Posts Tagged ‘The Pallbearers Club’

Review: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Posted: July 4, 2024 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff
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My copy of Horror Movie, surrounded by some of the horror movies on my shelves. Because how could I not?

I was not a fan of Tremblay’s last novel, The Pallbearers Club (see my review here), but when I first heard of his new book and saw its cover, I wanted to read it! And when I got my copy from the library, I got even more excited. You can’t tell from the photo I included, but the pages have red borders, which coupled with the black cover, makes it look like a restricted video from the age of VHS tapes and Blockbusters. So, almost as soon as I finished reading You Like It Darker (see that review here), I started reading this.

Hoo-boy, did I get on a rollercoaster ride.

In 1993,* a small team of amateur actors and filmmakers come together to make a movie tentatively titled “Horror Movie.” However, tragedy strikes on the last day of filming, preventing it from ever releasing. However, scenes, stills and scripts from the movie have made their way online, and as many of the original cast and crew die under mysterious or tragic circumstances, an air of mystique gathers around the mysterious film. In the 2020s, a reboot is in the works and the studio brings on our narrator, who also played the original film’s villain the Thin Kid and is the only surviving member of the cast and crew, to both co-produce and reprise his role.

Thus begins a journey through the past and the present that will answer a question the narrator, and many of us, ask often: why do people do terrible and fucked up things?

First off, this novel is incredibly well-written. Tremblay takes the unique storytelling he used in The Pallbearers Club and applies it here like an art. Jumping between the production of the original film, the process of creating the reboot in the present, and the script of the original, you essentially get two different stories woven together. I have to applaud Tremblay for writing both a script for a very scary and fucked up film and then writing a very personal story around the script and the movie that was supposed to come about from it.

I also really liked the narrator, whose name I can’t really remember because I’m not sure if it was ever mentioned. It’s easier just to call him by his character’s name, the Thin Kid, and that sort of makes sense, as another major theme of this novel is the blending of reality and fiction. Where does our narrator end and the Thin Kid begin? Is there even a difference? It kind of reminds me of Perfect Blue,** one of my favorite horror movies, and how that movie explored how quickly reality and fiction can combine under the right circumstances.

Anyway, our narrator doesn’t have a high opinion of himself, but he’s likable. Once he commits to the movie, he commits to it–the character, the reputation of the film, and its reboot–even at the detriment to himself. Towards the end, I wondered if maybe he might be an unreliable narrator, because some of what he describes both feels like something he would do and something he might make up. It’s just amazing to read his story (which he’s narrating as an audiobook or podcast), and I had a hard time putting the book down.

If I have one thing I didn’t like, it’s that the foreshadowing sometimes worked against itself. Since the narrator is technically speaking to an audience that presumably knows about the history of the titular film, he refers to things that have happened and kind of expects his audience to know. However, the audience in the real world doesn’t, so once or twice, he refers to something that appears to be common knowledge and I’m like, “Wait, did I read that and forget? Or is it something we haven’t read yet that he’s alluding to?”

It probably did not help that I could not remember if he mentioned the narrator’s real name (I think it was David, but don’t quote me on that), so that only heightened my confusion.

All in all, however, Horror Movie is an excellent novel and well worth the read. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.8. Horrifying, entrancing and full of twists, you’ll find yourself hanging on as you discover not only why people do terrible and fucked up things, but how much reality and fiction can blend in the worst ways. Just grab a copy and see for yourself!

*The year I was born, by the way. Coincidence? I think not!

**BTW, if you have not checked that one out, I highly recommend it.

Review: “The Pallbearers Club” by Paul Tremblay

Posted: September 12, 2022 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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With books like A Head Full of Ghosts, The Cabin at the End of the World and Survivor Song (which I still say would make a great stage musical), The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay has been one of the most anticipated novels of 2022. I got my copy almost as soon as it came out, but because my life has been busy lately, I only just finished the book today. So now, as I feel obligated to do, I’m writing my review.

The Pallbearers Club follows a man who calls himself (or the version of himself in the novel/memoir he is narrating) Art Barbara. Seeking to pad out his college applications, Art starts the Pallbearers Club, a volunteer club where members show up to funerals for the homeless and lonely, and then carry them out to the hearse (because who wants no one to show up to their funeral?). At one of these funerals, Art meets Mercy Brown, a strange college girl who both opens up Art’s world and sets him on a path that will affect him through his adulthood. And maybe even beyond.

For starters, the novel is creative in its presentation. It’s written primarily by Art on a computer, while Mercy’s red-inked, handwritten notes speckle the margins and bookend each chapter. It allows you to learn a lot about each character, who are both somewhat unreliable narrators for each their own reasons, and there’s a lot of reflections on topics like memory and identity. It also makes me wonder what the audio book is like, because Mercy’s notes are a big part of each chapter. Does her narrator interrupt the text every now and again?

I also like how Art uses unusual adjectives while he writes, and the best parts of the novels are probably the sections set in Art’s teenage years during the late 80s. You really get to know and like the characters the best at that point, and it’s among the best examples of 80s nostalgia I’ve come across.

That being said, there’s a lot about this novel that rubbed me the wrong way. My biggest issue is the story, or almost lack of one. Art spends a lot of time going through the major points of his life, especially where Mercy is part of his life, but it becomes a slog because he hits you over the head at times with how little self-esteem and how much self-loathing he has. It’s okay early in the book, because he’s a teenager and those are always difficult times and Mercy is at least opening up his world. But after graduation, Art seems intent on just making you hate him as much as possible.

Which might be okay if Mercy or the plot helped balance the story out, but they don’t. Even with her notes, Mercy’s so intent on being edgy and mysterious that we really don’t get to know the real her, and it makes it hard to see her as a character and more as a mystery. Again, fine early in the book, but after a while, we get tired of it.

There’s also not a lot happening in the book. At least, not as far as horror novels go. The New England vampire lore is part of the story, but not in a significant way like I’d expected. It becomes more like a background theme, kind of a parallel about aging, health problems, and our own anxieties and delusions are like vampires on us and we wonder where in the hell they come from. Which is fine, if the story is interesting or the the lore is utilized in the right way.

The Pallbearers Club didn’t do it in the right way. I feel like it was trying to go for what Revival by Stephen King did, which was show how a single man affected the life of an aging rocker throughout his life while mixing in the supernatural. But while it tries, it doesn’t succeed.

And this isn’t something I’ll deduct points for, but why pick on Def Leppard in the early parts of the story? That band is a big part of why I love 80s music, how dare you!

I normally like Paul Tremblay’s work, but on a scale of 1 to 5, I’m going to give The Pallbearers Club a 2. The way it’s written is creative and the initial chapters are great, but annoying characters and an unimpressive plot just stakes it through the heart.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. My next read will be The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias, while my next review will likely be Tales My Grandmother Told Me by Heather Miller (read an advanced copy). You’ll know my thoughts on both in time.

Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 49 days till Halloween.