Think ‘Scream’ but for a YA audience and with added ghosts.
Charley’s whole identity is “horror movie enthusiast”, so when someone starts murdering her classmates in brutal ways, she knows The Rules and feels well placed to survive the carnage. But when she starts seeing the ghosts of her former classmates, can they help her find out whodunnit or will they simply drive her mad?
What’s it about?
I love Jane Austen, but horror enthusiast Charley is not a fan.
‘Why are all her books just about a woman trying to find a husband? Nothing exciting ever happens…I want -‘
‘Heads in freezers? Bodies in cupboards? Serial killers in masks?’
‘Excitement.’
In her final year at a posh boarding school on a remote island, Charley’s about to experience all of the above, when a masked figure starts killing off her classmates. Luckily, she and best friend Olive have spent the last year binge watching horror flicks on their Saturday nights (dubbed ‘Slasher Saturdays’), so they are well placed to avoid a grisly death and solve the murders. Or at least, they would be if Charley wasn’t being distracted by the victims’ ghosts stalking her. Then one of them starts to talk…
What’s it like?
Fast paced. Funny. Really very silly, but in a good way. This has been described as a love letter to the horror genre and Charley’s enthusiasm will definitely reverberate more effectively with other horror enthusiasts!
Rather than trying to subvert established horror tropes, Dunmore embraces them. A room full of mannequins in the dark plays out exactly how you would expect and the ending, despite possessing several twists and turns, finishes precisely how any horror movie buff would anticipate. This doesn’t detract from the enjoyment, but actually enhances it. Knowledgeable readers know what’s coming and can have a chuckle seeing it play out as anticipated – though I felt Charley should have known better…
Of course, this is a YA (Young Adult) novel, so perhaps younger readers would experience it differently to me as I’m definitely more of an MA (Middle Aged) reader these days and grew up watching various iterations of ‘Scream’, ‘Scary Movie’ and the like, so I’m hard to surprise!
Final thoughts
I loved the ghosts, which are the truly original element of this book. When Charley overcomes her initial terror, she’s keen to interview the dead witnesses to help her solve the crimes and avoid adding herself to the body count, so Dunmore has to establish reasons why the ghosts can’t help her out. This is neatly achieved by having the serial killer wear a mask, dispatching the victims in horribly brutal ways that restrict their ability to share or even know any useful information and, brilliantly, having the dead teenagers’ personalities remain very much alive!
If you really thought about it, probably some of the plot would feel iffy, (the murder of a staff member in particular is unconvincing, though the murderer’s musings about the work it took to clear up are amusing,) but the book rushes along at a terrific pace, killing cast members all over the place and preventing you questioning it all too deeply.
‘How to Survive a Horror Movie’ is fun metafiction: it’s good for a giggle and a treat for horror film fans. The ending is abrupt but fitting.
And of course, there’s going to be a sequel…