The Beast You Are - Paul Tremblay Uncovers New Depths of Horror Fiction

Perhaps my most anticipated release of the year is Paul Tremblay’s new short story collection, The Beast You Are. Following the success of the movie adaption to his 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, Tremblay surprisingly returned to his roots in short-form fiction. This collection of 15 short stories expands the bounds of the imagination and creates new depths for horror fiction.  

Tremblay crafted each story to be a small glimpse into a blip of time where the characters are confronted with a terrifying prospect. Each of these characters is a study of human nature and the infinite possibilities of our reactions to fear. Interestingly, this theme is most present in the final and longest story, “The Beast You Are”. In which all the characters are animals. Using an astounding range of narrators, Tremblay is able to seamlessly engulf you in each story and allow you to live in that character’s world. Whether it be for five pages or 100 pages. 

As a complete work, The Beast You Are offers fifteen wildly different tales of terror that are comparable to the world of Ray Bradbury or could easily become an episode of The Twilight Zone. Consisting of stories with few characters and highlighting relationships between the characters in the stories. This is the ultimate bridge between literary fiction and horror fiction. 

The first story, “Ice Cold Lemonade 25¢ Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person”, begins with an unknown narrator confessing to the reader how deeply he craved attention as a self-proclaimed “loser” child. The narrator tells a story in detail of the time he went through a homemade haunted house tour guided by a popular girl. As the story progresses, the narrator’s verbiage gradually shifts and creates a childlike fear in the narration. In contrast, the story, “Howard Sturgis and the Letter and the Van and What He Found When He Went Back to His House”, is artfully ambiguous as the reader is trying to uncover the mystery along with Howard. Again, the tone and verbiage completely change to reflect the narrator. Amazingly, each story solidly continues to do this even with a wide range of diverse narrators. 

Each of these stories could be seen as fables. Telling vastly different cautionary tales that the reader can learn from even in small ways. This is most evident in the title story, “The Beast You Are”.  Told in popular fable fashion, the characters are personified animals. The reader journeys through the story as animals fight monsters. The story warns of the dangers of corrupt government, negligent parents, placing your identity in your beliefs, and refusing to move past grief. We follow two characters who experience the same traumatic event and watch as they go on two contrasting paths. Read like a poem, this story undoubtedly displays Trembley’s ability to entertain in unique styles. 

For returning fans of Tremblay, you will be happy to know he continues the story of Merry from his novel, A Head Full of Ghosts, in the short story, “Postal Zone: The Possession Edition” and gives some insight into the world of his novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, in the story “The Blog at the End of the World”. As someone who does not typically gravitate toward short story collections, I highly recommend this one for all fans of horror. Because of the wide subject matter and diverse narrators, any horror lover can find something to scream about. Particularly if you are science fiction or Twilight Zone fan. Every story was gripping, immersive, and emotional. 

Run to get this book if for no other reason than you want to read a story about animals acting like people.

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