I just finished reading an eARC of Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay provided by NetGalley.

In 1993 a group of young adult friends set out to film a horror movie. Chloe-- the artist who wrote the screenplay; Valentina-- the emerging director; Karson-- friend and actor; a mishmash of crew including Dan the cameraman, and our narrator, who plays a character only known as the Thin Kid. We follow our unnamed narrator through 3 distinct timelines, the original filming, the push for a reboot, and the intervening years as he narrates his audiobook.
During the 1993 filming, things have gone off the rails-- accidents, incidents, and death surround it's filming. Because of this, the film has never been shown in full. Three scenes are posted by Valentina online which causes a massive cult-like following for the unfinished work. As we flip between the timelines, we get to see what went wrong, how it happened, and watch the narrator's full descent into the character he is portraying.

If that seems complicated, it is because it is. It's hard to articulate the actual plot of the book. We get some dialogue, flashbacks, and interspersed throughout we get the full original screenplay by Chloe. This all works together to create one of the most creepy and ominous books I've read in a long time. I'm very familiar with Tremblay's other works, and in my opinion, this is one of his best. As the 93 timeline roars forward, you know disaster is coming, but you can't look away. In modern day, we watch our narrator lie to himself, to others, and to help create this aura of curses and mystery around the original film. We see the movie in starts and stops, as the narrator is only privy to the scenes he is in. He wears a mask as part of his character, and Tremblay makes the audience put on the mask to view the entirety of this story. In true Tremblay fashion, the lines between what's real and what's supernatural are constantly blurred, and up until the very end it's entirely unclear where the movie starts and reality ends. I absolutely devoured this book, and I thought it was so subtly profound in the way that it examines horror culture and the way we all wear masks. The Thin Kid will stay with me for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley a"Horror Movie" by Paul Tremblay is a chilling and thought-provoking novel that cleverly blurs the lines between reality and fiction. The story follows the protagonist, a film critic who becomes obsessed with a mysterious and disturbing horror film that may or may not exist.

Tremblay's writing is both atmospheric and suspenseful, creating a sense of unease that lingers long after the final page. The novel is filled with clever meta-references to classic horror films, as well as insightful commentary on the nature of fear and storytelling.

One of the most compelling aspects of the book is its exploration of the impact of horror on the human psyche. As [insert name] delves deeper into the mystery of the film, they are forced to confront their own fears and vulnerabilities, leading to a gripping and emotionally resonant climax.

Overall, "Horror Movie" is a masterfully crafted novel that will appeal to fans of both horror and literary fiction. Tremblay's storytelling is both intelligent and gripping, making this book a must-read for anyone looking for a truly unique and unforgettable reading experience.nd the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

4 teens making a movie, creating something that is supposed to be fun, and odd things happening while filming sign me up please . This book gave me chills and had my full attention. It was very well written and made me think of all my favorite movies combined in one book. The story is told in the past and present. This is will be a reread for October.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book.

Actual rating is 4.5 stars (rounded up) as this was near perfect for me (though I do love almost anything Paul Tremblay writes). A lil bit of gore but not enough to turn my stomach, a lot of psychological disturbance (my fave) and a lot of “wt…..f….” as we moved into the final quarter of the book. Still not sure I quite understood the ending fully, but I don’t actually want to.

The only question I actually wished I could have answered (and maybe it is answered in the book and I just missed it because I was reading so fast to see what happened next) is: when did he ACTUALLY lose the pinky?

I loved this book and will be purchasing a hard copy of it as well just…to have. And reread.

Thank you so much for the early read! I’ve been so excited for this since I saw the announcement. It was a really fun premise and I enjoyed the addition of the script within the plot but I was expecting more horror.

Oh my. Y'all are in for a wild fucking ride with this one. So absolutely unsettling and incredibly clever writing that jumps from past, present, and screenplay--it's executed perfectly and transitions so smoothly.

You guys. I'm just blown away and kind of speechless. Stunning and ingenious. Truly disturbing in an insidious way. This book will burrow in to your thoughts and refuse to leave.

This is my first Paul Tremblay book, and it won't be my last! I grew up bingeing horror movies, and this book is a creepy love letter to horror movie fans. It's fun, unsettling, and fast-paced, and the line between reality and imagination is blurred.

I found the format of this book a bit difficult to adjust to. I did not look into what this book was about before reading it and so, I was expecting it to be a bit more suspenseful and eery. The ending of this book definitely lived up to the name and overall I really enjoyed this book

A fun, meta-fictional horror novel, perfect for people who like horror movies. The author writes such a realized first-person narrator, the perfect Hollywood scumbag. If you're a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, The House in the Woods, or books about the making of horror movies, you'll dig this.

To tell the truth
To tell it well
It all depends upon the liar 

              — The Afghan Whigs, “Bulletproof”


… all monsters are mirrors. 

              — Paul Tremblay, Horror Movie



Yes, yes, the nightmares are here to stay. Print your scripts, grab your cameras. It’s movie time. Horror Movie. 

What tricks our memories play, and what tricks we ourselves play. How often we fool ourselves, writing our stories, forgetting what parts are real, which imagined. Can one ever truly know?

Is it only true if there’s proof? What about feeling? If it feels real, is it? Or, can both be simultaneously true?

This book will make you look twice at everything that comes your way. But the past? It may make you look thrice at the past. 

It’ll find you questioning everything you thought you once knew. 

And:

It’ll scare the ever-loving life out of you. 

Tremblay has written one of the greatest lost film books of all time. And it’s so much more, too. Much, much more.


You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream, and your heart will wrench, as, all the while, your eyes bug further and further out of your skull. 

We are the monsters. Sometimes. Our own. Someone else’s. And sometimes, sometimes we create monsters simply to destroy ourselves. 

But sometimes, the monsters live on.

A decidedly creepy tale but incredibly difficult to follow since it bounces back and forth between present-day narrative, a screenplay written decades ago, and the film made from that screenplay. If you can juggle the three views, you're a much more attentive read than am I.
While the book is unsettling and weird, being a sort of odd take on the "cursed film" trope, I didn't find that it fit in the horror genre--at all. More like a psychological mind-fuck of the narrator than horror.
It's being heralded as a masterpiece by some and although I'm a big admirer of Paul Tremblay's work, this one just didn't do it for me. It happens.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Tremblay does it again! I haven't felt this uneasy reading a book since I first read King's "Pet Semetary". A slow-burn story that will keep you on your toes, Horror Movie is part monster flick, part psychological thriller. My advice? Go in blind and let this one take you by the hand and lead you into the darkness.

Underwhelming book. You expect to get a little more clarification of the monster in the movie. The main characters in the story, I believe could have been developed more to help understand their actions.

Love this book! It was definitely different than what I thought it would be, which was an awesome thing. The "found footage" style of the book was very engaging in the way it flipped between the film script and the different time frames that the movie touches upon with the characters. You are left to unravel the mystery of not only what happened but just exactly how. Is our narrator reliable or not? What really happened? And what is happening now?

This book does a great job of exploring not only how books and films and media can take on a life on their own after they are made but how much the myths and legends surrounding our favorite stories can change the reality around the past and present for those directly involved. I love the idea that this story took on a life of its own and that at the end of the day, what we've read is all subjective to the truth or not.

This was a hard book to put down and I finished it in a few days. Paul Tremblay writes in a way that is easy to read and understand but also manages to pull across some complex themes. While you get to know and love the characters, you also can see them as real and fallible people which means you find yourself empathizing more when bad things happen. Overall I'd recommend to anyone who has a good weekend to sit and enjoy because once you pick it up, you're going to want to finish it as soon as possible!!

I was very surprised and excited when I got approved for this ARC! I have never read anything by Paul Tremblay but am familiar with some of his other novels, so I looked forward to this.

The book takes place thirty years after the mysterious production of “Horror Movie” - an arthouse style horror film that despite never being released amassed a massive cult following from horror fans worldwide in the years to come. We follow our protagonist, who portrayed the elusive and popular role of “The Thin Kid” in the original movie and follow him as he’s casted to reprise his role for the remake three decades later.

As a horror film fanatic, I think I may have placed my standards a little too high with this one. The novel doesn’t read like your average scary story. Instead of relying on out right jump-scares (yes they exist in books) Paul Tremblay uses a more subtle and ominous horror voice in his writing. That was something I definitely enjoyed. But through the creepy slow burn the vibe would change drastically in some chapters, setting a more pretentious and high sounding mood that felt really boring and out of place.

All in all I think the book was good and the story itself was creepy. But I was just hoping for more horror. The ending is a little random and falls short initially, but after sleeping on it, it kind of sticks with you. I’ll definitely check out more from Paul Tremblay soon!

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and the author for providing me with an eARC in return for my review :)

Edgy, weird and truly interesting. If you like good books and horror movies, this will be a solid choice. I can recommend this despite a few pacing issues.

As a huge fan of horror movies and the making behind them, Horror Movie was a fun and terrifying read for any readers who love terrifying lost media and analog horror.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC :)

This was between 3 and 4 starts for me.

The story is told between a "Then" and "Now" perspective.

"Then" takes place in 1993, when a group of 4 teenagers decide to make a horror film that ultimately becomes a cult favorite for being cursed, based on the events that happen throughout the filming process. The original movie was actually never released except for a few clips years later on YouTube, which of course makes the horror fans feral for it.

"Now" is present day, when a 'reboot' is being made of the film. The Now is told via the style of an audiobook written by the only surviving member of the original cast to tell the story of making the re-boot version.

Much of the "Then" is told via the movie script.

Still with me?

It is a little difficult to follow, but I think that is intentional on the author's part. There is a sense of blurred lines between what is reality and what is happening in the movie, coupled with the fact that our narrator is a little unreliable.

I think I expected this to be a little more like a "haunted" movie set, but what I got instead was far more disturbing--in a good way, if you can call it that. I was defnitely interested in what was going on, though it was a bit of a slow burn. There are some really unsettling scenes that kind of haunted me, for sure.

The ENDING--yeesh.

Overall I enjoyed this one but I think that my fave of Tremblay's is still "Head Full of Ghosts" (to be fair, that is a tough metric to beat since that is also one of my all time favorite books).

Definitely recommend for fans of psychological horror.

delightfully fun and creepy, effectively telling a story within a story within a story, keeping the reader on their toes and at times disoriented. horror on every level from the screenplay, to the original filming, to the "real world" after the film, and the set of the reboot.

Do you ever read a synopsis and think ‘Was this book literally written for me?’ Because that’s exactly what I thought before hitting the request button on this one. My only experience with Tremblay has been his short story collection, The Beast You Are. While I can’t deny he has an incredibly unique writing style and mind, it wasn’t my favorite. Combined with some mixed reviews on some of his other titles from some trusted reviewers, I decided to wait until one of his books really spoke to me. And here we are!

Horror Movie is Tremblay’s nod to the cursed object/film trope. The story is written as a memoir/audiobook by the last surviving cast member who played the role of ‘The Thin Kid.’ Despite being filmed as an art house flick that was never released, the movie has developed a cult following and has been green lit for a Hollywood reboot. The reader is toggled between dual timelines: the present and June 1993. There were also parts of the original screenplay at the end of each ‘Then’ chapter, which was probably my favorite aspect of the book.

I found this completely engrossing. I loved the timely reveals, the unlikable characters that you weren’t sure whether to hate or root for, and the overall bleakness of the novel while still maintaining humor due to the delivery from the narrator. I’m still debating how I felt about the end, though? I definitely didn’t see it coming, which is a plus in my book.

Overall, highly recommend if you like horror books with dual timelines and centered around movies.