When Sawyer Grimes and his friends learn that their friend Shanna has landed a new job at the movie theater, the feel it is their duty as her friends to take advantage of the arrangement. When the novelty of sneaking into movies wanes thin, they take the prank up a notch.

They employ the use of Manny, a discarded store mannequin they would dress up and pose in various parts of town. Staging Manny as a ticketed patron of the theater, they await the hilarity that is sure to ensue once the management discovers him. Instead, Manny stands up and walks out of the theater. This is just the beginning of a terrifying series of events that shatters the lives of Sawyer and his friends.

This is a truly brilliant novella. Jones takes bits of all those corny teen slasher movies I grew up watching and uses the very best characteristics to pull together this immensely captivating read.

Sure, it’s quirky; a mannequin comes to live and decides to seek revenge on its creators. Fortunately, Jones rescues this plot from the brink of absurdity through its main character, Sawyer. Sawyer is a truly unreliable narrator, not because what he’s saying isn’t the truth, but his experience is that through the eyes of a naive teenager. He’s the victim who runs up the stairs instead of out the front door. His reaction to Manny sounds right to him, a teen of sound mind and vast knowledge, so obviously it has to be the right decision.

The opening line tells it all:

So Shanna got a new job at the movie theater, we thought we’d play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead, and I’m really starting to feel kind of guilty about it all.

The reader follows Sawyer’s unique and terrifying coming-of-age moment as he comes to terms with the results of his actions.  As the “creators” of Manny, Sawyer and his friends are Frankenstein and Manny is the monster they have created. They are responsible for his actions and whatever happens to them is punishment they deserve.

The most pivotal moment, in my mind, is when the author picks up all the pieces of the puzzle that we, the reader, have carefully assembled….and throws it all up in the air.  Perfectly crafted, expertly paced, a completely mesmerizing read.

If you haven’t read Stephen Graham Jones, this is the perfect example of his sheer brilliance and talent, the perfect first sampling of his tremendous work.  Highly, highly recommended.