You can always count on SGJ to bring the body horror and gore. Tolly, our protagonist is a character that you hate to love. He commits heinous acts throughout the story, but somehow you find yourself rooting for him. I Was A Teenage Slasher pays homage to notable slasher films. My three-star rating reflects my personal enjoyment more than the quality of the book. The writing was fantastic, I am just too squeamish!

I find that Stephen Jones writes books that challenge the horror stereotypical books. This one hit many genres that were unexpected, and it was performed so well. I will say that I did not love the main character, but it definitely felt like a typical teenager. I really enjoyed stepping into the mind of a teenager slasher and how the story was laid out. I would recommend to those who wanted more of a unique horror experience.

Thank you to Saga Press and Net Galley for this eARC. I had read another book by Stephen Graham Jones (The Only Good Indians), so I knew a bit of what I was in for stylistically, but I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. That isn't to say that it wasn't entertaining - I just wanted this text to read more like Stranger Things, but it wasn't as nostalgic. Tolly Driver is a fascinating character, but I didn't particularly like him - that is to say, during the more endearing parts of the story, the ones generated to make us like the character, I just couldn't find a way in. The twist ending was fun for a bit, but it dragged on too long for my likes. Regardless, this book was just... fine.

Wow, I’m still in shock! This book is absolutely wild! It grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go. Sure, some parts might seem a bit far-fetched, but that didn’t stop it from being an amazing read.

Set in 1989 in Lamesa, Texas, a small town where everyone knows everyone’s secrets, the story follows Tolly Driver. Tolly’s a seventeen-year-old with lots of potential but not much drive. That is, until he’s cursed to kill for revenge. Stephen Graham Jones dives into the Texas he knows, showcasing the harshness of being an outsider, all through a chilling slasher horror lens.

What makes this book unique is that it's told from the killer’s perspective. Tolly writes his own autobiography, making you, surprisingly, root for him as the story unfolds. It’s like watching a summer teen movie that takes a dark and bloody turn.

After a cruel prank at a party involving his peanut allergy, Tolly snaps and starts his journey as a serial killer. It's intense and incredibly gripping.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for letting me read and review this thrilling novel.

Stephen Graham Jones Killed it with I Was a Teenage Slasher!!!!!! 🔪Gripping, nostalgic, and evoking emotion, I Was a Teenage Slasher had me smiling, reminiscing on my youth in a small town, reminding me of my love of 80's slasher films, and loving the music references. 🎬🎸🔪📖🎤🎥

Small towns are like 'Cheers', everyone knows your name, your business, and your history. Tolly Driver lives in a small town. He's a good guy but alas, things went down as they often do, and he has been cursed to kill, seeking revenge. All the wonderful and glorious horror film tropes come into play. Fans of horror films know - there is a final girl - there is always a final girl!

This is a book with heart. I found myself smiling, feeling sad, and even cheering while reading this original and brilliantly written book. We get to know the killer through his perspective. Stephen Graham Jones provides readers with Tolly' thoughts and experiences using Tolly's journal/autobiography. This was a unique and very nice touch. Readers learn about Tolly's life, his losses, his relationship with others, his thoughts as a teenage slasher, and his thoughts/relationship with his friend Amber.

When this book is not evoking emotion, it is oozing with nostalgia. It was pure bliss. There was also a fair amount of blood, murder, and gore. It also has a coming-of-age element with Tolly being a teenager in a small town. He loves his mom, he helps, he is an outsider, and he is a friend.

Unique, gripping, nostalgic, dark, and brilliant. Stephen Graham Jones continues to deliver bloody good books! 🔪

Ohhhhh this was FANTASTIC. I have a feeling SGJ is quickly going to become a new favorite author for me.
This book was presented as a perfect summertime horror read and I was surprised and intrigued by the memoir/confessional writing style, but I think it was the perfect delivery- the little tangents and quips from our present-day narrator as he hashes out his story only added a layer instead of detracting or distracting like interjections can sometimes do.
Our Slasher and (especially) our Final Girl were incredible, tender, complex characters and I loved the usage of the “slasher” genre as biblical rule as things progressed.
All in all this was a fun and unique take on a gory and simultaneously heart-wrenching story- gutting in more than one way.

Just another masterpiece from SGJ, no big deal. NOT. This man knows how to do horror.

I loved the perspective from the serial killer, an outsider that has been wronged and now has the taste for bloodlust. There are several nods to slashers that leave you feeling oddly nostalgic.

The way it is written is so unique, it's written like a confession and that was really neat to me. Tell me why I was rooting for Tolly, I mean, it's not like he WANTS to be a bad guy.

If you love a good slasher/ horror, then this will probably be your next favorite book.

I was really looking forward to reading Was A Teenage Slasher when I requested it from Netgalley, but unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. The story is told from the perspective of a teenage boy who survives a traumatic incident and seeks revenge through a killing spree. However, I found the storytelling to be a bit chaotic and slow-paced. The excessive detail about certain things seemed unnecessary, and there were some big plot elements that felt overlooked. I'm starting to wonder if this author's writing style may not be the best fit for me.

I loved the concept of turning the slasher into a creature feature. As a fan of the Scream franchise, I absolutely loved Amber's character being similar to Jamie with being the horror movie connoisseur educating Tolly on all the rules and traits of a slasher. There are so many elements at play to make this a fantastic Summer horror novel. That being said, I have very mixed feelings. While I've grown accustomed to SGJ novels being more of a slow burn, I felt that this one fell flat and I was slogging through it. By the time it did pick back up, I was already checked out and had to force myself to appreciate it. I was very excited from the beginning, however it feels like a short story that was then expanded into a full novel. As a main character, I found Tolly to be insufferable and boring at times. If Pet Semetary's descent into madness worked for you, this will be a great read. However, I was in the camp that it made it difficult to finish and as such had the same results here.

This dragged.
Being in his head was absolutely sluggish and awful.

I couldn’t relate to the characters. I didn’t care about the plot. The backstory didn’t draw me in.

What an interesting take on the slasher genre. I'll admit, it took a moment for me to get into it-- the tone starts much brighter than I was expecting-- but it doesn't take long before things take a dark turn.
At times the action is a little confusing and hard to follow. While the slasher tropes are present, the approach feels fresh. The book has (surprisingly) as much heart as gore.

I’ve been interested in the work of Stephen Graham Jones for quite some time now. For some reason or another though, I’d never gotten around to reading any of it. That changed after I got an ARC for his forthcoming novel, I Was a Teenage Slasher.

I adore horror films; however, gore occasionally bothers me. Despite those feelings, I’ve never shied away from watching things like Scream, Halloween, or I Know What You Did Last Summer. Well, as an ADULT, I didn’t shy away from these types of films; I was too scared to watch Ghostbusters as a kid. Another love of mine: horror written by someone whose cultural background differs from my own. The fact that Graham Jones combines a genre I love with his Native American heritage in the new novel (and his other work) greatly intrigued me.
I Was a Teenage Slasher is set in a small Texas town during the late 80s. The two main characters – Tolly Driver and Amber Dennison, his best friend – are outsiders who both end up at a party with lots of popular kids, some of which were involved in a tragedy involving one of their classmates. Tolly, through a series of events I won’t spoil, falls victim to a slasher curse. Post-curse he and Amber attempt to figure out how to stifle his urges or stop them altogether.

The book can be quite grim; however, due in part to the humor of the main characters, there are laughs to be had. Graham Jones also works in 80s references that feel perfectly natural. As someone who read and sort of disliked Ready Player One, I appreciate how skillfully he did that. The cultural aspect of the novel comes via Amber, whose father was Native American. That is woven into the story as natural as the 80s references.

I Was a Teenage Slasher is a unique, thrilling read that you’ll undoubtedly have trouble putting down. Be warned, though: it’s quite violent and not for the squeamish.

I Was a Teenage Slasher is a homage to basically all slasher films, but especially those of the 80s-90s ilk. After being wronged by his classmates, Tolly wakes up as a teenage slasher - gifted with special killing abilities, but cursed with the responsibility of revenge. And it was fun! I'm not even a slasher person, necessarily, I just liked the concept, and found the story and characters to be well executed (lol).
Warning for fellow wimps: this is my second Stephen Graham Jones book (The Only Good Indian being the first one) and DANG he is not afraid to like...GO THERE. The gore in these books is truly disgusting, and I have to skip entire paragraphs (the mental image of the oil drilling machine thing will haunt me forever UGH). That said, the books themselves are a lot of fun, and I would generally recommend to horror readers, but especially to those of us who are aging millennials/GenX with a nostalgia for that variety of slasher horror. 4 stars - I really liked it and will be recommending it broadly.

My first Slasher was Halloween. I was 10. My mom rented a couple of movies from UHaul—yes, at one point, you could do that—and I watched them over and over.

My older sisters were teenagers, and I was left to my own devices. My younger sister was too small to watch it, and I knew that after the first time through.

I remember the opening scene vividly. Michael stalking around the house. His mask went over his face, and he stabbed his sister.

The reveal of him being a kid blew me away.

Moving forward in time to the following parts of the movie, I loved it. It's still one of my favorite horror movies.

I always wondered what made Michael that way. Rob Zombie's version touched upon this, which I loved.

Stephen does something with this creation idea in I Was A Teenage Slasher. It's not what you expected; it certainly wasn't for me. I struggled to read this early on. I needed help understanding the connections or the placement of certain story aspects. When it all came together, I was blown away by all the connections.

I've read many of Stephen's books, but his Mapping The Interior is one of my favorites.

I'm halfway through the final book of The Lake Witch Trilogy. I had to set it down to finish book reviews, but I'll go back to it after I read Rabbit Hunt by Wrath James White, for which I'll write a review.

Stephen crafts a story with Slasher mainly about a loner, maybe a bit of an outcast, like Jade in the Lake Witch Trilogy. Having read the book's acknowledgments and seeing how personal Slasher was to him, I liked it better. He pulled a lot from his growing up in Texas. His acknowledging that made me think about my own writing and how I put bits of myself into it.

I felt a kinship with Tolly Driver. I know what it feels like to be an outcast. I was an outcast for most of my childhood. We moved around a lot. I attended five different elementary, three other middle schools, and three different high schools. I know that's a little for some. I was the new kid/outcast most of the time. I learned to make friends quickly.

Knowing how Tolly felt being at parties and having others treat him differently, and the reasons that come out in the story(spoilers), made me like him more.

He wants friends. He wants his classmates to like him, but instead, they shun him. His desire to be liked by someone leads him to be at a party. That's where the story actually starts.

We see Tolly being with his friend Amber; then it takes a turn I wasn't expecting. This event is sad to watch/read? Stephen's description is so amazing that I felt I was watching it.

What happens is the birth of The Slasher. Stephen takes all of the things in the movies and makes us see what it's like behind the mask. From the small things, quick movement, the ability to open any door to the more significant things, the indifference in the killer's eyes, and the ability to withstand any physical punishment, it's these things that really capture the idea of the book. As a fan of these types of movies, Stephen does this masterfully.

I can't give things away, but it does take a turn. The brutality of a Slasher movie is front and center in the kills. It stands out as the work of someone who loves the genre and takes care to make it feel natural to the reader.

Stephen is at the top of his game in this one. If this is a standalone, it's one of Stephen's best.

Another great books from Stephen Graham Jones. This is about a teenage Slasher named Tilly Driver. We find ourselves in Lamesa, Texas in 1989. This is told in the first person and it does pay homage to the 80 and 90’s slasher genres’. Which is something I find that I miss most nowadays about horror. While still staying true to the gore the slasher genre gives us Jones still gives us a bit of humor and I find that Stephen Graham Jones will always be an auto buy author for me from here on out.
This is a fast read that you will have a hard time putting down!

Thank you to NetGalley and SagaPress for the ability to read this! When I got the notification I got an ARC of a book written by my favorite author, I freaked out.

Per usual, this novel is an absolute gut-punch from Jones. His writing style is incredible, and his imagery is unmatched. Even though it felt familiar to his other slasher style novels, I loved the new angle, from the point of the slasher. Felt much easier to read than his other novels too. I feel like we’ve been blessed to read a novel so close the Jones, like it’s a peek into his past and life. I’m thankful to be alive at the same time as Jones, because as he’s proven time and again, he only gets better.

Thank you Stephen, for putting your work in the world, and reminding us that our paths are not set in stone

I have been a fan of Stephen Graham Jones for a very long time and was very excited to be able to get early access to this book! He did not disappoint with this story. It was something that was completely different than any other horror book that I’ve read before And had me captivated from the very beginning, wanting to know more about about who Tolly is and who he’s going to become as the book goes along.

In many other slasher books, you are seeing everything from the point of the view of the final girl and you don’t get to see what goes on inside the head of the “villain”. But the way that Steven writes this book causes you to have almost a layer of empathy for the bad guy in a way that is both unsettling, because you’re not supposed to feel that way, and also heartwarming because of the beautiful relationship that there is between Tolly and Amber.

This book has easily become not only one of my favorite books, but also one of my favorite Stephen Graham Jones novels, and I cannot wait for other people to read this story, meet these characters, and see their reactions to how everything plays out in this small town in Texas.

I really wanted to love this book. But, I felt it suffered from a problem with the tone. It seemed at times that it wanted to be a comedy, and at times it wanted to be a horror story. I wish it had leaned into one or the other because I found it problematic. There were times that the book felt like "Friday the 13th" and times where it felt like "Can't Hardly Wait," or even "She's All That." There was even a bit <spoiler>with the main character learning his slasher powers"</spoiler> that felt like it could be montage set to Sixpence None the Richer. Once I got this thought into my head I couldn't not picture Amber being played by Lauren Ambrose. I also didn't love Tolly as a character. Every bit of dialogue written for him was some smart-ass response and it was hard to find him likable. I consistently wondered why Amber was friends with this guy. It kind of hurt the experience. I'm sorry. I wish I could recommend this one, but I just can't.

Honestly might be Stephen Graham Jones' best book? The book tricks you into thinking it's an ingenius autopsy of the slasher genre from the POV of a reluctant slasher... then you're sobbing uncontrollably as you read the final few pages...

I have been dying to read a book by Stephen Graham Jones. I mean not literally dying, but close so thank you for the ARC! I wanted a summer horror read and this was exactly it!
I'm giving it three stars though because I just liked it not loved it. And that is because Tolly wasn't my favorite, I mean he's a slasher, so I probably shouldn't like him. I was hoping though he would be more like a horror Holden Caulfield type, but he was missing some characteristics for me. Some of the plot was predictable, but I didn't mind because it played on some of the 80s horror movie tropes that are scary laughable and that was the point. I would definitely recommend it as quick summer horror read and I will read another of Jones' books.