This was a hard review to write. I loved pretty much the entire book. The screenplay portions are some of the best writing I've read in a horror movie and had me so entranced. We really got to know the mindset of Chloe and Valentina, along with the Weird Guy/Think Kid (sidenote: I loved that we never found out the main character's name, just like they never revealed the name in the screenplay) as more of the book went on and we saw more of the original shooting of the film take place. I loved the time jumps, so we never really stayed comfortable in one place as we read. I feel like being disoriented by both the time jumps and the jumps to the screenplay really gave this novel that oomph it needed. But having read other Tremblay, I hated that last chapter. <spoiler>I wanted something open ended. Or maybe just not what we got. Clearly there was something wrong with the Thin Kid, yet I didn't love finding out that he was literally a monster. </spoiler> Despite my personal disappointment with the end, I still highly recommend this one!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4iQ6h7LNTN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Here is a link to my instagram review. Great book!

In this fast-paced retelling of making a movie gone wrong, Tremblay serves up chills and building horror. With a “sympathetic” protagonist and well drawn supportIng characters, Horror Movie seems ripe for a film treatment of its own.

This book was downright addictive, The pacing of the book was absolutely fantastic and I was immediately sucked into it. The novel is about a cult horror movie made in the 90's that has become legendary in the present and is told from the Thin Kid's perspective. I really enjoyed the split between past and present, interspersed with the actual screenplay of the titular Horror Movie. There were so many absolutely disturbing scenes in this and I ate them all up.

I felt like the book was answering the questions on how someone makes a monster, and the answer was that we make our own monsters. Absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a unique horror book and I will be going back through Paul Tremblay's novels to read more. Thank you so much to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I've always been a fan of stories that has a first person feel to them. The Found Footage genre of horror movies has always been my thing and this book captures some of that feeling as its a first person narrative set in two different periods of time.

The author captures the mysticism around an urban legend, a movie that was nearly complete and something bad happened toward the end of production. The movie never saw the light of day and yet some briefs scenes and a screenplay end up online, creating a cult following in the horror movie genre to the point where Hollywood is considering making a new movie based on the one that was never released.

Our protagonist is an actor in the original film, a potent role that will redefine his life.

Who would think a silly mask could do so much?

This was my first read from this author. The cover and the title intrigued me, but I kind of got lost throughout the book. It is about 4 people who are supposed to do a big reboot of a movie that was originally done in 1993, but only 3 scenes from that movie ever made it out there, but enough for them to want to reboot it. Only 1 main character from the original "The Thin Kid" is still around. This book goes back and fourth from the past to the present, also goes into theater format. I am not sure if it is just me, but I found the story hard to follow along with the truth and what was going on. I still would be interested in checking out this authors other work. Thank you Netgalley for letting me ARC read this

Ok, Horror Movie NEEDS to BECOME a horror movie! This book was WILD! Not many books give me chills, and I experienced some chills reading this one so props for that. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

In 1993, four young filmmakers spent four weeks filming Horror Movie, an art house horror flick. Strangely enough only three of the scenes were ever released and yet the movie still had a major cult following. Now thirty years later, Hollywood is making a reboot and the only surviving actor who played the infamous “Thin Kid” is back to finish the movie.

This story is told through past and present tense along with bits and pieces of the original screenplay which I found to be not only interesting (even if at times confusing) but I think the screenplay parts really pull you into this story like you’re actually watching a movie. Very well done. You definitely get a sense of the cursed film vibe in this one.

I will say this book did not play out the way I had expected it to with the build up. But then again, it kind of did. It was wild. I could go on to dissect this book but I think it would spoil some really interesting parts. We have some unreliable characters that give the book a really disturbing atmosphere that was perfect for that eerie, what’s going to happen next tension. Definitely a slow burn thriller/ horror as our MC recounts the making of the original film and what happened to bring about the remake. A unique story about what makes a monster a monster. The second to last chapter almost ruined this book for me, the last chapter redeemed it. Worth the read i think though for psychological horror fans.

I was really looking forward to this book as I’m somewhat of a horror movie buff but, unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into it. The prose was a bit pretentious and I didn’t care for any of the characters.

I was hoping for some scares but it was too much of a slow burn and the payoff wasn’t worth the trek to get there.

I’d recommend this for fans of Tremblay as it’s typical of his style, it just didn’t work for me personally.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cursed movies—from Rebel Without a Cause to Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist to Poltergeist—are an infamous part of cinema and pop culture history. Movie shoots beset by tragedy, movies where the cast died young, before their time—the idea of the cursed movie has been around long enough to become a trope in its own right.

Paul Tremblay take that “cursed movie” trope and flays it to the bone. That shouldn’t be a surprise. In a relatively few short years Tremblay has become one of the finest horror writers working today, and he’s done that by being fiercely original. Even when he takes on time-honored horror subjects like demonic possession, with A Head Full of Ghosts, he turns it inside out and gives it new, vital life.

Horror Movie, the novel, is about Horror Movie, an ultra-low budget, indie horror movie shot by a small group of young guerilla filmmakers. The filming of the movie, a queasy, disturbing take on high school bullying taken to extremes, was so fraught that it was never released—only three complete scenes and the shooting script were ever released online—which only adds to its legendary status and growing, rabid fan base.

That’s the basic setup. From there Tremblay does what he does best, keeping the reader disturbed and off balance. He bounces between the past, with the shooting of the film, and the present, when one of the actors—the only surviving cast member—has been approached to be part of a high-budget reboot of the movie. We are also gifted with large sections of Horror Movie’s script, and for me, this is where Tremblay truly excels. The voice of the script is pitch perfect. The three parts of the story—past, present, and script—fit together, overlap, and sometimes contradict, forming an unsettling, terrifying gestalt.

Horror Movie is Tremblay at his best, which, if you’ve read anything by him (And if you haven’t, why not? Get on that.) you know that’s saying something. The past few years have seen an explosion of brilliant, uncompromising horror writers, and Tremblay is one of the very best.

Horror Movie will release June 11, 2024, and is available for pre-order now. Don’t miss this one.

🎬Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay 🎬

Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Goal 2024: 27/100

First off!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

This story was really giving me cursed films vibes. I remember reading articles about cursed sets previously such as the exorcist, rosemarys baby, and the conjuring so I loved having a book with a cursed film theme! As a horror movie fan, I was so excited to have a book on theme! I also have never read a book where I actually felt like I was INSIDE the movie.

The characters portrayed in Horror Movie really captured the 90’s grunge vibe and nailed what I would expect to come out of a 90’s horror movie. All in book form… 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I think I may continue to have nightmares about “Thin Kid”….

I will say that this was a slower burn for me but part of the book is written as the screenplay so I let my mind wander and form “on scene” moments. Truly an immersive experience.

The emotions I experienced while reading this book:
Thrill, panic, love, sympathy, shock and disturbed.


Thank you Paul and Willam Morrow for the ARC copy of Horror Movie. This book has a release date of June 11th, 2024 so make sure to either pre-order or put it on your wishlist so you don’t forget. You won’t want to have this missing from your collection.


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#horrormovie

The title and description of this book had me SO excited to read it. It sounded exactly like something I’d ask a writer to write - you know - perfect for me.

It wasn’t what I expected.

But that’s not exactly a bad thing. I was thinking this would be like a gory, jump scare, creepy type of horror movie, but it’s really more psychological than anything else.

I liked how the book was separated into movie scripts and narration from some of the characters/people, but none of them are reliable, which was a little trippy.

The monster is made a monster through sheer bullying. Kids doing bad things to other kids and turning them evil is not a new plot line by any means. This one went above and beyond, though, and it gets weird. Very weird.

I will admit. There were quite a few things I just didn’t really understand… and it hindered my judgment.

It seemed like there were too many unanswered questions at the end, which confused me. The story goes in a completely different direction than I thought it would.

Overall, it was a slow burn, but a quick read. It kept me turning the pages!

A cursed movie story, please.

But… while this was well written I was never invested in the story - the pretentiousness, the timeline changes grew confusing, the cursed movie aspect isn’t quite accurate - the backtracking and reexamining of plot removed that idea for me, the slowburn buildup of the atmosphere was such that I was never able to feel any type of connection to the characters, and I found the abrupt ending a letdown.

This was my first time reading the author, and though Horror Movie didn’t work for me, it was well written enough that I will try more of the author’s work.


Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the DRC

I am a huge Paul Tremblay fan but this book fell flat on me. It was a little bit of build up for nothing and too many metaphors.

Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay delivers a captivating narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Tremblay's skillful storytelling and intricate plot make for an engaging read, filled with suspense and intrigue. While some may find certain elements predictable, overall, the book offers a fresh take on the horror genre, making it a worthwhile read for fans looking for a chilling and thought-provoking experience.

This was well-written and interesting enough, however the writing style wasn’t for me. It’s primarily written in a script format, which I think would be absolutely fantastic on audiobook, but didn’t work for me in a written format. There’s a reason this author is so prolific in the horror community though - despite the writing style not working for me, I still found this book to be creepy and atmospheric as hell.

A great and horrifying take on the sacrifices one will make for their art, regardless of who they’re sacrificing. This book was genuinely disturbing at points and had me looking in the dark corners of my room checking to make sure no one hid there.

Mr. Tremblay does it again! This story is part narrative, part screenplay and a whole lot creepy. The reader will wonder what’s next page after page. I never give anything away so I’ll say this. I see a movie adaptation and a new popular character in the future. Highly recommended!

I was so excited to be approved for my very first ARC, and the author being one I really enjoying reading made it even better. One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the plot itself. I'm an avid book reader and horror movie lover so this book was basically my whole personality, a book about a horror movie! I enjoyed the writing style. There are parts where its written like a movie script which is cool and a nice mix up within all the regular novel writing. I did however find myself getting a little lost with all the back and forth and what had happened and when. The timeline of things were a little confusing to me. However, I really did enjoy the plot and the visual details I could see in my head while reading this book provided.

This was my first book by Paul Tremblay, so I didn't know too much of what to expect but I have mixed opinions. First off, the premise of the book was super intriguing, although the execution didn't quite land as well as I had hoped. The creepy tension really ramps up as you're reading and the desire to find out what happens at the end made it difficult to put down. I liked how the script of the film was written into the narrative as well. Unfortunately, the writing style and dialogue didn't really click with me, and some parts felt pretty slow and pretentious. I did like the ending though. Overall - 3.5/5

• ARC from Netgalley Publish date June 11th

• Creepy, messed up creature feature

• I have read everything by Paul Tremblay and will continue to do so - his stories stay with you long after reading

• I recommend this book!