Title: How to Survive a Horror Movie
Author: Scarlett Dunmore
Publication Date: September 5, 2025
Publisher: Little Tiger Press Group
Format Read: Kindle e-book
Genre: YA Horror, Thriller, Mystery
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore was brought onto my radar by BookBrowse, as so many of my reads are. It surprised me by being even more entertaining than I had expected it to be. I suppose the bag of popcorn on the cover should’ve been a giveaway, huh?
After some trouble at home, enrolling at the Harrogate School on a remote Irish island is one of the only options Charley has to escape the scandal and hard feelings, so she takes it. She’s attended long enough to become best friends with her roommate Olive, bonding over their shared love of horror movies. They have a running Saturday “date” they call Slasher Saturday, where they spend most of the evening watching various slasher flicks. It’s one such day when the first of the murders happens. Charley’s sure she saw a strange man outside their window. The school, though, seems convinced that this is just a suicide. Then other murders follow. The next thing Charley knows, much to her initial dismay, is that she is seeing the victims’ ghosts. And she knows she needs to help solve this before it’s too late for everyone.
While the book didn’t immediately reel me in, the opening had enough pace to keep me reading. The suspense gradually increased, eventually snowballing into a story I didn’t want to put down. I enjoyed the different characters. Charley, the narrator, I was able to relate to despite the age difference between her and 40-year-old me. Her friendship with Olive warmed my heart. I most enjoyed the ghost characters, though, and their conversations with Charley. The setting was a character in its own right, being as isolated, cold, and rainy as it was. I was invested and amused, and some scenes had me really laughing, although parts of the tale did require a little suspension of disbelief. But, hey, it’s fiction, and a nod to the horror-movie genre, at that. It’s supposed to be fun and a bit fantastical and occasionally make you groan when a character does something stupid.
Scarlett Dunmore’s writing is brisk, witty, and wonderfully self-aware, with a conversational first-person voice that lets Charley’s horror-movie brain color every moment. The slasher references, sharp banter, and cheerfully over-the-top scares make it such a fun read, but there is more heart beneath the blood and chaos than I expected. Grief, friendship, loneliness, and the need to belong give the story real emotional weight, especially as Charley learns who she can trust. It is campy, fast-moving YA horror that knows exactly when to make you laugh, when to side-eye everyone, and when to crank up the tension.
I am so not Charley. Slasher movies so aren’t my thing. True horror is more Hitchcockian to me. However, I really enjoyed this slasher novel. It worked better for me than most slasher movies probably would have. How to Survive a Horror Movie is a fantastic read for those who enjoy young-adult fiction targeted at older teens. There are some gore and graphic descriptions, so please beware if you’re sensitive to these things. Readers who also enjoy this genre of film, especially SCREAM, might also have a blast with it.
Nerd Rating: 🤓🤓🤓🤓— bloody, funny, and delightfully over-the-top
Click here to learn more about Scarlett Dunmore and How to Survive a Horror Movie.
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