TL;DR: An absolutely fantastic horror about what haunts you.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much!
Plot: Val survives an even that takes her sister and friend and she lives with that while it haunts her.
Characters: I really enjoyed everyone in this story. Flawed but engaging and believable.
Setting: This felt very important especially with the setting of the theatre. Fantastic.
Horror: The Toad Man itself was scary, but the insidious guilt and creepy weight of Val’s mental state really sold it.
Summary:
In November 1994, three girls visit their local movie theater to see an obscure film. Only one of them is ever seen again.
Thirty years later, Val McQueen has never forgotten the day she lost her little sister and best friend, but she’s closed the curtain on it, certain she’s moved on despite her parents’ resentment and hounding by true crime enthusiasts.
That is until a stranger’s murder brings it all screaming back—a terror she’s tried to tell herself is only a movie. Enlisting the help of cinephile and former classmate Roxie de la Fontaine to find the film, Val soon realizes that hers is not the only pursuit. Someone, or something involved with the movie is on the hunt, too…
… For the girl who got away all those years ago.
Thoughts:
There is a lot to this book that I truly enjoyed, and I can’t wait for more people to try it. Val is a tattoo artist, living in the shadow of her sister and friend’s disappearance in 1994. She wanted to take the two to a movie, and chose the creature feature of the day, The Blood Curse of the Toad Man. But in the end she was the only one who walks out alive. What she experienced however makes it unreal, and she’s left with questions and confusion. Did she remember it right? What actually happened?
We read about the mystery of what happened and how Val’s life has been effectively lost to this event. She left a piece of herself behind, and she’s lived only in each moment trying to escape her past. It challenges us to think, what are we letting haunt and define us? Additionally there is a deep anger here at something unnatural or monstrous that mimics art. Something that steals what it cannot truly create and molds it to some semblance of something new (sound familiar?).
I loved so much of this. The discussion on grief was perfectly toned and weighted. The creature feature aspect, especially once fully revealed in the end was amazing. I think this is a must read for fans of horror, especially queer horror. Give this one a read.
Sarah Evermotion's Reads 
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