THE BEAST YOU ARE
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There’s a monster out there, and it’s coming to get you. That’s the main take-away from almost all of the 15 stories in this new collection by Paul Tremblay. Yes, the monster might take different forms, but it’s definitely out there, and it’s definitely coming to get you.
A sense of inevitability permeates the whole collection; Tremblay mostly eschews quick scares in favour of an uncanny atmosphere of creeping and inescapable dread. (If you caught Knock At The Cabin, M Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of The Cabin At The End Of The World, you’ll have some idea of the vibe. Though Tremblay’s not to blame for the awful ending of the movie.) In the opening story, “Ice Cold Lemonade 25¢ Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person”, Tremblay makes himself the main character, a man haunted by an unforgiveable childhood offence; in “I Know You’re There”, the spectre of a former lover never quite disappears; and in “Red Eyes”, a girl watches helplessly as her sister embraces a creature that’ll destroy their family. Over and over, Tremblay tells stories that refuse to wrap up neatly. Instead, he drops his readers into nightmare worlds and leaves them there, alongside his characters, to shiver in the dark and wait for their fate.