Review: The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

Title: The Remaking

Author: Clay McLeod Chapman

Published by: Quirk Books

Released: 2019

Source: Library

Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, this supernatural thriller for fans of horror and true crime follows a tale as it evolves every twenty years—with terrifying results.

Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot’s Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them—until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a prominent customer. Accused of witchcraft, both mother and daughter are burned at the stake in the middle of the night. Ella Louise’s burial site is never found, but the little girl has the most famous grave in the South: a steel-reinforced coffin surrounded by a fence of interconnected white crosses.

Their story will take the shape of an urban legend as it’s told around a campfire by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ’70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on that set and its meta-remake in the ’90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again? And again. And again…  (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: I love the cover and the concept of The Remaking, those are the things that first drew my eye. I love the idea of a dark past inspiring so many different storytelling mediums. It's just a really cool concept for a book.

I wish I had liked the inside as much as I liked the idea. I just didn't fall in love with how the story was told. It kind of had a long-winded quality to it and I wanted something faster.

I didn't really feel for any of the characters either. They were all kind of distant or hard for me. I wanted to like Amber, but I never really did. She was just kind of there.

I also wanted more from the ending. It didn't really give me any closure or end. For all the build-up, I just wanted more.

I loved the idea of The Remaking, but the story just didn't blow me away.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.4/5

Scary Little Ghost Girl