Horror Movie

Starred review from July 8, 2024
Tremblay (The Beast You Are) raises the bar for the cursed film trope with a novel that cleverly breaks the fourth wall between imaginary horrors and their real-world repercussions. The unnamed narrator is the sole surviving crew member of the eponymous film, a low-budget monster movie whose production began in 1993 but was never completed for dramatic reasons revealed over the course of the narrative. Thirty years later, a bigger crew with a bigger budget hopes to reboot the film and capitalize on its reputation with horror fans as a legendary might-have-been masterpiece, most of whose creators died tragically young. They also want the narrator to reprise his role as “the Thin Kid,” a masked victim who turns monstrous under the cruel torments of his teen classmates. Tremblay hopscotches back and forth between two converging plot threads, one set during the movie’s original filming and the other in present-day Los Angeles, and splices in portions of the original screenplay, the better to highlight the narrator’s increasingly unsettling identification with his creepy Thin Kid character. A shocking but perfectly planned twist at the story’s climax makes this one of the most exciting outings in the recent crop of fiction about horror movies. Readers won’t want to miss out. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.

Starred review from February 1, 2025

Audio is the perfect format to explore Tremblay's (The Beast You Are) latest novel, a vibrant mash-up of script readings, movie tracks, director's notes, and celebrity memoir. Narrator Ari Fliakos performs as the "Thin Kid," an unnamed narrator and the only surviving cast member of a never-released 1993 horror movie. Thirty years later, the movie is rebooted. A full cast joins Fliakos, enacting the script and filming sections. Each component feels genuine, making the rising tension even more unsettling as listeners strain to guess what tragedy befell the original filming, why the unreleased movie gained a strong cult following, and what truly inspired the scriptwriters. Will the horror be supernatural or all too human? As always with Tremblay, the climax is twisty, and the characters' inner lives are central to the horror. The listening experience is enhanced by the sounds of pages turning when people read the script, echoes, distortions, and other sound effects that may make the listener look around to make sure nothing is sneaking up on them. VERDICT A listening experience akin to Daisy Jones and the Six as written by Stephen Graham Jones, performed by some of the best voice acting talent in the field.--Matthew Galloway

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2025

Ari Fliakos leads a cast of 11 other supporting narrators, providing a stellar narration of Tremblay's story about a cursed, never-released 1993 indie horror film. Fliakos plays "the Thin Kid," the only surviving cast member, who reprises his role in the remake 30 years later. Listeners are treated to script readings, movie tracks, and director's notes, read with verve by the full cast. Outstanding sound effects and a twisty climax make for an unforgettable listen.

Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.