5/5

I don’t often finish a book and love everything about it, but this one was definitely one of them. It was such a masterful descent into madness in both past and present storylines and I absolutely loved the ride.

The past was a great look into the horror of what had happened while filming the movie and where things started to go wrong. There was that uncanny feeling of something not being right but people were too anxious to finish and let things slide more and more. Then the present intertwined perfectly in between, mirroring the same decline, the same wrongness but finally wanting to finish what had started.

It was so well done, I really loved the story and the atmosphere it had. I really felt that dread all throughout and it really delivered by the end. Highly recommend this one!

Paul Trembley's Horror Movie reads like the Scream of the 2020s. One part period piece, one part screenplay, and finally one part unreliable narrator. As you read you will find you think you know what happened only to find your ideas changing after each chapter.

A very wild ride! This book started out a little slow, but the building up was necessary to really understand what was happening in each timeline. The smart twists and subtle references keep you trying to guess what happened at the end of the original Horror Movie. I am looking forward to reading this book again as an audiobook!

An unsettling, original and unforgettable novel that sucks you in and holds you captive until the very last page.
As a small group of friends come together to make their vision of a horror movie, this book takes us from their making of the movie, to the protagonists telling of what happened in the original movie shoot, through to what came after and into the Hollywood reboot.
Told in parts in the form of a bit of the script, to the protagonist’s making of an audiobook, it took a little while to settle into the writing format but once you get reeled into the book it is an excellent read.
The book is made even more mysterious as we never learn the protagonists name, only his screen characters name, The Thin Kid.
This isn’t a slasher, gory horror story and the film they set out to make wasn’t either, but it’s definitely a psychological horror.
Lines start to blur between what is real and what actually happened with some plot twists that will have you doubting your memory and the reliability of the narrator.
What was real and what is myth surrounding the original movie that never got released? After finishing the book I’m still not sure, but in a good, mysterious way, and as for the ending? WTF?
In the best way possible, what the hell have I just read?
Full of eerie, creepy scenes I could actually see this working as an actual movie. I know I would watch it!
A great book by a very talented author, this is definitely a book to be added to your tbr pile!

This spooky thriller was exactly what I needed to get back into reading this month. I love how he took a traditional concept and really made it his own. Definitely will be recommending to friends and family!

While I really excited to read this book, the format of it fell short. Numerous pages were half words down the right side of the page. It was generally the beginning of each scene/chapter. What I was able to read, I enjoyed. However, I will wait until it comes out in print form to read all of the way through.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. It's not my favorite of Tremblay's books, but I loved the way the story was told. It definitely took some time for the story to pick up but the ending makes it worth the read.

In 1993, a group of young adults set out to make a horror movie, but years later only three scenes were ever released, despite them supposedly filming the whole thing. Now, Hollywood wants to do a big-bydget reboot with the lore of the original promising viral success. The one aurviving cast member of the original takes us through what happend, what’s happened now, and shares the full screenplay.

This book moves back and forth in time with interspersed buts of the screenplay to give it a somewhat epistolary feel. I thoroughly enjoyed this, which is not surprising. Tremblay is one of my favorite working horror writers, and I always look forward to his books.

This one combines my love of film, horror, and a mystery that slowly unfolds and keeps us guessing despite us knowing (mostly) the big picture. It builds and builds to a surprisingly climatic ending that gives off A24 vibes (said with compliments). It doesn’t come out until June, but keep it on your radar, cuz it’s a wild ride.

Sometimes I really like Paul Tremblay's books, and sometimes they take so long for anything to really happen that they are just boring. Unfortunately, I found Horror Movie to be one of the boring ones. The movie itself just seems so weird and goofy. I couldn't get into it.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Horror Movie is an examination of what people will do if they can get away with it, and that drive that people have to stare at a car accident. It's not me and it's not my loved ones. A group of teens are making a movie, and the Thin Kid is the outcast in the group, so he gets the worst of it. Locked in the room, no food, no water, but he becomes so much more. The book is interspersed with actual happenings of the group when not filming then, and adult cast now. Maybe somethings are better left alone.

This book took me about 1/3 way to really get into, I didn’t want to give up because I love his books. I’m glad I stuck with it! The premise was different than other horror books, the characters were relatable!

"The Mask is ugly and grotesque and familiar, and we cannot stop staring at it because all monsters are mirrors."
- Horror Movie

Fans of the horror genre are a jaded bunch. We already know how stories like this go. We cut our teeth on Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark and memorized the how-to-survive speech from Scream (1996). We know that when the roller-coaster finally slows to a stop we will be shaken but safe. Familiarity dulls the edge of fear.

On the surface, Horror Story revels in cliché: a cursed film, a mask, a knife. In the hands of a lesser talent, Horror Movie might have been another forgetful addition to a bloated genre. But not Tremblay. Tremblay is a master of blurring the line between the supernatural and mundane to spectacular effect. He understands that the passage of time can be just as terrifying as a ghost. In fact, it may be more so. Why fear the dark when sunshine causes skin cancer? Why fear the monster in the closet when disease may be lurking inside your own body, about to bloom into being?

Who survives a horror movie, really?

Wow! A gripping read for fans of horror movies and the lore that comes with them. Formatted partially as a movie script, and switching between sharing tales of "then" and "now", the writing keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, unsure of what to expect next. Just when you think you are figuring it out, the author masterfully switches gears and introduces a new piece of the lore to pique your curiousity and throw a wrench into your theory. The narrator, who some would describe as the star of the movie, tells of his time on set of the low-budget film while preparing for a big Hollywood reboot. As he describes the lines between movie and real life blurring, you'll be shocked at what he was willing to do to continue to build the lore for a movie that no one had actually ever seen.

In the summer of 1993 a group of friends get together to make a horror movie. Despite only a few scenes being released on to the internet, it has become the stuff of movie legends inspiring a modern reboot with the original "Thin Kid" (the only surviving cast member) reprising his role. What follows is deeply disturbing. Part social commentary, part cynical jab at Hollywood, part psychological thriller, "Horror Movie" drags the Reader to the shocking yet inevitable climax. This is a must read for fans of Paul Tremblay, horror literature, and scary movies.

You get all the things you expect from a Paul Tremblay novel -- fun chills, great prose, some inventive formal playing around, humor and heart. And this one's got the benefit of some jabs at Hollywood moviemaking and the horror film world. Very much enjoyed this one.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Please check your trigger warnings before reading!!!!

This book made me so uncomfortable! It starts off slow and kind of awkward. The main character is quite awkward and weird and he’s the narrator so it takes a bit to get used to. He also is a unique narrator in that he is an outsider/side character to a lot of the story he’s trying to tell. This makes the storytelling a bit jarring as we skip parts he doesn’t know about or read his thoughts and theories on what happened that he missed. It’s clear the story is told from a skewed perspective, and what seems to be an unreliable narrator. This book also jumps timelines as the narrator reminisces about the original horror movie, and the present remake. At first it’s organized by chapter, but the further into the book we go, and the more odd our narrator gets, the timelines will switch mid chapter. Sometimes several times. In one instance, jumping from one story to the old movie to the new movie before back to the story. If I watched this as a movie, I guarantee I’d not be able to sleep. The characters in this book can be a bit pretentious at times, but I think this book does that intentionally as a nod to the existence of and to poke fun at these kind of individuals in real life in the movie industry and in fandoms. The story is also told to YOU by the narrator, which makes you part of the story, which makes it more uncomfortable and unsettling. It makes you feel like you are complicit in some of the actions that take place and you feel in danger when the other characters feel in danger. The archway scene brought up so many unsettling and uncomfortable memories of sitting alone, terrified, staring out into the darkness; trying to decide if some malevolent entity was out there waiting to get me. I don’t know that I could handle watching this if it got turned into a movie largely because of the scene.

Horror Movie is definitely a Tremblay novel. Though at times it felt disjointed with all of the bouncing around, Tremblay did a great job keeping a dark atmosphere through out with some oh fuck moments that kept you wanting more. It was hard to follow at times, took a minute to get into the meat of the story and just as soon as it took off, it ended. It ends in true Tremblay fashion leaving you thinking and wondering but it also felt a bit off, and was a bit hard to fathom. Overall, I enjoyed the story but not so much the ending. I felt the story took it's time building up to something only to end quickly and with an ending from left field.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with the advanced copy of this novel to read, enjoy and review!

In a desolate narrative tapestry, four adolescents find themselves woven into the fabric of a tale much grander than the limits of their youth. They embark on a journey of creation, a cinematic endeavor that eclipses their own reality. This narrative is heavy, its essence reminiscent of the grim storytelling found in "The Cabin at the End of the World," yet it charts a distinct and captivating trajectory that captures the reader's intrigue.

The story unfolds in a dual timeline, oscillating between the past — the original filming — and the present, where echoes of that film are resurrected through a contemporary remake. One can't help but ponder if the author's own dance with film adaptations has bled into these pages, painting a portrait of the movie industry rife with vividly detailed caricatures of its denizens. As the plot deepens, the shadows of the original film's notoriety loom, unraveling the reasons behind the narrator's deep-seated scars from the project.

Yet, he's drawn once more into the fray of a grand-scale production. The premise unfolds with a series of bizarre and disconcerting developments, gripping the reader in its suspenseful grasp.

However, the novel falters in segments where the narrative assumes the form of a screenplay — Cleo's creation. The script sections, laden with excessive expository detail, break the cardinal rules of screenwriting, presenting a challenge for visualization. These moments, potentially transformative if confined to pure prose, struggle under the weight of their format, jarring the reader from the immersion.

Navigating this story is akin to walking through a house of mirrors — fascinating yet perplexing, with the truth shimmering elusively. The unreliable narrator's tale is not one of straightforward paths but of twisted corridors and shifting perspectives. He is a character marred by his trials, psychologically intricate and not without his faults.

The crescendo of the tale, the denouement, deviates from the author's trademark subtlety. It lands with the resounding thud of conventionality, perhaps an intentional mimicry of a Hollywood ending, yet it leaves a lingering question of its intent.

On the whole a 4 star read for me.

I was thrilled to see Paul Trembley had a new novel coming out and even more thrilled to recieve an ARC. In true fashion, Trembley left me in a page turning suspense that had me finshing the story in two days. What I thought was coming was not. Set between different decades of a young mans life, a man whose true name we never learn, we are led through the story by a group of teenagers making a horror movie. The author has us garner the teen's relationships with each other through narrative and movie script style. Fans of the horror movie (and novel) genre will be enamored by this tale of what happens during and after the "Horror Movie" is made.

Paul Tremblay is just one of the best horror writers out there. Horror Movie was an incredible read. I was immediately sucked in based on the back cover plot, but I was weary to how it would play out. But it was absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't put it down.