This was such a fun and unique twist on a slasher story! It was as if I was reading about a superhero discovering their powers for the first time, navigating their newfound abilities along with their best friend, testing limits and seeing how it all works.

Written in the classic SGJ style, it has that stream of consciousness that I’ve come to know and love. Reading this story of Tolly Driver recounting what it was like being a teenage slasher was a really great time. There were those moments of slasher horror in the mix, of course. What I didn’t expect was that bit of emotion at the end that had me in my feels for a second. I love and appreciate how this is yet another love letter to the slasher genre.

If you’re an SGJ fan, or a superhero/slasher fan, this is one you’ll definitely have to add to your TBR!

Thank you Saga Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

🏡🍻👥 Review 🩸🔪🔦

Title: I Was A Teenage Slasher
Author: Stephen Graham Jones

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This is presented as a confession/memoir told from the perspective of the teenage slasher. Took a second for me to get into it but once I did it was a fun.

It's about a teenage boy who is pretty low key and over all a good kid. He really only hangs out with his best friend Amber and one night they decide to go to a party where everything changes.

This is very slasher fest style and I loved it, we even get a final girl in the plot. I think there were a few quality gore moments that added to the horror of the murdering spree. There was also an emotional element I wasn't expecting but it pulled the story together giving it more depth.

I've only read one other book from this author that I thought was just okay. This one however, knocked it out of the park for me. I loved the cheesey parts, the bloody parts, and the human elements weaved throughout. This was good and I'd do it all over again.

I found this book to be low key camp. Once I got used to the writing style, I was hooked. I also just met and listened to Stephen Graham Jones talk about scream queens & final girls at Stokercon so hearing him speak about the topic that is very prevalent in I Was A Teenage Slasher really gave me a unique and enhanced reading experience! Jones is truly in his own league.

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Five out of Five knives….id use belts but iykyk

In Stephen Graham Jones upcoming novel, I was a Teenage Slasher, we meet Tolly Driver. A charming teen, so painfully relatable and so oddly charming. This was one of my most highly anticipated reads of 2024, and of course it didn’t disappoint.
Overall, I finished this in about 3 sittings. The last sitting, had my heart bouncing around in my chest like a ping pong ball, my stomach in knots and my brow puckered. Jones never ceases to amaze me with his style and skill. So like, yeah the title says it all, but I love Tolly and as I finished the book, I wiped away tears. By nature, I am emotional, but this was just THAT good. I can’t stress this anymore, but READ THIS BOOK.
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love me some Stephen Graham Jones! Period. This one was a bit different, and I loved the concept, but it wasn’t a grand slam for me like his others were. It was different, and I appreciate that. Loved hearing Tolly’s POV, the supporting cast, and the trip back to 1989 when I graduated high school. Characters were solid, plot was fun, and story all around entertaining. Would recommend to fans of slashers.

I know I sound like a broke record every time I review a SGJ book but holy moly, he’s done it again: a perfect book. I already know this is gonna be on my top-of-the-year list.

The main characters of this story are Tolly Driver, and his best friend, Amber. It’s told through the perspective of Tolly who, after a tragedy at a party, becomes a slasher. He tells you in the beginning of the story that he’s killed six of his classmates, and then the rest of the book goes on to tell you the hows (gruesome) and whys (wild) of how that happened.

As with the Indian Lake series, SGJ plays with all of our favorite slasher tropes–how slashers just manage to turn up in exactly the right places, a revenge-driven background story, bizarre superhuman slasher qualities that just make sense somehow, the blood/guts/gore/jump scares, and of course, how the Final Girl. It is just the right amount of campy to hit that classic 90s slasher sweet spot. The story is very "Meta" in that Tolly knows he's in a slasher-esque storyline, is aware of the tropes, and the reader is given insight into all of that, which I loved.

The perspective of Tolly is genuinely so funny and awkward in the way that only a 17-year-old-boy can be. Despite the fact that you know he’s done all these despicable things, you still find yourself rooting for him?? It’s hard to explain, just read the book, ok???

This is definitely a slasher reminiscent of “Scream” or “Halloween,” but it’s more than that–it is a coming-of-age story, it is a story about friendship and about being an outcast, of loss and grief. Genuinely this book was so, so good.

The end had me tearing up, but in the best way. How does SGJ manage to make me laugh, gag, cringe, and cry all in one book every time?

(To my fellow SGJ fans: If you liked the Indian Lake trilogy, I think this book is a great complement: while the trilogy focuses on becoming a Final Girl, this one focuses on how one becomes the slasher!)

“The world’s so much simpler when you’ve got a chainsaw in your hand, isn’t it?” 🥜🐰

Instantly, Tolly Driver reminded me of Tate Langdon from American Horror Story season 1. So, of course, I’m rooting for Tolly; he’s a killer telling a coming-of-age story. SGJ explained the obsession and admiration between a killer and the final girl in a new way. If you’re looking for a summer slasher, pick this one!!

The first half is extremely slow, so don’t give up; I almost did. But I’m glad I didn’t! There was a perfect amount of gore, humor, and tenderness; it checked all my horror book boxes. Including West Texas was comforting because I grew up there and could relate to and understand it well. This made me excited to reread My Heart Is A Chainsaw and finally get through the trilogy!

Thank you sagapress and netgalley for the ARC acceptance!

**Full review to be added closer to publication!**

Stephen Graham Jones never fails to disappoint me, and he has been absolutely on a roll with the slasher themes lately. This was a such a wholly unique and incredible horror that I had such an amazing time reading. I had such a great time with his Indian Lake Trilogy and was curious to see what he'd do with another slasher story, so I was really impressed to see how much he made this stand apart and become it's own completely fresh and exciting horror. This is easily one of the best slasher books I've read and I will be recommending this so much to everyone, especially this fall.

Another great slasher novel by the current King of Slashers!

This book took me on such an adventure. It really felt like I was watching a slasher movie in 1989. Stephen Graham Jones is so good at creating and describing the atmosphere in his books to the point that I felt like I was right there with him in Lamesa, Texas.

With nostalgia for the 80’s and all the gory fun of a slasher film, SGJ delivers another banger of a novel that can’t be ignored.

I wouldn’t have guessed when I started this that by the end I would be crying. The ending was so moving to me. SGJ has such a way of hooking his claws into your heart and tearing it open and leaving you bleeding all over the page while he stares back at you with the pen in his hand.

This is gonna be a summer for the slasher!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Do you like slasher horror and wish more novels had that "fuck it, this might as well happen" energy as the classics of the film genre? Have you ever wished to float around in slasher's head living their day-to-day life inbetween the mayhem? If so, definitely give this book a chance, it's a wild ride!

We follow a teen boy who's not fully on the outskirts of his small Texan town, but he's certainly odd and not very well liked. A matter-of-fact narrative style details the becoming and later acts of violence that turned this seemingly normal boy into a household name for blood and gore. This story—in Tolly's own words—provides explanations and thoughts on his past during his later years, where he's trying to avoid causing any more massacres.

There's no such thing as a fourth wall, Tolly is fully aware of the tropes affilated with this genre and makes the most of them. His beleaguered description of how even a rock thrown in warning can accidentally become a murder weapon was hysterical. While as a teenager, Tolly himself wasn't the most informed on the genre his best friend Amber made sure to catch him up to speed with a series of "slasher tests".

Reality itself was constantly rewritten to best fit the typical story beats of a slasher, resulting in characters acting OOC for the perceived <i>plot</i> Tolly needed to complete. There were some moments where characters were even pointing out these inaccuracies in the text while being unable to stop them. For the most part I found these little nods to the archetypes of the genre humorous, but the gay guy suddenly "becoming straight" to fill the masc roll in the hookup double murder did give me the ick. Like I get what the text was going for with this but it still rubbed me the wrong way... maybe because it's pride month rn so I'm more sensitive?

This is definetely a bloody tale, as one would expect from a slasher, yet above all I'd say it's a humerous story about regrets and the desire to belong. The high highs and low lows of young friendships fighting against impending adulthood and the nebulousness of what comes next when we haven't yet worked through what was.The things that fuck us up in high school never really leave us alone do they..?

This author has a very distinctive style, but it mostly worked for me here. I love slashers and this delivered. Recommended.

I was a teenage slasher is like reading a book from behind Michael Meyer's mask, looking out. But Michael Meyers is a teenage boy named Tolly living in a small town in Texas, telling his story in a memoir-like fashion. And where SGJ has pretty much nailed the final girl script, you can't have a final girl without a slasher, them's the rules.

Unreliable narrator at its best, outlandish plot twists and rationales that measure up to the best horror movies, and gore gore gore. What separates this from other horror stories I've read though is how SGJ makes you feel about Tolly. Without sacrificing any violence, and keeping the character pretty unlikeable, he is on a killing spree, you end up rooting for him. I was so attached to Tolly by the end that I was in tears. Give SGJ the crown for breaking your heart and splattering you with gore.

Adored this book!

I was a little hesitant when I learned that this was a slasher told from the POV of the slasher himself, but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.

The main characters here, Tolly and Amber, are fantastically written.
Secretly hoping for a future novel with Amber as the narrator-I absolutely loved her!

The setting (a very small rural Texas town in the heat of summer, 1989) lends itself to some seriously disturbing imagery. No spoilers here, but be prepared for some gross-out kills!

Jones is able to balance terror and tender moments beautifully here, some of my favorite moments were seemingly small interactions between Tolly and Amber, or with his mother.

Horrific, humorous and heartfelt- Jones has outdone himself with this one...It's a damn near perfect summer slasher.

STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES HAS DONE IT AGAIN. I vow to consume everything this man creates.

I am so thankful to Saga Press Books, SGJ, Negalley, Simon Audio, and Libro.fm for granting me advanced physical, digital, and audio access to this retro, confessional horror before it hits shelves on July 16, 2024.

Tolly Driver was a teenage slasher and he's speaking his truths throughout the duration of this book. Taking place in west Texas, our MC voices his convictions and motivations for taking out nearly half of the marching band back in 1989, especially the ones who nearly took his own life weeks earlier.

Tolly is a fatherless kid with a peanut allergy, and several of the marching band kids used that against him at a party, where they fed him peanuts in a Coca-Cola bottle and watched as he writhed in suffocating pain for no one to get help or his Epi-Pen. He was saved in the nick of time by two of his close friends, but from then on out, he vowed to get revenge by offing those bullying members one by one.

Told in a confessional-like manner, Tolly rehashes the gruesome killings to whoever is willing to listen, explaining his crimes and asking forgiveness per se.

I couldn't put this one down and cannot wait until publication day!

I am a HUGE fan of Stephen Graham Jones, but this one was not for me. Tolly's narration was all over the place. I understand that he's meant to be a traumatized teen, but his stream of consciousness is so incoherent that it makes the reading experience unpleasant. There are so many jumps and skips and shifts that it was impossible to follow the actual story. Jones breaks the third wall to acknowledge that his narrator is doing this, but that doesn't make the reading experience any better.

Did you watch ‘Scream’ and think “this actually isn’t meta enough”? Did you ever think to yourself “what would ‘Behind the Mask’ be like if Leslie Vernon didn’t know what was going on?” Meet Tolly Driver.

It’s honestly less gruesome and more just… fun? I think this is what a beach read is for horror readers. Amazing characters, self-aware storyline, and that Stephen Graham Jones specialty of a hyper-local setting makes this story shine.

I didn't care for this title. The concept was cool but just didn't get into the story or find the characters very likeable.

A fun, gory and self-aware take on classic slasher tropes, with a surprisingly touching ending. A must-read for horror fans.

I took my sweet time reading this book- it never takes me almost a week to read one novel. In retrospect, I’m super glad that I was able to savor it.

This is my first SGJ book, and it’s not likely to be my last! It took me a while to get into the groove with his writing style. This book is told in the first person POV by the main character, Tolly Driver. He is looking back on his life from several decades ago, telling the story of how he became a high school slasher. Tolly is sort of an unreliable narrator, and his story-telling wanders back and forth in time in a stream of consciousness kind of way that can be pretty disorienting.

I was almost halfway through when I finally decided I was hooked, at three quarters I knew I liked it, and by the end, I was hanging on every word and eating it up. I will never get over this novel, and I am very likely to read it again. I am sure there’s a lot of nuances that I missed on this first read that will make me love it more in review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the ARC review copy of I Was A Teenage Slasher. It’s been too long since I read a nearly perfect book, and I needed it!

I will be posting my review to Instagram closer to the pub date. =)

I recently finished the author's "Indian Lake" trilogy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That's why it pains me to say that this book was more effective in less than 400 pages than "Indian Lake" was in three volumes. The plot was streamlined and precise, there were no extraneous or underwritten characters, and the central device was easier to follow (I am admittedly a bit slow). It did lean a bit towards the YA market, but I don't see that as a bad thing.

Just a thoroughly enjoyable little book. I will be recommending it.