Horror Movie by Paul Trembla;y

 I loved Paul Tremblay's "The Cabin at the End of the World" and "Survivor Song" and liked "A Head Full of Ghosts" but didn't care for "The Pallbearers Club." So, I didn't know what to expect going into "Horror Movie." The premise sounded intriguing, but unfortunately, the execution didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Thirty years ago, a small group of twenty-something filmmakers decided to make a horror movie on a shoestring budget. Although the film was completed, it was never fully released--only parts were uploaded to YouTube, just enough to gain a cult following. Now, Hollywood has decided to "reboot" the film on a much bigger scale. Only one of the original cast members is still alive, and he has been recruited as a consultant and to reprise parts of his role as "The Thin Kid.” Will this version successfully live up to the fanbase's expectations? And, what is more important, will the cast members survive the filming?

Spanning two timelines and incorporating the original script into the storyline, Tremblay does a tightrope walk between the filming of both versions of the "Horror Movie." The book slowly reveals what happened to the original cast members—sometimes a bit too slowly. Told in the first person by "The Thin Kid," there are times when the level of detail is overwhelming, spanning multiple pages. I skimmed parts because they didn't seem to move the story forward. The story also bogged down in the middle, but the ending was satisfying enough to overcome both problems. I liked this book, but it doesn't rank up there with some of Tremblay's other novels. 

3/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is June 11, 2024.

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