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A review by ojtheviking
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
3.0
Because I read and loved My Best Friend's Exorcism last year, I was intrigued to check out more of Grady Hendrix's work, and The Final Girl Support Group was the other book of his I had available in my collection.
Having now read two of his books, it's clear to me that Grady Hendrix is very much a "nostalgia author", banking on pop references of the past to grab the reader's interest, and putting new spins on old tropes. This is of course not necessarily a bad thing. Just an effective way to grab certain readers' attention ... hey, it worked on me, right?
...Support Group is in every way a love letter to the slasher horror genre, filled with delightful meta elements. Both a tribute and a parody that suggests that the famous horror franchises we've come to love are actually based on real events, only with some differences for the sake of commercialism and setting up sequels. Parts of the story also don't shy away from commenting on the morbidity of our fascination with death, true crime, and how some people are fanboying/fangirling as much over this as others do over music or actors, or authors. Most of us are fascinated by the horrors of true crime, in a can't-look-away-from-the-traffic-accident sort of way, but some individuals glorify the killers on a deeper level than what may seem healthy.
I initially thought that this novel would also have the Young Adult vibes like ...Exorcism, but the tone is more serious and more meta than spoof-like in this one, and the topics seem better suited for a slightly older demographic (...then again, that comes from a guy who's watched gory slashers and horror since the age of 10-12)
My only wish is that there was slightly more time spent on the actual support group meetings before the story progressed into its main mystery, as that premise was already entertaining. It would have also given us time to get just a bit more acquainted with the main characters. I think that may be my main gripe with the entire novel; it sort of rushed into the action. However, perhaps that's intentional, because this in and of itself mirrors many of the slasher movies; a handful of characters are immediately thrown into the plot, and the mayhem starts as quickly as possible.
Also, there's a part of the story that requires some more suspension of disbelief than normally, regarding how quickly some supporting characters had a falling out with the main character, especially at a time when there were more important matters at hand. But in a novel like this, I'm unsure whether that's just a slightly cheesy part of the writing, or if it's another intentional nod to how horror movies use convenient plot devices to isolate the heroine. (It could also be that I'm just nitpicky at this point)
Overall, this was a solid read, enough for me to confidently say I enjoyed it, although ...Exorcism may still be my favorite of the two.
Having now read two of his books, it's clear to me that Grady Hendrix is very much a "nostalgia author", banking on pop references of the past to grab the reader's interest, and putting new spins on old tropes. This is of course not necessarily a bad thing. Just an effective way to grab certain readers' attention ... hey, it worked on me, right?
...Support Group is in every way a love letter to the slasher horror genre, filled with delightful meta elements. Both a tribute and a parody that suggests that the famous horror franchises we've come to love are actually based on real events, only with some differences for the sake of commercialism and setting up sequels. Parts of the story also don't shy away from commenting on the morbidity of our fascination with death, true crime, and how some people are fanboying/fangirling as much over this as others do over music or actors, or authors. Most of us are fascinated by the horrors of true crime, in a can't-look-away-from-the-traffic-accident sort of way, but some individuals glorify the killers on a deeper level than what may seem healthy.
I initially thought that this novel would also have the Young Adult vibes like ...Exorcism, but the tone is more serious and more meta than spoof-like in this one, and the topics seem better suited for a slightly older demographic (...then again, that comes from a guy who's watched gory slashers and horror since the age of 10-12)
My only wish is that there was slightly more time spent on the actual support group meetings before the story progressed into its main mystery, as that premise was already entertaining. It would have also given us time to get just a bit more acquainted with the main characters. I think that may be my main gripe with the entire novel; it sort of rushed into the action. However, perhaps that's intentional, because this in and of itself mirrors many of the slasher movies; a handful of characters are immediately thrown into the plot, and the mayhem starts as quickly as possible.
Also, there's a part of the story that requires some more suspension of disbelief than normally, regarding how quickly some supporting characters had a falling out with the main character, especially at a time when there were more important matters at hand. But in a novel like this, I'm unsure whether that's just a slightly cheesy part of the writing, or if it's another intentional nod to how horror movies use convenient plot devices to isolate the heroine. (It could also be that I'm just nitpicky at this point)
Overall, this was a solid read, enough for me to confidently say I enjoyed it, although ...Exorcism may still be my favorite of the two.