Review by Booklist Review
Tremblay (The Beast You Are, 2023) returns with a terrifying novel about the creation of art and its effect on all it touches, told with a strong Gen X perspective and dark humor by the Thin Kid, identified solely by his character's name in the 1993 film Horror Movie, a film marked by tragedy--he is the only surviving team member. Although never released in full, the film has achieved cult status and is being rebooted 30 years later. Moving effortlessly between "Then" and "Now," the Thin Kid speaks directly to readers, placing them under his spell--despite repeated warning signs not to trust him--explaining the details of the original film and its current reboot and including sections of the original screenplay. The result is a suspenseful story that is marked by its relentless unease and disturbing revelations about the characters, yes, but also about the readers themselves. An immersive reading experience that will forever alter the way those who encounter it watch horror movies. For fans of Peter Straub and the cursed-film trope like in Clay McLeod Chapman's The Remaking (2019) or Craig DiLouie's forthcoming How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive (2024), but it pairs even better with the menacing, intricately plotted, and unputdownable storytelling of Catriona Ward.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Tremblay (The Beast You Are) raises the bar for the cursed film trope with a novel that cleverly breaks the fourth wall between imaginary horrors and their real-world repercussions. The unnamed narrator is the sole surviving crew member of the eponymous film, a low-budget monster movie whose production began in 1993 but was never completed for dramatic reasons revealed over the course of the narrative. Thirty years later, a bigger crew with a bigger budget hopes to reboot the film and capitalize on its reputation with horror fans as a legendary might-have-been masterpiece, most of whose creators died tragically young. They also want the narrator to reprise his role as "the Thin Kid," a masked victim who turns monstrous under the cruel torments of his teen classmates. Tremblay hopscotches back and forth between two converging plot threads, one set during the movie's original filming and the other in present-day Los Angeles, and splices in portions of the original screenplay, the better to highlight the narrator's increasingly unsettling identification with his creepy Thin Kid character. A shocking but perfectly planned twist at the story's climax makes this one of the most exciting outings in the recent crop of fiction about horror movies. Readers won't want to miss out. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Known only as "the Thin Kid" in the script, the only surviving cast member of an indie horror film made in 1993 is invited to assist with its big-budget remake. The original has its devoted fans, even though only three scenes from the film were ever released; there's a rabid online following, full of rumors and myths about the unfinished 1993 film. As the novel's protagonist becomes more involved with the remake, secrets buried in the past start to resurface, including details of strange events during the original filming and the tragedy that occurred on set. Narrated with a sardonic tone and Gen-X sensibility, Tremblay's (The Beast You Are) novel shifts between the filming of the original movie and of the present-day remake, sprinkled with excerpts from the films' scripts. Unease and terror rapidly build in the book as readers learn details of what happened on the original set and how it threatens the present. The novel is as unsettling and gripping as a slasher while also managing to be funny and thoughtful. VERDICT Balancing a terrifying cursed film with examinations of artistic creation, fandom, and truth, Tremblay's latest is smart and well-paced and will have broad appeal. Recommended for fans of Tremblay's The Pallbearer's Club as well as Clay McLeod Chapman's The Remaking.--Lila Denning
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