"I Was a Teenage Slasher" by Stephen Graham Jones is a masterful blend of nostalgia, horror, and dark humor that captivates from the very first page. Jones crafts a unique coming-of-age tale that skillfully subverts the slasher genre, delivering both suspense and wit. His characters are richly developed, each with their own quirks and complexities that make them relatable and memorable. The narrative is fast-paced and gripping, filled with unexpected twists that keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Jones's writing is sharp and evocative, painting vivid scenes that are both terrifying and strangely beautiful. This book is a must-read for fans of horror and anyone who loves a fresh, intelligent take on the classic slasher story. "I Was a Teenage Slasher" is an exhilarating ride that you won't want to miss!

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if your average teenage outcast suddenly found himself cursed to be the star of his own slasher story, "I Was a Teenage Slasher" might be the bloody, bizarre answer. Stephen Graham Jones delivers a wild ride through the mind of Tolly Driver, a 17-year-old Texan who goes from high school nobody to reluctant horror villain in a story that’s equal parts gorefest and coming-of-age memoir.

Jones definitely knows his way around the slasher genre, and the book is packed with nods to horror classics that fans will appreciate. The narrative is a chaotic stream-of-consciousness. It’s a little tough to follow at times, and the constant shifts between humor and horror can be jarring. The setting in small-town Texas adds an authentic, eerie backdrop, but I found myself wishing for a bit more clarity and focus in the storytelling.

While I appreciated the creativity and the occasional dark humor, I struggled to connect with Tolly and the other characters. The plot, much like Tolly’s mind, felt scattered, and the pacing dragged in places. Because of the lengthy streams of thought Tolly is producing all the time I found the story more boring than scary. The novel is certainly unique, and there’s something to be said for the way Jones makes you empathize with a character who should be the villain. However, the book didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It’s a clever concept, but the execution left me feeling more confused than entertained.

If you’re a hardcore fan of slasher movies and enjoy a heavy dose of meta-humor with your horror, this might be right up your alley. But if you’re looking for a more cohesive story or a straightforward horror read, you might want to look elsewhere. Three stars for originality and some truly creepy moments, but this one didn’t quite slice through the clutter for me.

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

Reading the synopsis to this book prior to publication I was intrigued and really wanted to give it a go. Having read SGJ before I was a little worried as his style doesn’t really suit my reading likes but I love horror and this promised a unique take on an already flooded genre.

I Was a Teenage Slasher is written from the perspective of the slasher himself, imaging seeing through the eyes of Jason from Friday The 13th or Michael from Halloween. It is indeed a unique approach and the book starts off with an almighty bang; blood, guts, and imaginative ways to kill unwitting teens. The middle third goes very quiet and slow but it reads easy enough and it does well to endear the reader to the central characters. The final part of the book moves like a juggernaut and pulls you through at a rate of knots.

My only gripe is that sometimes the constant stream of thought of the central character can be off-putting, it sometimes feels like he is simply vomiting words onto the page making it hard to follow. I get it, SGJ is trying to portray Tolly’s state of mind and the fact that he isn’t an accomplished novelist - the book after-all is love letter to his high school friend Amber.

All in all a different and worthwhile read - 4 stars.

Slashers are a popular bunch, often going on to spawn entire multi-media franchises that feature them gleefully killing teens and other victims in a variety of over-the-top ways. You just have to look at the fact that characters like Chucky, Jason Vorhees, and Ghostface get announced in projects like Mortal Kombat or Dead by Daylight as ways of bringing in players to see that slashers are big business. Part of this is that you kind of come to enjoy these costumes killers, eager to watch their antics, to see imaginative kills, or to hear them crack bad one-liners as they gut some hapless teen. But you rarely come to care for them in any real or meaningful way. I Was a Teenage Slasher changes this, however.

Set in the small Texan town of Lamesa towards the end of the 1980's, the book follows Tolly Diver, a young teen who begins the story as a pretty decent, average kid. Tolly works in the local hardware store, helping his mother out where he can. He hangs out with his childhood best friend and secret crush, Amber. He's getting by in life the best he can, neither excelling nor failing. He is, for most part, fairly normal.

This makes things even more surprising then as Tolly is the titular Teenage Slasher, a young man who will go on to engage in a murderous rampage, killing a lot of people in horrific ways. After Tolly is the target of a cruel prank that takes advantage of his peanut allergy, things spiral out of control, and the kind, decent Tolly becomes a figure of fear.

Written in the first person, the book reads as a memoir of sorts, a confession from a young man who knows what he's done is so unusual, so bizarre and evil that he needs to leave behind an explanation for why he did what he did. Because of this fairly unique point of view for a slasher story, you come to care for Tolly a great deal; more than a murderer deserves by a long mile. There was a fairly recent horror film called In A Violent Nature, that presented a slasher movie from the killers point of view. The film was, for the most part, roundly rejected as being pretty bad. I've even seen some reviews that call it downright boring. I Was a Teenage Slasher is the kind of story that In A Violent Nature wanted to be, as it puts the killer at the centre of the narrative and makes you actually care.

This is not an easy feat, as most of the time fans of the slasher genre like their killers to be either faceless monsters who are more representations of horror than people (think Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers), or they're campy killers who revel in murder and mayhem (Chucky and Freddy Kruger instantly come to mind). Most slasher stories don't want to delve into the inner workings of these people, they don't want to tell you why or how because of the most part it tends to take away from the killer's charm. We know that Michael Myers killed his sister and spent years in an asylum, we don't need to see those years or see how broken he is. Every time a Ghostface killer is unmasked and reveals their motive a Scream film becomes a little less interesting. So, a book that's doing this the entire time probably falls into these same traps, right?

No. Stephen Graham Jones does something that I would never have thought possible, and made the slasher a character that I actually cared about on an emotional level. Tolly is a killer, he does terrible things, but you feel for him at the same time. There are points in the book that actually made me emotional, and I found myself caring for Tolly quite a bit. The book manages to juggle the meta commentary, the winks and nods of the genre, and the bloody gore-filled kills with a story about friendship, love, and family.

I Was a Teenage Slasher is a fairly unique novel, one that puts in the villains shoes in ways that you don't expect, and gets you to reconsider the way you look at characters like this. A roller-coaster narrative that is packed full of shock and schlock, yet manages to contain a ton of heart too.

1989, Lamesa, Texas a town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Tolly Driver is a 17 year old who exists on the outskirts with his best friend Amber. The stick together as the navigate the hellish-ness that is high school and the teenage social scene. But when they attend the fateful unforgettable party at Deek Masterson's house - a party that ends in gruesome murders. Tolly's world gets flipped upside down, because some slashers are born out of violence and some just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I really enjoyed this though I always enjoy SGJs work. This is written as a letter from Tolly to Amber written 17 years after the fateful events and written in the slashers pov which I loved because I've never read anything from the murderers pov before. This had me gripped and also feeling sorry for Tolly which you'll understand when you read it. This was fast paced and gripping with lots of gore thrown in. Highly recommend.

Wow. I think I've finally found my favourite book of the year! I loved this book so much!

This is the first full length book I've read from Stephen Graham Jones and it was brilliant! I need to read more from this author immediately!

I Was A Teenage Slasher is written autobiographically as the main character, Tolly, recounts his summer as a teenage slasher in Lamesa Texas in 1989. It took me a little while to get into the writing style but I was soon heavily invested in both Tolly and his story.

I thought it was a really unique and original story, and Graham Jones describes Lamesa Texas in such rich detail you can easily picture yourself there, but the best thing about this book was the pure and true friendship between Tolly and Amber.

There is some gore in this book, that's to be expected. What I didn't expect was to be rooting for Tolly so strongly and for such a tender, beautiful and emotional ending. I cried a lot!

I definitely recommend this book, particularly to fans of Notes on an Execution.

DNF at 40%
I've enjoyed previous SJG novels but I just cannot go any further with this one. Aside from being bored by the repetitive stream of consciousness narrative I have absolutely no idea what all this machinery is or why it needs to be so heavily featured. It's set nearly 40 years ago in rural Texas, why assume people will know what any of these words mean or what these things look like?
Felt like perhaps SJG was trying an American Psycho vibe, bore me to tears between events to make the violent scenes more shocking. I didnt care about Tolly and it's wild to me that his entire transformation is born from school kids who try to kill him just for being annoying.

It’s a total bummer when you end up disliking a book you were sure you’d love from the start. Despite the interesting premise, and my love for slashers, I couldn’t get myself to continue. Maybe I’m veering away from writing styles with a too YA tone.

When the narrative of your novel is told from the POV of a teenage slasher you know you’re not going to get a coming of age story ala To Kill a Mockingbird. The writing style is different from the author’s other books, but if you’ve read much of Stephen Graham Jones before you’ll know pretty much every book is different – the writing style, the voice, the approach – that’s one of his many strengths as one of the very best in horror writing: to find the right style for the story.
I’ve seen a couple of reviews complain about a ‘stream of consciousness’ or a ‘confusing’ style. I didn’t find it a difficult read because of its scattered approach, but more a unique, and for those of us who grew up on a diet of 80s slasher movies, wonderfully meta voice.
I’m not going into plot – better just to go in knowing it’s a fun horror ride from a perspective you may not have seen before from a master of the genre. Should it be the first SGJ book you read? Perhaps not, but read it you should.

With echoes of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix this smart thriller is a must read. Darkly comic and brilliantly crafted.

I just finished reading "I Was a Teenage Slasher" by Stephen Graham Jones, and I'm still trying to process the experience. This book was different, in a good way, but it was not what I expected. It's like nothing I've ever read before. Jones has crafted a horror novel that feels like a dream (or a nightmare, depending on how you look at it) - it's surreal, weird, and fresh to the genre.

The story is inspired by old-school slasher movies from the 80s, and it's clear that Jones is paying homage to those classics. The protagonist is unreliable, to say the least, which added to a sense of unease and confusion.

The language can be somewhat confusing and hard to follow at times. It took me a while to get into the story and understand what was happening, and there were moments where I had to re-read passages just to make sense of them. Additionally, I didn't find myself picking up the book as frequently as I thought I would.

Overall, however, I'm glad I pushed through and finished it. It's an unsettling read that will linger with me for a while. If you're looking for something that will challenge your expectations and keep you on your toes, this might be the book for you. Just be prepared for a wild, slasher horror ride!

I love slashers and I have loved the Jade Daniels trilogy and Only Good Indians so I was excited for I was A Teenage Slasher. I can safely say this was a hit with me from the start. As always with Stephen Graham Jones the writing is fantastic. Tolly Driver, once again, a brilliant protagonist… or is it antagonist? Either way they are fantastic.

The writing is a little like stream of consciousness or at least the ramblings of someone, which despite the killing part, I could relate to. The style makes you get into Tolly’s head and to understand them. It’s really hard not to like them. Then again this is coming from someone who likes Pamela Voorhees, Jason Voorhees, Stu Macher, and Mickey Altieri (and now Tolly Driver) so perhaps I’m not the best one to ask. Needless to say it’s something new, interesting and keeps you hooked.

I loved seeing the story from the slasher’s perspective. It adds a layer of humanity to them so it’s not clear cut (excuse the pun) on who is right or wrong.

If you are fan of slashers this is a must read. Jones showcases once again his love for the horror genre and slashes. He gives you everything you could want and best of all it’s almost like reading a memoir of Tolly. A classic for ‘Summerween’ or all year round if you are a horror lover.

I Was a Teenage Slasher rips up the rulebook in this surprisingly tragic slasher horror soaked in sun, sweat and blood.

Stephen Graham Jones is a modern titan of the horror genre. He just has such a unique perspective on the genre that pays homage to classic influences and is steeped in filmic culture, but always has a new spin on these ideas. It allows for that meta meshing of forms and narrative stylings that push at the boundaries – as good horror should. This is no exception, blending his knack for excellent characterisation with that fractured narrative voice that hooks you in and won’t let you escape.

This was a horrifying look at fate and being unable to break a continuous cycle of violence. It was raw and heart-breaking in its tragedy as much as it was mired in blood and guts. Tolly bursts on to the page, unashamedly letting you just how dirty his hands are and yet you feel yourself being caught up in his story. You root for it all to work out, despite knowing it’s doomed from the start. It is such an interesting take on the genre to have the perspective from the killer themselves – which has explored on both page and screen but always just captivates me. He is fighting the inevitable – the slasher curse. This creates break-neck tension and we get some gory scenes with inventive kills. As with his previous work, I also enjoyed how almost self-referential the book was in terms of referencing popular horror films and tropes for the time period. In short, this is wonderful work from a master of the genre. If we were ever to get a crossover, I would be interested to see a Jade/Tolly face off with a cameo from Stacey Graves herself. Give me the SJG verse.

I cannot get over how good this was and also how well it sits with Paul Tremblay’s latest offering, Horror Movie. Now that is a horror double feature that I would not want to miss this year.

I Was a Teenage Slasher offers a peek behind the mask and into the tormented psyche of our titular slasher – an unexpectedly poignant take on fate and maybe even first love.

This was such a fun twist on the slasher genre!

As the title suggests, the narrative is told from the POV of a teenage slasher. Set in 1989 in the small Texan town of Lamesa, our main characters are Tolly (the aforementioned slasher) and his best friend Amber. I can imagine Tolly’s scattered storytelling style might turn some readers off, but what can you expect when you’re reading from the POV of a killer (and a teenage one no less?!).

It’s a unique and meta take on a classic horror subgenre, as well as being a messed up coming-of-age story set in a small town. Overall, a great read and the party scene at the beginning is going to stick in my head for a long time.

Tolly Driver is a teen in Texas in 1989, navigating through life with his best friend Amber

When they attend a party at Deeks House, the drinks are flowing and Tolly is subjected to a dangerous prank... but this isn't the worst thing... there's a Slasher on the loose and the party is the target

After surviving this, things start to change for the pair and Amber's knowledge of slasher movies will help Tolly navigate his time as a Teenage Slasher...

Felt this was a bit slow to start, and a bit all over but I think that was giving us a good insight into Tollys mind and mental state, as its all told from his perspective. Definitely picked up in the second half of the book, and albeit I seen some of the plot points coming, I still enjoyed the journey

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the review copy.... out next week!

Norman Bates. Michael Myers. Ghostface. Hannibal. Jigsaw Killer. Freddy Krueger. Jason. Leatherface. Aren’t slasher movies and villains such fun? If you’ve revelled in the antics of these icons over the decades, you’ll recognise all the tropes: from the Final Girl (shoutout to my girls Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Biel, Courteney Cox etc.) to oblivious parents and cars in perfectly great condition which don't start at the most needed moment.

While I enjoy horror and gravitate towards the psychological variety, I hadn’t immersed myself in a slasher-horror book before, even though I love the movies. So I thought I’d see if my enjoyment of the films would translate into books, and it does! This was my first attempt at Stephen Graham Jones and I loved it.

“I was a teenage slasher, yeah, okay. I said it.”

The premise of this book is a coming-of-age teenage slasher memoir, told in stream-of-consciousness style from Tolly Driver on how he became a slasher and the recap of events in which he went on a reluctant murderous rampage. Look, I’m no slasher sympathiser, but I always think it’s clever when an author can make you feel empathy towards the villain, and not only did SGJ achieve that for me, but I even got a little teary at the end for our main man, Tolly.

Furthermore, I holidayed in Texas earlier this year—and this book is set in Lamesa, Texas, which really enriched the location and setting of this story for me, from the flat landscape to the small-town atmosphere itself.

Approaching the book with little prior knowledge was the way to go. It’s packed with slasher Easter eggs and nostalgia, while also being surprisingly heartfelt with themes of friendship, love, and family. Moreover, it is extremely meta and isn’t afraid to poke fun at standard classic slasher logic and tropes.

Trigger warnings abound—Extreme gore, blood, murder, bullying, suicide contemplation, animal deaths and more—so be aware and mind your triggers.

Ultimately, this book is a humorous, heartfelt, and surprisingly poignant love letter to the slasher genre. I really think it deserves 5 stars for how creative, original and brilliant it is and I’m looking forward to getting way more familiar with more of SGJ’s stories.

If you’ve enjoyed slasher films and books in the past, there is a decent chance you’d enjoy this too. Highly recommend. My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley & Titan Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review. It was a bloody good ride. (Sccchhhhting!)

Stephen Graham Jones is a living legend of horror - from the creeping folk dread of The Only Good Indians to the meta-slasher brutality of My Heart Is A Chainsaw. And I Was A Teenage Slasher shows yet another side. This one felt raw, bloody, a little intimate as if it was reaching some place private and tearing it open for us to read. Definitely one of the must-read releases for the year!

I have loved all the books I have read by Stephen Graham Jones and this one was no different. The genre is my absolute favourite and this book kept me hooked, I absolutely loved this book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I love a slasher so I was really excited that this was accepted. I really enjoyed this book, it was unique. This was my first book from Stephen Graham Jones and it did not disappoint, it was gripping, in the pov of the slasher whilst keeping common slasher themes!

really enjoyed this!

Every time I start a new SGJ book I'm like "what more can he do with the slasher genre? Sure he can't have done another totally unique rollercoaster that is both a perfect encapsulation of the tropes and gory AF and also totally breaks my heart?" And every time I finish a new SGJ book I'm like DAMN he did it again and my stomach is turned and heart is wrenched.
What a guy. I hope he never stops.