Quick synopsis: A man recounts his time as a 17 year old teenage slasher 17 years after the start of his slashing. The kicker? It’s a knowledgeable telling of how slashers are supposed to operate, based on the movies. Our slasher knows he is a slasher but does not want to be one, and cannot control his behavior.
Review: This book was probably one of the most original books I have ever read. It took a while to get into because it seemed like typical teenager who killed a few people whatever big whoop. However, this book became very supernatural very fast. I got extremely invested in the story and finding out the ending. The only qualm I have about this book and why it lost one star is I feel like some parts were boring and repetitive and it could have been more shorter. Overall, highly recommend for an original experience if you like horror books!
Thank you @netgalley and saga press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Available July 16th, 2024

This was really hard for me to get into at first, but once I started I couldn’t stop. It’s told as a sort of confessional of, get this, a teenage slasher. It’s also almost like a love letter at the same time. It was honestly great, it leans heavily into the slasher tropes which I love. I’m a sucker for slasher movies.

I love Stephen Graham Jones SO much. His books are an instant buy for me. As soon as I heard about this book it was pre ordered. In my cart and paid for. I was so stoked for this title and I was pre approved to read this and I couldn't believe it. I am so freaking grateful. I read this and YA'LL!!!! Its Stephen Graham Jones for sure. Its so good. I am so excited to also read this on audible and have the physical copy to display on my shelf.

It’s 1989 in Lamesa, Texas, and the teens are showing up dead. Tolly Driver is an awkward 17-year-old who has a good head on his shoulders…until he’s cursed to start killing for revenge. After being hazed by his classmates at a pool party, he becomes possessed with the urge to kill them for revenge. Tolly doesn’t want to be a slasher, but he cannot resist these urges….and he’s ready to tell his story.

I honestly went into this book expecting your typical run-of-the-mill slasher story, but since this is Stephen Graham Jones we’re talking about, naturally this story was a refreshing take on a tired genre that is full of action and emotions. I really liked experiencing the slasher story from the killer’s perspective, because it was so fascinating (and heartbreaking) watching Tolly struggle to fight his urge to kill people. I know this is a slasher story, but it actually has some really strong monster story elements too: the idea of knowing there is evil lurking within you, you cannot do anything to stop it, and you can only sit back and witness whatever carnage it makes you inflict on others. Most slashers have no issue with the violence they commit, so it was really interesting and emotional knowing the main character here is helpless and unable to stop himself. He’s such an endearing main character who truly has a heart of gold, and I found myself completely heartbroken by the end of the book. I also found his friendship with his best friend Amber to be so incredibly sweet and authentic.

This is definitely a coming-of-age story told through the eyes of a slasher. It’s rare that you find yourself rooting for the killer, but once you meet Tolly you’ll have no choice but to love him. “I Was a Teenage Slasher” is fun, inventive, and full of emotion! Grab a copy when it releases on July 16th! 🔪

We’ve seen through the eyes of the final girl. Now we get the viewpoint of a reluctant slasher. Gory, funny, and sad. This author never disappoints.

I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones follows Tolly Driver and his best friend Amber during the summer of 1989. Tolly and Amber are on a thier way to a party and this is where Tolly's problems start. Tolly being Tolly gets drunk and makes a fool out of himself. A group of marching band students decide to teach him a lesson and tie him to a chair using the belts off of their marching band uniforms. While all this is going down the kid that was killed in a freak accident is back to avenge his death. Somehow Tolly gets a drop of his blood in a cut and now he is a teenage slasher too. This book brought back a lot of memories for me since I myself was a freshman in high school in 1989. The music, tv, and movie references were great and poped up in the perfect way. I did a webinar with Stephen Graham Jones a few weeks back and he had a slide show of Lemesa, Texas what it was like in 1989. He even had a picture of Amber's VW Rabbit. This book was a trip down memory lane for me. I have not gotten to all of Stephen Graham Jones book but he is an author that I want to read more of. I read Only the Good Indians last fall and fell in love with his writting. If you are a fan of T. Kingfisher or Grady Hendrix you will want to read I Was a Teenage Slasher. Thank you to both NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.

I Was a Teenage Slasher is a thrilling rollercoaster of horror and nostalgia. Jones masterfully blends classic slasher tropes with fresh twists, delivering a gripping and adrenaline-fueled read from start to finish. With compelling characters and heart-pounding suspense, this book is a must-read for horror aficionados seeking a modern take on a beloved genre.

While Stephen Graham Jones is known for his final girls, he comes from the other side of the mask in this title. Tolly Driver is just your average West Texas teenager before coming face to face with a real life slasher, turning his entire world on its head. This book has everything I love about Stephen Graham Jones, both the horror genre saavy characters and the beautiful and heartbreaking friendships. I don't cry at most horror books, but this one definitely had me choking back tears.

What I loved about this story was the setting--the small town Texas vibes and how it bled throughout the pages (no pun intended). The slasher story itself wasn't as engaging as some of SGJ's other work, but it was a fun ride nonetheless. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fun take on the slasher genre.

I can now never meet Stephen Graham Jones, because I will make a fool of myself and say something really absurd like "I REALLY LOVE YOUR BRAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO ABSORB SOME OF ITS BRILLIANCE."

Anyways, the book came in from an angle I very much did not expect, and it was, as always, brilliant character work and so clever and GOD, I cried a couple times.

4.5 rounded up to 5

What a fun ride this one was!
This story is being told as an autobiography written by "the teenage slasher", Tolly, 17 years after it takes place.

Tolly was living in West Texas in 1989, just making the best out of life in a small town with his best friend, Amber. He is a good kid, has a great relationship with his mother, but is grieving the loss of his father. Amber and Tolly end up at a classmate's party, when all hell breaks loose. Their lives after this evening are never the same.

Amber notices that Tolly starts to exhibit characteristics known to slashers in horror movies. She hopes she is wrong, but the more she tests her theory, the more signs point to it being true.

True to Stephen Graham Jones' style, this story is told through stream of consciousness writing, which at times can feel like you are in the head of someone with ADHD. Don't think too hard about it. Just strap in for the ride, and soon enough you will get into the groove of his thought patterns. I find that his style really lets us see, think, and feel as if we ARE that character in his novels. That said, this is a very character-driven story. I could tell that SGJ was reliving a lot of his childhood in this setting, and the passion was contagious. This was a unique take on slashers - viewing it almost as a disease that can be "caught". It allowed the reader to experience the horrific kills through the eyes of the killer....but without all the hate and disturbed thinking. The only reason I took off a half-star was that I thought there were some minor pacing issues and repetitiveness with some of the scenes. The horror and gore was excellent, but this one still tugged at my heartstrings. Is there a sub-genre of horror called Horror with heart? If so, this is it!
Thank you to netgalley for providing this book to me early!

Thank you so much to Saga Press and Stephan Graham Jones for this wonderful book! It was about Tolly Driver, a boy living in Lamesa Texas in 1989. He is a normal kid full of hopes and dreams and friendships, and also happens to be cursed with bloodlust for revenge. After something happens at a party, Tolly is infected with the need to become a slasher and right how he was wronged. His normal life is about to be turned upside down, and he isn’t sure if he can stop it.

Thoughts: This book was about being an outsider. I loved that the perspective is from the mind of a killer, who also has humanity and is trying to figure out who and what he is. I loved the way this book is written, almost like a letter or confession to whoever finds it. The story pays homage to the horror genre, and uses emotion and humanity to create a nostalgic and heartwarming story about a teenager murdering his classmates. You know, tale as old as time.

Jones is a phenomenal writer and I could see how much of himself he poured into Tolly as a character. His relationship with Amber and the way she kept him anchored to humanity was beautiful, and I thought lots of themes were explored well. The way the book talks about being an outsider, dealing with tragedy, and the nuance of friendship, all while delivering the shock and gore of a horror novel. 4.5 stars!

If you want nostalgia and horror, you need to check this one out. This was a coming of age, gory, slasher that I could not get enough of. I freaking loved Tolly and Amber. They were the typical teenagers growing up in a small town, trying to figure out what they wanted to do in life. Well that all changes pretty dang quick with one very interesting party. Amber is a total horror movie junkie and I love how she explains everything that is happening. I loved that the book was done almost like a biography with the slasher. It made me root for the slasher until the very end. And the ending?! Why did I want to cry?! What have you done to me Stephen Graham Jones?! I will be thinking of this book for a long time and it will definitely be at the top of my fave books for the year

This just made my top 5 SGJ books. No, I’m not listing out the others. I Loved this idea of slashers being made the same way as other monsters. And I Loved the unique point of view.

This book is peak horror and I cannot stop reading it💀📚

Thank you to @sagapressbooks for this wonderful review copy

⭐️I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER, out JULY 16TH⭐️

Thank you so much to S&S Publishing for reaching out with the opportunity to read Stephen Graham Jones' latest book, I was such a pleasure and actual highlight of my month to be able to enjoy an advanced digital copy from one of my favorite authors.

Just like with every book I've read by SGJ I was a confused as hell for about 15-20% but knew that if I just allowed myself to enjoy the ride and let go of the wheel it would be worth it. And I was right! Fans of The Indian Lake trilogy will definitely have fun with I Was A Teenage Slasher as it spins the final girl vs slasher story we experienced with Jade and allows us a look at the other side. This also has a similar element of "supernatural" to it that we see in The Indian Lake trilogy which is, in itself, a homage to the "supernatural" wonder of the slasher genre. It's a tool to explain and mythicize how and why slashers can do what they do.

'I Was A Teenage Slasher" is a great blend of slasher gore and horror, camp, and action. Fast paced and full of all the golden tropes we know and love for the genre. While this isn't "groundbreaking" in terms of what it does or in plot twists (especially in comparison with the author's other works) I still found it clever and incredibly well written which isn't surprising in the slightest. I think this is a perfect, quick and entertaining summer read to pair with a Scream marathon.

In 1989, Tolly Driver was an average 17-year old boy, just living his life in his small West Texas hometown of Lamesa. He's a good kid, who mostly keeps his nose clean, helping his Mom at her hardware store, and spending time with his best friend ((crush)), Amber. All it took was one crazy Summer night to change everything...

This book is presented in a sort of confessional style. It's Tolly writing about that summer, about the events that occurred, relaying them and also reflecting upon them. He's addressing Amber, so it feels genuine and personal. I connected with this one from the very first pages. I love how SGJ chose to present Tolly's story. It's much more than a Slasher. It's a Coming of Age tale from the perspective of a killer. A Slasher with a twist.

Reading this, it feels like a personal story for SGJ. Not the murdery-bits of course, but the sense of place, the experience of being a teenager in West Texas in the 1980s and everything that went with that. Honestly, it felt so rich with heart, emotion and nostalgia. I'm not sure what it is, whether it's because SGJ and I came up around the same time, both in small towns and probably with a lot of similar interests, or if it's just the humanity channeled into his stories, but they hit me differently.

Maybe it's as simple as our mutual love of this nuanced genre of Horror; Slashers in particular, I don't know, but there's something special in his delivery that takes me right back to my youth. I feel it. I've never read anything like this. It's special. I absolutely loved it. There's only so much you can say about a book you loved without diving off the deep end into fangirl territory.

Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite authors. Out of the 8-books of his that I have read so far, the lowest rating I have ever given is a 4-star, and it was just the one. I've been thinking about this a lot since I finished this, and I actually think this is my favorite SGJ work EVER!

For those of you crying yourself to sleep every night ((like I was)) because you just finished the last book in The Angel of Indian Lake trilogy, have NO FEAR, this one will fulfill your darkest Slasher desires and then some. I'm so excited for this to release this Summer so that I can add a hard copy to my shelves. I can't wait to read it again. Tolly is a character I will never forget.

I would recommend this to any Horror Reader. It's a perfect Summer Scream story. My heart slowly shattered over the course of this novel, but it simultaneously made me ridiculously happy. I want everyone to feel that.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Saga Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it far exceeded even my lofty expectations. Stephen Graham Jones is such a gifted storyteller, who truly breaths life into his characters with the power of his words. His stories are edgy, raw, emotional, powerful and nostalgic. I'll never stop coming back for more.

10-out-of-10 recommend!!

There is nothing like final girls and 90s/2000s slasher nostalgia, and Stephen Graham Jones has delivered again in this gripping novel.

I haven't had much success in enjoying or engaging with the previous writings of Stephen Graham Jones save for the "Night of the Living Mannequin" Novella.

I found "My Heart is a Chainsaw" overly referential of existant horror media and I thought that this would be different.

For the most part, it is!

But- yet again Jones is insistant on having yet another character fluent in the structures and tropes of the slasher subgenre.

With such a well established and personable voice being the speaker of the novel, it was almost disheartening to see it slip back into those grooves that made "My Heart is a Chainsaw" so frustrating for me.

The slasher archetypes are constantly riffed on in media but at least in this read the done to (escaping) death Final Girl gets a bit of a break.

Jones through this formerly teenage speaker rambles on about the reasons for the slasher. Attempts to dissect and define the archetype are muddled and while for the mostpart are compellingly written It's hard to really make heads or tails of it all.

Readers might find what this novel tries to accomplish too close to the film "Cabin in the Woods". Just another piece of meta horror media to throw onto the pile.

There are some absolutely bizarre choices made that I think are quite inventive but I will refrain from elaborating too hard on ut here for spoilers sake.

The latter quarter of the book is where it shines the most. Unfortunate given the moments where the narrative goes slack and it's memory recalling format makes it hard to get through.

I think what grates me the most about his work is the constant assertion that Slasher type horror is concrete and that these tropes and archetypes must manifest to accomplish it.

Much like the protagonist, I was tired of the forced nature of the slasher genre and doubly tired of an overused twist.

SGJ did it again. An ‘80s meta slasher but unlike the brilliant Indian Lake Trilogy, this book doesn’t contain any movie title references. A gripping page-turner with lots of gore, guts, humor and: heart. It made me wince, chuckle and ugly cry at the end—just the usual amazing SGJ reading experience. Highly recommended!