Horror Movie

Published in 2024, Horror Movie is a metafictional horror novel by American writer Paul Tremblay. The novel was inspired by stories surrounding the production of the 1974 horror film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper. Tremblay wanted to write a novel that echoed and escalated the danger of the production, allowing him to breach the topic of “cursed” movies. His experience adapting his 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World for film gave him firsthand insight into the way horror movies are made.

The novel revolves around the production of an arthouse slasher film, also entitled Horror Movie, as told by the film’s only surviving cast member. Though the film is never completed due to a grisly on-set death, legends surrounding the production give rise to the film’s cult following. The lone surviving cast member becomes involved with a studio reboot of the film, in which he is asked to reprise his role as the movie’s monstrous villain, “The Thin Kid.” The novel thus explores the line between art and reality, the ethics of art-making, and cultural legacies.

This study guide refers to the first edition of the novel, published by William Morrow and Company in 2024.