After falling out of love with Stephen King, I often credit Paul Tremblay as the author who got me back into contemporary horror fiction with his novel A Headful of Ghosts (still my favourite of his books). This is the first time I've been able to read an ARC of his, and I was very excited.

Tremblay is well-known for taking traditional horror tropes -- the exorcism, the house invasion, the zombie apocalypse -- and reinventing them with a cool 21st-century twist. In The Pallbearers Club, he takes on the vampire novel. To a certain extent, one's enjoyment of Tremblay's books might be predicated on how much the reader already enjoys the trope. The exorcism is certainly my favourite trope that he has covered, and equates to my favourite book. But this isn't always the case. Tremblay's style and craft are such that he can break down the jaded horror fan -- he even made me like a zombie novel. So I'm not sure if it's my luke-warm feelings towards vampires that made this one a bit of a miss for me.

The Pallbearers Club is a maybe-novel, maybe-memoir of Art Barbara, a self-degrading punk nerd from Rhode Island. His 'manuscript' is interspersed with annotations and corrections by his friend, Mercy Brown (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent). As Art details a school history project he completed on the local myth of the Mercy Brown vampires, he starts to suspect the story might not be a myth.

Art was one of my main difficulties getting into the book. The first half is very 'entitled but self-loathing white teenage boy', as Mercy herself points out in an annotation. In this opening, it's difficult not to feel that Mercy is actually the interesting character who we want to know more about. It feels like Tremblay is playing on the narrators of classic gothic fiction, like Frankenstein and Dracula, where the narrators are far from the most interesting part of the story, and the reader almost has to enjoy the book in spite of the person telling the story. The introduction to The Pallbearers Club, a community support group to ensure the lonely and outcast dead have some attendance at their funeral, segues into a lengthy description of Art getting into punk music, and I very nearly put the book down during this first half as I struggled to see where the interest in the story was for me.

However, this is a book of two halves. Once Art becomes an adult and moves out, and once the big reveal about the 'reality' of vampirism makes it clear the direction the story is taking, the whole thing becomes a much quicker read. I still struggled to like or get behind Art as a narrator, but Mercy became a much bigger part of the story, and their two points of view began to diverge in a way that was really interesting.

One major issue for me was also reading this as an ebook. In the physical copy, Mercy's annotations are written in small handwriting-style text in the margins of the book. In the ARC I read, the annotation would appear in a larger font at the end of the relevant paragraph -- and some of the paragraphs in this book are pages long. On release day, the Kindle version of the book was pulled for reformatting, so my assumption is this is a problem that's getting fixed, but if you're buying on Kindle, my suggestion would be to get a sample first to check you're happy with the formatting.

The Pallbearers Club will appeal to existing fans of Tremblay’s work, and those who are looking for something new in the vampire subgenre. Some readers might be fine or even identify with the narrator, removing the issue of struggling to find someone to relate to in the book. For those who try the book and struggle, I strongly advise at least giving this book to the halfway point before making a terminal decision.

The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay is out now, and can be purchased here.

With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.co.uk for an e-advanced review copy.

Overall I found this an engaging and fast read with relatable characters, steady pace, and a nice addition of mixed media with some small illustrations and emails and articles,
The memoir section was done very well, almost better than the actual story, but it did add a little bite that the story needed more of.
I felt Art was well breathed and written well enough that he had a solid, extendable weight to his emotions and actions-i felt he added a new line of light to the “loser” or “nerd” trope, a reasonable and relatable character that I feel was the best out of them all.
He was a decent main character and narrator who had pretty solid development as the story went on, and I also feel the characters orbiting him the closest were the tightest and most alive-those supporting ones and background could’ve done with a little more breath, however, I understand most characters,
if they aren’t main or supporting, won’t be developed as much…but most of those who weren’t connected to Art deeply felt too stale and washed up, just words on a paper and not even able to have a small stream of conjuring in my head-no one too memorable or notable or enough to remember when I finished this book.
I also found that the writing was easy enough to digest, nothing too lyrical or poetic, but it could’ve benefited from less simplistic prose at times, And then other pages it became very purple and flowery, which was a stark and unwelcoming contrast when a page would be very well written and then the next felt like an entirely different writer with less impressive skill.
Of course, I’m not referring to the mixed media throughout as I felt that worked very well, so I do wish the main chunk of story could’ve been written in that purple way throughout-some pages ended up feeling too simple in their writing and metaphors and all of that.
The natural profession of the story was good, scenes lasted long enough to go into depth and nothing droned on too long, neither, but I do feel that not a lot intense or powerful happened.
Even if the main root of the story was their friendship and Art reflecting back on events and how she changed his life, how he fling loy had a friend even if she was weird and unreachable and unexplainable,I feel for a notable, successful author primarily in horror there could’ve just been a bit more noise and raucousness in the horror parts.
I feel that the horror element could’ve been done a bit better, it felt too rushed through and should’ve been weaved through the book more intricately and richly. I also feel the big reveal and twist wasn’t so shocking or powerful as it could’ve been, and although it wasn’t predictable or an old trope it wasn’t a big revealing moment that deepened the overall story.
However it was a good enough read I whizzed through, Art was a great character to spend time with and relate to, and I just wish the horror could’ve been a little more there… in that it was a decent twist and not too stale or reused and borrowed from other horror novels- it just didn’t land loud and hard enough.
The fizz and tremors were there, a low rumbling and tremble that could’ve turned into a sparkling crack in the earth, the bang just didn’t explode and echo like it could’ve-should’ve…
I will reread near Halloween to see how I feel, overall not a waste of time and I will be waiting on the author’s new releases and perhaps go back to reread their other work to compare.

My first read by this author. Definitely won’t be my last. Absolutely loved this book, couldn’t put it down and read in two sittings. Can’t recommend this book enough if you are a horror fan *****

I’ve loved the Paul Tremblay books I’ve previously read and the blurb for this one had me intrigued, so it’s safe to say this was a highly anticipated read for me. It’s clear from the reviews I’ve read prior to its publication that this is going to be a divisive read and I’m sad to say that on this occasion I’m not on the side of the divide that I was hoping I would be.

Art Barbara (not his real name) and Mercy Brown (this may or may not be her real name but it’s up to you to decide) meet at a funeral. Art, who needed an extracurricular activity for his college applications, created the Pallbearers Club. Mercy, a stranger of indeterminate age, joins and the two become [friends] [people who spend time with one another] … I don’t know how to describe their relationship.

It’s all kind of odd. Art thinks Mercy is a vampire and proceeds to write a memoir where he attributes various occurrences in his life to said vampirism. Mercy reads the manuscript of Art’s memoir, calls it fiction and then annotates it.

Art uses foreshadowing like it’s going out of fashion, makes nouns into verbs (I’m good with that) and writes sentences that last an entire paragraph.

“A chapter in which, frankly, I don’t know the best way to somewhat briefly yet dramatically convey and/or describe the passing of twenty years, of the invisible years, and after considerable consideration I land upon using deftly placed flashbacks (to be presented as unrealistic interview dialogue) despite knowing said flashbacks are frowned upon (with, admittedly, good reason most of the time) by the academia writing syndicate as well as by those who can afford to pay for the privilege of being taught prescriptive writing advice, but fuck it, a memoir is all flashback anyway, so we’ll all just have to deal, and there’s a messed-up and scary piece of furniture that should’ve been a clue.”

I’d encourage you to read some 5 star reviews because there are readers who loved this book as much as I wish I did. Even though this one didn’t work for me, I’m keen to read the rest of this author’s books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Having previously read a number of Paul Tremblay’s books, I was expecting The Pallbearer’s Club to be of his usual high standard. Instead, it was anything but. To be honest, if I hadn’t been reading it for review, I probably would have stopped around a third of the way through. The novel is neither fish nor fowl. It fails as a thriller by dint of being tedious and incredibly slow and fails as a horror by not being remotely atmospheric, scary or creepy. It’s very difficult to reconcile it with any of his other works. A big disappointment.

I received a free reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Paul Tremblay is certainly versatile. Where his last novel, Survivor Song, was a fast paced slam bang adventure, this one is much more introspective and measured. It’s a tale of thwarted hopes and the disappointments of life that most readers of a certain age will be able to empathize with, told as a memoir of a life-defining friendship but also punctuated with interjections from that friend, who is often less than impressed with the author’s version of events. It’s a great conceit that elevated my enjoyment of the novel. I mean, I knew was going to like it anyway as soon as I saw the contents page and realised that all the chapters were named after Hüsker Dü songs, but this sealed the deal. The supernatural element is kept ambiguous throughout, and you'll have to read till the end to discover if it is an actual horror novel, or a story of an awkward young man's instabilities and projections (hey, why can't it be both?), but that won't be a problem, because it's an excellently readable book.

What a creative way to tell a story. I've never read anything like it. Occasionally the characters seemed like individuals I knew, and other times they were so far removed from reality. Which I liked. Right through the last several chapters, the plot had me on edge.

A novel or a memoir? That's the concept of the book; complete with annotations by the protagonist's friend MB. If A Head Full of Ghosts was the author's love letter to VHS era horror movies, then this is very much dedicated around '80;s punk/ alt music. Interesting if you're a fan (I am), potentially a bit indulgent/ unclear if you're not.
First things first - the title. I loved the idea and the initial premise of a school club set up by the protagonist to attend under represented funerals. It's a starting point only though; a means of introducing the main characters.
The style and the annotations will be divisive.. As a hook, it's a good one, but it will depend whether the reader likes the voice of the interrupting 'editor'. For me, it seemed a bit too self-referential to the author's writing style: a meta touch which grew a bit repetitive after a while (or at times, seemed to be a way to say - 'did you get that reference? No? Probably not, so I'll spell it out via the editorial voice.': whether it be literary, musical or cinematic.
I like the author's writing style. I liked the premise of the book. In terms of execution, I didn't really get into this one, Is it 'horror'? Well, for the majority of the book no. Things do start to take a turn at the 60% mark, but, to use a cult reference of my own, very much in a 'Martin' manner. Not for me, but I'm sure many other fans of the author's previous work will enjoy it more than I did. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a chance to read in return for an honest review.

I was super excited when I got this request approved. I was a huge horror fan as a teen and I'm slowly getting back into it. Earlier this year I started reading books by Paul Tremblay and honestly they were right up my street to I jumped at the chance to read this. Unfortunately this one didn't do it for me in the same way as some of his other works. This book is framed as a memoir with editing notes from his friend. I really like this concept. It allowed for so much more nuance in the story. The author really captured Art's voice so well. It really came across like the memoir it's supposed to be. However, I felt like that was a double edged sword. It was very much written in Art's voice but honestly I didn't like Art or his writing. It grated on me a lot and I really only pushed through because I wanted to see where it was going. The notes were a nice break. It was nice to have this dual POV almost. I don't know if it was because it was an ebook but I'd have loved to have seen these note set up more like someone was writing in the margins but that might have broken the flow a bit. Overall I was a bit underwhelmed. The ending was really perfect and I think it made up for the effort it took me to get through to the end.

Well what a unique way to tell a story! The Pallbearers Club is written in first-person past tense as a memoir told by Art Barbara but alternates with second-person present tense in the form of commentary on the memoir itself addressed to (the reader) Art.

As is often found in amateur works the 'memoir' is heavily laden with bracketed text, although this was an effective way to add authenticity to the format of the book I personally found it quite irritating.
There were also a lot of what I assumed to be pop culture references that I didn't get, whether due to my age or my geography I couldn't say. I was often reminded of American Psycho and if I'm honest that book bored me to tears.

I forced my way through a third of this novel and despite LOVING other Tremblay works I had to put this one down. Not for me.

This book was interesting to say the least. I honestly do not think it was for me. I love the authors writing I just don't think I like this subject line.

I really enjoyed this one. At its heart (get it?) is a story of friendship spanning decades between Art and Mercy, which ultimately takes its toll on both of them.
From crying at one sentence, to laughing at the following, this had me gripped from the start.
The book is essentially Art writing his memoir (with added New England Vampires) and he starts as high-school as a student looking to do something to stand out. And his stand out action was to form The Pallbearers Club! This is what draws Mercy in to his life and changes him forever.
In the memoir we get to see Mercy's comments in the margin, and between the two we parts to the writing we see two different characters shape and grow - and Mercy is very funny! The interplay between them makes you question if these things really are supernatural or are there rational explanations for them?
Overall I would definitely recommend this book to horror and suspense readers, and for those wanting to ease into the genre this is an excellent start in my opinion!

The Pallbearers Club is horror with a heart and it made me feel all of the emotions. As well as being thoroughly creeped out and confused, I also found this book startlingly funny in places and deeply sad in others. At the centre of the book is the relationship between the odd and awkward Art Barbara and the cool and mysterious Mercy Brown who form a friendship as teenagers. Their friendship is not without its complications and when strange things start happening, both Art and the reader begin to question the intentions of Mercy. However, it becomes increasingly clear, particularly through Mercy's annotations which feature throughout the novel/memoir, that things are not what they seem. In fact, it becomes increasingly unclear and bewildering as the reader learn more about their relationship and the freaky events that make up the novel. Tremblay blurs the lines between the everyday and the supernatural and makes the reader question the reliability of both main characters, causing the reader to ask what is fiction and what is memory? Who is recalling these events correctly, if anyone? Among the paranormal confusion, there is a story that deals expertly with themes such as belonging, identity, friendship, suffering, and mental health. This is a suspenseful novel which kept me guessing right until the last moment and I enjoyed the twists and turns of Art and Mercy's friendship immensely.

Después del sabor de boca agridulce que me dejó la anterior Survivor Song (sin publicar aún en castellano) tenía ganas de leer lo nuevo de Paul Tremblay, autor de la notable Una cabeza llena de fantasmas o la correcta La cabaña de fin del mundo. El resultado ha sido algo decepcionante.

La novela es una memoria, o eso dice ser, de un chaval llamado Art Barbara que forma un club cuyo objetivo es llevar los ataúdes de la gente que fallece y no tiene a nadie para llevarlos hasta su nicho. Sin embargo, esto apenas ocupa las primeras cincuenta páginas del libro. Allí conocerá a algunos personajes un poco raros, pero, sobre todo, se enamorará por completo de Mercy Brown.

La novela es una historia cultural desde los años 80 hasta casi la actualidad, en los que Art pasa de ser un don nadie a integrarse en varias bandas de punk rock de la época. Acostumbrados a las escenas terroríficas que Tremblay describe en otros de sus libros, esta es una novela bastante más ligera, con apenas un par de escenas de terror que, sin embargo, no aportan demasiado al libro. Este es mi mayor problema con esta historia: nunca supe a dónde quería llegar ni encontré atractivo a seguir la lectura hasta el final, aunque finalmente lo hiciese por curiosidad.

El libro está lleno de correcciones que Mercy hace al texto originalmente escrito durante años por Art. Esto nos hace dudar, desde la primera línea, de que si lo que estamos leyendo está ajustado a lo que sucedió en realidad o no. Según la historia que cuenta Art, corregida por Mercy, ella parece ser una vampira. Sin embargo, dadas dichas correcciones, nunca tendremos claro que los eventos que suceden son consecuencia del alcohol ingerido por Art o efectivamente Mercy esconde un secreto que la hace eterna. La novela puede verse como una posible relación entre humano y vampira en una época donde la cultura pop cada vez estaba más presente.

En definitiva, una novela que no recomiendo salvo que seáis completistas del autor.

Paul Tremblay has written some outstanding novels with A Head Full of Ghosts (2015), Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (2016) and Survivor Song (2020) amongst my personal favourites. One of his greatest strengths, beyond the sheer variety of his plotlines, is the clever ways in which he utilises ambiguity. Was there really a possession in A Head Full of Ghosts or any supernatural shenanigans in Disappearance at Devil’s Rock? Much remains up for debate, providing the novels with an extra layer of intrigue and discussion points. However, it could be argued the use of ambiguity was taken to extremes in The Cabin at the End of the World (2018), which involved a possible apocalypse. Although this novel picked up many great reviews, I found that in this case the vagueness was overplayed and was detrimental to the plot and there is more of the same in this new novel.

Although Tremblay admirably changes direction in The Pallbearers’ Club and it is a lighter read, with many entertaining darkly comic touches, he once again turns to ambiguity and dances around the supernatural. To avoid spoilers, I’m not going into any details, but ultimately I found this to be the weakest element of this latest book and the uncertainty surrounding the second main character Mercy Brown tiresome, repetitive and failed to add any level of suspense. Mercy does bring a funny and cynical opposing point of view to the overall story, with her own anecdotes and observations, but ultimately I could not care less whether she was a vampire or not and this part of the story came across as forced and failed to click.

I did love the nostalgic musical vibe of The Pallbreakers’ Club, set at the tail-end of the eighties, lead character Art Barbara spends his time listening to middle-of-the-road rock band Def Leopard until Mercy Brown introduces him to legendary hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü (who as it happens are just about to split up). From that moment on Art never listens to Def Leopard again and with Mercy’s help takes a deep dive into many great punk bands of that era, including Ramones, Minutemen, The Slits, The Damned, Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks, Mission of Burma and Bad Brains. This is my kind of musical scene and have seen live many of the bands namechecked and so thoroughly enjoyed Art’s journey from introverted teenage nerd to playing in bands. Tremblay mentions in the endnotes that there was a little bit of himself in Art (I was not surprised) and so I doff my cap at his supremely good taste in music. Even better, the majority of chapters are named after Hüsker Dü songs, so if you have never heard them and you enjoy loud fast aggressive music then check them out.

The Pallbearers’ Club is presented as a memoir written by Art Barbara looking back upon his life and has sent the book to his old friend Mercy Brown for comments. She contradicts much of his version of events, presents a new perspective, changes things, and challenges him whilst having her own biases as the pair have had a long and very toxic on/off friendship which lies at the core of the plot. At various times it is implied the text we are reading is fiction rather than a memoir and since Art is obviously an unreliable narrator it is very hard to tell what is true, embellished or simply fiction. Much of this was very cleverly written and will provoke debate about reality and memory, but once the book went past the school section which dealt with ‘The Pallbearers’ Club’ of the title not enough happened and my interest began to diminish. The story is written in a very unique, almost playful style, but once it moves beyond the teenage years does not have the plot to maintain it.

The initial idea and opening fifty pages were great: Art is in his final year of high school and although he is academically strong has very little of note (or extra credits) to put on his college applications to make himself stand out. Due to problems with his back, he does not do sport or any other curricular activities and to beef up his applications starts up a pallbearer’s club, effectively himself and a few disgruntled classmates who attend the funerals of those with no living relatives to make up the numbers. Via this ‘club’ he meets Mercy Brown and some of these scenes were quite funny as Art takes his responsibilities very seriously as he is painfully shy and meeting girls at funerals is better than not meeting girls at all!

Is it a memoir or a novel? Which of the two main characters can we trust? Your enjoyment of The Pallbearers’ Club may very much depend on how you enjoy Paul Tremblay manoeuvring around these questions. Even though Art is very quick to blame others for his problems, the story does also cover other areas including aging, addiction and mental health. The novel repeatedly blurred the lines between fiction and memory via a unconventional friendship, but one could argue that Art Barbara just did not have the depth of character or was interesting enough to build a book around.

Paul Tremblay’s attempts at a lighter kind of horror are on this occasion rather hit and miss, coming across as something which strays into Grady Hendrix territory. It lacks the power of his best work, both in the horror and emotional departments and although it may have more literary subtleties than the deadly virus driven Survivor’s Song, falls well short in every other department.

What begins as a faux-memoir waxing nostalgic about the awkwardness of our teen years and the formative exploration of music that becomes the bedrock of our being slowly unfurls into something deeper.

The exploration of friendship and the fatalistic impact it has on our lives told through an unreliable lens dives brilliantly into the inconsistency of memory.

That said, book is maudlin. And at times gives a little too much away. Tremblay’s use of MB feels like he’s critiquing his work in real time which had a real impact on how you view what is essentially the more interesting character. This is a great plot device that needed more depth in MB to become fully realised.

There’s a lot to like here, it speaks profoundly to the badge of honour type security that comes from being part of a subculture whilst highlighting the arrested development that often comes with it.

The Pallbearers Club is a weird book. Yes, yes, I know – this is not a very helpful description, considering that this - Paul Tremblay’s latest novel – is a work of weird/horror fiction. So let me try again. The Pallbearers Club is, ostensibly, a memoir written by a narrator who uses the pseudonym Art Barbara. Art may, or may not be, the author himself – certainly he has much in common with Tremblay, having come of age in 1980’s Massachusetts, navigated the rock and punk scene of the area and toyed with the idea of teaching mathematics. The other protagonist of Art’s memoir is given the pseudonym Mercy Brown. She may, or may ot be, a modern-day manifestation of an alleged New England vampire who was the subject of a well-documented “vampire scare” which occurred in Rhode Island in 1892.

What brings Art and Mercy together is The Pallbearers Club, a short-lived extracurricular activity devised by Art in his college days whereby a group of volunteers would pay their respects at ill-attended funerals. Mercy is one of the very few joiners, and soon becomes the closest Art has to a close friend. But after a couple of strange nocturnal episodes, Art starts to suspect that Mercy is preying on him. His memoir, which roughly covers the period from 1988 – 2017, sets out the evidence for this. The manuscript is discovered by Mercy who annotates it with comments written in the margins. Significantly, she starts by crossing out the subtitle a memoir, substituting it with a novel – one written by Paul Tremblay. Her witty barbs, contrasting with Art’s self-conscious, often high-flown style, punctuate the narration.

This meta-fictional conceit runs through the book. Tremblay puts enough of himself into Art to make this often read like coming-of-age auto-fiction (I am sure that readers from his same background and generation will identify with the narrator). Even if we are to take this book as (obviously) fiction, however – should we believe Art’s supernatural explanation of the events, or should we opt for Mercy’s more down-to-earth approach? Are the vampiric episodes simply the result of Art’s generous use of drug and alcohol? Should they be read metaphorically? And what are we to make of the book’s conclusion? A lot of questions, I know, but that is, I believe, the whole point behind the novel.

Indeed, I venture to say that this is the type of novel where the style itself becomes part of the content. Shorn of its metafictional approach, the bare narrative skeleton of The Pallbearers Club is pretty mundane (guy is haunted by a vampiric entity for close to thirty years, until he starts to fear he is himself changing into a monster). But there’s brilliance in the exchanges between Art and Mercy and in the way we’re kept guessing on the nature of the events. Tremblay keeps a light touch, often venturing into comedy, but then pulls out the stops in the scarier set-pieces, and in the strangely moving ending.

An original take on vampire tropes, The Pallbearers Club will surely continue to cement Tremblay’s reputation as one of the foremost contemporary horror writers.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-pallbearers-club-by-paul-tremblay.html

This was a dysfunctional but brilliant comment that will provoke debate about reality. I really enjoyed Paul's definition of reality that he tends to add to books . This was creepy but a unique take on stories that only Paul can manage to enthuse into us.

Paul Tremblay is always the first name to come to mind when someone asks for a horror author recommendation. He bares resemblances to Stephen King in his writing, so its no wonder the horror master himself has recommended multiple Tremblay books. The Pallbearers Club is a tale of toxic friendship and maybe even a vampire, or maybe not. In 1988, Art starts the Pallbearers Club which introduces him to Mercy. They're in eachother's lives for a time. It's now decades later and Art is writing his memoir trying to make sense of that time he was friends with Mercy. And Mercy thinks Art's novel is creative fiction and not what actually happened. Such a fun, original vampire novel. A truly excellent addition to Tremblay's works.

I‘m sorry to say that I dnf it at 40%. I really wanted to like this one as much as „A Head Full of Ghosts“, but it was not endearing, scary or thrilling at all. I don’t see how Stephen King was scared as he says on the cover. Note to self: Stop reading Mr. King’s recommendations as I’m more often than not disappointed 😔. Back on track - author kept foreshadowing events, which never seemed to happen and I didn’t care enough to learn more about it. Because at this point I was exhausted and quite bored 😐. There was so much talk about polaroids, it would‘ve been interesting, if we could’ve seen some. I liked the book jacket it stands out and I also liked the humour and the little breaks where Mercy shared her opinion.

Thank you NetGalley / Titan Books for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.