I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

 

This is an unusual take of the slasher genre that I found refreshing. Is that an appropriate word to use when talking about slashers? Probably not, but I'm not sure what would work better...it was gruesomely delightful. How's that?

I can't say it's the first of its kind - the story reminds me of Scream, or even, to a lesser extent, Cabin in the Woods, where there was a comical self-awareness of the genre embedded in the story. 

I was a Teenage Slasher is narrated by Tolly Driver, who was a teenager in a small town in Texas in 1989. He's looking back and telling us how he became a slasher whose killing spree ended up spawning the to be expected media storm but also a movie! If there's a trope involved in slasher stories, it will likely be in this book, but in a tongue and cheek way. And while Tolly isn't super knowledgeable about horror and slasher lore, his best friend, Amber, is. 

The event that preceeds Tolly's metamorphosis is a story in itself...a revenge massacre that is too out there to believe. And after that night, Tolly experiences strange symptoms that seem to give him superpowers, like night vision and super strength. But with these enhancements come a realization that they aren't to be used for good. Tolly and Amber try to understand what is going on and to prevent him from acting out, but nothing seems to stop his transformation. It's inevitable and there are rules that must be followed. But can he learn the rules and circumvent them somehow?

One comment about Tolly's narration, he speaks in a way that I found difficult to follow. His thoughts seemed disjointed and lacking in context. There were also a lot of characters who would say something and then say, "what" at the end, which I didn't really get. For example: "She break up with you already, what?" I don't know if that's a regional thing or not, but it seemed strange.

Or there would be a phrase or description I just didn't get, like this one: "We went all the way down to the gate then walked back along the fence to take the steps up like a citizen." Or there was this sentence, "Too, though?"

I think it's partially Tolly's way of speaking but there were a lot of these little things I'd come upon while reading that just made the book a little harder to get through. The story itself was okay, but more a vehicle to explore the premise, which is what I really enjoyed. It was overall a fun and clever read.