The character work in this read was incredible. McAuley was able to give both of the main characters some fantastically flawed humanity. They were both, at time, their own heroes and villains and this allowed the reader to be incredibly sympathetic to both of them at different times in the book. They really felt like two sides of the same coin even though they are at odds throughout the entire book. Each of them also went through an inevitable change during the events of the book that was heartbreaking to read. Both characters had their struggles and we got to see them both trying their best to make it through life and the Hollywood grind. This made it all the more bittersweet to see them fall into the horrors of the story.

The horror elements were fantastic and used to just the right levels. We have a good amount of gore, but much of it is saved for the proper slasher finale. I found this read to be the perfect blend of psychological and physical horror. I loved the slow descent into the psychological that both Howard and Trevor go through. Both the characters and the readers are trying to figure out where the line between psychological and supernatural potentially is and I could see different readers finding that line at different points. I wouldn't really call this a 'slow burn' horror, but it certainly ramps up the horror elements by the end.

I've never been super interested in celebrity or Hollywood machine, but I loved that we got to explore some of the more behind the scenes of celebrity status. Obviously Howard and Trevor are at two very different points in their careers but they both have had their share of the limelight. I think McAuley did a great job of showing the high highs and low lows of fame and celebrity as well as the sort of churning of Hollywood where you're in until you're out. I loved the atmosphere this created as well because Hollywood is such a pervasive part of culture, even if you aren't super into movies or celebrities. So it is familiar enough to be relatable but also removed enough from most people's day to day lives that it gives the reader a sort of tabloid feeling of seeing behind the scenes.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this read. It was an interesting premise with human characters and the horror elements were fantastic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the ARC. Publication date was October 4, 2022.

The concept of this book was so interesting to me. An older actor who's entire persona was this killer in a slasher franchise. This was more psychological than slasher, but really kept me turning the pages. I am now really ready to pick up his other work, Candy Cane Kills. The main character reminded me so much of Kane Hodder, mostly known for his role as Jason. It really shows how an actor can become his character over time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

This was a trippy book and something I have never read before. I really enjoyed it and felt for the main character.

A psychological horror that you need to know nothing about before you start reading. It’s a haunting journey of a mind being broken, of how sometimes we can’t let go of the past. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to spoil the story, just that it’s a really good story for psychological horror fans.

The synopsis says Scream meets The Shining and I’m telling you this book delivered. The Reaper reminded me of Freddy, though.

Curse of the Reaper follows an 80s horror movie with the villain, The Reaper front and center as he’s trying to escape the box he’s been trapped in for two decades. This book is set in the early 2000s, and Howard was the original Reaper, the production company who originally made the film have decided to remake the blockbuster film with a new Reaper - fresh out of rehab child star Trevor whose trying to change his image from the clean cut 80s sitcom he starred in. And the original Reaper is not very happy about this.

This book shows a disturbing journey into complete madness and the extreme measures people will go to keep a grip on something that has been such a huge part of their lives for so long. Great book.

I had to read this one from the moment I saw the synopsis. The genre is more psychological horror so comparing it to Scream isn’t quite accurate. This will definitely appeal to horror movie fanatics but may not be as gory as they expect. I really enjoyed the character of Howard but Trevor was incredibly unlikeable throughout the story. This is a tremendous debut from Brian McAuley and I will definitely check out his future work.

I really really enjoyed this one! I’m a huge horror fan, especially if the slasher genre, and this debut was so fun to read. It twists and turns at every chance and keeps you guessing but still keeps it fun and scary. There were parts that genuinely got me a bit spooked, especially towards the end!

I think my only issue is that it’s described as Scream meets The Shining, and also as a thriller. This to me was straight horror- and I don’t think people should be afraid to say that! Not everything has to be described as a thriller. I’d more so describe it as Wes Craven’s New Nightmare meets Jeepers Creepers with a little bit of Friday the 13th thrown in and it makes for such a fun combination! It feels like a love letter to the slasher genre, and it’s such a quick and enjoyable read. I’d 100% recommend to any horror fan, especially of 80s horror.

This was a much more thoughtful and nuanced character study than I was expecting and while it did take me quite a bit to get into it, I enjoyed it. I thought that the author did a really good job exploring addiction and how that can make a person act as the worst version of themselves. Both of the main characters are addicts in some way, with only one of them having a conventional addiction accompanied by the support systems in place; rehab, Narcotics Anonymous etc. What I found interesting was Howard's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the impact that had on his psyche. The pacing of the narrative was a little slow for me and although the character work was great, the plot itself was a little meandering and a bit too long for my taste. However, I would definitely recommend it with the caveat that it isn't an out and out slasher, but more of a psychological and tense book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Reading the premise for this I had to get my hands on it as quick as possible. 80s slashers are so iconic that I wanted to see it in book form.

Howard’s character was so great and I loved reading his side. On the other hand I hated Trevor, I really did not care about any chapter where he showed up.

The build up and suspense felt like it took so long to happen that I got checked out very early. I loved the scenes with the original movie script though!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- Great cover on this one!

So I really loved this one! A 80’s slasher tribute about an former horror film star and his descent into madness. Well written and paced. Engaging plot. Well developed and intriguing characters. Excellent one liners. 😂 What more can you ask for!? I can't believe this is Brian McAuley's debut novel! I look forward to reading more from him in the coming years.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Omg this book was so awesome. I read the description of this one and I just knew I had to read it. I loved the book so much that I went and bought a copy of it. I wasn’t let down at all. Everyone needs to read this book.

When I read the description of Scream meets The Shining I knew I would love this book and I was not let down at all. This book was amazing.

3.5⭐️ I did like this book, basically about an actor struggling with the bleed (when an actor has a hard time separating themselves from their character) after playing a deranged serial killer akin to Jason or Michael Meyers for about 20 years.

I liked that from the first page I was pulled into the story. I love horror movies so a book about a horror movie character killing people was right up my alley. However certain aspects of this book fell flat for me. I liked what the book has to say about fame, horror movies, horror fans and celebrity worship. I actually really like Howard (one of the MC's) but I disliked Trevor. I believe that Trevor did not have much padding to him like Howard did. I also loved the nods to horror movie pop culture.

The thing that I disliked was that there was so little horror and gore. This is a book about a horror movie killer and yet the kill count was low and so was the gore for me.

I would recommend this book to horror movie lovers especially die hard fans of slashers.

A huge thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

People saying this reads like a movie aren't wrong...it's cinematically visual in the best way, I felt like I was at the theater with my popcorn, candy, and Coke enjoying a bloody horror film but instead of relying on a director to manufacture everything for me and the actors to make me believe in their performance, it's all right here in my head courtesy of the perfectly crafted storytelling from Brian McAuley. What a great time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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This book is a total love letter to horror fan culture and the landscape of remakes we're currently in - I mean...we've seen remakes of almost every iconic villain in the past 15 years, and they just keep coming. My favorite thing about this book was the vignettes from the film scripts between each part - they added a bit more context and allowed us to sort of recognize the tropey and campy nature of the Reaper. I also found the aspect of psychological and mental health when it comes to Howard to be very interesting, and it was a great way to introduce "the reaper" without stigmatizing mental health - something I have unfortunately come across in other fiction, where the villain is suffering from DID and their alter is the killer. I found this book to be very meta - I mean, a horror book about slasher movies is about as meta as it gets - and I want to acknowledge that it does tend to lean into the themes and tropes of the slasher subgenre, so expect some campiness from it. For me, though it leaned a bit too hard on those and got too hackey at times. It didn't work for me, but I do recognize that leaning on the tropes and expectations of camp is a direct parallel to the low-budget slasher films of yore.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Readers expecting a slasher movie in print form thanks to the publisher's marketing team trying to draw parallels to Scream would do well to readjust their expectations prior to diving into Curse of the Reaper, which is largely a psychological thriller set against the backdrop of a slasher film franchise.

Aging actor Harold Browning's career is fading fast, kept on life support by appearances at horror conventions where he can charge for his autograph and photo ops. When news breaks that 80s horror film franchise, Night of the Reaper, is being resurrected, it's both a gift and a curse. He's never been able to shake the shadow of the nightmarish boogey-man, but a return to the silver screen is also a promise of renewed relevancy. Until he learns that Night of the Reaper is intended to be a remake to reboot the entire franchise, with former sitcom child-star and drug addict Trevor Mane taking on the iconic role. Browning refuses to lose his starring role without a fight. For him and the film series's legion of fans, Browning is The Reaper, just as Robert Englund is Freddy Krueger and Kane Hodder is Jason Voorhees, utterly inseparable from the role they made famous in each increasingly asinine sequel. But as Browning tries to worm his way into the new production, and for those who stand in his way, it grows increasingly unclear if Browning really is The Reaper...or if The Reaper is Browning himself.

Author Brian McAuley, a screenwriter with a handful of produced credits ranging from a few horror titles to an episode of Fuller House, brings a lot of personal experience to the table. At times, Curse of the Reaper feels like an insider's account of life in Hollywood, diving into an actor's methods to inhabit their role or dealing with sleazy paparazzi and sleazier producers. McAuley handles the narrative well, but some of my favorite moments of the book were the extracts from the scripts for the fictional Night of the Reaper film and it's many sequels, to the point that I wished we actually had some of these movies to check out, even if they are clearly riffs and loving odes to the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. And yes, the made-up Reaper, a rural urban legend about a murdered farmer who kills with his scythe and chain, did eventually make his way into space in Moon Reaper and has so many quips, dad jokes, and terrible puns that even Freddy would roll his eyes.

While I had hoped for more of a slasher-styled narrative chockfull of gruesome kills, bloody havoc, and over the top carnage, the bait-and-switch to psychological thriller feels positively meta atop the narrative themes of the book itself. Like Browning and Mane, as well as the online trolls piling on the announced remake, we expect one thing only to receive something else entirely. And while I do still want the gorier, slashier version of this story, I can't really fault Curse of the Reaper for being what it is.

McAuley's story is his own, and it works fairly (if, at times, ploddingly) well, particularly in its depiction of competing addictions. When we first meet Mane, he's checking out of his court-mandated rehab, but he can't easily walk away from his heroin addiction any more than Browning can give up the role of The Reaper. Both are haunted by their incredibly dangerous lifelines and harmful crutches, and their lives spiral out of control as each are drawn closer to The Reaper reboot, and to each other, until they eventually collide headlong. Mane's reaper curse is more literal, but Browning's is just as deadly as, diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he experiences frequent delusional breaks with reality, seeing and hearing The Reaper, who demands sacrifices in order to grow stronger.

Curse of the Reaper is a nicely cinematic read, and the story itself is fairly solid. It's constant callbacks and references to the slasher films that inspired it are double-edged swords, though, if only because they constantly remind readers of just how much a slasher story this particular book isn't. McAuley's final script entry for Night of the Reaper 3D presents such a compelling hook and promising premise that you can't help but wish the rest of Curse of the Reaper were that interesting. In fact, every time I came upon one of those script extracts, I found myself wishing I was reading that story instead.

Curse Of The Reaper is the perfect spooky season read. I couldn't help but imagine Howard Browning as actor Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger). It is about an older actor, Howard Browning, who is best known for his horror movie icon role of The Reaper from the popular Horror Franchise, Night Of The Reaper. Browning has not had a successful career outside of his role of the Reaper and now travels the horror convention circuit signing autographs. When Browning learns of a Reaper series reboot with a younger leading actor, he plans to do anything it takes to reclaim his rightful legacy as the one true Reaper. Soon the malevolent alter ego consumes Howard and violence ensues. Is Howard losing his mind or has the Reaper taken on a life of it's own?

This is like a love letter to your favorite original horror villain. It's a fantastic psychological/supernatural horror thriller and paints a great picture of the dark side of acting & filming. Author Brian McAuley, a WGA screenwriter with a horror background, writes with obvious knowledge of the industry in his debut horror novel.

A special thank you to Netgalley and Sky Horse Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The spookiness in this book was top notch! Perfect for those looking for a creepy read this fall.
Told between actor Howard Browning who played the Reaper in a franchise of 8 films and a new fresh-faced actor, Trevor Mane, set to play the Reaper in a revamped version.
However, the Reaper himself has different ideas. 
I have to say at first I didn't know if Howard was actually going crazy or not. It was a fine line to see if it was his disease or the character he brought to life on screen actually coming out. It was such a psychological twist to read about. 
Trevor faces his own disease as well but is it the drugs or the Reaper? 
Both men experience things they aren't totally sure of until Howard gives in to the Reaper himself.
This isn't your ordinary horror novel. It's written well with a classic horror take but also a new perspective as the on screen character comes to life.

This book was so freakin fun to read! I felt like I was in the middle of a movie. Great storyline. Highly entertaining and great pacing.

Slasher is my least favourite horror sub-genre but I found myself really enjoying this Jekyl-Hyde variation.