Book Review — The Final Girl Support Group

 

Title:  The Final Girl Support Group
Author:  Grady Hendrix
Genre:  Mystery, drama
Pages:  Hardback, 339
ISBN:  978-0-593-20123-7
Opening Lines:  "I wake up, get out of bed, say good morning to my plant, unwrap a protein bar, and drink a liter of bottled water.  I'm awake for a full five minutes before remembering I might die today."

Rating:

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago. and it has defined her every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses and meeting and Lynnette's worse fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

~ Jacket copy

The Final Girl is a common trope in the slasher film genre.  After seeing all of her friends and/or family members killed by a ruthless male killer, the Final Girl (always a good, virgin girl) must fend off—and oftentimes—kill the monster while waiting for the police to charge in a save her.  Audiences are familiar with the killer being reincarnated (or another killer) and coming back to finish the initial job—killing the sole survivor of his murderous rampage.  However, as seen with Nancy, Laurie Strode, Kirsty Cotton, etc., audiences never see the Final Girl after she has tangled with the monster.  No, we are only privy to her fight for survival.  The Final Girl Support Group puts a human spin on the Final Girls and allows the audience a backstage pass to the aftermath of the carnage.  

Book Review — Disco Deathtrap

 

Title:  Disco Deathtrap
Author:  Cameron Roubique
Genre:  Horror
Pages:  283, paperback
ISBN:  9781729122983
Opening Lines:  "Almost no one knew about the bodies lying less than four feet beneath the polished hardwood floor of the Rollerville Disco Skating Rink."

Rating:

It's New Year's Eve 1980, and the students of DeAngelo's High School are lacing up theor skates for the All-Night New Year's Lock-In at the Rollerville Roller Disco. Some of them just want to skate and dance the night away to the pounding disco music. Some want to pull a few pranks and have a few laughs. For others, like Dan Parsons, tonight is a chance to move on and forget about his ex-girlfirned, maybe even flirt with Denise, that cute girl behind the snack counter. It seems like nothing can go wrong.

But there's a massive blizzard raging outisde, thick snow and ice are piling up against all the doors. There are those rumors that Rollerville was built over part of the old graveyard next door, and someone out there is watching. Also, a strange homeless man in theparking lot says that tonight will be the start of the so-called "Year of Blood."

A night of skating and New Year's fun is about to turn into a night of violence and bloody mayhem in Disco Deathttrap. Slasher fans rejoice, old school horror is back!

~ Jacket copy

In the 1970s and into the 1990s, the rollerskating rink was the place to be!  Filled with the smells of cheap concessions and old carpeting, somehow kids would find themselves lined up to get into the rinks.  It was the place to request the newest hits, beat the high score on Donkey Kong, or spend your money on zombies.  As a kid, the biggest danger was catching your wheel on your boyfriend/girlfriend's skate during couples' skate and nose diving it into the cement or hardwood floor.  Or maybe it was the embarrassment of the Hokey Pokey.  Disco Deathtrap takes the sanctuary of the rollerskating rink and turns it into an old school slasher film.