‘Tis the season for slashers. The official first day of fall is two days away, but I’m already deep into my horror reading for the season. I’ve also been going back to some of the classic slasher films we all watched when we were (too?) young. Friday the 13th. Halloween. Nightmare on Elm Street. If, like me, you have a soft spot for these horror classics and the movies influenced by them, you might think you’ve seen everything the slasher genre has to offer at this point. I mean, we’ve had time-traveling slashers. We’ve had Freaky Friday, but with slashers. We’ve had Groundhog Day, but make it stabby.
Even Stephen Graham Jones has touched on the slasher genre in multiple books, such as The Last Final Girl and My Heart is a Chainsaw. But you can always count on this author to keep things interesting and explore new territory.
That’s exactly what he’s doing with his latest.
I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
This is the autobiography of Tolly Driver, a former slasher who reflects upon his killing spree in Lamesa, Texas, back in 1989. Tolly Driver wasn’t born a killer. Before all of this happened, he was a good kid who could maybe have a bright future ahead of him if only he would apply himself a little. Sure, he’s a little socially awkward, but who isn’t when they’re a teen, right? Tolly spends his days helping his mom out at the hardware store and hanging out with his best friend Amber and just trying to stay out of trouble. Until…something changes inside of him.
You see, Tolly has been cursed to seek revenge in the most brutal way possible. He has acquired the strange, inexplicable abilities of a slasher. For instance: color blindness, which helps him track down his prey, and that famous slasher knack for getting knocked down and getting right back up again (sorry for everyone who grew up in the ’90s and immediately started singing “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba, but maybe that song was written about slashers like Tolly IDK). Anyway, Tolly has no control over when his slasher senses will get activated, but his rampages are wild and incredibly destructive. It’s kind of like he’s a superhero, but violent and evil.
Thankfully for Tolly, every superhero gets a sidekick, and this super slasher gets to have one, too. By his side through everything is Amber. Amber knows the ropes of slashers, and despite the terrible things Tolly is doing, she hopes her knowledge of slasher movies will help Tolly get through this troubling affliction. Sure, Tolly’s out to murder everyone who has ever wronged him, but Amber knows her best friend is still inside there. She will help Tolly learn to figure out his slasher behaviors, harness them, and identify his very own final girl.
If you loved Stephen Graham Jones’ Angel of Indian Lake series, you’ve got to pick this one up. I Was A Teenage Slasher feels like the inverse of that series—a slasher not from the final girl’s perspective but from the killer’s. If you love slasher movies, you will love all of the references to the classics and the general nostalgia vibes. Most importantly, fans of character-driven horror will really fall for Tolly and Amber. Tolly is a slasher, but there’s something so sad about his plight and the events that lead him to violence. Even if he’s not quite sympathetic, he is interesting and complicated. Then there’s Amber. I could not get enough of Amber. Despite this story being about the slasher, Amber is truly the heart of this story, and the more we got to know her, the more excited I got about reading this book.
I Was A Teenage Slasher is a must read for this fall’s slasher/horror season. Make sure to throw this one at the top of your TBR.
Happy weekend reading, bibliophiles! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @emandhercat, and check out my other newsletters, The Fright Stuff and Book Radar!
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