I am torn on how to talk about this book. It features a lot of things, like cursed movies and a kind of [spoiler] ending, that would normally light up synapses. However, something about it just didn't click with me. I can see an audience for this, and I'm sure a lot of people will just love it. Sadly, though, I just couldn't get there.

I have read and enjoyed Paul Tremblay's novels in the past, so I was ecstatic to start his new one. Unfortunately, the pacing felt off and the story felt a little too predictable.

I wanted to love this book. I loved the idea of it written as a screenplay. But something fell flat. I know others who read it and loved it; said the whole book built up to the ending, but the ending didn't even do it for me. What did? The horror convention scene. I wish there was more of that or more conventions he went to. I've been going to conventions for over 12 years now so that was really nostalgic for me and was portrayed perfectly (with how the actors feel to seeing horror authors to how the actors act.

I wish I could give this one more than 3 stars. But I cant.

creepy and imaginative. It's not always easy to tell what motivations are driving the plot here. I would watch the hell out of whatever deranged movie they were making.

As an avid horror fan, this book sounded like it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case.

The book was written from the point of view of someone I'll call the "Narrator" as we never learn his name. He is writing a companion to an audiobook about a 1993 movie that was partially released online and became a cult hit. There are multiple times lines which include present, recent past, 1993, and sections of the movie's script. The Narrator is the only surviving member of the cast of the original movie. Hollywood and The Narrator are trying to make a reboot of the film.

The multiple timelines can be confusing and convoluted at times which makes the book somewhat hard to read. There are also long sections without dialogue that ramble on for what feels like forever. The "horror" aspect of the book was more disturbing than scary. Most of the book was about bullying.

The ending felt rushed and added on for dramatic effect rather than neatly ending the story. It left me staring at my Kindle wondering what the heck I just read. I love a good horror story whether it be film or novel and this book didn't feel like horror at all to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The dark and creepy vibes of this book are out of this world. Absolutely amazing writing and a well written story that blew me away with fear!

Slow to develop and relying too heavily on a tragic "incident" that most will predict well before the payoff, the novel is better than the average mystery thriller but not up to Tremblay's earlier novels. One thread of the novel is weighed down by exposition that is acknowledged/excused in the text as an unorthodox script by a first time writer. I understand the purpose of the lengthy emotional explanations of a character's line or facial expression, but it starts to get tiresome having to read a page of motivation between lines of dialogue. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

This was my first book by Mr. Tremblay and I just don’t particularly think I’m the right audience. I wanted to love this book so badly. I felt like the way the storyline was set up was confusing, with the way it went from now then and back farther. I liked how there were parts of script in it. However, this book was very disturbing and I just didn’t feel like I was the right audience.

Tremblay has done it again, solidifying himself as one of my all-time favorite authors. Unique format, high tension, and a gutting, emotional tug of war that left me breathless.

I was worried that this would be too similar to some other books I’ve read but I was pleasantly surprised by how unique this was. It was a definite page turner and I did not want to put it down. I was a bit confused at times and wish there had been some more clarity on a few plot points but overall this is really enjoyable.

In Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay is about the guy who played the thin man Who I don’t think was ever named in the book so I will call him the thin man or TTM. TTM is trying to get a reboot done of a movie that was made in 1993 but only became popular with the Internet when the director Valentina posted three pics from the movie on Twitter. It has since gained a cult following and throughout the book we go back to the making the movie him trying to get it remade in other aspects of his life during the interim. His whole ego seems to be based on The character despite the shooting of the movie going horribly wrong. Just how invested he is in this character becomes more and more apparent as the story goes along they have some other things I want to say about this book but don’t want to give anything away this is a great book and although it is truly a slow burn it is so worth reading because they have so many different avenues that end with craziness and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not a big fan of slow burn horror but if they all paid off the way this one did I would definitely be down to read it. Not to mention the ending was an OMG moment that made me sit up in bed and be like WTF? Hollywood is crazy add in an egomaniac whose only claim to fame was in a movie no one saw and it makes for an even crazier story but that’s just one part of the plot this book is so good I wish I could say more… I really do because this book is good! I want to thank William Morrow for my free art copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was a good read. I liked the horror set movie aspect. So much happens in this story, but it’s so good!

This book was great! I’ve never read anything by this author, but I loved the horror, creepy vibes of this story. Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

This story goes back and forth from present day to the past of a man’s youth years on the set of a horror film set. I gave this book a 4.5 stars.

The hinges SCREAM.......

That'll get your attention.

Paul Tremblay creates a deep, dark panoramic view into what actually causes those clawed little things in the mind to scurry back and forth with no intention of stopping. Late, late at night. Why must we flip on every light in the house just to go to the bathroom while waiting until it reaches the urgent and desperate stage?

Trembly knows. He uses the familiar to light the match of fear. A troop of newbies set their sights on producing the ultimate horror movie in June of 1993. They lean on allowing the raw moment to set the stage. A wavering script is just a backdrop. Reaction, again and again, is key.

And at the core of it all is the main character: The Thin Kid. He's played so appropriately by the teenage "Weird Guy" who brings all his misfit persona to the screen. And, almost from a call from casting, is the mask that the script writer claimed to have found carelessly tossed out by someone with its gargoyle features that fit the bill and beyond.

Tremblay reaches back, once again, for familiarity as the horror setting is chosen in a condemned school abandoned by the public. A flashlight skims across features known only too well in the daylight: the empty desks, the books on shelves, the archaic blackboard, and the closet door not opened in ages. But, oh Baby at night, it all speaks with an actual voice. Creaking sounds. Scratching sounds. An opera orchestrated by fear.

And now a remake of Horror Movie is in the mix thirty years later. Can it ever recapture the same terror volume as on the original Creep-O-Meter? Stay tuned, kiddies, and find out.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and to Paul Tremblay for the opportunity.

Paul Tremblay is such a unique storyteller. It takes a lot of visualizing to stay focused until the end and I have to admit, I skipped to the end to see if I wanted to continue. I did not see where the story was going and it was quite a shock. Definitely not a book I would casually recommend but great for horror lovers.

The whole time reading this, I was thinking "Paul Tremblay's doing a Stephen Graham Jones thing", and then wouldn't you know it he shouts out SGJ in the acknowledgments at the end. It works! He doesn't seem quite so AMPED about horror films as a genre as SGJ that he has to lay on the movie facts and tropes quite so thick, and the lighter hand is effective. Tremblay effectively manages two timelines and a semi-unreliable narrator to keep up tension, though the last act does take some turns that are a little out there. I enjoyed it.

This one unfortunately wasn't for me. I loved his Head Full of Ghosts, but I'm finding these books that are just using depravity make me dread picking the book up and this was no exception. I wanted to like this, but even the twist at the end fell flat for me.

Tremblay is one of my favorite authors and I love that his work is always a crazy mix of “you know exactly what you’re gonna get” and “you never know what you’re gonna get.” I know when I’m reading a Paul Tremblay book I am going to have an unreliable narrator and an open ending that leaves me second guessing everything. But somehow, even knowing all of that, his books always seem fresh and surprising to me. I don’t even try to make predictions when I’m reading because I know nothing I anticipate will match the brilliance of a Tremblay ending. His books get to me that much.

Horror Movie was no exception. A few reviewers are calling this slow burn, but to me I felt like it got to the point quickly and kept me hooked from the beginning. A group of young people are making their own horror movie and, from the jumping back and forth in time, we learn pretty early on that it was unfinished and is considered by the horror community to be a “cursed film.” We are revisiting that “curse” with an unnamed man that played a character called the “Thin Kid.”

To me, this book was an amazing, oftentimes really uncomfortable look at how society can turn people into literal monsters, how sometimes you live with the pain of feeling so left out and “othered” for so long that it changes you. It had that classic “holy shit, did that just happen?” ending that Tremblay’s books have become known for and I honestly absolutely loved it.

*Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review*

**3 out of 5 stars**

I went into "Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay with high expectations, having heard great things about the author's ability to craft a compelling and unsettling narrative. While the book did deliver on some of those expectations, it ultimately fell short of being a truly unforgettable reading experience.

The premise of a notorious, unreleased horror film with a cult following is intriguing, and Tremblay does a great job of building tension and suspense as the story unfolds. The protagonist, the man who played "The Thin Kid," is a complex and well-developed character, and his struggles to come to terms with the dark secrets of the film's past are both haunting and relatable.

Where the book stumbles is in its pacing and character development. At times, the story feels overly reliant on info dumps and exposition, which can slow down the pace of the narrative. Additionally, some of the supporting characters feel more like caricatures than fully fleshed-out people, which makes it difficult to become invested in their stories.

The themes of trauma, grief, and the blurring of reality and fiction are all well-explored, but they feel somewhat heavy-handed at times. The writing is atmospheric and effective, but it doesn't always feel like it's serving the story rather than just trying to be creepy.

Overall, "Horror Movie" is a solid read that will appeal to fans of horror and suspense. While it may not be Tremblay's best work, it's still a compelling and unsettling story that will keep you turning pages. Just be prepared for some slow patches and a few underdeveloped characters.

This was a great idea for me but it was a bit too much for me to. I wanted to love this book so much but it fell dark in the way I was not expecting. Not for me.

Where do I even begin? Reading this felt like watching an unsettling movie where you just want someone to get out alive, but then they go back in to save a friend from a haunted house and never come back out. The visceral frustration I felt jumping back and forth from the movie script, past interactions between characters, and the current whereabouts of our main character drove me up the wall in the best of ways. This style creates a very slow burn that forces the audience to question how monsters are created and who they really are. It helps that we are primarily in the protagonist’s head who, while incredibly unreliable, paints a deeper picture of the monstrous nature of humans and society. This is also the sort of book that you may have to put down a couple of times and will probably have to read more than once to soak everything in.
Tremblay is the type of author who writes books you either love or hate. For me, his writing always makes for atmospheric audiobooks and I wish I had listened to Horror Movie rather than reading it. The story would have come alive for me much more and my rating would have been a bit higher! For me, this one came in at 3.5 stars as the concept was incredibly cool, but the format was lacking for me. Had I listened to this, it likely would have been a 4-star read!
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC to read and review!