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'horror movie' questions the motivation behind evil acts.

Gabino Iglesias

William Morrow hide caption

Paul Tremblay's Horror Movie is a peculiar horror novel that takes a refreshing look at the haunted film subgenre, while also eliminating the line between novels and movie scripts.

Dark, surprisingly violent, and incredibly multilayered, this narrative is a superb addition to Tremblay's already impressive oeuvre that shows he can deliver the elements fans love from him — while also constantly pushing the envelope and exploring new ways to tell stories.

In June of 1993, a small group of young people got together and spent a month making a bizarre horror movie titled Horror Movie . With one camera, a skeleton crew, a script that broke a lot of rules, and almost no budget, they managed to make their film after a few setbacks and plenty of blood and accidents. While the film was never released, three scenes and a few stills were made available online, and they became the stuff of legend over the years, collecting a cult following and sparking a frenzy of speculation, online debate, and conspiracy theories.

Now, 30 years after the original, unreleased film was made and after all the drama —psychological and emotional as well as legal — that ensued, Hollywood wants to make a big budget version and release it. The man who played "The Thin Kid," perhaps the original film's most iconic and mysterious character, is the only surviving cast member, and they want him to reprise his role. He still has the mask he used in the movie, and also the scars the filming process left behind. He remembers the strange things that happened on the set, the brutality that quickly became normalized while they shot dark scenes, and the chaos and destruction the film brought to all of them. Still, he agrees to help with the reboot. As things move forward and he deals with directors and movie people, the past comes back to haunt him — but "The Thin Kid" pushes forward, as always.

Reading a Tremblay novel is entering a universe in which confusion and ambiguity —"My answer was not no. I didn't say the word 'yes'" — reign supreme. Horror Movie is no different. In fact, this might be Tremblay's most Tremblay novel to date. For starters, the author once again eschews the traditional novel format, this time in favor of a mix of novel and screenplay in which one bleeds into the other frequently, switching chapters and effortlessly taking readers from past to present and back again. Also, the screenplay itself is unique in format and makes the reader part of what's happening, constantly shattering the fourth wall an acknowledging that the events are communal, that we are there, witnessing what the characters are witnessing and feeling the same sense of dread and anticipation that they feel.

While the structure of this novel is unique, the narrative itself is very easy to follow — until it's not. The story is there, but with many purposeful holes. We know bad things happened while the movie was being filmed — accidents, injuries, extreme violence that occurred with consent — and that the whole thing ended up in court, but we don't know how or why. And the author holds those secrets until the very end, which, as with any other Tremblay novel, holds a few surprise twists.

Most importantly, this is a narrative that questions the motivation behind evil acts. During the filming, The Thin Kid is horribly tortured: The kids who keep him hostage throw things at him, put out cigarettes on his body, and cut off part of his pinky finger. Some of that happens for real, partly to make it look convincing on screen and partly for reasons that aren't too clear. There are several unsettling moments in this novel, and at the core of each of them are people acting horribly just because they can. Tremblay's work has often interrogated the nature of horror and bad behavior, but never as clearly and he does here.

While Horror Movie is the kind of creepy narrative that can be enjoyed without much thinking, it's also a multilayered novel that almost demands intellectual engagement. Besides the way the author studies awful behavior, the story also explores the unreliable nature of memory. The Thin Kid, now the adult who narrates the novel, is self-deprecating and unreliable. He remembers things a certain way, but knows that his memories might not be accurate: "We laughed. I think we laughed, or I choose to remember we laughed. I think we're in more control of what we remember or what we don't remember than we assume." This purposeful lack of certainty is designed to keep readers wondering, and it succeeds at that.

Horror Movie is strange and unsettling in the best way possible. This is a novel that's also a screenplay, but the story all blends together perfectly. Tremblay's unique voice and chameleonic style have made him one of the leading voices in speculative fiction, and this is one of his best novels so far.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .

Horror Movie

Paul tremblay.

277 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2024

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Paul Tremblay’s ‘Horror Movie’ Questions the Motivation Behind Evil Acts

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Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie is a peculiar horror novel that takes a refreshing look at the haunted film subgenre, while also eliminating the line between novels and movie scripts.

Dark, surprisingly violent, and incredibly multilayered, this narrative is a superb addition to Tremblay’s already impressive oeuvre that shows he can deliver the elements fans love from him — while also constantly pushing the envelope and exploring new ways to tell stories.

In June of 1993, a small group of young people got together and spent a month making a bizarre horror movie titled Horror Movie . With one camera, a skeleton crew, a script that broke a lot of rules, and almost no budget, they managed to make their film after a few setbacks and plenty of blood and accidents. While the film was never released, three scenes and a few stills were made available online, and they became the stuff of legend over the years, collecting a cult following and sparking a frenzy of speculation, online debate, and conspiracy theories.

Now, 30 years after the original, unreleased film was made and after all the drama —psychological and emotional as well as legal — that ensued, Hollywood wants to make a big budget version and release it. The man who played “The Thin Kid,” perhaps the original film’s most iconic and mysterious character, is the only surviving cast member, and they want him to reprise his role. He still has the mask he used in the movie, and also the scars the filming process left behind. He remembers the strange things that happened on the set, the brutality that quickly became normalized while they shot dark scenes, and the chaos and destruction the film brought to all of them. Still, he agrees to help with the reboot. As things move forward and he deals with directors and movie people, the past comes back to haunt him — but The Thin Kid pushes forward, as always.

Reading a Tremblay novel is entering a universe in which confusion and ambiguity — “My answer was not no. I didn’t say the word ‘yes'” — reign supreme. Horror Movie is no different. In fact, this might be Tremblay’s most Tremblay novel to date. For starters, the author once again eschews the traditional novel format, this time in favor of a mix of novel and screenplay in which one bleeds into the other frequently, switching chapters and effortlessly taking readers from past to present and back again. Also, the screenplay itself is unique in format and makes the reader part of what’s happening, constantly shattering the fourth wall and acknowledging that the events are communal — that we are there, witnessing what the characters are witnessing and feeling the same sense of dread and anticipation that they feel.

While the structure of this novel is unique, the narrative itself is very easy to follow — until it’s not. The story is there, but with many purposeful holes. We know bad things happened while the movie was being filmed — accidents, injuries, extreme violence that occurred with consent — and that the whole thing ended up in court, but we don’t know how or why. And the author holds those secrets until the very end, which, as with any other Tremblay novel, holds a few surprise twists.

Most importantly, this is a narrative that questions the motivation behind evil acts. During the filming, The Thin Kid is horribly tortured: The kids who keep him hostage throw things at him, put out cigarettes on his body, and cut off part of his pinky finger. Some of that happens for real, partly to make it look convincing on screen and partly for reasons that aren’t too clear. There are several unsettling moments in this novel, and at the core of each of them are people acting horribly just because they can. Tremblay’s work has often interrogated the nature of horror and bad behavior, but never as clearly as he does here.

While Horror Movie is the kind of creepy narrative that can be enjoyed without much thinking, it’s also a multilayered novel that almost demands intellectual engagement. Besides the way the author studies awful behavior, the story also explores the unreliable nature of memory. The Thin Kid, now the adult who narrates the novel, is self-deprecating and unreliable. He remembers things a certain way, but knows that his memories might not be accurate: “We laughed. I think we laughed, or I choose to remember we laughed. I think we’re in more control of what we remember or what we don’t remember than we assume.” This purposeful lack of certainty is designed to keep readers wondering, and it succeeds at that.

Horror Movie is strange and unsettling in the best way possible. This is a novel that’s also a screenplay, but the story all blends together perfectly. Tremblay’s unique voice and chameleonic style have made him one of the leading voices in speculative fiction, and this is one of his best novels so far.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .

‘Horror Movie’ by Paul Tremblay is out now, via William Morrow.

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HORROR MOVIE

by Paul Tremblay ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2024

A fever dream about despair and regret that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

When an unreleased cult movie is rebooted, the surviving member of the original film’s crew grapples with psychic whiplash.

Even though it’s not steeped in horror lore like the bangers being cranked out by Stephen Graham Jones or Grady Hendrix, this captivating take is tailor-made for fans of Stephen King and Jordan Peele alike. A cautionary tale with elements of indie movie darlings The Blair Witch Project , Blue Velvet , and River’s Edge , this chronicle of hometown kids trying to make a cheap slasher flick is shockingly memorable and deeply disturbing. Our unnamed narrator is the last survivor of the eponymous movie, filmed in the summer of 1993. Their Horror Movie concerns teens who torture one of their own—the narrator’s role is that of the Thin Kid, akin to the Slender Man of urban legend—and suffer the consequences. In the mix are the film’s obsessive director, Valentina; a handful of cast and crew; and the film’s ethereal screenwriter, Cleo, whose presence is most fully felt within the pages of her unusually personal screenplay. After a bewildering tragedy, the film was never released. Decades later, Valentina uploads a few scenes, some stills, and the screenplay to the internet, inspiring the modern-day reinvention. With his crewmates long dead by mostly natural causes, the narrator reluctantly agrees to capitalize on his infamy, eventually agreeing to participate in a hot horror reboot. Revolving between the original production and the big-budget reimagining, Tremblay deftly sidesteps genre tropes and easy laughs for a truly disturbing experience inside some very troubled heads. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be a great movie,” cautions our Thin Kid. “You’re all going to see it. Most of you are really going to like it.…Will the movie be something you take with you, that stays with you, burrows into and lives in a corner inside you? That, I don’t know.”

Pub Date: June 11, 2024

ISBN: 9780063070011

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024

SUPERNATURAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION

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by Paul Tremblay

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | SCIENCE FICTION

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by Max Brooks

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BOOK TO SCREEN

THE GOD OF THE WOODS

by Liz Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2024

"Don't go into the woods" takes on unsettling new meaning in Moore's blend of domestic drama and crime novel.

Many years after her older brother, Bear, went missing, Barbara Van Laar vanishes from the same sleepaway camp he did, leading to dark, bitter truths about her wealthy family.

One morning in 1975 at Camp Emerson—an Adirondacks summer camp owned by her family—it's discovered that 13-year-old Barbara isn't in her bed. A problem case whose unhappily married parents disdain her goth appearance and "stormy" temperament, Barbara is secretly known by one bunkmate to have slipped out every night after bedtime. But no one has a clue where's she permanently disappeared to, firing speculation that she was taken by a local serial killer known as Slitter. As Jacob Sluiter, he was convicted of 11 murders in the 1960s and recently broke out of prison. He's the one, people say, who should have been prosecuted for Bear's abduction, not a gardener who was framed. Leave it to the young and unproven assistant investigator, Judy Luptack, to press forward in uncovering the truth, unswayed by her bullying father and male colleagues who question whether women are "cut out for this work." An unsavory group portrait of the Van Laars emerges in which the children's father cruelly abuses their submissive mother, who is so traumatized by the loss of Bear—and the possible role she played in it—that she has no love left for her daughter. Picking up on the themes of families in search of themselves she explored in  Long Bright River (2020), Moore draws sympathy to characters who have been subjected to spousal, parental, psychological, and physical abuse. As rich in background detail and secondary mysteries as it is, this ever-expansive, intricate, emotionally engaging novel never seems overplotted. Every piece falls skillfully into place and every character, major and minor, leaves an imprint.

Pub Date: July 2, 2024

ISBN: 9780593418918

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Riverhead

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024

LITERARY FICTION | GENERAL FICTION | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Liz Moore

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Review: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Horror Movie

Published: 6/11/2024

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 978-0063070011

Call it “found footage adjacent.” Thirty years ago, a small group of twenty-somethings banded together to create a movie called  Horror Movie . The film was never completed due to an on-set accident, but it became a cult legend after the screenplay and a few clips were released to the internet fifteen years later. The plot of the film follows the director, screenwriter and a mutual friend playing themselves as disaffected teens who enslave and torture a classmate known only as the Thin Kid. Isolating him in an abandoned school building, with his apparent consent, they are determined to turn him into a faceless monster, the kind that has populated so many classic horror films.

It’s a running joke that people claim to know someone who was on-set during production, like those who say they were at the Woodstock festival. The book’s unnamed narrator (before he’s cast, the director refers to him only as the Weird Guy), now in his fifties, who played the masked Thin Kid, is the only survivor from the cast. He originally accepted the part because he wanted to create another version of himself, but he has drifted through life in the intervening years. However, there has been growing interest in rebooting  Horror Movie  and the narrator has been making appearances at fan conventions to stoke this interest, signing photographs and showing off the iconic mask.

He has also signed a deal to narrate an audiobook about his experiences making the movie, the text of which forms the contemporary part of Tremblay’s novel. The book bounces back and forth between this narrative in 2023 and the events of 1993 during production of the ill-fated (and some say “cursed”) movie, with a couple of scenes from fifteen years ago. Large sections of the original screenplay, an unorthodox, highly descriptive, introspective and conversational document, fill out the novel.

There have been several false starts, but someone is finally willing to green-light and finance a big-budget movie based on the 1993 script (with a few tweaks, of course). The Thin Kid is no longer thin nor a kid, but he’s eager to take part in the production and still owns the grotesque mask. Until the end of the book, the modern part of the story isn’t very important. However, the three-decade perspective gives the narrator room to tell the story as he sees fit. He admits that his memory isn’t completely accurate or that he may have reshaped events for dramatic effect. Ultimately, readers have only his word about certain incidents, and he has a vested interest in increasing curiosity about the cult classic.

Horror Movie  (the film) is grim business, as deeply disturbing as  The Girl Next Door  by Jack Ketchum, and the original production was rife with complications and disasters. The Thin Kid character is easily manipulated; so, too, is the person depicting him. In the early parts of the movie, his face is never visible to the camera. Once masked, he’s forced to strip to his underwear, exposing his lanky, gaunt body. He allows some of the sadistic elements of the script to be played out for real, and has the scars and other injuries to prove it. He’s aware that the director is manipulating him to get the performance she wants, but he passively goes along. He doesn’t get to read the entire script, only the extracts for each day’s filming, so he doesn’t know what’s coming. He lives apart from the rest of the cast and crew and agrees to remain silent while wearing the supposedly cursed mask, which further isolates and dehumanizes him. The line between the actor and the character blurs.

Over the course of the novel, Tremblay explores horror films as a genre (with references to many of the classics) and films in general, describing them as a collection of lies that add up to a truth and, while the lies themselves may be beautiful, the result could be ugly. He also has fun at the expense of Hollywood, with its pretentious producers and self-important directors. 

The book also plays with the nature of masks—the literal ones people wear as disguises and the more metaphorical ones people adopt when interacting with society. The novel—or at least its narrator—is quite pessimistic, opining that the world eventually breaks us all.

Because the original movie was filmed mostly in chronological order, Tremblay can save the best for last, including the nature of the incident that shut down production. The narrator claims that taking part in  Horror Movie  didn’t exactly ruin him, but it did change his life. The question is: was the change for the better? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out…

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Bev Vincent is the author of Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life and Influences (nominated for a 2023 Locus Award), The Dark Tower Companion , The Road to the Dark Tower (nominated for a Bram Stoker Award), and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion , nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award. In 2018, he co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright (a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee) with Stephen King.

His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine , Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine , Borderlands 5 , Ice Cold , and The Blue Religion . Four of his stories were collected in When the Night Comes Down and another four in a CD Select eBook . His story "The Bank Job" won the Al Blanchard Award. "The Honey Trap" from Ice Cold was nominated for an ITW Thriller Award in 2015 and "Zombies on a Plane" was nominated for an Ignotus Award in 2020.

His non-fiction has appeared in diverse magazines, including The Poetry Foundation , Fangoria , Rue Morgue , Screem , Pensacola Magazine and Texas Gardener . He has been a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine since 2001 and is a former member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews . He has served as a judge for the Al Blanchard, Shirley Jackson and Edgar Awards.

His work has been translated into: Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, HItalian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian

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Horror Movie: A Novel Kindle Edition

A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of  The Pallbearers Club  and  The Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making   Horror Movie,  a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but  Horror Movie  has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions— demons  of the past be damned.

But at what cost? 

Horror Movie  is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful feat of storytelling genius that builds inexorably to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion

• Print length 287 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher William Morrow
• Publication date June 11, 2024
• File size 3327 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

"Paul Tremblay's Horror Movie is a brilliant piece about the masks we know about and the masks we don't, the ones we're forced to wear for a lifetime because of our depression and the things we create to make sense of terrible things. He captures the fugue of being young, of finding a bridge to immortality when you're invulnerable, of making mistakes you can't take back. It is intimately heartbreaking and beautifully written, and it's scary in a way that attaches itself to your shame and self-loathing and just starts eating away. It's extraordinary." — Walter Chaw, author of A Walter Hill Film

“Paul Tremblay is one of the most terrifying horror writers of his generation and his new chiller, Horror Movie , is a reason for excitement.” — Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“In the hands of Paul Tremblay the story of a lost movie becomes a reflection on fear, the monsters we all are, and an investigation of what is a ‘horror novel.’ It’s bold, fearless, a bit sad, and very, very scary.” — Mariana Enriquez, author of Our Share of Night and Things We Lost in the Fire

"Tremblay returns with a terrifying novel about the creation of art and its effect on all it touches. . . A suspenseful story that is marked by its relentless unease and disturbing revelations about the characters, yes, but also about the readers themselves. An immersive reading experience that will forever alter the way those who encounter it watch horror movies." — Booklist (starred review)

“ Horror Movie is not only a haunting, unsettling, and utterly absorbing novel—it is also a twisted manifesto for art and the parts of ourselves we shed in order to create it. It messed with my head and I loved every minute of it.”   — Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant

“Spooky, heavily atmospheric, and loaded with dread, Horror Movie digs deep into the feeling horror gives us to examine how art imitates life and the disturbing result when life imitates art. Tremblay’s best work yet.” — Craig DiLouie, author of How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive

“Macabrely funny and incredibly smart, Horror Movie cements Tremblay's place as a master of horror. It encapsulates the unease of right now -- a runaway culture of self-reference with bloody hands. It's everything a horror novel ought to be: lean, mean, and genuinely scary.” — Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors and A Better World

“A profound, heart-wrenching, terrifyingly honest novel that’s also a cinematic page-turner. Horror Movie zooms in on creation and consumption, integrity and ego, admiration and obsession, and how the desperate search for connection through art can be beautiful, or disastrous. This book is a gift and a curse.”  — Rachel Harrison, nationally bestselling author of Black Sheep

“Balancing a terrifying cursed film with examinations of artistic creation, fandom, and truth, Tremblay’s latest is smart and well-paced and will have broad appeal.” — Library Journal  (starred review)

“Uncertainty is Tremblay’s stock-in-trade. Over the last decade, he has grown from hot new thing to horror icon without compromising on his uniquely inexplicable nightmares.”  — Esquire

"More than a dozen horror stories—weird, self-referential, expertly told. [The] quirkily magisterial title entry delivers a grim vision of hubris and collective apathy . . . It is all, frankly, riveting. . . . What seems to matter, in all these stories, aren’t the specifics of a grisly end but the emotions they conjure, the way they tinge our own reality after we turn the page.” — New York Times on The Beast You Are

“A tremendous book―thought-provoking and terrifying, with tension that winds up like a chain.  The Cabin at the End of the World  is Tremblay’s personal best. It’s that good.”  — Stephen King

“ The Cabin at the End of the World … will shape your nightmares for months—that’s pretty much guaranteed. That’s what it’s built for. And there’s a very, very good chance you’ll never get it out of your head again.”  — NPR

About the Author

Eva Kaminsky is a New York-based actor and audiobook narrator with over 150 titles to her credit. She trained at Boston University and has acted in numerous productions on television and film, including Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close , Happyish , Ugly Betty , ER, Numbers , Law & Order , and others.

Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of The Beast You Are , The Pallbearers Club , Survivor Song , Growing Things and Other Stories , Disappearance at Devil's Rock , A Head Full of Ghosts , and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland . His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family.

Ari Fliakos is an actor with experience in television, radio, film, theater, and voice-overs. He has earned four Earphones Awards, and his narration of Seth Patrick's Reviver won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration for paranormal fiction. On screen, he is best-known for his roles in Law & Order , Pills , and Company K .

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CJRMMRPZ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow (June 11, 2024)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 11, 2024
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 3327 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 287 pages
• #28 in Vampire Thrillers
• #37 in U.S. Horror Fiction
• #51 in Occult Horror

About the author

Paul tremblay.

Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the national bestselling author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. Two short stories "The Last Conversation" and "In Bloom" were Amazon Original shorts.

His newest novel, Horror Movie, is coming June 2024.

His essays and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and numerous "year's best" anthologies. He lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts and has a master's degree in Mathematics. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.

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Customers find the writing style fantastic and say it's a pretty good book. They also say the story is awesome, different, and unexpected. However, some customers feel the plot is slow and not unsettling.

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Customers find the writing style entertaining, well-written, and great. They also say the book has an amazing cover and premise. Customers also say that everything Paul Tremblay creates is a masterpiece.

"The book was in good condition . I read it in a day for a readathon...." Read more

"...I heard the audiobook features a full cast and is absolutely amazing , taking the reading experience to a whole other level...." Read more

"...'s purposeful ambiguities aren't so much the problem as it is lazy reading , seeing as many one-starrers rhetorically ask for clarity on details that..." Read more

"... It's brilliant , like Tremblay so often are. Loved it!" Read more

Customers are mixed about the plot. Some find the story awesome, creepy, surprising, and engaging. They also say it generates genuine dread and has characters with murky motivations. However, others say the plot is slow, not unsettling, and has no gore. They mention that the book is relentless rumination about a movie that never seems to go.

"I'm stuck between four and five stars on this one. It's a perfect horror story in that certain way where you can read it just for the thrills, but..." Read more

"...They are always nuanced, with that slight touch of psychological horror that can turn the stomach and tickle the brain...." Read more

"This book has an amazing cover and a fantastic premise . The description says “a chilling twist on the ‘cursed film’ genre”, and I’m all in...." Read more

"...No gore till the end and it was barely any. It was not even unsettling to me like his others. It felt more like a drama than anything...." Read more

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Word of Mouth

Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, horror movie.

To classify Paul Tremblay’s books as “horror” completely diminishes what he does. His work clearly rises to the level of classic fiction and crosses many genres in doing so. His latest novel, HORROR MOVIE, takes the premise of the “cursed” horror film to new heights in a story that is constantly engaging, frightening and at times disturbingly real.

In 1993, a group of young independent filmmakers got together to create a low-budget chiller of a flick called Horror Movie. It was met with tragedy and more than a few absurdly odd occurrences that included a filmed murder. Only three scenes ever got released to the public, and the movie was buried for good.

"HORROR MOVIE is a completely genre-defying read that comes across as pure meta --- so real and possible that all of the thrills going through your body as you read it come from the structure that Tremblay has created."

Three decades later, a Hollywood producer is pushing for a Horror Movie reboot. It would include a large budget and an attempt to remain faithful to the original script, even utilizing the actor who portrayed the killer, oddly named “The Thin Kid.”

Throughout the book, Tremblay splices in the pages of the original screenplay in real time. This gives readers the opportunity to follow along in the same manner as the actor playing “The Thin Kid,” who is not given the entire script up front, allowing him to remain in the moment while shooting. Filming is mostly done at a long-abandoned high school, and we watch in abject horror as “The Thin Kid” morphs into something horrific --- all seemingly caused by a haunted mask given to him by the screenwriter, Cleo, that transforms him into a mindless killer.

In the present day, Marlee is the filmmaker running the show, and “The Thin Kid” is more than taken aback when asked not only to be in the reboot but to reprise some of his character’s scenes. This is more than surreal; it is downright terrifying for him as he is one of the few who remembers what actually happened during the original shoot. Horror Movie remains popular at annual conventions due to the cursed tag that has been hung on it. The other three actors are dead, and one of them was killed while the movie was being made.

While reading the screenplay portions of the novel, it becomes apparent that the mask “The Thin Kid” was given may have actual supernatural properties as he physically begins to change during the filming. His mind is also impacted, which plays a big role in the tragedy that shut down Horror Movie. Tremblay keeps the creep factor at an unsettlingly high level, and readers will have no idea where they will be taken with each passing chapter.

HORROR MOVIE is a completely genre-defying novel that comes across as pure meta --- so real and possible that all of the thrills going through your body as you read it come from the structure that Tremblay has created. It is an uncomfortable and claustrophobic read. And like all great horror movies, you have to experience it straight through to the end no matter how frightened you may be.

Reviewed by Ray Palen on June 21, 2024

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

• Publication Date: June 11, 2024
• Genres: Fiction , Horror , Psychological Suspense , Psychological Thriller , Suspense , Thriller
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow
• ISBN-10: 0063070014
• ISBN-13: 9780063070011

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Fantasy book nerd, book review | horror movie | paul tremblay.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of  The Pallbearers Club and  The Cabin at the End of the World . In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie , a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick. The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot. The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned. But at what cost?  Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.

 REVIEW

As an author, Paul Tremblay challenges me as a reader and he does that rare thing for me. He elicits emotions that make me feel uncomfortable. It’s not that I don’t get emotions when I read books, I do! It’s just that I get all the right emotions in the right places. With Paul Tremblay books my emotions are all over the place and I regularly find myself utterly confounded.

In Horror Movie, Tremblay tells the story of a horror film that never got made but through the release of a few scenes and the script, the film has garnered a state of almost fanatical notoriety.

Told from the point of view of the only remaining survivor of the film, the Eponymous Thin Kid, Tremblay tells the story of the original film, its aftermath and the present fervour to reboot the original film (even though it was never actually made).

Using different mediums, such as the original film script, an audiobook narration of the historical events as told by the Thin Kid and the current meetings that will hopefully see the film brought to the big screen , Tremblay tells the story of Horror Movie and the events that finally lead to tragedy (not a spoiler as this is on the blurb)

Throughout Horror Movie, Tremblay deconstructs the slasher trope with almost surgeon-like precision and much like Victor Frankenstein, builds something that whilst familiar, is almost entirely alien.

As I said. Tremblay instils in me mixed emotions when it comes to his book, I swing wildly between this is absolute genius to this is metaphysical bullshit, and everything in between. The book is a bit of a slow burn when it comes to the story, telling the story of the original film and how it was made, the processes the character endures to become the embodiment of the part that he is playing, it then swings between two different timelines to what happened in between the final timeline of what is happening now.

Throughout it all, you are never quite sure what is actually going on, everything is ambiguous, even the fact that we never know the name of the protagonist. Were the events of the past real? Or are they a phantasmagoria of memory and the imagined - I don’t know! I didn’t know when I was reading it, and I don’t know when I have let the book settle and be digested. However, this is the beauty of the book and how it grips you tightly around the throat and never lets you go. 

In between all this there are some ministrations on what makes a horror fan as Tremblay breaks the fourth wall to scrutinise how the horror aficionado consumes their medium of choice and what makes them tick, and as that lens is pointed at you the reader, it makes you feel slightly uncomfortable. 

In the end, I found myself staring at the page attempting to work out what the hell I had just read, and I am still not quite sure. It’s one of those books where I don’t actually know if I enjoyed it or not. However, what it did do was get me thinking and it elicited emotions, so make of that what you will!

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Review: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

In his classic, fatalistic tone, Bram Stoker Award-winner Paul Tremblay cleverly assembles a haunting level of empathy between readers, the narrator, and characters in  Horror Movie.  At times the story felt all-too real, which will appease fans of Tremblay’s previous work like  A Head Full of Ghosts  (2015) and  The Pallbearers Club  (2022). Down the road, maybe even a few weeks from now, the characters’ names from Horror Movie  may evade you but you’ll never escape the reality-bending and unsettling “horror void.”

Written from the perspective of THIN KID narrating his autobiography in the present day, THIN KID from the original movie, and THIN KID during the reboot, Horror Movie achieves a claustrophobic triad effect. With each development, I became more ensnared, and so did the cast members, a group of student filmmakers: Cleo, the tortured, imaginative screenwriter; Karson, an actor and a provider of comedic relief who suffers from parental indifference; Valentina, the director, and smart one who everyone hoped rubbed off on them and a “compromise is the enemy of integrity and art,” kind of leader; and THIN Kid, the aloof “method actor” behind the mask. The characters play rough versions of themselves in HORROR MOVIE, the no-budget film.

HORROR MOVIE never reached post-production and only three of the film’s scenes were released to the public. Still, the snippets, plus the buzz of  what happened  on the last day of filming   summoned a cult (not that kind) following. Some years later, THIN KID is the only surviving cast member, and filmmakers want to use him in the reboot. Perfect, because he kept and preserved his monster mask.

As memories of the original film’s secrets and tragedies worm into THIN KID’s head, the line between reality and something otherworldly, supernatural, warps and spirals.

*Enter the horror void*

Here, HORROR MOVIE means everything and nothing all at once. It’s where “monsters are mirrors,” and the demons of the past lurk. It’s where the world as we know it, is inevitably doomed.

The void is closer than we think.

This is where  Horror Movie  takes on a sort of metafiction style. Tremblay did not beat these pages with jump-scares, but a cunning, palpable dread. Most impressively, this develops in the confines of an abandoned school. Readers will be turned around again and again in the dark, and left to the guidance of unreliable characters, and an equally unreliable narrator.

Of course, there is some fun in this novel, too. I mean, it’s Paul Tremblay, after all. Horror fans will appreciate nods to films like  The Creature From the Black Lagoon (THIN KID’s mask is similar), Psycho,  and  Night of the Living Dead. Horror Movie  is a creature-feature, in a way, intertwined with psychological horror.

This book has plagued my brain for days after reading it (Thanks, Paul). It’s been an existential trip of a book hangover that I recommend everyone takes.

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‘Horror Movie’ questions the motivation behind evil acts

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Paul Tremblay’s “Horror Movie” is a peculiar horror novel that takes a refreshing look at the haunted film subgenre, while also eliminating the line between novels and movie scripts.

Dark, surprisingly violent and incredibly multilayered, this narrative is a superb addition to Tremblay’s already impressive oeuvre that shows he can deliver the elements fans love from him — while also constantly pushing the envelope and exploring new ways to tell stories.

In June of 1993, a small group of young people got together and spent a month making a bizarre horror movie titled “Horror Movie.”

With one camera, a skeleton crew, a script that broke a lot of rules and almost no budget, they managed to make their film after a few setbacks and plenty of blood and accidents. While the film was never released, three scenes and a few stills were made available online and they became the stuff of legend over the years, collecting a cult following and sparking a frenzy of speculation, online debate and conspiracy theories.

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Now, 30 years after the original, unreleased film was made and after all the drama —psychological and emotional as well as legal — that ensued, Hollywood wants to make a big budget version and release it.

The man who played “The Thin Kid,” perhaps the original film’s most iconic and mysterious character, is the only surviving cast member and they want him to reprise his role.

He still has the mask he used in the movie, and also the scars the filming process left behind. He remembers the strange things that happened on the set, the brutality that quickly became normalized while they shot dark scenes and the chaos and destruction the film brought to all of them.

Still, he agrees to help with the reboot. As things move forward and he deals with directors and movie people, the past comes back to haunt him — but “The Thin Kid” pushes forward, as always.

Reading a Tremblay novel is entering a universe in which confusion and ambiguity —”My answer was not no. I didn’t say the word ‘yes’” — reign supreme. “Horror Movie” is no different.

In fact, this might be Tremblay’s most Tremblay novel to date. For starters, the author once again eschews the traditional novel format, this time in favor of a mix of novel and screenplay in which one bleeds into the other frequently, switching chapters and effortlessly taking readers from past to present and back again.

Also, the screenplay itself is unique in format and makes the reader part of what’s happening, constantly shattering the fourth wall an acknowledging that the events are communal, that we are there, witnessing what the characters are witnessing and feeling the same sense of dread and anticipation that they feel.

While the structure of this novel is unique, the narrative itself is very easy to follow — until it’s not. The story is there, but with many purposeful holes.

We know bad things happened while the movie was being filmed — accidents, injuries, extreme violence that occurred with consent — and that the whole thing ended up in court, but we don’t know how or why.

And the author holds those secrets until the very end, which, as with any other Tremblay novel, holds a few surprise twists.

Most importantly, this is a narrative that questions the motivation behind evil acts. During the filming, The Thin Kid is horribly tortured: The kids who keep him hostage throw things at him, put out cigarettes on his body, and cut off part of his pinky finger.

Some of that happens for real, partly to make it look convincing on screen and partly for reasons that aren't too clear. There are several unsettling moments in this novel, and at the core of each of them are people acting horribly just because they can. Tremblay’s work has often interrogated the nature of horror and bad behavior, but never as clearly and he does here.

While “Horror Movie” is the kind of creepy narrative that can be enjoyed without much thinking, it’s also a multilayered novel that almost demands intellectual engagement.

Besides the way the author studies awful behavior, the story also explores the unreliable nature of memory. The Thin Kid, now the adult who narrates the novel, is self-deprecating and unreliable.

He remembers things a certain way, but knows that his memories might not be accurate: “We laughed. I think we laughed, or I choose to remember we laughed. I think we’re in more control of what we remember or what we don't remember than we assume.”

This purposeful lack of certainty is designed to keep readers wondering, and it succeeds at that.

“Horror Movie” is strange and unsettling in the best way possible. This is a novel that’s also a screenplay, but the story all blends together perfectly. Tremblay’s unique voice and chameleonic style have made him one of the leading voices in speculative fiction, and this is one of his best novels so far.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .

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The Best Recent Horror Novels about Horror Movies

Hollywood tropes and studio settings abound in these bone-chilling novels, perfect for a hot summer read.

It’s summertime! And, as everyone knows, summertime is for meta horror movies and books about meta horror movies. I don’t make the rules! My friend and colleague Molly and I were talking about how there are SO many books coming out that play on horror movie tropes. So we rounded up a few of the best new ones, for your reading pleasure!

Take a look!

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Silver Nitrate

Both of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s parents worked in radio, so perhaps that’s part of the inspiration behind this bonkers ode to sound engineering and the (literal magical) power of the human voice. Silver Nitrate features a sound editor and a has-been actor as they befriend an elderly icon from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, only to find themselves drawn into a vast conspiracy to harness the magic of the silver screen and bring an occult-obsessed Nazi back from the dead. This book has everything, and I could not recommend it enough! –MO

Riley Sager, Final Girls

Quincy is a real-life final girl, the sole survivor of a horror movie-style massacre. There have only been two other such survivors in recent history: Lisa, who lived through a mass slaying at a sorority house, and Sam, who endured a slaughter while working a night shift at a motel. But then Lisa ends up dead, and Sam reaches out to Quincy, thinking that if they can team up, they can figure out if someone’s trying to finish them off. Only, Quincy has repressed her memories of that night. But she has to get them back, or else she’ll relive the slasher movie events that she experience once before.. and maybe won’t make it out alive, this time. — OR

Paul Tremblay, Horror Movie

There are so many books about cursed productions, and still not enough!! I’ll never get tired of it. This one, from master of horror Paul Tremblay, is about a cult-classic cursed film from the 90s that is about to get a big Hollywood reboot… and the sole surviving cast member from the original, who must first confront the events from his past to help remake the film that changed his life. — OR

Grady Hendrix, The Final Girl Support Group

My gosh, final girls are all over this list, aren’t they? (Stephen Graham Jones also has a novel called The Last Final Girl  but it seems to be out of print.) Anyway,  The Final Girl Support Group is great fun. Like Riley Sager’s, it is ALSO about a group of real-life final girls. This time, they do all know each other… they meet in a secret support group to discuss their traumas… traumas that only they  understand. But then they start getting bumped off and it becomes pretty clear that someone has found out about their meetings and wants to silence them for good. — OR

Riley Sager, Survive the Night

I love Survive the Night, and I knew I would from the moment I read the plot description: “It’s November 1991. George H.W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.” Done and done. –OR

Craig Russell, The Devil’s Playground

Just like Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s  Silver Nitrate , Craig Russell’s  The Devil’s Playground revolves around a legendary cursed production – this one from the silent era. Russell splits his tale between two time periods; in the 1920s, a lavish film production grinds to a halt as numerous deaths are linked to the ill-fated picture, while in the 1960s, a film buff is hot on the trail of the doomed project’s single remaining copy. The Devil’s Playground is an epic tale of morality, corruption, and the lengths we go to in pursuit of artistic glory, both rooted in historical detail and full of universal concerns. –MO

Chuck Tingle, Bury Your Gays

Chuck Tingle may have made his name in steamy-yet-absurdist erotica, but Bury Your Gays , along with last year’s Camp Damascus, cements Tingle’s place as one of the best new novelists around, horror or otherwise. Showrunner Misha is giving a harsh directive from his studio overlords: either kill off his queer characters, or make them straight. When he refuses to do either, monstrous beings from Misha’s previous cinematic endeavors start confronting him in the flesh, and even worse: they’re threatening his loved ones. This is quite possibly the best spoof of Hollywood since Get Smart. And three cheers for a book with ace representation! –MO

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Olivia Rutigliano

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3 New Horror Novels Full of Terrors That Are All Too Real

Our columnist reviews August’s horror releases.

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By Gabino Iglesias

Gabino Iglesias is a writer, editor, literary critic and professor, and the author of “The Devil Takes You Home.” His latest book is “House of Bone and Rain.”

Ask parents what scares them and you probably won’t get an answer like ghosts or vampires. Instead they’ll probably answer: They’re afraid of their kids suffering. That fear lies at the heart of Stuart Neville’s BLOOD LIKE MINE (Hell’s Hundred, 373 pp., $29.95) , but in this novel, death is not the end, and that makes things infinitely worse.

Rebecca Carter and her daughter, Moonflower, are on the lam. They live in a van, crisscrossing the United States while carrying a dark secret. Broke, alone and without food or a place to go, they stay safe by trying to be as unmemorable as possible wherever they go. That’s easier said than done because whenever they interact with others, bad things happen.

Unbeknown to Rebecca and Moonflower, the F.B.I. is after them. Special Agent Marc Donner and his partner have been hunting a serial killer for two years, and Rebecca and Moonflower are their primary suspects. As life on the road gets harder and the F.B.I. gets closer, mother and daughter must hide while also dealing with a strange and dangerous change in Moonflower.

“Blood Like Mine” is a violent blend of crime and horror that plays with the definitions of predator and prey. However, the story’s real heart comes from its exploration of family and its consideration of what a mother will do for her child. Rebecca and Moonflower only have each other, and that is enough for a while. Then things change and Rebecca realizes that, in the state Moonflower is in, having her daughter is worse than losing her. That, ultimately, is the great horror that makes this twisty, relentlessly paced novel shine.

There is a passage a few chapters into Leslie J. Anderson’s THE UNMOTHERS (Quirk Books, 317 pp., paperback, $18.99) where the main character, a journalist named Carolyn Marshall, wonders if she’s wasting her time following a dead story. Up until that point, the novel has been so tame that readers might wonder the same thing. Fear not! Anderson’s novel is very much alive. The story explodes from there, steadily becoming stranger, bleaker and more exciting.

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Horror News | HNN Official Site | Horror Movies,Trailers, Reviews

For a List ONLY alphabetized view of Book Reviews – Click HERE

Book Reviews

Book review: backwaters | author lee rozelle.

Dave Gammon 06/14/2024 0

BACKWATERS By Lee Rozelle Montag Press 324 Pages “Dare swim these waters? Welcome to Tallapoochee, a Southern backwater plagued by an experimental toxin that’s turning townsfolk into genetically modified freaks. Follow a puzzling trail of atrocities committed by an enigmatic river cult. Delve into thrilling tales of body horror, bizarro and the weird. Read the unthinkable testimonies of the living …

Book Review: So Close | Author Sylvia Day

Kevin Nickelson 03/21/2023 0

So Close (2023) Book by Sylvia Day It is not a scientific fact but I will swear that it is after my recent experience. A person can get a mental concussion just from the sheer, blunt trauma power from something they view on television or read electronically or in print. Certainly it has happened to me as I completed reviewing …

Book Review: Insomnia | Author Kelly Covic

Dave Gammon 02/25/2023 0

Insomnia By Kelly Covic Smashwords Publishing 58 Pages A collection of ethereal and macabre short stories to ponder- what could have been the thing that went bump in the night? SILENT SIGHS: A young couple visits a haunted house when an unanticipated melee unleashes. THE ATTIC: A young teenager realizes moving into a new house with a fresh start does …

Book Review: Burrows of Blood and Shadow | Author Rebekah L. Webb

Dave Gammon 11/30/2022 0

Burrows of Blood and Shadow By Rebekah L. Webb 246 Pages “The Dream Surfer has no past or memory and can only experience life through the dreams and memories of others. He is stuck in a world of doors and windows leading to quiet lives, where pain and tragedy flow like the inevitable path of gentle streams.” * Burrows of …

Book Review: Return of the Living Elves | Author Brian Asman

Dave Gammon 11/29/2022 0

Return of the Living Elves By Brian Asman Mutated Media 156 Pages “All I want for Christmas is…..a gift for my girlfriend…?” Tommy has just started a new job within a Christmas supply warehouse and has an epiphany. He’s completely forgotten to not only check his list twice but make a list at all where gifts and his girlfriend are …

Book Review: Symposium of the Reaper | Author Andrew Adams

Dave Gammon 10/13/2022 0

Symposium of the Reaper By Andrew Adams 151 Pages A collection of thirteen dark, macabre tales to tantalize terror and spine-tingling tension for readers from all levels of society. Symposium of the Reapers marks the inaugural stroll through the valley of darkness taken with author Andrew Adams. The vivid imagery and astounding descriptions found within this collection places the reader …

Book Review: Confessions of a Puppetmaster | Author: Charles Band with Adam Felber

Andrew Hawnt 03/15/2022 0

CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER Author: Charles Band with Adam Felber Publisher: William Morrow

Book Review: Liar: Memoir of a Haunting | Author E.F. Schraeder

Dave Gammon 02/02/2022 0

LIAR: MEMOIR OF A HAUNTING By: E.F. Schraeder Omnium Gatherum Publishing 187 Pages When young couple Alex and Rainey strive for a new beginning in a sleepy hollow town, all their dreams have come true. While there is initial reluctance, buying a rustic, fixer upper of a home seems to be the calling the binds the two even deeper. Not …

Book Review: Generation Ex-D | Edited by: Rebecca Rowland

Dave Gammon 12/07/2021 0

Generation Ex-D Edited by: Rebecca Rowland Dark Ink Books 348 Pages An anthology of tales revolving around the central theme of Generation X horror origins. Prose and foes from twenty-two separate authors contribute to this cornucopia of paranormal, slashers and psychological thrillers. Oh, my! I’ve become a colossal fan of collections of themed horror in recent times. Quite often it …

Book Review: Jewish Book of Horror | Edited by Josh Schlossberg

Dave Gammon 11/19/2021 1

Jewish Book of Horror Edited by Josh Schlossberg Denver Horror Collective 358 Pages “Dedicated to the persecuted throughout history and the world.” An anthology consisting of twenty-five contributions, each perpetually bound with the common theme of cultural phenomena, folklore, legend and macabre oppression. I’ll be the very first to go on record I’m more than a little embarrassed at just …

Book Review: Night of the Undead Whores – Author Eric Kapitan

Dave Gammon 10/23/2021 0

Night of the Undead Whores By Eric Kapitan 65 Pages The ballad of Aaron and the symphony of destruction orchestrated from the most hideous of composition. His unrelenting lust for carnal mayhem and blood knows no bounds. When his darkened mentor Bob begins to eclipse his own reality, Aaron soon realizes his evil deeds come with unfathomed consequences. Night of …

Book Review: Helminth – Author S. Alessandro Martinez

Dave Gammon 10/19/2021 0

Helminth By S. Alessandro Martinez Omnium Gatherum Media 273 Pages When young grieving widow Abby struggles to cope with the loss of her husband she succumbs to the inevitable feeling of perpetual sorrow. Attempting any and all provisions to endure the journey of bereavement, she also has to grapple with the haunting flashbacks of witnessing the love of her life …

Book Review: Dark Country | Author Monique Snyman

Dave Gammon 10/01/2021 0

Dark Country By Monique Snyman Vesuvian Books 294 Pages Published May 17, 2022 “Too often people mistake monsters for gods.” Esme Snyder is an occult crime expert conjured to investigate the latest spree of killings within the South African city of Pretoria. Spiralling deeper and deeper within the abyss of a cat and mouse game with the macabre slayer, she …

Book Review: Under Worlds, After Lives | Author Dan Fields

Dave Gammon 08/20/2021 0

Under Worlds, After Lives By Dan Fields 180 Pages A collection of ten short stories containing the dark, sinister, eerie, and macabre, from Do Not Resuscitate to Old Man Winter and everything and anything imaginable in between. I’ll be the first to go on record that I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Under Worlds, After Lives at first. …

Book Review: The Ragged | Author Brett Schumacher

Dave Gammon 08/10/2021 0

The Ragged By Brett Schumacher 172 Pages Upon the passing of his grandfather Corvus, Andrew and his wife Celeste attend his funeral while chartering along the inevitable journey of grievance. Not long after returning to the locale of his upbringing Andrew learns the farmhouse in which he was raised was left to the couple in Corvus’s will. Sorting through the …

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• FILM & TV

5 Horror Book-to-Film Adaptations that Will Give You Chills

Your favorite classic horror adapted for the silver screen.

• Interview With The Vampire (1994) Photo Credit: IMDb

Sure, we all know the old adage: the book is always better than the movie. But sometimes, both the original story and the cinematic adaptation can be incredibly effective in their own right.

And fortunately for horror fans, our genre has some truly spectacular examples.

So for your movie-loving pleasure, here are five book-to-film adaptations that you should watch as soon as possible. 

5 Scary Childhood Stories—And Their Terrifying Horror Movie Adaptations

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The haunting (1963).

Based on Shirley Jackson’s seminal classic, The Haunting of Hill House , the 1963 film version is nothing short of a masterpiece.

 Director Robert Wise is often best remembered in cinema circles for his film version of West Side Story , but for us horror fans, there’s nothing better than watching Hill House slowly but surely destroy the sanity of all who dare to enter it.

And truly, the cast of this film is utterly amazing. I’ve been a big fan of Julie Harris ever since I saw her in East of Eden , and she’s the perfect Nell in The Haunting . Add in Claire Bloom as the mercurial Theo and pre- Twin Peaks Russ Tamblyn as Luke, and you’ve got an incredible group of performers who help to put this ghostly film over the top.

Be sure to watch this one with the lights on. 

The Haunting of Hill House

By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson: The Legendary Author Who Shaped Modern Horror

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

It should go without saying, but Oscar Wilde was one of a kind. His creepy gothic classic, The Picture of Dorian Gray , has been adapted many times, but the one that deserves your special attention is the 1945 version directed by Albert Lewin.

The queer subtext of the original story manages to come across in this film adaptation, even if the Hays Code forbid them from making the themes more overt. The use of Technicolor for the portrait was an ingenious choice, and like The Haunting , the casting truly knocks this one out of the park.

Look for an early appearance from Angela Lansbury as the ill-fated Sibyl Vane. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray

By Oscar Wilde

17 Horror Books That Need Adaptations

Rebecca (1940)

All right, so plenty of people don’t consider Rebecca a horror story, but here’s the thing: a tale about a dead wife basically haunting her so-called replacement while using her devoted servant to do her fiery legwork absolutely sounds like a terrifying setup to me.

 Add in Hitchcock’s resolutely gothic setting, and you have an atmospheric horror film that will creep into the edge of your nightmares.

Ever since I was a kid, I always loved the toxically romantic element of the story between the austere Maxim de Winter and his second wife, and since it’s loosely based on Jane Eyre , why not make it a double feature of period-piece horror classics? 

By Daphne Du Maurier

18 Classic Horror Books That Spawned a Genre

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

I’m currently working my way through the new AMC series (and yes, I’m enjoying it wholeheartedly), but we’re going to go all the way back to the 90s for this one. There are certainly fans out there who still aren’t crazy about Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt as Lestat and Louis respectively, but I remember seeing this film for the first time at ten years old, and let me just say that it left its mark.

Plus, Kirsten Dunst in her breakout role as Claudia is worth the price of admission alone. The queer coding isn’t nearly as overt in the film as it is in the book, but there’s still some fantastically sexually charged energy between the male leads as well as then-newcomer Antonio Banderas as Armand.

The Old World atmosphere is on point, though what else can you expect from the always fabulous Neil Jordan? If you want yet another double feature, opt for Jordan’s adaptation of Angela Carter’s magnificent The Company of Wolves .

So much horror goodness, so little time. 

Interview with the Vampire

By Anne Rice

The Groundbreaking Legacy of Anne Rice, the Woman Who Humanized Monsters

House of Usher (1960)

There are so many great series of films in the horror genre, but one set that doesn’t get nearly the love that it deserves is Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle.

Consisting of eight films, the Poe Cycle is true to its name: all of them are unusual retellings of the horror maestro’s short fiction and poetry, shot in glorious Technicolor and starring Vincent Price in every film but one.

You can literally pick any of the adaptations at random and choose a good movie, but let’s go back to the beginning with 1960’s House of Usher . Poe’s original short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is scant on character backgrounds, so Corman does an indelible job of reimagining it in wholly new and unexpected ways.

The end result elevates a deeply weird tale into a tragic horror story, and the genre is all the better for it.

I can’t stress it enough: if you haven’t seen the Corman-Poe Cycle films yet, then please run, don’t walk, to your streaming queue. It will do your horror heart good. 

The Fall of the House of Usher

By Edgar Allan Poe

7 Best Edgar Allan Poe Books and Their Modern Readalikes

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Watchers’ on Max, Ishana Night Shyamalan’s Twisty, Underwhelming Directorial Debut

Where to stream:.

• The Watchers
• dakota fanning

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mastermind: To Think Like A Killer’ On Hulu, A Docuseries About Dr. Ann Burgess, Whose Methods Changed The Way Serial Killers Were Pursued

Is ‘the watchers’ streaming on netflix or hbo max, dakota fanning remembers her late ‘uptown girls’ co-star brittany murphy: “i loved brittany so much and i still miss her”, ‘ripley’ star dakota fanning was “exhausted” after her tense face-off with andrew scott: “you could feel the tension”.

The behind-the-camera story of The Watchers ( now streaming on Max ) might be more compelling than the one in front of it. The film is the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, director of horror classic The Sixth Sense and many other films defined by their twist endings (be they effective or just preposterous). Ishana won’t avoid any nepo-baby accusations, considering her first professional gigs were as second-unit directors of her father’s films Old and Knock at the Cabin , and primary director for several episodes of his TV series Servant . The Watchers finds Ishana adapting A.M. Shine’s novel of the same name – and perhaps showing a little too much of her father’s influence in her own work. 

THE WATCHERS : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: You’ll recall a trend from 10, maybe 12 years ago when countless horror films featured creepy totems – dolls, symbolic doodads and the like – made out of bound-together tree branches. I call this the Evil Twig Phenomenon. Well, The Watchers is set in a forest consisting wholly of Evil Twigs. Not a good and wholesome twig in the whole thousand-acre wood. It’s in Western Ireland, and abandon all hope ye who etc. etc. We watch as a doomed man gets lost in the forest and attacked by yowling gurgling moaning things who stay conspicuously out-of-frame. Can’t reveal the inevitably disappointing-looking creatures too early, lest ye want to see the suspense evaporate like dew off a sunning turtle’s shell, you know!

Next we meet Mina (Dakota Fanning), an American in Galway, bored out of her mind behind the counter at a mall pet shop. She vapes and stares, vapes and stares. Sometimes she sketches in her sketchbook. It seems she’s been sad for a long time. She’s given a yellow bird to transport from here all the way across the island, and she talks to it. Tells it how today is the 15th anniversary of her mother’s death. She gets calls from her twin sister and never returns them. “You wouldn’t like me if you knew the real me,” she tells Tweety. 

She loads the bird in her car and sets forth on her delivery. IS SHE AT THE DEATH FOREST OF DOOM YET?, you’re surely asking, and to that I say, just wait like 45 seconds. She’s tooling along and her GPS fritzes out and then the car dies and she gets out decides to walk the rest of the way even though she’s in a death forest of doom, and not just any death forest of doom, but THE death forest of doom. She doesn’t have much choice. She sets forth and gets lost because this place seems like a place where time and space have no meaning. Dusk looms, and we all know what happens when dusk happens in movies set in Evil Twigs: The Forest, namely, bad things. Just when something runs with an exaggerated WHOOSH in front of the camera and we just know Mina is toast, she meets Madeline (Olwen Fouere), who speaks with the ominous tones of a narrator tasked with explaining all the boring intricacies of the plot, e.g., “This must be where the fairies were imprisoned. It is said they once lived among us as gods. The bridge between nature and man. But over time…” It goes on like this. 

In short: The Watchers come out at night and if you’re out at night too, they’ll kill yer ass. So Madeline and two others, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) hole up in a square bunker-building they call The Coop; one wall of it is a two-way mirror that allows the Watcher creatures to watch them every night, and if the Watchers don’t get to watch them, they get real mad and slashy. So everyone hangs out in The Coop for a while, being boring characters, until Mina decides to break some of the Watchers’ “rules” and therefore rile them. They can’t stay here forever, can they? There has to be a way out of this woods. Maybe a path leading them to the village from The Village ? If only!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Watchers is probably what we’d have got if M. Night had directed the McConaughey movie about the Japanese suicide forest. (That’s The Sea of Trees , if you must know, although you almost certainly don’t. It too is a lousy movie.) And hey, at least Brandon Cronenberg makes good movies — Possessor , Infinity Pool — that follow in his parent’s footsteps.

Performance Worth Watching: This goes to Campbell by default, because her character isn’t a plot cog like all the others are, therefore allowing her to render Ciara more of a recognizable human being instead of a movie construct.

Memorable Dialogue: Did I mention that the Tweety bird can mimic humans? And that Mina tells it, “Try not to die,” and it therefore repeats “Try not to die! Try not to die!” like a mantra throughout the movie?

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Q: How does Madeline know all this stuff? She’s a mythology prof, that’s how! She speaks like she wrote her thesis about the Watchers and then wrote a book about the Watchers that became a very dull and annoying movie about the Watchers. Just endless expertise on arcane forest creatures, spewing from her like bile from Regan McNeil’s gullet. Good thing Madeline is out there among the Evil Twigs and not just, you know, a cable-TV phone-sales rep or something. And it is said that any movie in which a character uses the phrase “it is said” in normal conversation is a movie that needs a rewrite. Badly. 

It also is said that plots employing hallucinations, shapeshifting creatures and bad dreams – all present here – are lazy and manipulative, using the kind of hacky shit that allows screenwriters to make up the “rules” of the plot on the fly, and pull rugs out from under us when a character who seems to be the right character is actually the wrong character, or to make us constantly question what’s “real” and what’s merely a figment, stuff like that. 

This is also a Shoe’s Gotta Drop At Some Point plot, which will do nothing to douse the comparisons between Ishana and her father; with it’s tease-the-mystery methodology, stilted dialogue, a penchant for jump scares and a big third act twist, The Watchers could easily be passed as an M. Night joint comparable to one of his less egregious stinkers (think Old more than the abomination that is The Happening ). And with that comes at least a few instances of impressive technical filmmaking, wasted in the employ of a ridiculous, underwhelming story populated with flimsy characters led by a sullen, one-note protagonist. One senses Ishana’s attempt to stir horror, whimsy and magical realism into a foamy broth, but the result is underwhelming. It feels like M. Night lite, and considering the rickety creative ground he’s been standing on for two decades, that’s not a flattering comparison.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Who’s watching The Watchers ? People who probably should be doing something else.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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New Horror Reads That Riff on Classic Horror

These new horror retellings capture lightning in a bottle—they feel fresh and new, and will make you want to revisit old favorites.

Steph Auteri

Steph Auteri is a journalist who has written for the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Pacific Standard, VICE, and elsewhere. Her more creative work has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, under the gum tree, Poets & Writers, and other publications, and she is the Essays Editor for Hippocampus Magazine. Her essay, "The Fear That Lives Next to My Heart," published in Southwest Review, was listed as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2021. She also writes bookish stuff here and at the Feminist Book Club, is the author of A Dirty Word, and is the founder of Guerrilla Sex Ed. When not working, she enjoys yoga, embroidery, singing, cat snuggling, and staring at the birds in her backyard feeder. You can learn more at stephauteri.com and follow her on Insta/Threads at @stephauteri .

View All posts by Steph Auteri

Award-winning author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves a captivating tale of suspense and horror, in which Dr. Mina Murray returns to the windswept shores of Wales to help her childhood friend fight the mysterious illness that plagues her. When the lines between reality and delusion begin to blur, Mina must face off against a monstrous legacy—or be consumed herself.  

I complain a lot about reboots. Did we really need another Garfield Movie? Another Girl Meets World ? Another 90210 or Full House? Yes, I plan to eventually watch the new Mean Girls, but can’t the entertainment industry come up with something new?

Sometimes, however, a retelling of a classic story manages to capture lightning in a bottle. The reboot ends up providing an unexpected burst of light amidst a plethora of dull and underwhelming offerings.

I’m speaking, of course, about DuckTales .

Anyway. The same thing happens with literature. Sure, I wince when I hear that a beloved favorite is going to be redone. I worry that it will inevitably besmirch the legacy the original left behind.

But these days, there have been a ton of horror retellings that have taken classic creepy tales and emerged with something new and exciting.

The books below have made me eager to relive my old favorites, curious to see what new twist authors can bring to the tale. Are the retellings better than the originals? I hesitate to say that. It’s more that—in many cases, even with something older embedded in its foundation—these new books feel completely fresh and new, and expand the horror universe rather than needlessly rehash it.

Ready to give reboots a second chance? Let’s Dewey it!

Victor LaValle’s Destroyer by Victor LaValle and Dietrich Smith

I rave about this one a lot, so there was no way I could leave it off this list, even though it’s over six years old. LaValle loves retelling old myths. He tackled Lovecraft when he wrote The Ballad of Black Tom . He reinvigorated the changeling myth in The Changeling (which was eventually adapted into a series for Apple TV+). In this limited comic series, he tells the story of Frankenstein’s last descendant and the lengths she’ll go to in order to reconnect with the son she lost. This compelling, complex narrative takes a peek at humanity’s darkest impulses, all presented alongside visually stunning artwork.

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai

Another Frankenstein retelling, Tsai’s novel follows a queer, biracial intern at an embryology lab, the queer, biracial scientist who is mentoring her, and the good doctor’s nonbinary creation. As Plum, the intern, grows closer to Dr. Frank, she becomes an unexpected part of the doctor’s experiments. Eventually, she questions whether her ambition has led her to cross a line—has, in fact, led both of them to cross lines they shouldn’t. Is it too late to turn back? Or, is the only way out to move forward?

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

I have consumed so many adaptations of The Haunting of Hill House, yet I never tire of seeing and reading more. In Hand’s latest queer reimagining, a playwright and her troupe of actors rent out a house in order to develop and rehearse a play. Unsurprisingly, the house has its own plans, and soon enough, each member of this group of back-biting thespians finds themselves preoccupied with a different, spooky aspect of the mansion. It’s not long before all of them are at each other’s throats, and, of course, none of them realizes soon enough that the house itself is to blame.

Pay the Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

I recently wrote a post that questioned the ethics of posthumously published books , which was built around this specific book (out in September). But what I didn’t get the chance to talk about was how much I truly enjoyed it. In this reimagining of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”—a German legend in which a piper lures away children when the townsfolk neglect to pay him for his rat removal services—the piper is a supernatural entity seeking vengeance against the ancestors of the region’s slave traders.

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

This gothic novel is an update of Daphne de Maurier’s Rebecca , in which a young woman marries a wealthy widower, only to discover her new home is haunted by her husband’s late ex-wife. This version is nearly identical as far as the premise goes, except that it’s set against the backdrop of the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence. This book is also said to have echoes of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, which is honestly a reimagining of every classic gothic tale ever.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Speaking of Moreno-Garcia, a couple years after Mexican Gothic, she released this reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau . The original is about a mad scientist and his eventual unraveling. In this sci-fi/horror update, we see through the eyes of his daughter, who lives in 19th-century Mexico, yet is removed from the Caste War of Yucatán thanks to her father’s isolated estate. With the arrival of her father’s patron, Carlota Moreau begins to question everything.

We Kept Her in the Cellar by W. R. Gorman

Like Pay the Piper, this title isn’t out until September, but I’m already looking forward to it. In this horror-tinged reimagining of Cinderella , readers see through the eyes of one of the stepsisters, who’s been tasked with caring for Cinderella for much of her life. But in this case, Cinderella isn’t a poor orphan relegated to the basement because of her stepfamily’s jealousy. In this version, she’s a monster with dark powers, and when she escapes the cellar to attend the prince’s ball, all hell breaks loose. This sounds like so much fun.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

This last one came out earlier this month, and I can’t wait to read it (as I immediately read every book Kingfisher/Vernon writes). Just about everything from this author is a dark, feminist reimagining of an old fairy tale, and this one is no different. This one is a play on “The Goose Girl,” in which a princess is forced to switch roles with her resentful maidservant. In Kingfisher’s version, it is not the maidservant who is evil, but the protagonist’s own mother. When they move into the home of an unsuspecting Squire and his sister, Cordelia must choose whether to continue bowing to her mother’s will or stand up to her.

Okay, I’ve changed my mind. Reboots are awesome. If you agree, you should also check out these other horror retellings , plus these dark and twisted fairy tale retellings .

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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Reviews Hail Tim Burton's Sequel As A Worthy Successor To '80s Cult Classic

The first reviews for Tim Burton's long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel are now in, and it sounds like the legendary director has managed to deliver a worthy follow-up to his '80s cult classic...

The 2024 Venice Film Festival got underway yesterday with the world premiere of Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , which opened the proceedings and was greeted with a 3-minute standing ovation.

The review embargo lifted shortly after, and critics have been weighing in online with social media reactions and a handful of full verdicts.

For the most part, it sounds like Burton has delivered a worthy follow-up to his original cult classic, with returning stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara all coming in for high praise.

Jenna Ortega's turn as Lydia Deetz's daughter Astrid may not be quite a successful, with some reviews noting that her character is not especially likeable or sympathetic, and just a little too close to her take on Wednesday Addams from the recent Netflix series.

The most important thing for fans is going to be Keaton's returning Ghost with the Most, and by all accounts, he hasn't missed a beat, infusing the film with a sense of ghoulish fun whenever he's on the screen.

Have a read through the reviews at the links below, and we'll be sure to update when we have an early Rotten Tomatoes score.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is zany fun in the moment, but after a Day-O so, you'll have probably forgotten all about it. Read our full review of the long-awaited, Tim Burton-directed sequel >> https://t.co/b5cHvAJGUf pic.twitter.com/ZCdb6XgWb4 — Total Film (@totalfilm) August 29, 2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a charming (if weightless) legacy sequel where the whole cast is having fun. Our review: https://t.co/edDUXnfRgc pic.twitter.com/QPzwcHz7Op — IGN (@IGN) August 28, 2024

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Review: Tim Burton’s Delightfully Inventive Sequel Stays Loyal to Original Cult Classic While Deepening Human Stakes https://t.co/7V8wtdXkzs pic.twitter.com/FfAHqS9RDw — IndieWire (@IndieWire) August 28, 2024

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is ghoulishly fun! Burton honors his first film with throwbacks, all while expanding his characters and world to make a delightful new story. The whole cast got the assignment and delivers plenty of laughs. So many great set pieces in the afterlife too pic.twitter.com/ZEMnVsCdDP — Ema Sasic @ Venice (@ema_sasic) August 28, 2024

Call me jaded, but too much punishing, decades-late sequel-itis left me unprepared for what a total blast I'd have at BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, Tim Burton's best — and funniest — film in years. My @THR review of the #VeniceFilmFestival opener https://t.co/a31ZyDLxoN — David Rooney (@DavidCRooney1) August 28, 2024

Review: ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,’ which premiered at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday, is a rats nest of callbacks and plot, so jumbled and overstuffed it’s almost abstract. 🔗: https://t.co/pdCcvgOcp8 pic.twitter.com/uiou9pMShS — VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) August 28, 2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is old school Burton zaniness and greatness. A loving tribute to the 1988 film as well as international cinema. Michael Keaton still has the juice delivering a hilarious and brilliant performance. The end MacArthur Park sequence is destined to become the… pic.twitter.com/j6Gq5YPTPr — Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) August 28, 2024

Tim Burton is great again! His latest, ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,’ isn’t just a nostalgic retread — it’s a jolting reminder of what makes the director so darkly seductive. https://t.co/qixn2QqFJe — New York Magazine (@NYMag) August 28, 2024

#BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice Review: "It’s rewarding to have Tim Burton back in full creative command of the humor, the fantastical imagination and the gleeful morbidity on which he built his name" More: https://t.co/R1M6fjVueg pic.twitter.com/8alFdscKOa — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 28, 2024

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it's only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice's name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar ( Wednesday ), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith ( The LEGO Batman Movie ), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos ( Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express ); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton ( Wednesday ), editor Jay Prychidny ( Wednesday ), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood ( Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow ), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan ( Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ), Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman ); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell ( Topsy-Turvy ).

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9 Horror Books Like It By Stephen King

“We lie best when we lie to ourselves.”

Stephen King’s It has become one of the most famous horror books in the world, blending childhood nostalgia with terrifying supernatural elements. From the small town of Derry, the explorations of friendship and fear through the Loser’s Club to the unforgettable impact that Pennywise the Dancing Clown has had on the genre, we don’t blame you if you’ve found yourself on the hunt for reads that capture the essence of It. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would cover you with some of our favourite horror books like It! Whether you’re a die-hard King fan or a newcomer to the genre brought on the back of the book’s film and television adaptations, these stories feature a blend of haunted towns, terrifying entities and that nostalgic feel that comes from the power of childhood bonds. 

The Outsider (Holly Gibney #1) – Stephen King 

If you loved arguably Stephen King’s most famous work, where better to kick off a list of books like It than with another one of his best stories, The Outsider ? An eleven-year-old boy’s body is discovered in a town park. All fingers point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens: Little League coach, husband and father of two girls, Terry Maitland. Detective Ralph Anderson orders a quick and very public arrest on the back of fingerprints, DNA evidence and witnesses, despite the fact that Maitland has an alibi. 

However, as their investigation expands and horrifying revelations are brought to light, King’s propulsive story is taken into another gear. With strong tension and unbearable suspense, the truth behind Terry Maitland and his friendly exterior are peeled away in a shocking blend of crime and horror . 

Summer Of Night (Seasons Of Horror #1) – Dan Simmons 

It is the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois and five twelve-year-old boys are forming bonds that a lifetime of changes will never erode. But, on the last day of school, their classmate, Tubby Cooke, disappears. The group soon unearth other troubling stories of kids vanishing from Elm Haven. 

Add to this are a number of other strange goings-on across the town. Unexplained holes in the ground, a stranger dressed as a World War I soldier and a rendering plant truck that appear to be following the five of them. The boys realise there is something terribly wrong with Elm Haven, and they have to be the ones to stop it. Featuring a group of friends investigating an evil presence in their small town, it’s no wonder Dan Simmons’ Summer of Night is considered one of the best books like It. 

Check Out Our Favourite Horror Books Set During The Summer

Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon 

In 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama, people either work for the local dairy or in the paper mill up the Tecumseh River. It’s a simple existence, but one that still stirs the imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer, Cory Mackenson. He’s certain he’s heard of the strange bootleggers in the dark outside of town, sensed the spirits in the churchyard and seen a flood leaving Main Street crawling with snakes. Then, he and his father witness a car careen off the road and sink into Saxon’s Lake. Inside is a corpse, handcuffed to the steering wheel with copper wire tightened around their neck. 

The town soon moves on from the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father are unable to. Similar to It, what follows in Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life is an investigation where innocence and evil collide. What awaits Cory as he sets off into the deep end of Zephyr is the stuff of fear, awe, magic, madness, fantasy and reality that shows how growing up can be a strange and otherworldly experience. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury 

One of the iconic Ray Bradbury books, Something Wicked This Way Comes introduces readers to Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow, which has come trundling to Green Town, Illinois, destined to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rocks up sometime after midnight, kickstarting Halloween a week early. 

For two boys, the lure of dreams fulfilled and unmatched magic will be too much to resist. As they discover the twisted secrets hidden behind the smoke, mazes and mirrors, they will find themselves caught in a dizzying coming-of-age experience of fear and innocence that any fans of It and Stephen King are sure to love. 

Check Out The Best Books Like Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ghost Story – Peter Straub 

Another one of the best books similar to It comes from Peter Straub and his bestseller, Ghost Story . In it, readers are whisked to the small town of Milburn in New York. There, a group of elderly men form a club known as the ‘Chowder Society’, where they gather to tell ghost stories. However, the biggest haunting that exists around them involves a mysterious woman named Eva Galli. 

As strange and harrowing events start to unfold across Milburn, the men realise that the ghost stories that they have been sharing are connected to a very real, very malevolent force tied to their own dark secret. Blending ghost story elements, themes of guilt and fear and making use of jumps forward and back in time, Straub’s work is a must-read for any Stephen King fan. 

NOS4A2 – Joe Hill 

Written by King’s own son , NOS4A2 is the perfect follow-up to It if you’re looking for more of a similar style of writing with more of a suspenseful crime premise. Victoria McQueen has a knack for finding things: misplaced bracelets, a missing photograph, answers to unanswered questions. Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip out of the everyday world and take them to the astonishing and terrifying playground of amusements he has dubbed ‘Christmasland’. 

One day, Vic goes looking for trouble – and finds Manx. Fast forward a lifetime, and she remains the only kid to ever escape him. But, whilst she’s desperate to forget, Manx has never stopped thinking about Victoria. And now, he’s on the road again with a new passenger in his car: Vic’s own son. 

The Chalk Man – C.J. Tudor 

Eddie and his friends are on the verge of adolescence in the summer of 1986. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and have developed a unique way of communicating with each other without anyone else knowing. The little chalk figures they leave for one another serve as messages that only they can decipher. However, when a mysterious new figure appears, they are led right to a dismembered body in the woods. From then on, nothing is ever the same for the boys. 

Fast forward to the present day, and Eddie is fully grown and believes that the past is firmly behind him. But, then he receives a letter containing a single chalk stick figure. When one of his friends turns up dead, he realises that saving himself means finally figuring out what happened all those years ago. With nostalgia, mystery and bone-chilling suspense, C.J. Tudor’s The Chalk Man is a great small-town horror read similar to It. 

Check Out Our The Chalk Man Book Review

The Boy Who Drew Monsters – Keith Donohue

Ever since nearly drowning in the ocean three years ago, ten-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been terrified to go outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. However, when those drawings begin to take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror. 

His mother, Holly, starts to hear eerie sounds coming from the ocean outside at night. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for the apparition running loose in the dunes. The boy’s only friend, Nick, becomes entangled in the powers of the drawings. But whilst those around him are haunted by what they think they see, only Jack Peter knows the truth behind the chilling occurrences the outside world is slowly delivering. 

Black Mouth – Ronald Malfi

For almost twenty years, Jamie Warren has been on the run from darkness. He’s haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt of having vanished from his disabled brother’s life. Soon enough, however, a series of unusual events lead to them being reunited, along with their childhood friends. Try as they might, none of them can argue against fate being the reason they have been pulled back together. 

Nor can they deny the memories of that one fateful summer. The summer when the strange man taught them all strange magic and the terrible event that has followed them all into adulthood. In the face of a new danger, they all must now confront the past by facing their future and hunting down a man who may very well be a monster. Undoubtedly one of the best books like It, Ronald Malfi’s Black Mouth sees a group of friends return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they first came upon as teenagers. 

Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).

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