Today I have my STAR review of what is hands down, the best Horror novel of the year, I am not sure if it can be dethroned. Also, originally, I was told they were holding this review for the May 1 issue, but it did run last week. Don't sleep on this book!
Seriously, order it now because the first run will be in two color ink-- with Mercy's comments in red. I already pre-ordered a copy for myself on Bookshop.Org.
Also, last week I taped an interview with Tremblay for the Library Loveliest podcast. Listen now!
Below is my draft review with extra appeal info.
STARThe Pallbearers Club
Paul Tremblay
July 2022. 288p. Morrow, $27.99 (9780063069916).
First published April 15, 2022 (Booklist).
In his brilliant new novel, Tremblay takes on the well mined small town, coming of age Horror trope, transforming it into something so original, it elevates the entire genre. From the title page, readers are introduced to the unsettling construction of this memoir, [or is it a novel?] by Art Barbara, a stand-in for the troubled man Tremblay could have become, as text is crossed out and replaced by the story’s other protagonist, Mercy, who also caps off each chapter with own commentary and context. Art recounts his life from 1988-2017, from an awkward High School Senior creating a club to assist at poorly attended funerals, meeting Mercy, his only clubmate, one with a vampire obsession, and growing into a man, with prematurely declining health and a passion for punk rock. The intimate and playful nature of their conversation on the page draws readers in immediately, but as the novel continues, the chapters get longer and more immersive as an intense unease envelopes the narrative. Everyone’s reliability is questioned [reader included], and all are held captive until the extremely disquieting conclusion. For fans of thought- provoking, pervasively creepy Horror that crawls under the skin and won’t let go like works by Hendrix and Kingfisher.
Further Appeal: My notes from Goodreads, written immediately after I finished reading it, but before I sat down to write the review:
Here is an example of a note I took: This book is Tremblay's take on coming of age, small town horror first made popular by Stephen King, but like he did for the "Exorcism" novel in A Head Full of Ghosts, he has taken on a tried and true trope as his foundation and transformed it into something so new and original that it elevates the entire genre as a result.
But in true Tremblay form, it will upset you at your core. It may not break you as badly as Cabin at the End of The World, but it is close. [That title is also a masterpiece]
An intimate novel told as a conversation between its two main players-- Art and Mercy-- as Art writes his "memoir" and Mercy provides her commentary on his "novel." Told from 1988-2017, readers get to know both characters very well, enough to know that while we want to give both a big hug, we cannot trust either.. The result, a story that is both touching and terrifying, snarky and serious, immersive and compelling.
Oh and bonus-- vampires, of the New England variety, well maybe vampires, well yes for sure we learn about a historical vampire. But are they left to history? Or are they real? So cool.
This back and forth is also one of Tremblay's signature touches, one I always appreciate. As I wrote in my book, Tremblay is the defining author of 21st Century Psychological Horror and this is another stellar example. Does everything that happens have a rational explanation or is there a supernatural element at play? All the answers are there for either answer and the reader is left to decide. And this leaves a long tail of unease and creepiness, one that will follow the reader for weeks after finishing the book.
Another note: as the book goes on, the playfulness decreases and the terror increases. It's like a sound mixing board. The playful slide moves down and the terror one up and up. With the music frame of this novel, I tried so hard to fit this into my review, but I could not.
This is also underscored by the physical book itself-- The first chapter is short and punchy and then each chapter gets a little longer, and longer, and longer. This works so well on so many levels, First, the book hooks you into Art, Mercy, their conversation and the story-- their meeting and the origins of the Pallbearers Club. And it is playful. But with each passing chapter, the length and discomfort increase. You are already hooked, and Mercy's margin comments keep you reading, even as the story darkens. You need to keep going, you don't want to stop reading, and then you get to the end of a chapter and look up. Time has passed, you are feeling unsettled, Mercy also sums it all up. You know you should take a break, the next chapter will be longer and you cannot stop in the middle-- but you know what? You can't stop. You take a deep breath and dive back in. When I write in my book about how all Horror books increase in pacing as you read and that by the last third, I dare you too be able to put out down.... that is true for most Horror novels. But somehow, in this one, Tremblay does it better than I have even seen. What kind of novel gives you longer chapters as the book goes on and yet the pacing increases? None. How did he do that?
A few more notes before I write the review: Frame is the punk rock and Indie rock scenes of the late 80s thru the 90s. I happen to be around the same age as Tremblay and went to college in New England-- so while I knew most every band he mentions, some may go over readers' heads [Yeah Dinosaur Jr.] but Husker Du, the band that frames the entire novel-- chapter titles are from song titles-- most people know them [I hope] and at least can pull up some of the songs on Spotify. That helps to enrich the novel and its atmosphere but if you don't know them or look things up, no big deal. Mercy is there with her commentary to help guide the reader and fills in Art's blanks, especially regarding the music.
Three Words That Describe This Book: original, immersive, pervasively creepy
Readalikes: Tremblay fans will like a lot of horror, but when I thought about this book in particular I really thought that the Venn Diagram overlap of people who like both Grady Hendrix and T. Kingfisher will like this book, even if they were not Tremblay fans before this.Here is the readalike statement from my book from the section in Chapter 2 where I break down Tremblay as one of today's "Heads of Horror":
Tremblay will appeal to older horror readers who have enjoyed Stephen King, Peter Straub, Robert McCammon, and Joe Hill for years, but he is also a great gateway to the other Heads of Horror listed here (Stephen Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Carmen Maria Machado) and newer voices like Jac Jemc, Andy Davidson, and Ania Alhborn. Horror today starts and stops with Paul Tremblay.
I will be hosting a giveaway of the ARC I read for review soon. I will wait until closer to the release date [7/5/22] though.
