Hookman

by Lauren Yee

Freshman year at college is hard when your roommate is weird, you’re feeling homesick, and a hook-handed serial killer is slashing girls’ throats. But if Lexi can discover what really happened to her high school best friend on that car ride to the movies, everything will be okay. In this existential slasher comedy, Lexi and her friends learn what it means to grow up – and it’s not pretty.

Genres: Plays

83 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Maddy Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved the language, the idea of repetition in the play mirroring the desire to go back and change things, the clues the playwright leaves you over and over... loved it. It's super dark and a little gory for a stage play, but I adored it.

[Sophia M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Existential slasher comedy. What else do I need to say?

[dănuț]

random israel mention ruined it

[Adz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really hard to do a conventional analysis of this one. Liked it a lot. Would love to see it staged. Reminded me a lot of "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" with the discontinuity, repetition, and the sort of visual horrific surrealism. Very heavy show.

[Erin Cleary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright here we go. I was not a fan of this play. I really really tried to give it my best shot and I read the entire thing out-loud to myself with the stage directions and everything, but I just didn't like it. There were parts of this story that I have NO IDEA how you would stage. A director would have to get extremely creative. The characters were bland on purpose? I didn't find any characters compelling at all and found the relationships between characters were almost non-existent. The only part I found compelling was the overarching mystery between what happened in the car with Lexi and Jess. I completely didn't understand the point of the Hookman himself? This entire story could have exisisted without the Hookman and I think it would have been better off. I wish more attention was paid to the characters and I got to learn about them. Lexi was stuck in the past for almost the entire play and no event really propelled the story. No appropriate monologues and a handful of scenes, but pretty solitary and lack of movement within them.

[Millie Arkhurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars: Interestinggg I have so many thoughts and no thoughts at the same time. I wasn’t entirely sure of the relevance to all the different Hookmen in the beginning but the interpretation I’ve come to, is that Lexi felt so much guilt over the death of Jess (because she drove up a one way street resulting in them colliding with another vehicle) that she created a monster (the Hookman) in her head that was responsible for Jess’s death instead, as a way to cope? I was slightly confused for most of this play but I think the ending brings it full circle and you can interpret the story however you like.

It would have been nice if each character was defined a bit more, they all seemed to merge into these like bland/surly college students. If they each had a bit more of their own personality (the only character that seemed to be written a bit more enthusiastically was Chloe). I think it would have added something to the overall story.

I would love to see this on stage on though; some of the stage directions were really making me wonder how someone would direct this.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

“man door hand hook car door” but make it a deeply meaningful and existential exploration of grief, friendship, connection and isolation, violence, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. But also it's hilarious (if you like dark comedy).

You'd need a spectacular amount of creativity to stage this, and I really hope I get to see it one day. It was absolutely captivating once I decided to just be along for the ride and not try to scrutinize every single thing in the most logical sense of interpretation, but try to understand what the intended emotional impact was. The smart and often absurdist comedy juxtaposed with the violence made it bearable without trivializing the heavy topics. "Hookman" is very different from any other play I've ever read in an interesting and exciting way that keeps you... ha... hooked.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should I even be reviewing a script on Goodreads? I guess I can since I haven't seen a production?

Anyways, I think that this script has a lot of good ideas. It's structurally interesting, and I like the way things are uncovered as we go.

The humor feels really effective to me, and I like the way that the play toys with bathos. College is truly the most thrilling and mundane experience. Every day feels like a revelation, but at the same time you're living in a bubble.

The ending to this, though, sucks upon my first reading. I feel like it might need a second reading to get more out of it?

Lots of question marks in this review. I think it's indicative of the play itself. We're given a lot of ideas, but we aren't really given how to handle them.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a wild ride from start to finish -- some scenes were confusing and sometimes the characters were just annoying with all the repetitions, but maybe it's to convey some message that sometimes people just don't listen to each other.

There are some important messages here and while it may not be a preferable read, I have no doubt that it would be ridiculously entertaining on stage.
3.5/5

[izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

i'd kill (wink wink nudge nudge) to see this on stage! it took a while for me to fully get what was going on but then i went back to some earlier parts of the play and the repetitions clicked. i really wonder how this can be accomplished in a production because all of the little details like the bloody jacket and the replacements for the hook. this was a really cool play!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I choose to read this because of that "Young man, take the breadsticks and run / young man, man hook hand car door gun" tumblr meme? Yes. Did it contain a reference to breadsticks that made me sure Lauren Yee has a tumblr? Also yes.

Memes aside, this was pretty great--dark comedy with some sneaky painful emotional truth hiding inside.

[Miranda Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. I liked the repetition of the scenarios and the last Lexi scene. I did not like Chloe being focus of the ending scene. I didn’t necessarily like the language and the constant confusion made me wonder what the heck was going on (which was the point), but I also think the play just needs to be seen in order for me to really appreciate it.

[iris and her library · Rating 4 out of 5]

the tagline of “existential slasher comedy” really hits the nail on the head. I appreciate how much this play commits to its very absurdity, to the contradictions, and the existentialism of it all. the characters suck deeply, but in a very realistic way and the dialogue actually hurts because of how realistic it was. why’s it not five stars? 🤷‍♀️ vibes.

[francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My brother says it happens all the time freshman year.”

I didn’t expect the “man door hand hook car door” play to make me cry, but here we are. A killer (sorry) one-act that easily could’ve overstayed its welcome. Sometimes grief is a Hookman, you know?

[Reicse O · Rating 4 out of 5]

spooky and weird, i was really interested by the dream-like quality that the whole play had. a fun take on the way that grief and guilt haunts you. the characters in this are SO strange but im kinda into that…. would love to see it staged

[Lou]

I feel like I understood what this play was trying to do, but it didn't quite coalesce for me.

[Rene · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5
read for class

[Mackenzie Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was speechless. My jaw was on the ground. This was intoxicating and sickening- I LOVED it!!!!! What a dark and twisted lesson in maturity, grief and loss. A must read!

[sam lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAT???????? WHAT DID I JUST READ????

[Claire Gratto · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart was beating!!! I need to see this staged because I have questions

[tatum]

huh? but fun! sooooo sad I missed seeing a production of this bc I think that would clear some things up for me. or not?? idk. will probably revisit at some point

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really like it, i think i get it. but also maybe i dont. need a reread

[Kelsey Flynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made me think I was going insane

[Rowan🍉 · Rating 4 out of 5]

what the fuck

[Lauren Reiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in a horror book store over an hour. Definitely entertaining and very quick!!!

[Caroline Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) would be interested to see how this would work on stage

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I... need time to process this play. It was weird, that's for sure, in a sort-of surrealist, existentialist way. And it was stylized, but sincere. I liked the way the dialogue was formatted. I liked the approach to the subject. I'm just not sure I 100% 'got' it.

One female monologue near the end, not sure if it works out of context.

[Priya Hendry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play is FASCINATING and ABSOLUTELY not as good a read as it is a watch. I feel like the characters don't feel fleshed out enough on the page and the plot twists are not nearly as sinister feeling as they could be. But as always plays aren't meant to be read so when I see this in a few months, I'll hopefully be readily able to change my rating.