SYNOPSIS
This humorous, heart-pounding, feminist slasher takes on misogynist social pressures with one former scream queen as she is pursued by a serial killer impersonating the antagonist of her films. Former scream queen Barbra Jacobs desperately wants to break out of the box Hollywood has neatly packaged her in. Cast as the star of the Mirror horror franchise films twenty years ago, the breakout role that shaped her career has also destroyed her dreams of being taken seriously as an actress. Now forty, and still seeking the approval of everyone around her, she makes ends meet by signing old photos of herself and doing meet and greets at horror conventions. So when a producer calls asking her host The Monsters We Made, a hot new horror docuseries, she sees it as a step in the right direction. But when fans begin dying around her—and in ways that mimic the kills in her films—Barb is thrust back into a role she can’t seem to walk away The Final Girl. Will she ever break out of the display-box-life she’s been imprisoned in, or will Mirror Man end it all in Barbie’s Scream House?
REVIEW
Slashers are my favorite genre and when I heard Tanya Pell was writing one, I jumped on the chance to read and review it. Huge thanks to Gallery Books for sending me a copy. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
It’s no secret that while the slasher is a lot of fun and very popular, it isn’t without its problems, in particular, it’s treatment of women. While the “Final Girl” can be a symbol of strength and perseverance, it is also bogged by dated and misogynist tropes on what makes a woman worthy of being said “Final Girl”. Pell takes those dated tropes and flips them on their head with Barb Jacobs.
Known for playing a final girl in the fictional Mirror Man franchise, we find Barb in her middle age, on the convention circuit and in a rut. Typecast and forgotten by Hollywood, Barb struggles with who she is, who she wants to be and who everyone expects her to be. Those expectations get pushed to the limit once bodies start dropping around her.
This B Just Won’t Die! is told entirely through Barb’s perspective, and we see in great depth her struggles with how to present herself to the world versus who she is. Much like a slasher, she dons several masks in just one day, trying to give everyone the Barb they want. Pell drops us into Barb’s head expertly and makes you feel attached and invested in her with ease. You feel her pain, rage and insecurity like it’s your own.
The story of This B Just Won’t Die is pretty unique in the slasher world. It’s meta without being Scream and it feels like the “Final Girl” taking back a genre that’s used her up and spat her out. Gone are the tropes and expectations of what makes a Final Girl, we get to see a strong woman take her life back and show the slasher world what she’s really made of.
The slasher itself, Mirror Man, is an incredible addition to the pantheon of fictional serial killers with a look that I honestly can’t believe we haven’t seen before. Imagine your last sight being a reflection of your own terrified expression in your last moment. Chilling. A la Scream, this is a whodunit, and the mystery is perfectly paced, the reveal both shocking and perfect. It’s the kind of ending you may not see coming but once it’s out there, it makes perfect sense.
The kills in this book are BRUTAL. Described in grisly detail, they’ll scratch that itch of even the most jaded of slasher fans. Creative, gory, grounded and scary, the violence in this novel feels as real as the characters themselves.
This B Just Won’t Die is a fun, thought-provoking, blood soaked good time perfect for fans of Stephen Graham Jones, Brian McAuley and slasher in general. If you’re sick of the tired Final Girl tropes, a fan of slashers who knows they could do better, this novel is proof that we most definitely can do better and should.
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