My Review
Paul Tremblay is an incredibly gifted author with a true talent for writing thrillers, horror, and the unexpected. I enjoyed some of his other work, and I was super excited to jump into Horror Story because the whole “cursed found footage” category of horror. I’m the kind of person who will read absolutely anything they can find of this kind of story, so I definitely wasn’t missing a book written by someone with such a talent for capturing an audience and leaving them on the edge of their seat.
“A movie is a collection of beautiful lies that somehow add up to being the truth, or a truth.”
I went into this without knowing too much about it, other than it had the “cursed found footage” tagline in the description. Once I saw that, I honestly didn’t read too much into the rest of the synopsis, and I also kind of preordered it super early so I forgot all about it until it arrived at my front door.
So when I picked this up, with its amazing smooth black cover with a cool VHS tape, and the bright red stained pages (which was a super cool addition to the book, making it feel more atmospheric), I was excited.
Horror Movie begins with our main character, who is the only surviving cast member of the original Horror Movie project, meeting with folks in Hollywood about doing a reboot of that movie – despite everything that happened during the original filming. But what exactly did happen, and what was the original Horror Movie about – and why did it have such a cult following?
“We can’t know what he is thinking. We can’t know what anyone else is thinking, even when they tell us.”
Following are chapters alternating between the past where the original movie was filmed (including the screenplay, broken up into bits and pieces throughout the chapters), and moments in the present where they discuss the specifics of rebooting the film.
I won’t say any more about it. If I do, I will spoil parts of the book that are better read and experienced through reading.
Just be aware that it might not be what you are expecting, and it is a total “what the actual hell” moment of a novel.
When I started reading, I admit I was interrupted a few times so it took me a while to get into the story. Once I finally did get into it, and once I finally understood the overall layout and was able to focus on the story and the screenplay, I had a much easier time reading the book. It’s not that it’s a terribly difficult book to read or anything, it’s not. The story was really awesome and I found myself pulled into it.
I absolutely adored some of the characters and how well the author had fleshed them out. I feel like a lot of time was put into developing them and I enjoyed reading their stories, both past and present. Character development is typically one of my favorite aspects to any novel, so this was quite a treat.
One problem I had? I liked the screenplay part of the book, the original screenplay that they filmed in the story (the part that took place back in the 1990s) so much more than the story that was being told in the present. I loved the past chapters that told the story and how the characters all worked together to bring the movie to life. I did, however, think that the present day chapters were kind of confusing and sort of didn’t flow right with the rest of the novel.
Honestly, the present day chapters toward the ending kind of let me down because I ended up with more questions than not. I wish I could say that some of those questions had gotten answered, but I was unable to find any answers after finishing the book. I won’t go into detail about the things I’m still unsure about, but it did leave me feeling frustrated.
Another thing that bothered me about Horror Movie is that, well, it felt kind of devoid of any actual horror. I’m not saying I want like, super paranormal slasher happy time or anything, but it didn’t feel scary. It felt more like a literary fiction or a timid thriller than a horror. Nothing actually scary happened, and I was not left on the edge of my seat.
Would I pick up another Paul Tremblay book? Definitely. I’d rush to preorder any of his books like I have in the past. This one just wasn’t my favorite horror novel that I’ve read lately. That being said, it was a total emotional ride and in hindsight, had I known it wasn’t actually “horror” I was going to be reading (I read a lot of ghost stories!), I probably would not have had negative things to say about it (other than the questions I still have, because, damn, I am not always cool with not having all the loose ends tied up all neat with a bow. Sometimes I want answers, and this book didn’t give me all of them.
I heard the audiobook features a full cast and is absolutely amazing, taking the reading experience to a whole other level. I might just have to pick that up at some point, because it sounds like that’s the way to go if you are considering this book.
