There has always been an intriguing mystery surrounding the gorilla-style movie Horror Movie. This alluring enigma has captivated audiences, and now a new generation yearns to remake the film, a move that could potentially bring about more tragedy. Horror Movie possesses the elements of a gripping story, one that could keep you on the edge of your seat. However, Tremblay sadly misses the mark in key areas like plot, pacing, and character development. While the pull of the Horror Movie is undeniably compelling, it remains frustratingly underexplained, lacking the realism that could have elevated it. Overall, the plot feels flimsy, and the characters never quite come to life, leaving the narrative slow and disappointing.

Loved this book so much. Really found it to be an excellent execution of a horror novel and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Title: Horror Movie
Release Date: June 11, 2024
Author: Paul Tremblay
Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Dani Martineck, Micky Shiloah, Michael Crouch, Frankie Corzo, Stacy Gonzalez, Tyla Collier, Ariel Blake, Johnathan McClain, Dan Bittner, Eva Kaminsky, Gisela Chipe
Publisher: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins

Horror Movie is a physical as well as ephemeral work of literature. Its shape is part of the story; the medium is part of the message, and it is self-critical and self-aware, containing as well a self-aware story-within-a-story. What do we call that? Postmodern? Post postmodern? I’m not sure. And the truth is, I nearly didn’t read this book. I had an advance reader copy, for which I was grateful at the time, but I quickly found that the layout in my Kindle was a no-go, and I literally could not read the book given the physically structural elements of the storytelling. So I waited. When the audiobook was released, I grabbed that via Libby and had at it. Five days later, I’m glad I waited and returned to the effort.
The first thing I noticed in the audiobook, in addition to knowing something of what I was getting into with the narrative structure, was the large cast of readers / performers—twelve of them. The last time I came across a large cast for an audiobook was for World War Z, an audiobook experience that you’re a fool if you’ve not heard. Getting into this book on tape, I worried that the complexity of the storytelling combined with its cast of characters would render tracking the book overly challenging for my ADHD brain, but surprisingly, I did better with this book than with many others. (I usually restart audiobooks three or even five times in the first hour of narration before I can catch all the main players and the key setup, but this time I got it on the first take. Shocking!) This cast themselves played key roles in keeping my focus and telling the story Tremblay has written.
And Tremblay has outdone himself, I think, with Horror Movie. After Cabin at the End of the World and The Pallbearers Club, I didn’t quite know what I was getting into, but I knew it would be different. And different it was. In this story, again, Tremblay is a magician weaving what we’ve heard Stephen King describe as “uniquely portable” spells. Horror Movie is the narration by a key player in an aborted film from the 90s getting its 2020-something reboot. As the tale unspools in jumps from past to present to near-past, we get just enough of what we need to keep listening—as we get dribs of the sensational beats of this story, we need to know more. Even as Tremblay’s narrators put the cruelty of people entertained by gore and awfulness on display, we ourselves can’t help but to become those low curiosity-seekers. By the time we’re hit with the story’s climax, we’re all in, and we can’t turn away. Tremblay has us by the gums, and he knows we’d look at a blank screen if it held the promise of eventually offering more information, more dread. And we listen, or we read, or we stare—into the abyss, and into Tremblay’s Orb of Palantir. Will we see ourselves? Some of us might.

I heartily recommend Tremblay’s latest effort. Five stars.

Wow! Just wow! I'm not sure what to say about the book. It was incredible. Yes slow in the first half, but I believe that was to build up to the ending. I have a lot of thoughts how where Paul Tremblay's inspiration came from and I'm going to have to read interview and such to see if I'm correct. I highly recommend, but look up triggers if you have them.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.”

The cover and title alone had me intrigued about the newest release from Paul Tremblay.

I listened to this mostly on audiobook and I have to say that the production was FANTASTIC. Not only is there a main narrator that is recounting his memories for an audiobook retelling (very meta!), there is a full cast that performs the reading of the movie script, including page turning noises, just like at a table read. This really had me immersed in the story, especially the movie portion. I’m not sure I would’ve been quite as enthralled had I just been physically reading it. The narrative is a bit slow and the ending appears without really understanding how we get there, which I did struggle with a bit. The structure of the story flips from modern day to filming the movie in the past, to the script reading. Sometimes this led to a pacing issue, however I appreciated in particular that the script was parcelled pieces at a time, mimicking how the actor playing The Thin Man (and our main narrator) received his script. There are parts that are incredibly squeamish - the treatment of the Thin Kid by the other teens is pure horror, but also blurs the line between the making of the movie and reality. I was reminded a lot of Curse of the Reaper, in which both main characters inhabit their characters during filming and the aftereffects spill into their lives forever.

Horror Movie is a story of memory, trauma, legend, and the monsters we create. If it does peak your interest, I highly recommend the audiobook. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for the ARC!

I loved the references to old school horror movies in this book. It was definitely a different story than I was expecting, but the concept of it was cool. Four teens decide to make a movie out a screenplay one of them wrote. However, things go awry when this horror movie has an ending that is unexpected and causes the movie to never be released. Now, a reboot is in the works and they have to make their horror film all over again. Overall, I’d rate this 3/5 stars.

What did I just read? HORROR MOVIE is a disturbingly binge-able read. Tremblay perfectly captures the cult movie phenomenon while infusing the tale with candor, emotion, and an ever-present darkness.

At its core, this is a story about creating a movie and the people who become a part of that process. The author gifts us with the narrator who played the Thin Kid in the original. He weaves through the past and present all the while carefully revealing certain tidbits to keep the reader wanting more. Because of this, there is always a lingering feeling of unease adding to the overall atmosphere of the tale.

HORROR MOVIE takes the errieness of a horror novel and elevates it into something more than the sum of its parts. It is smart, unnerving, and twisted. The layers the author builds into the plot increase the dread, fear, and chills throughout. As the reader, you know it will not end well, but how it ends is still replaying in my mind. Seriously…what did I just read? And why am I obsessed with it?

I had some trouble getting into this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down! Paul has a way of writing that just daws you in & holds you until the book is done.

I am honestly not sure of what I just finished reading. It was no where near what I expected. It’s like the creation of a monster for a movie.

Tremblay is back at it again with a book that just twists and twists and keeps twisting! Just when you think you have a handle on the plot, it slips from your fingers over and over, creating a sense of tension and urgency that is undeniable. A must-read for any fans of horror, this is one that will stick with you long after you set it down.

Horror Movie plays with timelines and structure in this terrifying novel about making a horror movie. This story explores how people change themselves to fit into a group or to match the group's view of them. The pacing of this novel was good and with the exception of the final FINAL twist, the plot was very well developed.

Horror Movie is an unsettling reflection of a man who played a part in an indie horror film with a cult-following despite never being released. Cut between the past during filming, the screenplay, and present day as he fields meetings with Hollywood types who want to bring the movie back to life, the lore of the original movie’s set grows more and more uncomfortable as context is revealed scene by scene. Pushed boundaries, body horror, and a tragic accident all contribute to the cursed-like atmosphere hanging around the movie’s history like a mask. Really, too, Horror Movie is about the way truth bends and the way stories can be true and not true at the same time.

1.5 stars.

It took me too long to read this for a reason… it was soooooo hard to want to read. Nothing pulled me in until I got closer to the middle and end & even then, I just didn’t like it as much as I expected/hoped I would. I know I probably should have listened to the reviews on this, but the premise just sounded so promising. The jumps in time were annoying, the “creepy” factor was more… weird, and I didn’t like any of the characters. I’m only rounding this up to 2 stars, solely because there were *some* plot points that were surprises, which ultimately kept me from making this a DNF very early on (and also because I feel like this is actually a story that would greatly benefit from being turned into a movie or show — which I would definitely watch — because the film script scenes were not fun [and honestly, kind of annoying] to read, but they would be so much better on a screen, which is something I’d rarely ever say).

Regardless, thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with a copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review.

i absolutely loved the way that this was set up, part-narrative and part-screenplay, as it made for a really complex and rich story. narrative was a little sparse but the stylistics made up for it.

This book could have been so much more for me. I’m sad it didn’t live up to my expectations. At first I thought it was the format but overall this book was sooo unbearably slow for me.
Sooo much happening but nothing happening.
I loved the end but that was like the last chapter!
When thinking about the book, I keep thinking what I want to think and what could have been great. Not actually what happened. Don’t get me wrong it’s messed up in itself. It just toook forever and soo much talking.
Not the best for me but def try for yourself!

Horror movie was such an interesting novel.. I loved how it would go from the script as if it were being filmed, to the present day Thin Kid.

The novel Horror Film is a deeply unsettling novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page. By adopting the perspective of a seemingly insignificant character, the author creates a chilling atmosphere of dread and entrapment.

The narrative masterfully blurs the lines between fiction and reality, as the protagonist’s experiences as a horror film actor mirror the societal pressures individuals face throughout their lives. The novel’s exploration of the masks we wear and the roles we are forced into is both terrifying and thought-provoking.

Through its clever structure and pacing, Horror Film gradually strips away the reader’s sense of control, mirroring the protagonist’s own loss of agency. The ending, which questions the true nature of monstrosity, leaves a lasting impact, forcing readers to confront their own complicity in the horror.

Overall, Horror Film is a haunting and unforgettable read that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt trapped by societal expectations.

This book had the classic Paul Tremblay touch and I always really enjoy that. The slow creeping dread and inevitable kind of horror is so gripping and it feels so personal. This book feels like you’re in it watching it in real time. The main characters have depth and were relatable even when everything was super uncomfortable. There was a lot to keep track of with the various timelines so this is not a light read or something to casually. If you like Paul Tremblay you’ll like this book and if you’ve never ready a book by him I might not start with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

I felt this horror book to be a bit slower of a reveal. Another author who is really great at some open ended components, and really get you thinking.

I am not going to pretend that I fully understand everything about this book, but I can confidently say that I’ve enjoyed every moment reading it! Even when I was confused.

This story is told by a guy who acted in a ‘90s horror film that was never fully released, except for some scenes uploaded to YouTube 15 years after they were shot. Now he’s involved in a present-day reboot, and the chapters go back and forth between then and now. Within the chapters, we get the narrator’s POV for a while and then a large chunk of the screenplay written in script form.

This is my first Tremblay book, so maybe that’s why I’m so open to the meta-ness of it. I get why some readers are put off by this style, but I’m super impressed by the author’s ability to create something so readable and simultaneously artistic. I think this form is genius.

Full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5978001162