phoebusnyktelios 's review for:

Curse of the Reaper by Brian McAuley

5.0

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Curse of the Reaper by Brian McAuley is about Howard Browning, an aging actor who played the titular villain in the iconic Night of the Reaper films in the 80s. It's now the early 2000s, and Howard is stuck on the convention circuit signing autographs for an ever shrinking fanbase when the studio announces that they're rebooting the franchise and casting former-child-star-turned-troubled-heartthrob Trevor Mane in Howard's old role. The Reaper, however, has other ideas...

This book made me cry more than once, you guys. McAuley is a master of making the reader care about his characters, despite their flaws. Curse of the Reaper covers some intense themes (aging, memory loss, drug addiction, abuse), but it does so empathetically and you really feel for Howard and Trevor as they each struggle to let go of things that are only making their lives harder. The last 15-ish percent is an emotional gut-punch, even as things begin to get gory in ways that would usually have me delighted but which, in this book, made me cover my mouth in genuine horror. The Reaper himself is a wonderful amalgamation of classic slasher movie tropes (I was having a lot of fun recognizing inspirations), and McAuley's love of the genre is evident in every page. If you're interested in a book that is somehow both cautionary tale and slow descent into madness, with an iconic villain and a deep love of 80s slashers, Curse of the Reaper is a must add for your TBR!