Any story that takes horror cinema into a horror novel has my attention, add in Hailey Piper at the keyboard, you have me hooked. Piper takes the cursed film horror trope and puts her own unique spin on it in The Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want. Just when I thought it was one thing, the book took a turn into something else, in the best possible way.
In November 1994, three girls visit their local movie theater to see an obscure film. Only one of them is ever seen again.
Thirty years later, Val McQueen has never forgotten the day she lost her little sister and best friend, but she’s closed the curtain on it, certain she’s moved on despite her parents’ resentment and hounding by true crime enthusiasts.
That is until a stranger’s murder brings it all screaming back—a terror she’s tried to tell herself is only a movie. Enlisting the help of cinephile and former classmate Roxie de la Fontaine to find the film, Val soon realizes that hers is not the only pursuit. Someone, or something involved with the movie is on the hunt, too…
… For the girl who got away all those years ago.
The simple idea of watching a film and something horrible happening to you, in this case Val’s sister and friend disappearing, is truly frightening. But I didn’t think of what goes on around such horrifying moment and the aftermath. Such as the grief felt by those left behind, such as Val, and those parents who have lost their child. Not to mention the blame and distance it can cause between someone like Val and her parents. The weight this adds to a story is so heavy that made the events to take place thirty years later hit even harder.
I love that horror is a genre and that it can take all shapes and forms when telling such stories, but truly love when horror cinema finds its way into horror novels. The use watching a rare horror film grabs me each and every time, as I feel like I would be that person. A limited showing of a movie I had never heard of, what a fun time. What wouldn’t be me, is watching it thirty years later or watching the film while researching the horror that took place when someone else watched it. Sorry, but no thanks. This is when you want to yell at the pages, STOP, don’t do it!
What also had me hooked was the mystery surrounding the film, the research into hits history thirty years later, and how our memory can work differently over the years. Was there actually a movie, if not, how come people are talking about it elsewhere, but why is there no information about it on the internet. It’s a plot point I have seen only a few times over the years, but one that I absolutely love. Are you crazy, or did you actually see the film where your sister and friend vanished. The actual horrifying event, but also the horror of what is reality.
There is so much more I want to dive into here with The Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want, but will spoil what turned out to be a large surprise from me in the end. What is important is that Piper crafts a story that is horrifying, but one that is also grief-filled, and emotional. A horror story that has so many levels, and one that will take you by surprise.
The Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want is a horrifying, yet emotional, grief-filled tale that surprised me. Hailey Piper takes a familiar trope and makes it her own while scaring us along the way. The Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want will not make you disappear, but what’s inside just might.
The Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want hits bookstores everywhere on September 15, 2026 from Titan Books. The audiobook, narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker, is available via Libro.fm!
