This was a lot of fun. Likening slashers to something akin to werewolves, Jones has written a book that takes you through the process of becoming a slasher through the eyes of teenaged Tolly Driver. In his world, would be slashers are people who are egregiously wronged. Through death or infection, they start to change into a masked madman and must carry out their revenge, whether they want to or not. What makes this so much fun is Jones’s take on slasher tropes: they all come through physiological changes within the person. The same goes for the Final Girl. You can really feel Jones’s love for the slasher genre in his writing. My favorite parts are the little bits of humor sprinkled throughout.

I thought of giving a lower rating, but the concept of the book is great. I just had a hard time getting into SGJ's writing style, which has happened before.

I'm still a fan of Mongrels though.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book and I was very engaged with the inner monologue of the main character. Ultimately though, the story fell flat for me and I did not get what I was hoping for as a conclusion to the story which disappointed me a little. I think it’s going to be a great book for a certain type of reader, but that was not me. Definitely give it a try if you are into the slasher type story though!

Score: 4 Stars / 5

First of all, thanks to Saga Press for sending me this advanced copy of the novel.

This is my first time reading a novel by Stephen Graham Jones. For years I've seen him nominated in the horror category for multiple awards within the industry, which always caught attention. This was one of those authors I knew I HAD to read.

What differentiates this book with the usual slasher and horror stories that we can find in bookstores is that this story in specific is told from the perspective of the actual slasher. Meaning that our main character is our villain (or isn't him). Well, this is something that we will discover while reading this novel.

I must confess that I felt lost at the beginning. I couldn't understand the role some characters had within the story. But as I continued the book, the pieces started to fall in their place. Plus, the way Stephen Graham Jones described the locations and scenes were helpful for me to feel immerse in the story. I could really feel I was in Lamesa, Texas in the 80's.

This is for sure a new take I've read on the Coming of Age trope, but I enjoyed it. The horror scenes and the suspense that was embedded in these pages were essential, and it provided the perfect environment for a positive reading experience. I have no doubt that this book will be nominated in this year's GCA, I'm now planning to read more books by this author!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Saga Press for an advanced copy of I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I rated this book 4.25, rounded down to 4.

Tolly Driver is a teen in the town of Lamesa, Texas. Unfortunately for him, one night he attends a party and his life changes forever when he becomes cursed and finds himself changing into a slasher-movie villain with the need to exact his revenge on those who bullied him and left him to die.

This is my first book I've read by Stephen Graham Jones, despite following his career and acquiring several of his other books over the past year or so. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth to this story, which made it more than just a love-letter to slasher films. This was told though Tolly's POV (and a lot of it was his thoughts), so I feel like I was able to fully experience the conflict he was feeling as he was morphing into this vicious killer. This was also a great coming-of-age story, with a little bit of romance (which honestly broke my heart at the end). High school and being a teen were hard enough without becoming a slasher movie monster, and not being able to have control over your actions. It did take me a minute to get used to the relaxed writing style. At times I had trouble following what was happening because the story did bounce between past and present, and stories that are written as a character's thoughts for me always seem to be a little more disjointed. The dialogue at times also felt a little bit choppy at times, although I think it was done intentionally and made sense for the character.

I look forward to reading more books by Stephen Graham Jones, this was definitely a fabulous installment to his collection, and I can't wait to see what comes next!

I loved the first 40-ish% of this book. This book takes on the slasher mythos and plays with it in a way that is exciting, fun, magic… really what I’m always looking for. I 100% see how this works as a companion piece running parallel to ‘my heart is a chainsaw’, taking a meta look at the ‘slasher’ the same way that series takes a meta look at the ‘final girl’. Unfortunately, it also made me realize that I am maybe just not that interested in slasher fiction.

Like the aforementioned ‘my heart is a chainsaw’ this book is full of outright references to various ‘slashers’ is constrained by the rules (as outlined by our protagonists repeatedly) of slasher media; and, like many of the most well known slasher franchises, sticks around for just a little too long.

I went into this book not fully cognizant of the basic premise. Which I think made it more fun. The way this book reframes the slasher archetype (which it does do) feels fresh and exciting. Our main character Tolly is extremely likable (despite yk), his vulnerabilities, his flaws, the trajectory of not just his story but of reckoning with the roles and boxes that he and all his peers are being forced in to—by way of growing up in a small town or by way of growing up at all. And Amber. And Lamesa, Texas.

I love how sgj writes, how he plays with expectations, his character voice. I have no notes there, for me. This book falls off after the 40% mark for two reasons, too much exposition. At this point, I’ve read my heart is a chainsaw, I know slasher narratives despite not being a huge fan, and I felt the book spent slightly more time than I needed explaining why we are where we are. Secondly, nothing that happens after that point surprised me. I felt very much like I knew where we were going. There can be beauty (and horror) in the simplicity of watching the pieces fall into place while powerless to stop them, even if you know where they’ll ultimately land. But, while I think that was what this story was going for, I did not get that feeling.

I did enjoy (parts of) the journey, but yea I think the strongest parts are the begining and ending. The first part of the story is its own contained mini slasher story and in retrospect I think I was more invested in this than Tolly’s own slasher story.

3.5 As always a strong showing from SGJ, not a new favorite.

Received an advanced reader copy.

I did write this twice, I did half ass it the second time. BTW.

Like many of Stephen Graham Jones' works, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. At this point, many of us would consider Jones the King of slasher novels, especially with this book and the Indian Lake Trilogy.

The concept here is particularly unique: what if a slasher had no choice but to exact revenge on those who wronged them, driven by a malevolent force? They have no control over their actions, only their internal morality being tortured by the horrific acts forced upon their victims.

This book serves as a great companion piece to the Indian Lake trilogy, especially if you enjoy the slasher and final girl tropes that Jones has masterfully explored recently. In fact, if you haven't yet read an SGJ novel, this might be a perfect starting point before diving into his other works like The Only Good Indians, Mongrels, and My Heart is a Chainsaw.

While I found this book enjoyable, I am eager to see Jones perhaps explore new directions in his writing, moving beyond the slasher/final girl themes he has focused on over the past few years. However, even if he continues in this vein, I will certainly keep reading. 3.5/5

I just finished "I Was a Teenage Slasher" by Stephen Graham Jones; I received an eARC from NetGalley of this book.

Tolly Driver isn't exactly popular. The summer before his 18th borthday. He and his best friend Amber go to a party at popular kid Deek's house. Tolly, fresh off the loss of his dad, overindulges and finds himself on the wrong end of a prank with almost life threatening consequences. That's when the slashing begins. What if slasher isn't a choice, it's more like a communicable disease? When if Tolly is forced down a path he doesn't really want?

Alright. I love Stephen Graham Jones. I love Jade Daniels. I love slasher flicks. In a way I even love Tolly Driver. Tolly is a wholly relatable underachiever who has no real aspirations. He skates through life, in the way a lot of 17 year olds do. His best friend Amber isn't much different. She's got a heart of gold and acts not only as Randy (Scream) but also as a guiding light for Tolly throughout this whole ordeal. I found the premise quite fascinating, the idea that being a slasher could be an infection (a la werewolves, vampires, zombies), and with his usual flair for humor with the gore, SGJ manages this quite absurdly. In the best way possible. SGJ inverts a whole bunch of slasher tropes in hillarious fashion, and leans in to some in equal measure. This was a fun quick read if you like his other books, or as a jumping off point to his other books.

I was excited to be offered a chance to read "I Was a Teenage Slasher" days after finishing "The Angel of Indian Lake," and I dove right in! It took me a little bit to catch the rhythm of the narrator's voice, because it's written in a conversational tone, complete with mental jumps from topic to topic. Ultimately I found it added to the experience, since the bottom line of the book is... what is it like to turn into a slasher?
I see a lot of the "Indian Lake Trilogy" and Jade Daniels's fixation on "The Genre" and the fiction of film spilling out into real life, but Jones succeeds in making "I Was a Teenage Slasher" a different, while still related, piece of work.
All in all, Jones continues to explore the field of meta horror, continues to evolve the genre, and continues to hit it out of the park.

I Was a Teenager Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

One Sentence Review: This was a fascinating take on the slasher genre that proposes a way of looking at the slasher (the figure and the genre) that I have never encountered before.

I have been deep in Stephen Graham Jones’s bibliography lately and his approach to the slasher. The Indian Lake trilogy plays with the concept of the final girl in interesting ways, and this book turns the lens on the slasher himself. Seventeen years after his killing spree, Tolly is telling the story of what he did and why. Telling a villain story can be executed so poorly, especially when that villain is a slasher, a breed of villain who is so mindlessly evil that any tragic backstory is irrelevant compared to his crimes. Tolly does not shy away from the fact he did many evil things, but the circumstances through which he becomes a slasher are unlike anything I’ve encountered before and, to me, paint the genre in an entirely new light.

This has Jones’s distinctive writing style that he has developed in the recent years of his career (as compared to books like Mongrels or Only Good Indian). The conceit of an adult man recounting what happened when he was a teenager can often fail, falling into traps of weird nostalgia, excuses for behavior, and the many other kinds of rose-colored glasses we put on when we look back at our youth. But Jones balances an adult’s perceptions (and fully developed brain) with the choices of a scared and hurt teenager. I sympathized with both the teenage and adult versions of Tolly and the things he went through. And yes, Tolly is a sympathetic character even though he is the slasher (as is obvious from the title). He is both the mindless force of evil and a complex human figure struggling with a series of complex choices, none of which are good options.

If you are someone who is fascinated by the slasher genre not because of its goriness and violence but because of the complex ideas about culture that are presented through this genre, I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book that I ever read by this author. The reason I decided to pick it up is because I made a promise to myself to read more genres outside of my comfort zone, one of these genres being horror. The synopsis also intrigued me.

I would say that the beginning of this book was the most interesting to me. I read that first 50ish pages so quickly. After that my interest started to fall off again until something happened in the plot. The last third wasn’t too bad either. Where this book suffers is the middle.


At times it was also hard to follow where the plot was going. I think that would be its biggest weakness. Overall not bad for my first book from this author and I will be reading more of his work in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the pre-release copy of I Was a Teenage Slasher. This is my honest review.

This was my first Stephen Graham Jones, and it definitely made me want to pick up the Indian Lake Trilogy sooner than my planned schedule. (Yes, I plan my reads. Yes, I have a spreadsheet. Don't judge me.)

The concept and execution of this one are really interesting. Honestly, the twists are made known straight from the beginning, but getting there is quite entertaining. I loved the whole "slasher is an infection" idea, and Jones really nailed a great story, which is shocking when so much information is revealed right at the start.

I don't want to spoil much, but I think if you like slasher movies and horror, you'll enjoy this one.

Review of eGalley

It was 1989, the summer between his high school junior and senior years in Lamesa, Texas, that seventeen-year-old Tolly Driver went to a party at Deek Masterson’s . . . and everything in his life changed. With his best friend, Amber Dennison. Used to being outsiders, Tolly drinks too much while Amber chatted with another guest.

It isn’t long before the definitely-drunk Tolly finds himself manhandled and strapped into a lounge chair near the pool.

And then the long-dead Justin Joss arrives . . . .

=======

In a story told by Tolly, the narrative is, at times, quite humorous despite the blood and gore. As the events in this absorbing horror tale pay homage to slasher films, the reader is treated to a captivating tale that is part horror, part rambling narrative, part coming-of-age. Along with the slasher-doings, the narrative speaks to friendship, to the feelings of being an outsider among your peers. It touches on handling tragedy, and emotion. It’s a treasure-trove of teen-age angst, both scary and heartfelt.

Fans of the author will find much to appreciate here as will those who enjoy their horror with a bit of humor and confession.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from Saga Press / S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#IWasATeenageSlasher #NetGalley

This is an absolute masterpiece! An extremely riveting read full of wit and dark humor. This has an 80s slasher vibe but is told from the perspective of the slasher. And not just any slasher, but a friendly, somewhat reluctant slasher, Tolly Driver. And as far as main characters go, Tolly is easily one of my favorite fictional characters ever. It was so much fun rooting for the slasher. Everything from the plot to the setting to the character development was flawless. I highly recommend it; it is easily one of my top reads of 2024 so far.

I appreciate this author and their writing. This is just not the book for me. I didn't enjoy it, I thought the beginning was so boring. And all the talking about gas and drills, totally lost me.

I literally scream every single time I see SGJ puts a new book out or has a new release coming up. When I saw this was releasing soon as I had the opportunity to read this as an earc I lost my composure. I read this is a sitting, ate 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 up 👏🏼. This book was fast paced, chair gripping and addictive! This is final girl meets slasher & that old school horror camp and gore gold ⭐️ like we’ve been fed in the previous books by SGJ and 🤌🏼 perfection is how I would describe this. The depth and detail that SGJ puts into his stories, backdrops, characters…it’s brilliant. I will always be a Stephen Graham Jones stan.

Thank you @netgalley and @sagapress for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this novel. To see how Tolly changes, over a few days, from a normal nerdy kid to a slasher bent on revenge is fantastic. Jones remebers the teenage years and this sense of authenticity rings true in every line of this story. Tolly's immaturity and lack of motivation, the heart rending loss of his father, his protectiveness and love for his mom and best friend, even while undergoing this horrific change, all while keeping his teenage view of life- is great.
I love horror films and novels and I was a Teenage Slasher is A+ By breaking down the formulaic plot line of every 80's slasher film and using it as the basis for Tolly's story is ingenius. Graham Jones also gives us strong female characters, hilarious asides, and a strong sense of place.

Quick synopsis: A man recounts his time as a 17 year old teenage slasher 17 years after the start of his slashing. The kicker? It’s a knowledgeable telling of how slashers are supposed to operate, based on the movies. Our slasher knows he is a slasher but does not want to be one, and cannot control his behavior.
Review: This book was probably one of the most original books I have ever read. It took a while to get into because it seemed like typical teenager who killed a few people whatever big whoop. However, this book became very supernatural very fast. I got extremely invested in the story and finding out the ending. The only qualm I have about this book and why it lost one star is I feel like some parts were boring and repetitive and it could have been more shorter. Overall, highly recommend for an original experience if you like horror books!
Thank you @netgalley and saga press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Available July 16th, 2024

This was really hard for me to get into at first, but once I started I couldn’t stop. It’s told as a sort of confessional of, get this, a teenage slasher. It’s also almost like a love letter at the same time. It was honestly great, it leans heavily into the slasher tropes which I love. I’m a sucker for slasher movies.

I love Stephen Graham Jones SO much. His books are an instant buy for me. As soon as I heard about this book it was pre ordered. In my cart and paid for. I was so stoked for this title and I was pre approved to read this and I couldn't believe it. I am so freaking grateful. I read this and YA'LL!!!! Its Stephen Graham Jones for sure. Its so good. I am so excited to also read this on audible and have the physical copy to display on my shelf.