I loved the ominous energy and spooks in this.

 

Energy: Commanding. Cryptic. Meticulous. 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Takes place near Providence, Rhode Island and parts of Hollywood California.

Perspective: We follow our main character at different life stages – as a young adult in the 1990s playing a role in their friends’ indie horror flick, to a jaded adult (50s) being approached by directors to reboot the film. There are snippets of the MC’s audiobook and the original screenplay their friend wrote. 

 

🐕 Howls: First half dragged in the behind-the-scenes movie making scenes (picks up later though). Confusing time jumps + being thrown into the story at first.  

🐩 Tail Wags: The freaky eerie energy and plot. Immersive and atmospheric. Writing style. The unconventional screenplay. The ending. 

 

🤔 Random Thoughts: 

There’s a book within a book element in this that might make the audiobook extra immersive? (I had a digital copy so not sure)

The screenplay was a little juvenile sounding at first and had mistakes in it, but that made it feel more real. Like it was written by a newly minted student writing their first screenplay and they’re very specific about how everything should be. 

 

🤓 Reader Role: Reading the screenplay, watching them make the movie. Having the thin kid talk directly to us via his audiobook.

🗺️ World-Building: Easy to imagine and immersive. Cinematic.

🔥 Fuel: The atmospheric tension and interlocking mysteries. We start off reading bits of screenplay and watching the characters make the movie…but why was the movie never released? Why are only snippets available on YouTube? What happened to the original actors? What is the movie about?  

📖 Cred: Paranormal (supernatural realism)

 

Sun through dusty windows. Chalk. Linoleum. Abandoned school. Plaster. Chainsaw. Mannequin. Quiet on the set. Under the bed. Dark hallways. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Torture (graphic; burns, beating, wounding). Body horror (graphic; blood). Murder. Cancer (graphic, on page; ~one chapter). Suicide, suicidal ideation (graphic, on page). Cigarette smoking. 

 

Rep: White Americans. Cisgender. Overthin.  

 

📚 Format: Library Audio