Demon Theory (2006)
by Stephen Graham Jones

Summary: On Halloween night, following an unnerving phone call from his diabetic mother, Hale and six of his med school classmates return to the house where his sister disappeared years ago. While there is no sign of his mother, something is waiting for them there, and has been waiting a long time. Written as a literary film treatment littered with footnotes and experimental nuances, Demon Theory is even parts camp and terror, combining glib dialogue, fascinating pop culture references, and an intricate subtext as it pursues the events of a haunting movie trilogy too real to dismiss. There are books about movies and movies about books, and then there’s Demon Theory – a refreshing and occasionally shocking addition to the increasingly popular “intelligent horror” genre. - taken from the book's cover           Overall - Book Review: I really enjoyed Demon Theory. What made "Scream" a good film was the fact the characters were interesting and the film didn’t treat the viewers like idiots. It was respectful and let the viewer in on some "movie secrets." Bottom line, it let the audience enjoy a film while not cow-towing to the lowest denominator. Mr. Jones does something similar. He’s keeping us involved and not making everything too easy for us. It’s a good read and keeps one occupied in both guessing but also sort of knowing where the next shoe is about to fall.           I think the most fascinating thing about the book is the footnotes...oooooh the footnotes. I think they use of them was a brilliant move. I learned so much about pop culture and a few things about some horror movies that I did not know. And it gives us a great insight into Mr. Jones psyche. However...(and yeah you knew this was coming)...it did tend to get a tinge distracting. You are mowing along, enjoying your story and stopping to read a half-page footnote and then trying to figure out where you were. I’m not here to tell Mr. Jones how to write...so I won’t. It's a fascinating read for sure because of the footnotes. But I will tell the reader, that you need 2 passes, minimum, through Demon Theory. Read it once through with the footnotes. Then read it a 2nd time without...which won’t be a problem because these notes will be indelibly engrained in your brain anyway, so it won’t be like you were forgetting them. The 2nd pass, although a quicker read will be an informed read now. Then give it a few weeks...a 3rd read should finally finish you off and make you beg for another novel of his! I sure am.

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