SYNOPSIS
Based on the film written and directed by Ti West
When screams of X-tasy turn into cries for help!
In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas. But when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives…
Written by four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning writer Tim Waggoner, this thrilling novelization is printed in throwback pocket-sized paperback format, bringing beloved scream queens Pearl and Maxine to a new medium. Relive the tragedy that befell Lorraine, Bobby-Lynne, Jackson, Wayne, RJ, and Howard with grisly new details drawn from West’s original screenplay.
As Sherrif Dentler would say: it’s one goddamn fucked up horror story.
REVIEW
X is one of my favorite movies to have come out in the last ten years, beat out only by Pearl, the prequel to X. So when I heard A24 was releasing novelizations of the whole trilogy (X, Pearl, and Maxxxine) I ordered it immediately.
Ti West described X as a B-movie with A-list ideas and Tim Waggoner has tapped into that perfectly. Dealing with themes of aging, feeling loved, seeking fame and beauty surrounded by blood, sex, and violence, X is the perfect definition of an “elevated” slasher.
Film is an external medium, and more often than not, doesn’t allow the viewer to get into a character’s head like a novel can. We have to rely on the actors expressions and the way they say things to get to know them. Novels allow us a glimpse inside their head, and give us access to memories that films sometimes don’t. Tim Waggoner excels at adding these little details to further enrich an already great story and expand on already beautifully realized characters.
X, the novelization, reads as a beat for beat adaptation of the film, but it’s the inner monologues of the elderly couple, Pearl and Howard, as well as the group of actors who arrive at their farm that makes this a more than worth while read. What’s incredible about both the film and book is that, every revelation we get from the novel isn’t the kind that makes you think, “Oh, I never would’ve thought of that”, but more “of COURSE that’s what was going on”. We get more concrete motivations for the killers as well as what drove Lorranie to do what she does near the middle of the story.
Tim Waggoner perfectly captures the dark comedy, grisly violence and horror, and psychological make up of the characters. He takes Ti West’s incredible film and makes the experience ever better. If you’re a fan of the film, or just horror in general, this is a must read.
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