Slasher Summer

Cedar Lake is a quiet town with one claim to fame: it was the filming location for Slasher, a campy 1980s horror movie. As teenagers, a group of friends treated the film as a ritual, acting out the parts during midnight screenings. Patrick was the preppy one, Jason the jock, Tiffany the cheerleader, Freddy the stoner, Jennifer the goth and Mikey the nerd. Carrie, naturally, played the virginal Final Girl.

Years on, all seven meet again at the isolated cabin where the movie was shot, hoping to spend a weekend catching up. Plenty has changed. Carrie has a boyfriend now, Patrick has come out, Mikey has bulked up, and Freddy is, well, still stoned. The easy nostalgia doesn't last. Once night falls, someone in the movie's signature mask is seen outside, and the weekend turns dangerous.

Their tires have been let down and the phone line is dead, and a mysterious figure begins to stalk them. The friends have to wonder whether someone is staging the film for real, down to the last detail.

E. L. Chen's novel is an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek tribute to 1980s slasher movies. It also asks a sharper question beneath the gore: what happens when old high school roles follow you into adulthood? Before the night is over, each of the friends will have to step back into the part they believed they had outgrown.