Summer 2024 will go down as one of the best periods for horror out of the whole decade. Between great successes in films such as Longlegs, Alien: Romulus and Maxxxine and the revival of EC Comics, it’s been an excellent few months for fans of the genre.
That said, Horror novels have also been having a great summer. Two of the biggest successes being from well-respected genre writers hitting new career heights. Horror Movie is Paul Tremblay‘s first novel after his first feature film adaptation, while Stephen Graham Jones came out swinging immediately after finishing the Indian Lake trilogy of novels, his most commercially successful works to date.
What these two novels have in common goes beyond release periods is that they tackle similar subject matter and themes, but in totally different ways, complimenting each other in an almost magical way – a literary double bill. This post will contain light spoilers for both books, but nothing not already discussed by other outlets.
Horror Movie, published in June by William Morrow Publishing, tells the story of a 90’s film set known for being ‘cursed’, and how protagonist The Thin Kid has been stuck in the shadow of it for most of his life. Like all of Tremblay’s other work, it’s deeply realistic, very focused on its themes and ambiguous a lot of the time. If you like his work, you will like this book. I only recently discovered Tremblay myself, but have since come to view this book as one of his best. There’s a lot of genuine sadness here, as well as two particularly unnerving scenes which I will be thinking about for a long time to come. One involves a character waiting alone in the dark for over five minutes, and it’s told in a way that’s stomach-churning. Also like Tremblay’s other works, this book experiments with the literary form. It’s got flashbacks, flashforwards, and most strikingly, the entirety of the film’s script. I imagine these script sections are not for everyone, but I found them to be a fascinating and awesome layer to the novel, fleshing out the cursed film being made as well as providing the characters with development.
Horror Movie is ultimately about growing up in the shadow of your youth. It’s about how one man is haunted by something that happened when he was basically only just kicking off his life. The cursed film element reflects this, becoming an object of legend in the novel with rumors and dramatizations that go far beyond anything the original cast and crew actually did or actually thought about. In a sense, it is bathed in nostalgia, but it is also filled with an exasperation and sadness that fills the book with a profound sense of melancholy. It’s not always dark and sad though. It’s probably Tremblay’s funniest book, and has moments of heart and sincerity that bind the whole thing together. You can tell that Tremblay has brought in his own personal experiences with Hollywood folks, especially in a sequence involving a hustler at a Convention. Whilst it may not appeal to horror fans who like their books gory and with a high body count, those craving a more intimate, literary style of horror will find themselves in for an absolute treat.
I Was A Teenage Slasher, published in July by Simon & Schuster, tells the story of Tolly Driver, a kid growing up in 80’s Texas, who may or may not be a serial killer. On paper, a book from the perspective of a Slasher villain may seem like a task doomed to fail, but Stephen Graham Jones is wickedly smart and tackles it in one of the most clever ways I’ve seen. If the Indian Lake trilogy was Jones subverting final girl tropes, this is playing with Slasher villain ones with equal parts empathy and wit. It’s got a rock solid emotional centre, great pacing and plotting, and Jones’ trademark literary stylings. If you liked any of his previous work, particularly the Indian Lake trilogy, you are bound to enjoy this book. Set in small-town Lamesa, Texas, the setting feels incredibly real and fleshed out. It’s an interesting contrast with Horror Movie, which has a number of settings so any individual one needs less fleshing out, and it helps Teen Slasher‘s setting stand out. The real highlight of the novel, however, is the incredible and multifaceted protagonist Tolly Driver.
At no point does Tolly feel one-dimensional, like Jason Voorhees or Freddie Krueger. He’s a well-realised character, with compelling and understandable feelings, and the book as a whole speaks to a universal feeling of teenage angst. Tolly’s a kid in a dead-end town that he loves and hates, he’s got one incredibly close friend named Amber, and a bunch of people he knows of that he doesn’t really know well. It’s something that I’m sure strikes a very real nerve in people, harkening to their own experience. Jones has even stated himself that this may be his most personal novel yet. The horror elements don’t feel unnecessary or tacked on either This is a book about a teen slasher after all – it’s the spine of the story, and Jones knows how to write thrilling scenes of cuttingly effective violence. There’s a certain ambiguity to a lot of the sequences, but it never took me out of the novel, and it’s never used as a cope out to not be gory or have some neat kills that will please horror fans.
Both novels are ultimately about reflecting on the process of growing up, and how much of a horrible mess it can be. They use horror fiction to compliment these stories, and never at any point lack love for the genre. They’ve both got kills and thrills a plenty, but will also genuinely emotionally move you. Hell, I was in genuinely in tears at the end of I Was a Teenage Slasher, and Horror Movie left me speechless. Jones and Tremblay are both incredible talents, and just seem to be getting better and better. They make for great complimentary pieces to compare to each other. both deserve the success they’ve been getting and them some. It’s the best double bill you could ask for. It was a summer for horror, and it’s no different for novels – so sit back, relax, and read about some teenage horrors as the summer comes to a close.
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones is out now from Simon & Schuster, and Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay is out now from William Morrow Publishing. Titan Books publishes both books in the UK and overseas.
