'The Last Final Girl' by Stephen Graham Jones is a slasher flick in book form, filled with nods to classic horror movies and tropes. The story follows Lindsay, a Final Girl who survived an encounter with a slasher killer in a Michael Jackson mask, as she gathers a group of special girls for a homecoming celebration. The writing style is unique, resembling a screenplay with camera directions and a self-aware tone that immerses the reader in the horror movie experience. The book delves into the psyche of teenagers facing the inevitable sequel of a slasher flick, blending satire, gore, and a high kill count to create a thrilling and nostalgic read for horror fans.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Warnings include graphic violence, slasher themes, and potential triggers related to teenage trauma and fear.
From The Publisher:
"The Last Final Girl is like Quentin Tarantino's take on The Cabin in the Woods. Bloody, absurd, and smart. Plus, there's a killer in a Michael Jackson mask." - Carlton Mellick III, author of Apeshit
Life in a slasher film is easy. You just have to know when to die.
Aerial View: A suburban town in Texas. Everyone's got an automatic garage door opener. All the kids jump off a perilous cliff into a shallow river as a rite of passage. The sheriff is a local celebrity. You know this town. You're from this town.
Zoom In: Homecoming princess, Lindsay. She's just barely escaped death at the hands of a brutal, sadistic murderer in a Michael Jackson mask. Up on the cliff, she was rescued by a horse and bravely defeated the killer, alone, bra-less. Her story is already a legend. She's this town's heroic final girl, their virgin angel.
Monster Vision: Halloween masks floating down that same river the kids jump into. But just as one slaughter is not enough for Billie Jean, our masked killer, one victory is not enough for Lindsay. Her high school is full of final girls, and she's not the only one who knows the rules of the game.
When Lindsay chooses a host of virgins, misfits, and former final girls to replace the slaughtered members of her original homecoming court, it's not just a fight for survival-it's a fight to become The Last Final Girl.
Ratings (6)
Loved It (1) | |
Liked It (2) | |
It Was OK (1) | |
Did Not Like (1) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (19):
Read It (5) | |
Want To Read (10) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (2) |
3 comment(s)
I've enjoyed most of his works before this. Stephen Graham Jones does know how to tell a story, the issue with this one is that I quickly became bored of the "last final girl" trope. Not my favorite to begin with and I quickly lost interest as its not something that gives me thrills to read
It's fine. It's a fast read, and in the end kind of disappointing. It's both a love letter to and send up of classic slasher horror movies, but unlike the classic slashers, the payoff in this story is lackluster. I'm not sure if it's the writing style, which is like a film manuscript, or if it's just that Jones tried to include too many of the tropes and nods (out of an obvious and true love for the genre). Either way, I was just meh about it. It's not quite clever enough, mostly because at times he decides to just bash us over the head with the references instead of actually working them into the story in a way that makes it feel like a real, living world. I actually spent a good portion of it confused about whether or not the characters really were in a movie!
TL;DR- Cool premise, fast read, doesn't live up to its potential.
The Last Final Girl Oozes style, flair and charm. An extremely courageous piece of experimental writing, that is unapologetically bold in defying certain laws of the novel. The novel/ script style is a little choppy at times, and for me, it created a bit of a barrier between myself and the characters; but I feel it was the perfect choice to tell this story. Sure, the unorthodox face paced style of writing did leave me a little outta breath and foggy headed in places, but I never lost interest in the story.
This book is a must for any fan of horror and slasher movies.
What can you read after
The Last Final Girl?
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