I'm reading this one, I knew it would be a book where the third act would matter. It's very slow up until that point and the mystery isn't super mysterious. You know most of what's coming. Tremblay is, without a doubt, a talented writer and if you love his stuff you may also love this one.

For me, the ending was vague and odd. I didn't think the book was scary. It certainly has some psychological pickles to untangle which does make it interesting. But, the main character's ego and sort of mansplaining ways weren't my particular cup of tea. I didn't like that he gets the win, though I'm still not sure what he's won.

I finished this book like WHOA, is Paul ok? How did he come up with this crazy book! Haha But in all seriousness, the Thin Kid is going to haunt my dreams for years to come.

This book has a unique format. Some of it is the main character creating an audio book, some of it is in the past, and some of it a script. It was hard for me to pick up at first but hang in there for a very disturbing ride.

I was hooked to this book because it is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Horror fans will love it. I find myself wanting to discuss it so I can’t wait until it’s out and I can! Such a creepy, but fun, ride!

To paraphrase the narrator: "Why are the teens doing all these things? Because they can," he writes about the characters in the horror movie he's reminiscing about...and yeah, that basically made this book too disturbing to enjoy reading it. I'm a fan of Paul Tremblay and I usually like horror stories, but horror that depicts extended and intense physical and psychological torture is just not for me. It's well written, but I imagine the appeal would be more for a niche group of readers. Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for review.

Paul, Paul, Paul. I will literally read everything you ever right because, just like every book I’ve read of yours, I closed the pages with the story on my mind for days. So eerie and consuming.

I couldn't finish this book. The present vs past was confusing and this book just wasn't what I thought it would be.

I don’t think I knew what I was getting into when I started this book. I say that, elated, yet absolutely blindsided. First we have to talk about the POVs and that you should know going in that they change CONSTANTLY. Like back to the past, the future, screenplay for the movie, and so on. It’s a lot and it was even something that made me pause to adjust to. That being said, this entire plot is about an old horror movie never really released and now being filmed to reboot. So it makes sense to jump back and forth! I’m a BIG HORROR FAN and some of the “scenes” filmed for the movie were absolute insanity. It was a wild ride all the way to the end of this book. If you’re a fan of unreliable narration (pretty much everything in this is unreliable) this is most definitely for you! The ending gets slightly predictable as you go on and while that can be a bit disappointing, I’d say it also adds a bit of terror. Knowing the end result no matter what. There’s no happy ending.

Has a similar writing style in a way to Pallbearers Club. Some very unsettling and creepy moments- more of a look at the darkness in humans and the roles we have them play then a haunted film movie

Horror Movie is a book that will sink its claws into you from the very first chapter and not let go until it's done (and maybe not even then).

The story is part obsession, part transformation, part philosophy, and part horror film making commentary. We watch our main character become more and more enmeshed with his role as The Thin Kid while we, the reader, become more and more captivated by the story.

Paul Tremblay does an excellent job setting up the story. We get past & present timelines focusing on the original filming of the movie in 1993 - and the production of the film's reboot 30 years later.

Also intertwined through the book we get snippets of the original screenplay which were by far my favorite part. Is this entirely accurate to how real screenplays are written? No. But it's not supposed to be. However, these parts really helped to create vivid imagery and solidify the horrifying tone of the story. The subtle foreshadowing & hints at what is to come make the story even more unsettling and foreboding.

This book haunted me, filled me with dread, and will stay in my mind for a while. Do not miss out on Horror Movie this summer 👀

I write my reviews a bit differently than other writers. I try to find a comp book. I beat myself up while reading this one over it. Then, toward the end of the book, it hit me.

I read Grin Of The Dark By Ramsay Campbell a few years ago. I came to my horror journey late, and it was the first book of his I had read. It's a weird book about a man searching for a film he remembered. It is a story about a clown who once existed. As most of Mr. Campbell's books do, it takes some dark and surreal turns.

It's still one of my favorite books. This trope of found footage is done all of the time in books. Kiersten White's Mister Magic does it very well. That's also one of my favorite reviews.

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The Horror Movie feels like a bit of The Blair Witch, maybe some of Hell House LLC and other found-footage books and movies. But Mr. Campbell's book was my first introduction to this in a novel, at least where it's done well.

I often looked back at my memories of Grin Of The Dark when it clicked. It's done so well and has a different take on the sub-genre that it blew me away.

I said on Threads, "You all are not ready for this book." I stand by that. Having read all but two of Paul's books, this felt different. Maybe he was experimenting a little, testing a few new things. It's nothing like Cabin or Head Full Of Ghosts.

I feel this is Paul Tremblay trying out a few new things. I can't get into them without spoiling so much of a great horror novel. The found-footage aspect of this story isn't so much in your face as it is in Mister Magic or movies like Blair Witch or Hell House LLC. It's a more subtle take on the genre itself.

I was uncomfortable a few times while reading it. That goes to the author's ability to craft such a fantastic piece of art.

It's an uncomfortable story about a kid who experienced something terrible while filming a movie when he was younger. The story then revolves around that kid working on a remake/reboot of the film that was never finished. Some aspects of the story are out there. It's a great story, and I'll purchase one on day one.

Paul is one of my favorite authors, and while not all of his books have hit it out of the park for me, this one did.

Ominous, foreboding, confusing (in a good way)... this makes Horror Movie what it was born to be. Horror.It's wickedly ingenious the way the big picture is presented in different timelines and various storylines and realities -all of which center around the "thin kid" and the actor who played that role.  We have the original filming of the movie in which the actors, crew and our protagonist interact.  We read the script and quickly forget that we are reading a script and we get lost in that story....what is up with the thin kid, his friends, and the mask?  Then we have the actor who played "thin kid" modern day as he deals with the aftermath and the remake, or completion, of Horror Movie. This is one film in which a remake was a bad, bad idea and we see the horrific consequences of...of what?   A cursed movie, set or prop?  Method acting gone wrong?  A twisted mind festering like a cancer?   Read this one.  It'll keep you guessing.   #netgalley #HorrorMovie

Paul Tremblay's "Horror Movie" presents a chilling tale that shifts between past and present, where a cursed indie film resurfaces in the life of one of its original actors. Tremblay's skillful storytelling creates a pervasive feeling of unease, culminating in a shocking climax and an enigmatic conclusion that leaves a lasting impact. Featuring content warnings for gore, torture, and suicide, this book delves into the deepest and darkest aspects of the horror genre.

I know this first line isn't going to be the most quotable line in a review but here it is anyway:
This is a total mindf*ck of a novel! And it is now my favorite Paul Tremblay book.

I finished reading this about 3 weeks ago and I still don't know what to say about it, other than that I absolutely LOVED it.

I am not going to talk about the plot, because the synopsis and many other reviews have already done that. Here, I'm going to focus on how it made me feel.

Confused. Elated. Shocked. Horrified. Nearly everything in this book is unreliable. In fact, my mind is still trying to work its way through this labyrinth of unreliability. The core group of people here, young actors and playwrights, (all devoted to making this film that ultimately is never released), were spellbinding. What happens to them as the film is being made, and then later in life, felt so exceptionally REAL to this reader. Perhaps that was the scariest thing about it?

Is this the journey of a young actor who is somehow changed by the very film he helped to create? Is it the journey of the playwright who felt such a strong need to get the film made? Is this the tale of how a group of people can somehow feed off of each other, in the end creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts? The answers to all of these questions is YES.

So yeah, a mindf*ck for sure. It might end up being my favorite novel of the year. It's still early in 2024 , and if you know how much I read, you know that's really saying something.

If you are a fan of unreliability in your horror novels, look no further my horror-loving reading friends, because this is the epitome of unreliability!

My highest recommendation!

Into the Void with Thin Kid Tremblay!

As a Paul Tremblay fan (I adore The Cabin at the End of the World), I'm predisposed to enjoying his work. He is one of the best at dread and ambiguity (he's also quite funny, assuming you're morbid).

That said, HORROR MOVIE may be his most accessible book and a wonderfully effective one at that. The novel chronicles the plight of a low-budget horror movie made by teens in the 90's as the star (Thin Kid) of that movie is involved in a new big budget production of that doomed student film.

Tremblay bounces back and forth between the Thin Kid's memoir-esque retelling of both productions and excerpts from the screenplay. As expected, Tremblay lays the dread on wonderfully thick and creates some terrifying moments that will linger with the reader.

There's lots of narrative foreshadowing and some perfectly rendered meta/super-meta flourishes that I absolutely loved. There's also the voice of the screenplay itself, a character in its own right.

All that fancy writerly stuff aside, though, Tremblay gives the reader a good old fashioned monster story that will haunt your dreams (and make you look twice under your bed . . .).

Thank you NetGalley for supplying a digital ARC

Thank you so much to Paul Tremblay and William Morrow for my copy of this book. It was about a film that never came out, due to the curse surrounding the movie and multiple deaths associated with the film. Only three scenes were ever released and only one star remains- The Thin Kid. Nevertheless, the movie has a cult following and is being rebooted. The Thin Kid is asked to collaborate with the director to make sure the reboot is as close to the original as it could be, but being back on a set is brining back memories of things that happened in the past. As he starts to remember the strange events of the past, they begin to blur with the present and the future of the film.

Thoughts: THIS BOOK WAS DISTURBING. Like, super disturbing. It was nothing like I thought it would be, and firmly in the horror category. I thought it would be similar to Burn the Negative by Josh Winning, but it was a time warp that jumped around to different parts of the Thin Kid’s life. I get what the author was trying to do, but there were so many things that left me bothered. Where did the mask come from? What was the whole point of the teens doing everything to the Thin Kid? What were any of the character’s motivations?

The author wanted to look at the monster’s in us, and who people really are inside. I thought the script mixed in with the chapters was a great way to break up the story. While the dread did build during the story, it was slow going. I wished that the curse would have been in the story more, as well as an explanation about the four main characters and more about who they were. 3-stars for this one.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and it absolutely delivered! The beginning was a bit slow but once Tremblay found his rhythm it worked so well!

I am unsure how to start... the prospect of this story was intriguing and I couldn't wait for my chance to read it. However once I started, I was greatly disappointed in the lack of grammar and numerous run on sentences. These two issues made it not only hard to read but to understand and follow the story thread. This writing needs serious editing and refinement before it is released on a wide scale to the public. The story has such potential and the publishers/editors have done and will do a disservice to this story if they release it in this condition. Please revise and correct before disbursing!!

Tremblay's latest offering puts a new spin on cursed media, presenting the film that everyone knows about, but few, if any, have seen. You could almost pitch this as, "what if something had gone horribly wrong during the filming of the Blair Witch Project?"
Horror Movie is very upfront with the idea that something has gone terribly wrong, but it smartly unravels the details slowly, in the same way it doles out a few pages of script at a time to our narrator. The film itself, Horror Movie, contains shades of House of Leaves with, oddly enough, a hint of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Friday the 13th. The non-script pages explore the world of horror conventions and Hollywood, terrifying things in their own right.
The runtime is rife with secrets and lies, tension, strange happenings, and unexpected turns, all marinated in Tremblay's signature sense of unease and ambiguity. Horror Movie promises to take readers to uncomfortable places and never fail to surprise.

I love Paul Tremblay! I thought this was a very well done HIGHLY psychological thriller. He did not disappoint! It was very dark, very disturbing and completely immersive. Coming in at under 300 pages, this was a fairly quick read. It started a little slow, but once it picked up, it went by quickly.

I enjoyed the alternating timelines between the past & the present.

This book is not for the faint of heart. True horror fans only!

Paul Tremblay presents…

There’s a lot to sift through with this one. It’s probably Tremblay’s most dense work so far - memory, identity, legacy, & regret, as well as the relationships between creator & creation, artist & audience, fiction & reality; he’s juggling a lot of sharp objects, at least in a thematic sense, but he manages to keep them all suspended in the air, tracing deep tracks throughout the narrative.

The storytelling is light on its feet, confident in its dexterity. Tremblay knows exactly where he’s going character- & plot-wise, & it always feels like a natural progression. The pacing, which is driven primarily by the nonlinear structure, is constantly moving forward - stalking, if you like - while also lingering alone in vacant classrooms, daydreaming nightmares.

Attempting to be in control of one’s own narrative is, to me, the book’s most compelling exploration. Tremblay examines it on both micro & macro levels, from specific word choices to meta-textual details. To anyone reading this review, there’s a chance for resonance, because social media is largely a way for us to control how we present ourselves, which itself is an attempt to control how others perceive us.

& as it relates to HORROR MOVIE’s unnamed narrator - a man who is so desperate to be in control of how his story is told - is that, despite the fact that he is writing the book we are reading, he is still a fictional character in a fictional story written by Paul Tremblay, & he will be judged by the reader regardless of how much he tries to dictate outside perception. Just as an artist cannot fully dictate the audience’s interpretations, just as we cannot fully dictate what online strangers think of us.

HORROR MOVIE is a novel with a lot to say, a lot to unpack, & all of it is worth thoughtful consideration. It’s just as disturbing as it is emotional, as heartbreaking as it is enjoyable. & even without all of its layers, stripped of its scaly flesh, down to its rotting bones, there remains, at its core, an experience like no other. & one of Tremblay’s best.

I did not enjoy this book. Both plots: the “current” and the past, were not interesting and the movie script provided nothing but confusion. I wanted to like this book, but it was too different; that will probably be what makes many people like it, but not me. The writing is top notch, but it the plot is too subtle and there is not enough action. Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced copy. I usually enjoy Tremblay’s books.