!
This was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year so I'm a little bummed to tell you all that this was simply okay. Not terrible, I finished it after all, but far from great in my opinion. I never once found this scary or even creepy. A couple of unsettling scenes, sure, but nothing that would cause chills or heart palpitations. Most of the book reads as a screenplay and perhaps that's why I just couldn't get fully engaged. Maybe the unlikable characters kept me from being fully invested. I don't know. I think I loved the concept of the book more so than the actual execution.
A lot of readers have described this as a real mind-fuck of a novel which is why I stuck with it waiting for that jaw dropping moment. If you know me and my reading habits at all then you know how I love mind-fuckery in my books. However, when the ending finally rolled around, I didn't find it all that surprising in the least. The *WOW* moment for me failed to occur and my mind remains completely unfucked. Dammit! 3 stars.
Thanks to Overdrive for the loan!
June 25, 2024
I think there is something wrong with Paul Tremblay. Mentally, psychologically, perhaps even spiritually. There is some evidence, based on his writing, that Tremblay may not be technically human. There is something alien or demonic lurking beneath and between the words he puts on the page.
That said, Tremblay is one of the coolest fucking horror writers writing in the field currently. Nobody else is doing anything like what he is doing. And I say that with a love and respect for a lot of great contemporary horror writers: Stephen Graham Jones, T. Kingfisher, Grady Hendrix, Cassandra Khaw, Joe Hill, Sarah Gailey. Just to name a few.
Tremblay’s latest novel, “Horror Movie” is, like most of his books and short stories, a veritable mind-fuck. It works on so many levels, and can be enjoyed on so many levels, but it digs deep under the skin and gestates for a long time, often giving birth to really uncomfortable and horrible little thoughts that eat tunnels of madness in your brain.
He’s also fun. Brain-devouringly fun.
There is no way that I can describe or summarize this novel without giving spoilers, so I won’t even try.
Instead, I’ll just say that it is the following: a thoughtful examination of the horror genre, a deconstruction of teen slasher films, an homage/critique of horror film fan(atic)s, a moving account of teen angst and suicidal ideation, a castigation of youth, extremely gory and fucked up.
Tremblay, you are one brilliant, insane son of a bitch.
That said, Tremblay is one of the coolest fucking horror writers writing in the field currently. Nobody else is doing anything like what he is doing. And I say that with a love and respect for a lot of great contemporary horror writers: Stephen Graham Jones, T. Kingfisher, Grady Hendrix, Cassandra Khaw, Joe Hill, Sarah Gailey. Just to name a few.
Tremblay’s latest novel, “Horror Movie” is, like most of his books and short stories, a veritable mind-fuck. It works on so many levels, and can be enjoyed on so many levels, but it digs deep under the skin and gestates for a long time, often giving birth to really uncomfortable and horrible little thoughts that eat tunnels of madness in your brain.
He’s also fun. Brain-devouringly fun.
There is no way that I can describe or summarize this novel without giving spoilers, so I won’t even try.
Instead, I’ll just say that it is the following: a thoughtful examination of the horror genre, a deconstruction of teen slasher films, an homage/critique of horror film fan(atic)s, a moving account of teen angst and suicidal ideation, a castigation of youth, extremely gory and fucked up.
Tremblay, you are one brilliant, insane son of a bitch.
June 26, 2024
The whole was barely a sum of its parts.
June 19, 2024
never have i been more bored while consuming something about a cursed horror film.
this book had the same energy of pretentious kids making a movie that’s so deep and edgy but in reality it’s boring as fuck and doesn’t make sense.
last time i’m giving this author a chance.
this book had the same energy of pretentious kids making a movie that’s so deep and edgy but in reality it’s boring as fuck and doesn’t make sense.
last time i’m giving this author a chance.
January 29, 2024
I didn’t like any of the four actors so i didn’t care about what happened to them.
-Cleo plans her suicide for all to be traumatized by.
-Valentina is a tyrant who thinks she knows everything and won’t take advice even though she’s never made a movie before.
-Karson has zero personality so who can care about him?
-The Thin Kid is the perfect example of the overbearing jerk who forces you to acknowledge him with his lame jokes and annoying behavior. Be nice to that guy or he’ll kill you.
I guess that’s what’s making me angry. The Thin Kid, life’s obnoxious blow hard, triumphs in the end. Let’s get those chainsaw laws in order, people lol.
-Cleo plans her suicide for all to be traumatized by.
-Valentina is a tyrant who thinks she knows everything and won’t take advice even though she’s never made a movie before.
-Karson has zero personality so who can care about him?
-The Thin Kid is the perfect example of the overbearing jerk who forces you to acknowledge him with his lame jokes and annoying behavior. Be nice to that guy or he’ll kill you.
I guess that’s what’s making me angry. The Thin Kid, life’s obnoxious blow hard, triumphs in the end. Let’s get those chainsaw laws in order, people lol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2025
I honestly don’t know how to start my review because I’m still a little confused. I’m a big fan of Paul Tremblay’s writing tho. I loved A Head Full of Ghosts and I was pretty pumped up for this one.
I seriously couldn’t put it down. I just had to figure out what was happening, and even to the end I was still a bit confused. I think this will have to be a re-read eventually but it’s still very good!
I seriously couldn’t put it down. I just had to figure out what was happening, and even to the end I was still a bit confused. I think this will have to be a re-read eventually but it’s still very good!
March 3, 2024
It took everything I had not to DNF this book. Wow, where do I start? I literally did not care about our main character, or any of the characters at all. He was so pretentious and self-indulgent, it felt like the book was using his musings on life to add padding, since there was nothing else going on. It felt very much like “putting a cigarette in your mouth but not lighting it because it’s a metaphor” kind of cringe. I am not someone who needs a super intense plot, but nothing really happens during this book at all. It felt like these little things that were happening were supposed to be impactful and keep us on our toes, but they fell flat big time. It was also extremely obvious where things were going, so you never got the shock. For being a horror novel, there was nothing unsettling or haunting like I was hoping. I truly felt nothing except annoyance at how bad this was. I just couldn’t believe this was written by such a successful, well-liked author. This was my first time reading Paul Tremblay and honestly will probably be my last.
ARC provided by NetGalley
ARC provided by NetGalley
August 6, 2024
wowwwww after entering literally thousands of goodreads giveaways i finally won one
August 18, 2025
**Won in a Goodreads Giveaway**
In 1993, wannabe filmmakers Valentina and Cleo enlist some of their friends and acquaintances to help make a low-budget horror movie. Due to an on-set tragedy, the film, although completed, is never released and becomes the subject of morbid curiosity and rumor. Fifteen years later, after three scenes from the original film and the full script are leaked online, Hollywood takes an interest in a “reboot.” The only surviving cast member, referred to in the past and present only as the “Thin Kid,” hits the horror convention circuits and starts taking meetings with the movers and shakers of LA as a consultant on the proposed new iteration of “Horror Movie.”
Although I avoided reading reviews of Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie until I had a chance to pick it up myself, the description of the book and the pre-release chatter had me thinking that there was going to be some kind of supernatural evil element involved. I guess I was envisioning something like if the “Blair Witch Project” never released as a full movie, but just became something of legend and lore based on rumors about it being a cursed “real” film. The evil that transpires in the original “Horror Movie” of Tremblay’s book is of an entirely different nature. And that’s fine, that’s my incorrect expectations not any obligation of the author, but it probably accounts for some of the reason I found this book to be a let-down.
Horror Movie is presented to the reader through three different timelines, as well as a big portion of the book being devoted to the original script written by Cleo. This makes for a quick and fast-paced read. There were some effectively creepy scenes detailed in the throwback segments, and despite my disappointment that the evil here is of a more mundane variety than I was expecting, the film as described is still something I would be interested in watching. I’m just not convinced that it’s the original, groundbreaking work of genius that all of the characters in this book seem to think it is. And the Thin Kid himself as the MC is a weird and insufferable blend of sad sack and inflated ego that had me rolling my eyes quite a bit at the end.
In 1993, wannabe filmmakers Valentina and Cleo enlist some of their friends and acquaintances to help make a low-budget horror movie. Due to an on-set tragedy, the film, although completed, is never released and becomes the subject of morbid curiosity and rumor. Fifteen years later, after three scenes from the original film and the full script are leaked online, Hollywood takes an interest in a “reboot.” The only surviving cast member, referred to in the past and present only as the “Thin Kid,” hits the horror convention circuits and starts taking meetings with the movers and shakers of LA as a consultant on the proposed new iteration of “Horror Movie.”
Although I avoided reading reviews of Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie until I had a chance to pick it up myself, the description of the book and the pre-release chatter had me thinking that there was going to be some kind of supernatural evil element involved. I guess I was envisioning something like if the “Blair Witch Project” never released as a full movie, but just became something of legend and lore based on rumors about it being a cursed “real” film. The evil that transpires in the original “Horror Movie” of Tremblay’s book is of an entirely different nature. And that’s fine, that’s my incorrect expectations not any obligation of the author, but it probably accounts for some of the reason I found this book to be a let-down.
Horror Movie is presented to the reader through three different timelines, as well as a big portion of the book being devoted to the original script written by Cleo. This makes for a quick and fast-paced read. There were some effectively creepy scenes detailed in the throwback segments, and despite my disappointment that the evil here is of a more mundane variety than I was expecting, the film as described is still something I would be interested in watching. I’m just not convinced that it’s the original, groundbreaking work of genius that all of the characters in this book seem to think it is. And the Thin Kid himself as the MC is a weird and insufferable blend of sad sack and inflated ego that had me rolling my eyes quite a bit at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2024
I'm at a tipping point concerning Tremblay's work – I love an equal amount of books by him than books I can't with. Unfortunately Horror Movie falls into the same category, as it also bears similarities to his previous novel The Pall Bearers' Club, which was way too experimental for me and which I couldn't enjoy either.
There were some parts in Horror Movie that still were able to move me; group dynamics which generate violence, or the mysterious and creepy nature of Thin Kid, for instance. However, it was overall too thinly stretched and drags, especially in the first half where we basically follow a group of filmmakers trying to make a film, which is never as glamorous as it sounds, and lacks suspense.
I have read this for the Shine&Shadow dark read September, I probably would have dnf'ed it if not for the peer pressure. Maybe I'll stick with Tremblay's short story collections which still appeal to me.
There were some parts in Horror Movie that still were able to move me; group dynamics which generate violence, or the mysterious and creepy nature of Thin Kid, for instance. However, it was overall too thinly stretched and drags, especially in the first half where we basically follow a group of filmmakers trying to make a film, which is never as glamorous as it sounds, and lacks suspense.
I have read this for the Shine&Shadow dark read September, I probably would have dnf'ed it if not for the peer pressure. Maybe I'll stick with Tremblay's short story collections which still appeal to me.
June 22, 2024
Like all of Tremblay's works, Horror Movie is well written, entertaining, and clings to your psyche a little longer than the average tale.
The Thin Kid sounds human, though. Never once does he sound like an animal bleating. He sounds human, terribly human.
The story is told to us through a 90's original movie script as well as the narrator describing the behind the scenes and aftermath. The screenplay itself is dark, and while I'd love to see it turn into a real movie (kind of a twisted slasher), I doubt the book would translate well.
Horror Movie is thoughtful and won't be for everyone, especially those looking for the generic slash and burn books. But it was everything I wanted it to be.
5 chainsaws.
The Thin Kid sounds human, though. Never once does he sound like an animal bleating. He sounds human, terribly human.
The story is told to us through a 90's original movie script as well as the narrator describing the behind the scenes and aftermath. The screenplay itself is dark, and while I'd love to see it turn into a real movie (kind of a twisted slasher), I doubt the book would translate well.
Horror Movie is thoughtful and won't be for everyone, especially those looking for the generic slash and burn books. But it was everything I wanted it to be.
5 chainsaws.
December 18, 2023
"My theory is that we’re in hell. Some of us are demons and some of us make demons because we don’t know what else to do."
This was one book that I went into blind. I saw the title and cover and was automatically sold. Then I spotted the author and sold my soul for an early copy. Holy shit! You all are in for a wild ride through hell!
I finished this book last week and I still get chills thinking about it. The way this was written had my full attention and I found myself thinking about this book and "The Thin Kid" in the most bizarre times during the day. It honestly consumed my life. Then I finished this and I was in shock. That ending was like nothing I had ever read before. It ripped my soul apart and I had to reread the last couple of chapters. All I can really say is, Fuck!! You all better prepare yourself for the horror masterpiece that is about to fall into your laps.
This was one book that I went into blind. I saw the title and cover and was automatically sold. Then I spotted the author and sold my soul for an early copy. Holy shit! You all are in for a wild ride through hell!
I finished this book last week and I still get chills thinking about it. The way this was written had my full attention and I found myself thinking about this book and "The Thin Kid" in the most bizarre times during the day. It honestly consumed my life. Then I finished this and I was in shock. That ending was like nothing I had ever read before. It ripped my soul apart and I had to reread the last couple of chapters. All I can really say is, Fuck!! You all better prepare yourself for the horror masterpiece that is about to fall into your laps.
July 6, 2024
I don't want to discuss the story; just read it and try to avoid spoilers before you do. This is my fourth Tremblay book. I love how he has no problem subverting expectations about narrative delivery and the types of endings we have come to expect. I also have to admit: I made a mistake only giving A Head Full of Ghosts four stars. I had just created my GR account and quickly listed and ranked all of my most recent books. It's been a couple of years now, and I've never forgotten it. It's a five-star for sure. Horror Movie is about as good but very different, for which I am grateful. I'm looking forward to reading everything else and all that is to come. Fan for life by this point. As for this book I will say this...abandoned schools are creepy as fuck. I used to drive by one after band practice back in the day. I wouldn't go into one for anything.
September 24, 2024
“Horror movie” was peculiar and unexpected. But not in a good way. I'm confused and have mixed feelings about the whole thing. So much so that I don’t know how to review it properly, but I’ll try.
First of all, I listened to an audiobook edition on Audible. Based on some other reviews, there are two audiobook versions of it out there, and they are very different in how they are acted out by the actors. I apparently got the “standard” version, without any weird noises and repetition etc., but I did get two different narrators, one male and one female. They worked well together, especially because the novel is basically 50% screenplay and 50% memoirs, and it goes back and forth between timelines and in and out of the movie. The style of acting and style of writing too changes appropriately, which I really liked.
The male narrator, as the man who played “The Thin Kid” in the movie, reads it in first person, quick and colloquially, while the female narrator basically reads from a script, slower, more pronounced and neutral - like an omniscient narrator. It's quite a noticeable difference made even more distinct by the narrator's tone of voice, tempo and accent. He did have a jarring accent to me, though, and exaggerated a bit too much for my tastes, but the she was amazing.
My main issue with this book is its structural complexity, which I’ve just outlined. It’s hard to pay attention to the different narratives and perspectives. Even harder to get invested in any of the characters, since some of them are written both as regular characters and as actors.
And you need to pay attention to details here, or you’ll miss a key point, a nuance, a deeper meaning, some clever social commentary, a philosophical statement or even a major plot point. In some ways, it’s like watching a movie, where if you look away or make any noise at the wrong time, you’ll miss a gesture or something important happening in the background or fail to hear an important sentence or whatever.
So that was frustrating and confusing. It felt like I was always a step behind the author, and I had too many questions I couldn’t answer. Why is he spending so much time talking about that, how is that part of the movie relevant, why are they saying these things? What does it all mean? Argh! I must have missed something! Again!
And don’t get me started on how unreliable the male narrator/main character is.
Just don't.
To be fair, there are some very interesting comments here, made by the author or to be made by the listener/reader - which I can say in general terms - about fear, death drive, identity, bullying, art, capitalism or about the act of watching or reading horror movies/books, about hidden or dark motivations. It's all disturbing on a more speculative level, concerning subculture and subconsciousness. It's kinda meta. Even performative, as if by engaging with the text, we gather some kind of momentum and manifest darker forces within us.
It’s all about our psyche as viewers.
I will say, though, that there were one or two times where I was genuinely intrigued because of this, as I started to figure things out and I felt like an audience member in a movie theatre in limbo, cursed to watch a movie from hell. And I felt like I was slowly becoming a monster, or slowly being convinced that I am one.
As if our memories (the reader and the characters) of the events in the film and our own lives serve as loops to be stuck in, possessed or obsessed by. Can we separate ourselves from our own masks, identities, memories, trauma? Can we see ourselves as in control and responsible for all our actions in that case? Not knowing what our motivations are is what makes it uncomfortable. When we repeat things often enough or do things on instinct, you might realize with a shock there's little free will involved, as if you're not in control of who or what you've become or where you are. It's like “walking into a dark room and having the light turned on suddenly”.
Here's a quote from the book that exemplifies what I'm trying to convey:
So that was sweet, but most of the time I didn’t get it, and I didn’t care.
Simply put: a boring enigma!
One last thing. I don’t think I would call this a horror novel. It’s more like an experimental documentary and/or literary thriller. I don't think I can recommend this if you like horror. I was rarely or never unsettled, scared, grossed out, shocked or overwhelmed by existential despair. There was too much set-up than build-up leading to the climax, if that makes sense, and I rarely wanted to know what happened next. I just wanted to know what actually happened and why things happened and what the point was. The whole book is creative and cool conceptually, but not very entertaining.
First of all, I listened to an audiobook edition on Audible. Based on some other reviews, there are two audiobook versions of it out there, and they are very different in how they are acted out by the actors. I apparently got the “standard” version, without any weird noises and repetition etc., but I did get two different narrators, one male and one female. They worked well together, especially because the novel is basically 50% screenplay and 50% memoirs, and it goes back and forth between timelines and in and out of the movie. The style of acting and style of writing too changes appropriately, which I really liked.
The male narrator, as the man who played “The Thin Kid” in the movie, reads it in first person, quick and colloquially, while the female narrator basically reads from a script, slower, more pronounced and neutral - like an omniscient narrator. It's quite a noticeable difference made even more distinct by the narrator's tone of voice, tempo and accent. He did have a jarring accent to me, though, and exaggerated a bit too much for my tastes, but the she was amazing.
My main issue with this book is its structural complexity, which I’ve just outlined. It’s hard to pay attention to the different narratives and perspectives. Even harder to get invested in any of the characters, since some of them are written both as regular characters and as actors.
And you need to pay attention to details here, or you’ll miss a key point, a nuance, a deeper meaning, some clever social commentary, a philosophical statement or even a major plot point. In some ways, it’s like watching a movie, where if you look away or make any noise at the wrong time, you’ll miss a gesture or something important happening in the background or fail to hear an important sentence or whatever.
So that was frustrating and confusing. It felt like I was always a step behind the author, and I had too many questions I couldn’t answer. Why is he spending so much time talking about that, how is that part of the movie relevant, why are they saying these things? What does it all mean? Argh! I must have missed something! Again!
And don’t get me started on how unreliable the male narrator/main character is.
Just don't.
To be fair, there are some very interesting comments here, made by the author or to be made by the listener/reader - which I can say in general terms - about fear, death drive, identity, bullying, art, capitalism or about the act of watching or reading horror movies/books, about hidden or dark motivations. It's all disturbing on a more speculative level, concerning subculture and subconsciousness. It's kinda meta. Even performative, as if by engaging with the text, we gather some kind of momentum and manifest darker forces within us.
It’s all about our psyche as viewers.
I will say, though, that there were one or two times where I was genuinely intrigued because of this, as I started to figure things out and I felt like an audience member in a movie theatre in limbo, cursed to watch a movie from hell. And I felt like I was slowly becoming a monster, or slowly being convinced that I am one.
As if our memories (the reader and the characters) of the events in the film and our own lives serve as loops to be stuck in, possessed or obsessed by. Can we separate ourselves from our own masks, identities, memories, trauma? Can we see ourselves as in control and responsible for all our actions in that case? Not knowing what our motivations are is what makes it uncomfortable. When we repeat things often enough or do things on instinct, you might realize with a shock there's little free will involved, as if you're not in control of who or what you've become or where you are. It's like “walking into a dark room and having the light turned on suddenly”.
Here's a quote from the book that exemplifies what I'm trying to convey:
“Thoughts and events have a way of gathering momentum. And the brain’s natural state is one of perseveration, not preservation. Cleo wants to say “my theory is that we’re in hell. Some of us are demons, and some of us make demons, because we don’t know what else to do."
So that was sweet, but most of the time I didn’t get it, and I didn’t care.
Simply put: a boring enigma!
One last thing. I don’t think I would call this a horror novel. It’s more like an experimental documentary and/or literary thriller. I don't think I can recommend this if you like horror. I was rarely or never unsettled, scared, grossed out, shocked or overwhelmed by existential despair. There was too much set-up than build-up leading to the climax, if that makes sense, and I rarely wanted to know what happened next. I just wanted to know what actually happened and why things happened and what the point was. The whole book is creative and cool conceptually, but not very entertaining.
“Fuck fun. Fuck it to hell.”
June 10, 2024
Another solid entry by Paul Tremblay. Another creepy book with an absolutely wild ending. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that ending means, which is exactly what I love about Paul Tremblay. He’s not in it to just creep you out, he wants to make his readers think about his stories.
And trust me, I was creeped out. This book hits all of those notes without being overly graphic or gory. It’s the psychological scares and mysterious nature of The Thin Kid that keeps building and building.
There are at least three timelines here, but you could possibly count up to five of them. So it can be a challenge to follow at times, but I found that once you get about 20% in, they all become fairly easy to track.
I loved the similarities between this and A Head Full of Ghosts. Between the possession documentary and the cursed film set, there’s something about the creation of film, the lengths people go through for money/art, that allows Tremblay to speak to what kind of real horrors can drive these people insane outside of any kind of supernatural entity.
And trust me, I was creeped out. This book hits all of those notes without being overly graphic or gory. It’s the psychological scares and mysterious nature of The Thin Kid that keeps building and building.
There are at least three timelines here, but you could possibly count up to five of them. So it can be a challenge to follow at times, but I found that once you get about 20% in, they all become fairly easy to track.
I loved the similarities between this and A Head Full of Ghosts. Between the possession documentary and the cursed film set, there’s something about the creation of film, the lengths people go through for money/art, that allows Tremblay to speak to what kind of real horrors can drive these people insane outside of any kind of supernatural entity.
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