Horror Movie 📼

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Suspense, Horror (ehhh, sort of)
Pub Date: June 11, 2024

Back in 1993, a young group of newly graduated college kids get together to make what they title “Horror Movie.” Today the movie is viewed as a cult classic amongst horror lovers. The catch, the movie has never been released or seen, apart from a few scenes and stills released to YouTube. Even more interesting, only one person that was a major part of this film is still alive. Is this movie cursed, or will more be revealed as a major modern day reboot is in the works.

First and foremost, the format is a little different and took me a bit to get used to. It is told between the past and present filming of this movie by the only surviving member of the original cast via his own audiobook recording. There are also bits of the actual screenplay written out in each chapter as well. It sounds overwhelming, but it worked once I got into the swing of it. This was a bit of a slow burn, slowly leading you through all the events of filming and how that has impacted our MC today. I’m not an avid horror reader by any means, but I don’t think that classifies well as a horror book. Sure there are some disturbing scenes, but I’d classify this as more suspense.

I didn’t want to put this down and couldn’t wait to see how everything was going to play out. I definitely got art school student vibes from these filmmakers, wanting to make something super deep with meaning that would make you think (which isn’t really my vibe). Even though the introspective film thing isn’t my thing, I really enjoyed what these characters brought to the table and the lead up it gave to this ending. Speaking of that ending…WOW. The final chapter had my eyes fully bugging out of my head and had me questioning everything. What a way to close things out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
This is not a novel, it’s an experience. Horror Movie is about a group of young friends who decide to write and shoot a horror movie. The movie was never released, and years later it is being rebooted.
My best description of this story is unexpected and unsettling. Read for yourself and enjoy the ride.

I love Paul Tremblay's books and will continue to recommend them to all my horror/thriller loving book friends. This was not my favorite novel by Tremblay but it was still a good page turner. Normally I don't mind when a book jumps back and forth in time, but it wasn't doing it for me in this book. I understood why it needed to happen, but there were times it took me out of the story and left me confused. Overall, liked it but will recommend other novels of the author first.

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay has left me conflicted. The story follows the only surviving cast member of a low budget film that was never released called “Horror Movie”. After some scenes were posted online, it developed a cult following. A big budget reboot is in the works and “The Thin Kid” is being asked to reprise his role. This is written in little snapshots. We will see some of the filming of the original movie, read a few pages of the screenplay, and then we go to present day. Parts of this book are dull. There were points where I desperately wanted to skim over it but I kept on pushing through. This is not a feel good story. It is unsettling. I can’t say that I found it enjoyable. But… it does a good job of being a horror story. It was hard to put down. I felt a disconnect from all of the characters so I struggled to care for them on a deeper level. This book reminded me of the way that I felt watching Hell House (which is, of course, based on a book, but I have neglected to read it thus far). I was on edge and unsure of what may happen next. At times it made me feel a little sick to my stomach with anxiety. I really thought that I wouldn’t be writing a good review for this and I am not sure that is what this is. By the end, I was left reeling, my mind cluttered and somewhat confused. I have questions about 2 particular scenes. These pages are filled with dread and tension. This narrator is unreliable and unlikeable. Overall, it ends up being a wholly unique experience reading this book. I will be thinking about it for awhile and I am feeling like I will be reading it again. The idea that I want to go back for more of a book that is distasteful leaves me confused about what is wrong with me, but here we are. I have to give this a high rating for making me both hate it and on some level, love it, too. 4/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me access to an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication date June 11th, 2024. This review will be found on Instagram and Goodreads indefinitely.
Instagram book reviews @CandaceOnline

I've tried to give Paul Tremblay a couple of chances now, and I just don't think his writing is for me. This felt like the novelized equivalent of horror movies like Skinamarink or Possession, those that some people absolutely love, and some people (like me) just feel like they're trying too hard to make something deep out of basically nothing. The way the book is formatted was really interesting to me - it jumps between present day and the past and also includes parts of the screenplay for the titular Horror Movie. However, neither story really drew me in, so I was just going back and forth between two stories I didn't care about. Both plots moved incredibly slowly also, which made getting through each chapter a chore. I also felt like the ending was abrupt and done for shock value. Furthermore, none of the characters are likeable in the least, which is fine when the writing or storyline are good enough to make up for that, but in this case, they weren't.

The book is about a horror movie that was never actually made. It has 3 interwoven narratives: the making of the original movie, the filming of the remake, and the movie script itself.
The Horror Movie was the blood, sweat and tears of a group of young film makers. It was never fully made and released. But the only couple clips has gathered a large following, and it's now getting a big budget reboot. The only surviving cast member who played the villain/monster The Thin Kid is now involved in the new remake as well to reprise his role.
The book started off slow. The first 30% seems to be sarcastic and a mockery of the film industry and the fandom of niche genres. However, the story gets more and more unhinged and built up to a surreal ending. It's one of those books where you're not supposed to solve every riddle and get every answer. You have to accept the ambiguity and the uncertain outcomes. The conversation and interpretation will be an extension of the book itself.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this opportunity to read, rate and review this arc which will be available on June 11,2024!!!

This book got me. I am not ashamed to admit that this book gave me legit nightmares. The writing style crept into my psyche and sunk its teeth and blood tipped claws into it. It also reminded me of how indie horror filmmaking is(I was in an indie horror film 5 years ago.) so this book spoke to me.

It is utterly chilling. I felt breath on my neck and fingers playing up my spine.

In Horror Movie, Paul Tremblay takes the cursed movie trope and RUNS with it. The story grabbed me from the start and was a page turner that I tore through in a weekend. At times deeply unsettling, with some read-through-your-fingers scary scenes, building dread, the novel also has the wry wit, meta commentary, and formatting that I am quickly associating with Tremblay.

The story moves back and forth through time, sometimes as screenplay excerpts, memories, and current day scenes, all presented as an audiobook narrated by “The Thin Kid”, the sole surviving actor and crew member of an unreleased 90s indie horror film that has since reached cult status.

Throughout the novel, Tremblay weaves in discourse on the art and commerce of Horror, Hollywood, cinema, the complicity of the audience, trauma, fame, friendship, exploitation, and a behind the scenes look at filmaking. All of this while telling a very compelling story with a crazy ending. I will be thinking about this book for a long time and it is definitely a favorite book of this year.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was my first book by Paul Tremblay, but I honestly loved it. The pacing was a little slow at times, but the overall vibes kept me hooked, it was sufficiently creepy and made me uncomfortable when late night reading, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a horror book. I will be buying his next novels for sure! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

This book was a rollercoaster ride. It was also a painful read for me. I didn't know if I was supposed to like or not like the main character. I didn't expect the ending - I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that. Characters were all very complicated and it took a lot of attention to detail to make sure I was understanding the plot line.

Paul Tremblay is a new to me author. I heard about him through a book girlie I follow and I immediately went to netgalley to request his book. This book was creepy and sometimes disturbing but I couldn’t put it down. I don’t think I’ve ever read a horror book quite like it before. I definitely recommend it.

First of all, thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for the eARC of Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay. Paul Tremblay is one of my favorite authors writing horror today. I was eagerly anticipating Horror Movie and it does not disappoint with a very cool narrative that flips between two different timelines. The premise revolves around the titular Horror Movie that was filmed in the 1990s but remains unreleased except for several scenes. Due to its rabid fanbase, a remake is propositioned with the original suriving cast member, who is played by the slasher-esque character the Thin Kid. I really love how Tremblay builds this wonderful world between the filming of both movies, but by the end, it only resolves a few questions the reader has. In my opinion, this lack of resolve only heightens the climax of the novel and makes The Thin Kid, who is the narrator of the novel, an iconic and unforgettable horror character.

DNF for me. This one jumped around a lot, and the writing itself actually really bugged me. It was too wordy with too many long sentences and too overdone.
There’s some texture here with sections of each chapter being dedicated to a screenplay. But overall, I just wasn’t interested and didn’t care for the writing.

I finished this book over a month ago and I'm not sure how to write the review. Even though I've read several other books since then, I'm still thinking about Horror Movie.

I don't want to say too much, because this is the kind of book you don't want to know too much about before reading. However, I will say I loved the format. The book goes back and forth between the past, when the original film is being shot, to the present, with the reboot of the movie. Tying the present/past together is the character of The Kid, who is the only living actor from the original film.

The book is super creepy. I hope someone turns this into a movie because I think this would even be better and scarier on the big screen.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for an advance digital copy in return for my honest review.

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay would make a perfect horror movie! Seriously, it would. This book is a little bit of an enigma. It took me some time to wrap my mind around it. This book is a slow burn and I struggled with it initially. But then it won me over! The unsettling quality of this book, the struggle to wrap my mind around it, and the perspective of the surviving cast member of the film crew proved to be a unique, riveting, and mind blowing reading experience. 📖

June 1993 - A group of filmmakers make an art house horror movie titled Horror Movie. The movie was fraught with incidents and only three scenes were released to the public making it a fan/cult favorite.🎬

Now, three decades later, Hollywood is hoping to cash in on a reboot. “The Thin Kid”, the surviving cast member is going to be involved in remaking the film......🎥

As I mentioned, this was a slow burn and yet I could not look away. This was a book that at times I wasn't even sure that I was enjoying while reading. I kept changing my mind, I liked it, I didn't like it, I was impressed by it, I wasn't sure about it, I thought it was brilliant, etc. Horror Movie is unnerving, unsettling, unreliable, shocking, riveting, horrific, and creepy. All the things that I enjoy in horror books and movies.🎥📓

Paul Tremblay is a gifted writer and flexes his skills in this book. He does a tremendous job of creating atmosphere, tension, dread, and unease in this book. This book is highly original, well thought out, and I will say it one last time, unsettling.😮

I couldn't finish this one, I tried because I love horror! But the MC was sooo annoying and immature that I couldn't get past it and the fact that it was such a slow burn.

I haven’t read anything by Paul Tremblay before, but something about this one really spoke to me - the premise, the indie filmmaker in me, the love of horror, the unique writing, maybe all of it.

Much like the film within the book, Horror Movie won’t be for everyone. We jump around in the timeline a lot while also getting snippets of the movie’s script here and there (a script not written like a normal script, which I actually loved), and the knowledge of something going/being horribly *wrong* is left in tiny breadcrumbs scattered throughout. I was so intrigued by the sense of foreboding, by wanting to know what happened, that I finished this in a day.

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the ending. I won’t spoil anything, but man I was a little disappointed with the choice to go THAT route. I get it, I just didn’t like it.

But hey, so many horror movies these days don’t stick the landing either. Maybe it’s fitting.

This book is quite the thriller. It's a trip down memory lane you'd rather not go down. As for being a reader, I spent a few nights awake reading this beyond my bedtime. I think that anyone who enjoys the horror genre will also enjoy this.

After reading the synopsis for Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay, I couldn't wait to read it. Who doesn't like a good lost footage horror movie book?
However, this one missed the mark for me. I found the screenplay parts took me out of the story. There were several times where I quit reading because of the slow pace.
The end chapter gave me a little of what I had hoped the rest of the book was. If there was more like this throughout, it would have been more enjoyable for me.
2 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank William Morrow Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of Horror Movie in exchange for my honest review.

What. A. Trip!
This book has me hooked from the beginning and left me guessing until the very end. You feel off-kilter through a lot of the story, trying to piece together what exactly happened during the original filming of Horror Movie, but never knowing until the end. This was my first Tremblay and I will definitely be picking up more of his work after this. This was spooky and a surprise ending.