Max Maurey is one of the world’s most famous horror directors. Everyone loves him. Actors love him, audiences adore him, and Hollywood needs him. But this is the 80s, and audiences are craving cheap thrills … bloody slashers with more and more blood. Certainly not real horror. And his money hungry producer won’t even think of Max’s better ideas.
With dreams of being the Final Girl, Sally Priest knows she’s got what it takes. Though she’s only been cast in smaller roles, she’s aiming for something big. After meeting Max at his latest wrap party, she sees her opportunity with him to make her dreams come true.
Max finds an old camera, one that actually filmed a very real horror. He’s determined to use this camera for his next film, even if the camera came with a cryptic warning. And sometimes it wails.
Dead set on finishing the scariest movie ever, Max learns of the evil lurking inside the camera, but there’s no going back now. And now it’s time for Sally’s light to shine as the Final Girl.
Horror isn’t horror unless it’s real.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Craig DiLouie has proven to be one of best of the crop of writers working in the horror fiction field right now. The author Suffer the Children, One of Us, The Children of Red Peak, The Final Cut, and Episode Thirteen, DiLouie’s short fiction has been featured in such anthologies as Before Plan 9: Plans 1-8 from Outer Space, and Times of Trouble (A Time Travel Anthology). With his latest, DiLouie presents a meta-horror tale with a obsessed director using a cursed camera aimed to capture an aspiring Final Girl’s last performance. David Moody (Hater, Shadowlocked) says: “How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a tricky, twisty book with more levels to it than a slasher movie has sequels. DiLouie knows what makes the genre–and the endless legions of fans like us who crave the next scare–tick.”, Philip Fracassi (Boys in the Valley) says: “How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a blood-spattered homage to horror films, an ode to the craft of filmmaking, and a cautionary tale about the fiery—often destructive—creative passion inside every artist, one that continuously teeters on the brink of insanity. DiLouie has created a celluloid cursed object story that John Carpenter himself would stand up and applaud from the front row.” , and Andrew Sullivan (The Marigold) says: “Confidently striding through the genre, DiLouie displays a deep and abiding love for horror, even as he finds new ways to bend our disgust and despair to his will. The camera cannot turn away.”
Premiering from Redhood 18 June 2023, How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA