What a fun, fun read! This is EXACTLY the book that I would have loved as a middle grade reader (as opposed to a reader of middle grade, which I occasionally am now, being a dad of an 8 year old, and which I very much enjoy—all to say that I love the book now, too). Full of cinematic adventure, good humor, tough choices, active emotional growth, and genuine scares (oh how middle-grade-me would have so appreciated Wendig not pulling his punches on the horror elements), Monster Movie is not just a fun read, it is also a good read. Good as in entertaining, sure, but also good as in intelligent, honest, unique, and respectful of its audience by treating its readers as peers rather than pupils. Highly recommend—for all ages!

Chuck Wendig is one of my favorite adult authors, and now I can share him with students, too! This was great, so full of tense chaos but also friendships with heart.

A love letter to all things spooky, this middle grade horror novel has just enough of an edge to appeal to kids looking for a thrill while giving a great message of empowerment and understanding to all those kids with anxiety (of which I was definitely one).

Thanks to @netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s be honest, I’m going to love pretty much any to big Chuck Wendig writes. This books audience is a bit younger than what I normally read but that made it such a nice palate cleanser between heavier books. The writing is fun and playful and unique and I had such a great time with it. It’s obviously a quick read for adults but still contains some great lovable characters and a solid amount of plots and action.

I quite enjoyed this. I loved the descriptions--so spooky. And excellent characters along for the wild ride. I could have done without the info dumps which slowed the pave, but otherwise, A dark good middle grade scary story.

Ethan is afraid of everything, so when his best friends Olivia and Harvey insist on him joining in on a screening of a mysterious film considered to be the scariest movie ever made, he refuses outright. However, when the movie turns out to be a monster bent on destroying the town, Ethan must brave his fears if he is to save everyone and everything he loves.

There's a difficult balance to reach with middle grade horror, which I hadn't thought much before I started reading this book. The best sort of horror, in my opinion, is underpinned with the horrors of daily life, but as a result middle grade horror writers have what seems a smaller pool to draw upon. Wendig does a good job at dredging those depths though.

Ethan is a great lead - his anxiety, his art, and his determination to stick by his friends makes him easy to root for, but beyond that he just sounds like a twelve year-old boy, tiptoeing somewhere between his careless childhood and his very first more mature realizations about life and other people. The horror too is innovative, walking the tightrope between creepy and truly irredeemably terrifying. There's plebty  imagery is vivid, whether it's the headless townsfolk, the filming scenes, or Ethan's artwork.

However, I did think the pacing could have been tightened up, as it takes a fairly long time establishing the setting and characters, and consequently the final sequence felt like it went too fast. I wished we'd had more of a denouement too - the cheeky twist at the ending is fun but left me with plenty of questions still.