An ode to the greatest horror movies— or at least mine, anyways. Killer Pictures by Hope Madden is a horror novella that reminds us that art imitates life. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you. This novella was a quick read over my weekend and has been a really great introductory to ARCs.
Des is starting life over again, and so far, she’s doing pretty good! She’s got a house, temporary custody over a cat, and an embarrassing crush on one of her fellow horror movie judges. What time she has that isn’t spent overthinking every minute detail is spent judging horror movies for a local event, but eventually, the past catches up to all of us.
After viewing a movie titled after one of the judges, Des learns that that same judge has slaughtered his family. But as quickly as it appeared, the movie is gone again and Des is left to question everything. Until another movie shows up, at least, with another judge’s name in the title. Now, Des is forced to face these cursed tapes and her cursed past before time runs out.
What I Liked
There’s a number of things that Killer Pictures by Hope Madden does pretty well, but the bonds between the characters is what really set this book apart. Des has a number of female friends in her life including her sister, Grace, and a fellow horror movie judge, Yolanda. The interactions between each of them are fantastic though. Where Yolanda is filled with quick banter and second thoughts, we get to see a bit more of an honest, unfiltered view of Des when she speaks with her sister and her niece. The complexity of the character is built up through these more realistic friendships. It makes such fantastic use of the shorter length of the book. If female bonds are a favourite trope of yours, this book does them so well.
Additionally, I think it’s worth mentioning that this book features a lead character dealing with her own mental health issues. Told from Des’ perspective, it’s really great to see an accurate representation of the agony involved in anxiety and overthinking. There’s multiple points in the book where it’s almost painful to watch Des get lost in even the smallest detail— whether she said just the right word or whether she was smiling too much or not smiling enough or whether she was behaving reasonably. I really felt like it added a sense of realism to Des. It took her from a character I wouldn’t have cared much about to someone I was cheering for by the end. It’s always great to see mental health challenges worked into a horror story so well. It’s really one of the reasons I fell in love with the genre to begin with.
What I Disliked
The only thing that stopped this book from being a five-star read for me was the ending. This is my obligatory spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet. As I mentioned at the beginning, I really loved all of the mentions and throw backs to some great movie-themed horror movies. The cursed tape trope is just so fun to me, and my all time favourite horror movie is The Ring. Much of the book gears up to look like a ghost or a curse is the explanation for these deaths, and when you have characters like Grace, Des’ sister, aiding in the investigation, it feels very supernatural coded. By the time it’s revealed that there is no curse, that this is an elaborate hoax by a character from Des’ past, I just felt sort of let down. The ending was still bloody and fun. Des still gets some great one-liners, and the overall book is still worth a read, but the set up just left a bad taste in my mouth. That’s it. That’s the end of the spoiler warning.
A Fun, Quick Weekend Read
Overall, it’s a great little book. My gripes about the ending aside, it’s clearly a novella written by a horror movie lover for other horror movie lovers, and I can never say no to that. Des is relatable, her story unfolds at a very natural pace, and there’s just enough blood and guts to make the horror girls go wild.
Interested? Pick up Killer Pictures by Hope Maden on Amazon today!