Synopsis
In this campy love letter to the slasher films of the 1980s, seven friends reunite for a weekend of fun—only to be hunted down by a cold-blooded killer. But the real horror is not being able to escape who you were in high school. . . .
The sleepy town of Cedar Lake is best known as the shooting location of the campy ’80s horror flick Slasher. In high school, preppy Patrick, jock Jason, cheerleader Tiffany, stoner Freddy, goth Jennifer, and nerdy Mikey had played the cast of Slasher during midnight showings, with virginal Carrie as the Final Girl, of course.
Years later, the friends reunite at the remote cabin where Slasher was filmed. They’ve changed since high school—Carrie found a boyfriend, Patrick came out, Mikey bulked up, and, well, Freddy’s still stoned—and they’re looking forward to a weekend to catch up. But when night falls, and the eponymous masked killer is spotted, the reunion takes a deadly turn. The friends discover their tires deflated and the phone line disconnected, and soon they’re being stalked by a mysterious assailant. Is someone trying to make their Slasher experience as authentic as possible?
One thing is for sure. Before the night is over, they each will have to take on the role they thought they’d left behind.
Review
Saw this one with printed page ends in the store and couldn’t pass it up. I happened across it as I was working on my Slasher movie list and watching a bunch of summer slashers too. I also really love the VHS-style cover.
An old group of seven high school friends have a summer reunion hangout. Their town was the location for a summer slasher classic, and the friend organizing the reunion managed to book them a stay at the actual filming location. The cabin in Cedar Lake Falls is filled with 80s nostalgia and vinyl, and Patrick plans to make the trip one for the ages. While he had intended the food, games, memories, and fun to be the unforgettable part, sadly only those that survive will have trouble forgetting. A phone call on night one proclaims they’re all going to die, and then a storm knocks out the power. Suddenly the cell service-less cabin feels more like a death trap than it did in the actual movie …
This novel certainly delivers on its promise. A love letter to the 80s, to the slasher, to the summer cabin psycho. It’s campy and referential and gory in all the ways you should expect, and if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s perfect. For me, I wanted a brain off summer slasher good time, so I haven’t much in the way of complaints! For starters, we have a star studded cast featuring Jason (Friday the 13th) and his cousin Mikey/Michael (Halloween), stoner bestie Freddy (A Nightmare on Elm Street with striped shirt included, though personality-wise he’s mostly Shaggy), semi-outcast Carrie (King’s Carrie), cheerleader Tiffany (Bride of Chucky), her best-goth-friend Jen/Jennifer (Jennifer’s Body), and our dear reunion-organizer Patrick (American Psycho), all of which also represent an absolutely essential slasher archetype. I love that not only are they fitted neatly into these archetypes all the way back from high school, but it’s reinforced by then also having them portray them as their on-screen counterparts from their town’s Slasher classic. We get the jock, the nerd, the “everything’s fine just smoke this”, the Final Girl, the cheerleader, the rebel, and the prep—hell we even have the quintessential “don’t go there it’s dangerous” shopkeeper—and I for one, love the way the author did their homework but still kept some twists up their sleeves.
I did happen across some reviews of readers saying they felt this was unfulfilling or empty, and far be it from me to tell anyone else how to feel or experience their own reading of a book, but I do find that confusing. It’s a nostalgic, popcorn slasher read. And I found it to be just that. Delivered in an enjoyable way. And to do that formula well, touching all the things the author did, is actually its own kind of skill. It brings to mind the B(ug)-horror Cicada by Tanya Pell, which is great fun in its own right, which was then followed up by the completely different and wonderfully written prose in Her Wicked Roots. What I will say for Slasher Summer is that parts of it certainly do read as young adult, so maybe that’s part of the hang up, as the book isn’t really marketed as such. That’s the nature of the beast when it comes to rehashing high school drama with 20-somethings though. It didn’t stick out to me personally or detract from my the enjoyment.
I liked the characters and the way they intertwined. Almost every character had something that wove into another’s past, and it was pretty easy to find myself wondering who it’d be in the end. I did guess right, and I think many will, but if the author had pivoted to anyone else, I think the groundwork was there for it to still work. For me, that’s all I was looking for! As this is a group of friends (yes on the page but still) in the real world, the author had some extra work to do to also create a murder mystery. We know they dress like the Slasher, but seeing as he isn’t real, the writing had to weave actual mystery in, and I think that was a nice touch.
For fans of all things slasher and nostalgia. Of shutting your brain off and reading some gory and inventive kills. I would personally love the ending to become an actual sequel, and to see even more inventive ends a la Brian McAuley’s Candy Cain.
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