My Review
Horror Movie is my first book by Paul Tremblay, and I have to say…I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. On the one hand, I enjoyed the whole meta vibe it had, but on the other hand, I kinda-sorta felt conflicted about how…ambiguous it all was. I like ambiguity, but also, I was hoping for something a bit...more. If that makes sense? 

 The story is told in both present day and flashbacks. The “past” sections rely heavily on a screenplay that four friends are filming in 1993, while the present day follows one of them narrating the events of the past for an audiobook. I liked the back-and-forth of it all, and even though the screenplay was a bit…odd at times, I liked that aspect too. 

 The overall plot kinda makes you go, “Uh…what the heck is going on?” It sucks you in and makes you feel a bit crazy at times…like that Charlie Day conspiracy meme (you know the one).  It’s one of those books that blurs reality and fiction (within a fictional story) and makes you question everything... including what you got yourself into. 

 There’s a lot going on, as well: projection, loss of identity, isolation, influence, hints at things being cursed and/or ritualistic, trauma...and one very, very unreliable narrator. Is it just memory gaps? Forgetfulness? Or someone curating a specific story with embellishments and half-truths? 

 I can’t say I really cared for any of the main characters. They were all a bit unlikable in their own way. But at the same time, they’re not…inherently bad. They’re just…not good. 

 Based on the ending and how I read (and interpreted) the story, I’m choosing to believe something that perhaps other readers will feel differently about. It’s messy and unsettling, and rather than buying into what the ending wants you to think, I have my own theory about what really happened. I won’t spoil anything, though. I’ll just leave you with this thought: 

 Horror Movie is, in my opinion, a story about a guy so desperate to matter...to fit in and belong somewhere…that he lets a movie role consume him completely.

If you love:

☑️ Psychological horror
☑️ Unreliable narrators
☑️ Stories that blur fiction and reality
☑️ Movies-within-a-story
☑️ Screenplay excerpts
☑️ Dual timelines
☑️ Slow-burn unease
☑️ Unlikable, morally gray characters
☑️ Themes of identity, obsession, and belonging
☑️ Hints of curses and ritualistic horror
☑️ Stories that make you question what actually happened
☑️ Ambiguous endings you can argue about afterward...

...then you might want to press play on Horror Movie. Just don't expect the movie (or the person telling you about it) to be quite what they seem.