Horror Movie delights in prodding the manipulation inherent to artistic creation, the slippery give-and-take between auteur and audience ... Horror movies do have rules, yes, as do horror novels, and both Tremblay and the fictional filmmakers delight in finding out exactly how far those rules can bend, and how far the audience will bend with them ... Tremblay is often (and rightfully) recognized as one of the great contemporary horror writers, in terms of both technical talent and storytelling ability. As I read Horror Movie, I found myself marveling at its high-wire act ... It takes bravado and skill to layer overlapping narrative frames like this without sacrificing tension, but Horror Movie never once loses its momentum or its way. It’s a smart book, smartly told, and should establish Tremblay as not just one of our great horror writers but one of our great fiction writers, full stop.
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 ... 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 ... 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.
Tremblay knows that real terror — the kind that keeps us up at night — is unknowable, and so he keeps the weirdness of his novel at a steady low boil ... This nesting doll of a novel, a book that Judy Blume and Philip K. Dick might have jointly conceived, tests the limits of what a horror thriller can be, and it succeeds thrillingly.
Excellent ... So much of the power of this novel, like the power of the best found-footage films, emerges from the belief that we’re experiencing something we were never meant to ... Landing the climax of a horror plot is one of the most challenging literary feats, and Tremblay has to stick the landing three times over. Somehow, remarkably, he manages.
...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.
Narrated with a sardonic tone and Gen-X sensibility, Tremblay’s (The Beast You Are) novel shifts between the filming of the original movie and of the present-day remake, sprinkled with excerpts from the films’ scripts. Unease and terror rapidly build in the book as readers learn details of what happened on the original set and how it threatens the present. The novel is as unsettling and gripping as a slasher while also managing to be funny and thoughtful.
