You could accuse it of being a bandwagon chaser, following on from the success of the 80's nostalgia boom in horror at the moment, epitomised by the recent It chapter 1 movie and Stranger Things, but if it is, it's still damned good. And, looking at the copyright date, it was actually published in 2016, which means written the year before, so theaccusation doesn't hold water in any case.
I'm clearly late to the party on this one and this book could well have been one of the instigators of the current craze.
That cover is a thing of beauty and perfectly captures the spirit of the book. It's a glorious tribute to all the old teen horrors of the 80s. A great coming of age story, centered on a likeable if occasionally bitchy group of friends at the top of the school's popularity charts.
Of course it's a posh school and our central character (Abby) is only there on a scholarship, her best friend of the title (Gretchen) is one of the richest kids in the school, with extremely overprotective parents but still a bit of a rebel. With two more friends, Margaret and Glee, to round out the quartet of school queens, the scene is set.
After a disasterous experiment with some stolen drugs, Gretchen vanishes for the night. When she's found in the morning she's not quite herself. And things get a lot worse before they get better. Gretchen complains of things touching her all the time and voices following her. It's so bad she can't bring herself to change her clothes or shower because of the invisble things touching her. Then suddenly, she's better. She seems to recover and indeed is hotter and more confident than ever before. That's when the evil really hits top gear.
There's little to no real gore in this book, but a revelation regarding milkshakes was truly repulsive in an excellent way. it's a while since a book has grossed me out quite as much as on of the chapters here.
Every chapter heading is the title of a classic 80s tune and the whole thing has the atmosphere of those old movies captured to the t.
This is deeper than it sounds, and amidst the mayhem and the betrayals, there's a moving examination on friendship, how it forms and how far will you go for friends? Particularly when they're doing the things happening in this book.
I genuinely wiped a tear or two away when I finished this. It could well be a contender for book of the year. I will certaily be tracking down evrything I can find by mr Hendrix. This is right up there with the best of Stephen King.
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