Stephen Graham Jones is the only author who can gross me out and bring me to tears in the same book. I'm not a huge slasher/horror fan when it comes to movies because I'm not a fan of a lot of gore. I find that in books I have control over how much I visualize and I'm able to enjoy the genre in a different form. I loved everything about this book. I'm always intrigued to read a book that's told in the 'bad guys" POV. I think it's so impressive when an author can make you fall in love with a killer. I didn't think I could love anyone as much as my girl Jade from My Heart is a Chainsaw, but Tolly is a very close second.

I also am a huge fan of SGJ's writing style. It's like the main character's stream of consciousness and while it takes some extra concentration, it gives a very unique feel to his books.

Thank you to Stephen Graham Jones and Saga Press via NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a punch to the gut. Every single book I read by Stephen Graham Jones is a masterpiece. If you love traditional slashers like Halloween or tongue-in-cheek movies like Scream, you’ll love “I Was a Teenage Slasher” and probably all of the other books by Stephen Graham Jones as well.

While many horror films are remembered predominantly by their slashers, Stephen Graham Jones’ books feature final girls that you will be thinking about long after you forget who was the killer in the first place (except for this novel of course). The final girl in this novel stole my heart and I loved reading about her so much. More than that, I love getting to learn about her through the slasher’s perspective. Jade and this final girl are amazing and I can’t wait to meet Stephen Graham Jones’ next final girl.

Stephen Graham Jones does it again!

Coming fresh off the heels of the conclusion to The Indian Lake Trilogy, SGJ flips the script and puts us in the mind of the killer. It’s violent, emotional, heartfelt and so much fun! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, does a slasher like Stephen Graham Jones!

Check out the following spoiler free description to get a better feel for this one!

“1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.”

I Was a Teenage Slasher comes out TOMORROW. If you haven’t preordered a copy yet, do it now! This is THE perfect summer slasher read and I can’t wait to dive into this one again.

Stephen Graham Jones has once again outdone himself with I Was A Teenage Slasher. The complicated humanity & HEART he imbues in his characters is a masterful feat of modern horror writing.

At it’s core, the novel is a coming of age story. Set in West Texas in the 1989, the town of Lamesa is it’s own character in the story. Although I have never myself been to Texas, I could smell and feel the oil, dry heat and caliche dust, the counters of the hardware store, the tank pools, the rusted pumps and silos, the truck exhaust, and concession food at the drive-in (the chihuahua!)

This the story of 17 yr old Tolly Driver with his best friend Amber, and it is about friendship, love, and the uncertainty when standing at the cusp of your future. You love Tolly, and this is where SGJ subverts the typical slasher narrative. There are certainly The Rules of the Slasher and Final Girl, just as in Graham Jones’ Indian Lake triology, but this time we are experiencing it through the POV of the slasher. Tolly doesn’t want to be a killer any more than Jade Daniels feels she is a final girl, but as all slasher movies show us, once the story and dance have begun, well. . .

I loved the slasher details, and there is plenty of revenge killing and blood as the story gets going Schting!! There are hair metal band songs and Gymkata! But this story is also a tragedy, one where I was rooting for the killer. It will give you many many feels. By the end I was sobbing.

Releasing today, I Was A Teenage Slasher is a must read and one the best books of the year (along with The Angela of Indian Lake - how does SGJ do it?)

Jade Daniels is still my Final Girl, but Tolly is my Slasher. I absolutely loved this book.

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

I am sadly disappointed by how little I enjoyed this book. I really love Stephen Graham Jones as a writer, but this book just did not work for me. I suspect it is a case of personal taste. The writing was very well done, as are all his books. But the whole story just rubbed me the wrong way. I did not like Tolly at all. The book was misogynistic and strange, and I felt that I wanted to see more from Amber's perspective, but she was relegated to just a sidekick for Tolly (even after the ending was revealed). Overall sad this didn't work for me, but excited to read Stephen Graham Jones' next novel.

This is one of the most unique books I have ever read and I loved every minute! Stephen Graham Jones just knows how to write the kinds of horror that suck me in and have me reading a book in one sitting.
We not only get the slasher-type revenge killings and the patented gore we expect in a, but we also get family and friendship. That left me almost comically emotional at the end.
Being in Tolly's head for his transformation and as he is compelled to seek out those who wronged him had me thinking about killers in all my favorite slasher movies. Jason especially from Friday the 13! And I know that next time I watch any slasher flick I'm going to be looking at the killer in a completely new light.

I loved how we get all the slasher tropes (how many times can I say slasher in one review?) How the killer is always aware of where their target is, how even though they are walking comically slow they end up right in front of or right around the corner from some poor victim sprinting for their life! We are getting the answers right from the killer's mouth.

While there are a few slower moments throughout this book, I think it helped add to the tension of never knowing when Tolly was going to turn into his counterpart, and then when things started going, they really went off the rails and I had a great time through it all.

And even with the emotional ending, I would love a sequel, since as we know from all our favorite slasher movies... THEY ALWAYS COME BACK!!

I’ve come to find that Stephen Graham Jones has quite the following! This was my first read by him and I totally get the hype.
Told in memoir style from the perspective of the killer, this book was one of the more uniques books I’ve read! A coming of age slasher that had me actually understanding where the killer was coming from. And that ending 😳 I feel like I’m still in shock. I don’t want to say much more because these types of books are best going into knowing very little. So I will say…

This book was WILD. Thrilling, gory, funny, nostalgic, paranormal, scary, and oddly heartwarming. I highly recommend you guys read this one!!

SGJ is a bit scattered when it comes to his writing. It must be difficult being his editor. He obviously has a bit of a scattered thought process and it shows in his writing. I wish I loved his books more because I have seen him at a book signing and I think he's a great person. My logical train of thought cannot fathom his writing style. Yes, this is an ARC and you will find typos or grammar issues or whatever, given, but his actual published works I've read were also very scattered. It's frustrating to read his books and try to follow the characters.

I'm not going into details about this book, because it's just not important or relevant to this review. The idea behind his stories are always great (concepts), but poorly executed. I have a very hard time reading this author's writing. I will be reading and enjoying it, then something happens and I'm like "wait what just happened??". I'll re-read the page and the entire passage still makes no sense...as if there is a thought missing that could link the story I was enjoying with the thing that just happened out of the blue that's not being properly explained. And then on top of that, the author digresses into side stories to give a better whole picture but it sounds a bit rambly.

I will not be reading anymore SGJ. He's another really hyped up author and it's not pleasurable reading his books. I'm always looking at how much more is left. That's not great. I want to get LOST in the book, I want it to pull me in. I don't want to dread having to finish the book just so I can write a review.

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for letting me be an early reader :)

This one really surprised me!! It felt like it was going to be more of a memoir but then it got really wild! Some parts I felt a bit lost but the author absolutely put this together perfectly! It was my first of Stephen Graham Jones and I’ll be sure to check out the rest.

1989 in west Texas and Tolly is an outsider. He writes about his experience and the slasher summer he went through.

This book was way different than I thought it would be but I did enjoy it. It’s a major homage to 80/90’s slasher movies and if that’s your thing, you’ll love this. It starts as a coming of age story and spirals into a very different genre. There is a lot of blood and gore but it’s done in an over the top way that did not gross me out (I often am). I loved that this was narrated by Tolly and we get the inside perspective of what happened.

“I really did have good intentions n the best of intentions. Instead, I ended
up with blood on my hands. And splattered across my chest. Pooling all around me. Risking and rising.”

I Was a Teenage Slasher comes out 7/16.

It took me a good few weeks to get this book purely because of the narrator. He was just so all over the place and jumped around and was not cohesive in his story and it was so hard for me to understand him or root for him because I just could not find any reason to like him. By the end of the book, where it is revealed Tolly is writing this to Amber, it makes more sense why he is super jumpy with his story telling, because he is under stress to finish it in time. But it is kind of annoying to deal with to get to that point. The concept was really interesting and this was such a good homage to gory, slasher films. The gore is really there and had me make actual grossed out faces while reading, so it was great descriptive writing. Amber was my favorite character, and I called her being the final girl from about 55% in. I also think the ending is kind of sad and bittersweet, as it is a sacrifice for Amber to protect her, but also her son is going to walk in and see a dead body and that is going to be traumatizing for him. Overall I give this a 3.25/5 stars, mainly because I did not enjoy Tolly's random rambling, but the story itself was good. This is a book I would recommend to lovers of the slasher genre, because they would love the insight into what goes on inside the mind of a slasher.

I Was A Teenage Slasher - Stephen Graham Jones 5🌟
This is a biased review because I love slashers, horror movies, and unreliable narrators. Even with my bias, this book was fantastic. Tolly Driver is cursed to become a slasher and play out a horror movie when he’s just a regular kid hanging out with his best friend. In less than 250 pages, it had me laughing and crying. This book felt like a love letter to slasher movies. I’ve read a lot of books from the POV of the killer but they weren’t the self aware loser that Tolly is. This book comes out this Tuesday 7/16 and I highly recommend it.
Thank you Net Galley and Saga Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Stephen Graham Jones has written the perfect summer slasher.
^If I wrote that in a letter to David Allen Coe, he'd write me back and say no, it was NOT the perfect summer slasher. It was, in fact, simply THE perfect slasher.
^(if any of you get that reference, you are the literal BEST)

THANK YOU to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for graciously providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book for review at my request. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.

Stephen Graham Jones has been one of my all-time favorite authors ever since I read THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS a few years ago. After all his work that I've read and loved since, TOGI has remained my favorite.

Until today.

Friends, I still have wet eyes and cheeks as I sit here from finishing this book. If you're thinking to yourself that you've read one slasher, you've read them all - or even that you figure SGJ exhausted his Santa Slasher Bag o'Tricks with the Indian Lake Trilogy - you are making the literary mistake of a lifetime.

Yes, the author stays true to the rules of slashers, to the letter. What makes I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER so uniquely beautiful is that SGJ goes deeper than just the rules and formula of slashers, he takes us to the heart of it all. This book will change your horror-loving hearts.

Packed with 80's nostalgia, summertime as a small town teenager, friendship, loyalty, humor, self discovery - this is a book that will hold a special place for you. One that you won't be able to pass by it on your shelf without touching a finger to its spine in acknowledgment, or pulling it off the shelf to run a loving hand across its cover.

Horror fans - do not sleep on this one! (pun intended)

A full non spoiler video discussion regarding my experience with I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER will be posted soon on my BookTube Channel!

This was a wild ride, how the MC becomes a slasher and being able to see through their eyes as a slasher!! 🙌 And I absolutely loved the ending! ❤️

Highly recommend this one, especially if you’re a fan of slasher movies!!! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, and Stephen Graham Jones for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review!! ❤️

"It was the best of times - high school - and it was the suckiest of times: high school."

Tolly and Amber are best friends. And each other's only friend. But that's fine, that's all they need. After Tolly's father dies, Amber and Tolly attend a party at the house of one of the rich, popular kids. He splashes pool water onto some of the popular kids who retaliate by trying to kill him - and that isn't an exaggeration. Shockingly, he makes it through but thanks to several chance encounters, he ends up being a slasher. This is not a choice he consciously makes; it is a compulsion he is helpless to stop. That is, until his slasher business is complete...

This. Was. Awesome! I love how SGJ makes you feel for Tolly. He is really a victim of circumstance. He doesn't want to kill, doesn't want to avenge his near-death experience (although he should...I was so annoyed at those band assholes), keeps trying to stop. But he can't stop what he's become anymore than a caterpillar can stop becoming a butterfly. I love the confessional tone of the book too. It's essentially a letter to Amber from Tolly, apologizing for his crime-spree and thanking her for her help and friendship. And she did try to help. The slasher tests she kept giving him were so tongue-in-cheek. The entire book is very cleverly written by a lover of slashers. It's just amazing.

FIVE GIANT STARS.

Another 5 star read by the absolute best ever!
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones is another phenomenal book that exceeded my expectations!
The storytelling here is on point as everything from the characters, settings, and situations all led to one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read.
This is a masterful work of horror fiction that solidifies Stephen Graham Jones' reputation as a modern master of the genre. With its compelling protagonist, immersive setting, and relentless suspense, the novel is a thrilling and satisfying read.
The ending was satisfying, and I will definitely recommend this to all my fellow avid readers.

Thank you NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

“It’s liberating, not having to be yourself, isn’t it?”

Don’t mind me. I’m just over here slightly sad and heart full after finishing I Was A Teenage Slasher 🥺🔪

I can’t tell you how fun it was to read from a slasher’s POV. I’ve never considered the character beyond the mask. Who they were before this, outside of the little backstory we tend to get at some point during the movie. But somehow, SGJ infused a lot of heart in our slasher Tolly. He’s a goofy kid who had the unfortunate happen to him.

“But you also remember the first time you saw your final girl in her true light, and how your vision tunneled down, your mind pulsing her, her, her.”

One of the aspects I love the most about SGJ’s slasher books, is how you can tell how much he loves the genre. And it goes beyond just their film versions. I’d go out on a limb here to say part of Tolly’s slasher senses comes from the Friday the 13th video game. But more than that, he finds a way to incorpoate all the tropes but make them fresh in his own way. The way this story knits itself together, following the steps of the stories we love is enough to make anyone geek out.

This story is as much about friendship and who we are during our formative years as it is a slasher tale. It’s about how we deal with grief, or try to, and how it can permeate every aspect of our lives. The friendship between Tolly and Amber is beautiful, and I love how certain character interests from previous books made there way here. It wouldn’t be the same without them.

About halfway through, I switched to audio and have to say that probably made it even more emotional. The narrator was perfect.

SGJ fans- you’re going to love this one as much as we loved Chainsaw.

A thrilling ride through the backroads of west Texas. Like Jones’s Indian Lake Trilogy, this book is so steeped in horror cliches that it loops back around to being a wholly original idea. Its self-awareness is crucial, without being a cheap trick; it’s not only integral to the story, it elevates it beyond the standard slasher narrative.

I got about 30% into this book and unfortunately did not finish. I understand that the story is being told from Tolly’s POV, and Tolly is known to be an excellent writer, but the story was wordy and moving too slowly for me. I found myself wanting to skip entire passages. I will likely pick this back up at a later time as I love the concept and supernatural element and keep hearing really good things about it!

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself in the middle of a horror film?

I Was a Teenage Slasher is a campy, satirical take on the slasher genre of horror novels, set in the dry and flat landscape of West Texas in 1989. This was the year that Jason took Manhattan, Michael Myers got revenge, and Freddy had a dream child. It was also the year Motley Crue visited Dr. Feelgood.

Instead of approaching the slasher story from the POV of the Final Girl, as is genre convention, IWaTS tells the story from the slasher’s POV in an autobiographical manner. This narrative structure is a great twist on the genre, but it also directly insinuates our narrator is unreliable. That’s doubly true for Tolly Driver, who shows signs early in the story of having a habit of shifting blame. There’s some great subtext in this book about whether or not Tolly becoming a slasher was because of trauma, infection, or both, which I thought was very deftly woven in, given how trauma usually does have something to do with violence in teenagers and how violence can be contagious.

The premise, campiness, satire, and interpersonal scenes in this book were all great. I also really enjoyed whenever Tully became the slasher. It was the rest of the book where I ran into a problem. The rambling and tangents definitely made sense for the structure and purpose of the story and informed some of the plot, but I was bored. I honestly kept wanting to skim those parts. Sometimes stream of consciousness works for me and sometimes it doesn’t.

The last 10% of this book was fantastic and the ending blew me away. In the end it was a very uneven read for me. I know this book has gottens fantastic review from a great deal of my mutuals, so I have a feeling this might only be me.

I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or below, so it will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Horror