"The Pallbearers Club" is an immersive and suspenseful exploration of an unforgettable and unsettling friendship, seamlessly blending elements of horror, supernatural occurrences, and the mundane. With its intriguing narrative structure, the novel promises to be a thought-provoking and gripping read.

I think this is the end of the road for me and Paul Tremblay, apart from Head Full Of Ghosts, I've been disappointed in all of his other books. This has been marketed incorrectly as a horror book, when it most definitely isn't that. The creepiest thing about it is the pages and pages of talk about obscure bands that added nothing to the plot. The Pallbearers Club don't even do any pallbearing. There is no weird friendship, just a friendship that's pretty run of the mill and a guy that wants to make his life seem more interesting through writing a memoir, but are talking about Art or Paul here???? I would have DNF'd this usually but I was using it to complete a prompt for a reading challenge. Waste of time.

This just wasn't for me. I usually enjoy Paul Tremblay's books, but this read like an uninspired as well as less than well-crafted debut -- one that preferably should have stayed on the slush pile. It was annoying on so many levels, I finally gave up at around the 30% line... this novel simply sucked away my will to read, if not my will to live.
So all you Tremblay fans out there -- skip this one. Seriously. Sub-par writing, clunky "characters", and a story that so wants to be weird but instead just ends up dumb, this is one novel you should only bother with of you're a vampire with a) a hunger for self-flagellation and b) eternal life.

Thank you, Netgalley & publisher; also, sorry.

I found this novel a little slow going for my liking but it was still an interesting read ;2.5 stars.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Wasn’t my cup of tea Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title.

Friendships are key to life. The people who accept us a lot more for who we are and as there is no familial loyalty here we know in most cases they do actually want to spend time with you. They will know you at your best and also sometimes at your worst. Friendships ebb and wane but some are lifelong. They always impact how our lives develop. In Paul Tremblay’s unusual The Pallbearers’ Club an awkward teenager who decides to offer a pallbearing service to those who have no one at their funerals will start a friendship with a stranger, louder and more sarcastic young woman who may possibly be a vampire. It doesn’t quite hit the landing though despite the unusual ride through growing old it takes us on.

Art Barbara (not his real name) has written a memoir of his life and in particular his developing friendship with a young woman named Mary. Helpfully Mary is also reading this draft and regularly offers her impressions and, in some cases, her own point of view on events. Art desperate to get out to college; escape his nightmare school and also a town that often bullies him; needs some unique extracurricular activities decides forming a pallbearer’s club at high school where people can offer their attendance at funerals for those without anyone would be perfect. Initially three then down to two members Art is then introduced to the grungy punk Mary who also decides to join the club. Polar opposites the uptight Art and Mary start to enjoy being around each other – sharing a love of punk music and also actually being able to laugh at life and often Art’s awkward behaviour but Art starts to suspect that Mary is actually a member of the undead and going to kill him. A few decades later Art is now a regular guitar player for countless new and often ended bands and then meets Mary once again. Is this time Art going to reveal the truth?

I think upfront I need to say I don’t consider this a horror story. There are dark moments and scenes were horror is created but overall this feels more a comedy fantasy tale focused on friendship and growing old. The early section focused on Art’s teenage years are written by a young awkward and often precocious young man who clearly loves the sound of his voice. He is oblivious how strange his idea for the club is and is terrible at reading people. The voice Tremblay creates is someone who doesn’t yet know who they are. As such Mary’s written asides, insults and observations are a welcome distraction and make you suspect Art’s worldview may not always be accurate. Tremblay pulls together life in a small 1980s town; the horror of high school and being painfully oblivious how strange some things you decide to do as a teenager are that great an idea. The funerals attended are strange yet funny and when Mary enters the scene its well needed warmth to loosen this young man up and bring them out of their shell. But on top of that we get New England vampire legends and scenes were Mary appears a little less than human to entice us in deciding is Art is facing supernatural battles to come.

The Art we meet circa 40 years old in the latter half of the novel is both the same person and different. They’ve relaxed into leaving college, falling in and out of love and discovering they love music enough to make it their lifetime career. But also, they’re not ever going to hit the big time themselves and just possibly not yet able to admit that. When Mary apparently unaged re-appears, there are moments of strangeness, warmth and horror again as Art wonders can he find the truth and Mary wonders if their friend will ever trust them again. The unromantic bond between them is indeed shown with a touch of tenderness and a reminder that friends are often always going to be friends even if you don’t see them in years.

All of which worked well but the novel for me does feel a little unwieldy and its two halves don’t quite gel as much as I’d have liked. We do spend a lot of time in the teenage years and when Mary isn’t commenting the story falls a little flat. Its not helped by the tone Art uses in these sections which is a little opaque and verbose which stays true to the character but like the people Art meets can put you off him. I found the older Art section to be the most interesting as it explores middle age life (this may be because I am now middle aged though) and I’d had liked a bit more of understanding Art’s journey to the person we meet.

My overall impression was this could really have worked better as a novella focused on one period with a brief glimpse of the other or a longer novel where Mary’s viewpoint got more space. The confirmation of Mary’s possibly inhuman nature is ultimately not the key to the book and doesn; need to be held off for so long. The Pallbearers’ Club is an interesting fantasy experiment and captures friendship, growing up and growing old well but doesn’t quite hang together to make it a memorable tale that will stick around me for a long time to come. A curio but still a fun read

The lonely (not)memoir of a man who retells his life with footnotes scribbled in by who he regards to be one of his best friends, with a very small side dish of a local vampire family and folklore. while I did enjoy this book, and it's wonderful and imaginative style, it wasn't what I would have expected from Tremblay, other than the sublime writing.

I’ve been putting off writing this review for some time because I’m still not exactly sure how I feel about Paul Tremblay’s most recent release, which was one of my most anticipated for 2022. Why?

Well, a big reason is that The Pallbearers Club doesn’t really fit into any particularly satisfactory genre pigeonholes. It’s being billed as horror or psychological thriller, but never truly lives up to either (heaven help booksellers and librarians).

In fact, it’s more of a slice-of-life/coming-of-age tale of friendship and all the ways it affects us, which I think had an impact on my enjoyment of the story.

To rewind a little, The Pallbearers Club is written mainly from the point of view of our protagonist, Art Barbara (not his real name) in the form of a memoir. I say mainly, because we also receive regular interjections from another character Mercy (also not her real name), who basically drops in to claim that her friend Art is actually writing a novel and that almost everything he has said since she last ‘edited’ is skewed by his incorrect perception of events.

As Art becomes more and more suspicious of Mercy and whether she is a supernatural being or not, Mercy insists she isn’t and that Art is losing his mind with the help of prescription drugs and alcohol.

The opening of The Pallbearers Club is strong, with a host of 1980s music references that Gen X is going to love. The part where Art sets up the eponymous group (which is established to attend the funerals of those who died without loved ones to mourn them) is also atmospheric and gave me similar vibes to the dark humour of Final Destination’s mortician character William Bludworth.

I also thought the ending (which I’m not going to spoil in any way here) was excellent and befitting of Tremblay’s ‘creepy-with-a-touch-of-emo’ reputation. It was melancholic like Disappearance at Devil’s Rock (but not as desolate) and wrapped things up well like Survivor Song, while also retaining the touch of ambiguity we’ve come to expect from this author.

However, my main issue with this book was the middle, and I think that’s because we’re left waiting for something else creepy to happen while Mercy is out of the picture for a little while. This section is made up of seemingly endless descriptions from Art of the bands he was in from 1988–2007 and how he navigated the music scene as an ageing hipster, and it really lost my attention.

Tremblay actually hints in his acknowledgements that Art is at least partially based on himself, and I feel that perhaps his desire to pay homage to his own experiences and stomping grounds led to something of an overload of information.

I would have preferred it if the whole book was set within just a couple of years in the past, which would have condensed the less interesting parts, increased suspense and horror, and still allowed for an always-welcome nostalgia hit.

So to conclude, I think anticipating this book as a horror story and looking forward to a few jump scares might leave you disappointed. Instead, come at it in the hope of learning the story of a couple of friends who might have experienced something slightly creepy a long time ago and it might boost your enjoyment.

I really struggled with this one as I find with the horror genre I have a certain writing style that I prefer and that is the type that is believeable and gives me nightmares. This was a little scifi but I did like the ending as I couldn't have predicted it. I am going to reread this one and see if I can get into it a little bit more. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What if the coolest girl you've ever met decided to be your friend?

Art Barbara was a seventeen year old living in the eighties who loved hair metal music and was a bit of a loner. As if being a teen wasn’t hard enough, Art suffered from crippling scoliosis therefore he had to wear an unflattering back brace while he slept.
Art comes up with the unconventional idea to start the Pallbearers Club at school. The club was designed to assist low attendance at funerals. The club gets off to a rocky start however, things change when Mercy arrives with her Polaroid camera.
Mercy like Art was unique. She took pictures of corpses and knew a lot about other strange things. The two became fast friends.
Years later in an attempt to make sense of events that occurred, Art writes the Pallbearers Club: A Memoir.

I completely understand what this book was trying to do, unfortunately I don’t know if it was down to reading it as an e-arc and the margin writing being at the end of the chapter. Or if I just didn’t really get in to the narrative of this story but it just felt disjointed to me.

The character where ok developed enough that I found them good to follow I really enjoyed the friendship portrayal in this book and can safest say it’s a unique take on friendships! But overall the best part of this story was the setting and the creepiness that did seep through.

I wanted to enjoy this more but as this is my first read from this author I may not be the reviewer to take this review from. I do have the physical book now and I feel I will have to give a re-read and see if it has a different impact now I can read it the way it was intended.

Thank so much for this arc I’m looking forward to trying more from the author as there was aspects I truly enjoyed!

Art Barbara is an awkward teen, underweight, riddled with acne and suffering with scoliosis. Needing to get extra credits to help him get into college he starts the Pallbearers Club. Where he attends the funerals of people with little to no family or friends. The club introduces Art to Mercy Brown who seems to be into everything Art is in to. But Mercy is a strange girl and strange things seem to happen when she's around.
Fast forward a few decade's and Art is writing his memoir trying to make sense of the past years. But Mercy is reading it too and thinks it needs some work so decides to add her own notes to set the record straight.

This was a very slow burn story with not a lot of action. There is some creepy bits and I didn't see the ending coming. I think this would be best read in physical form as mercy's notes are written in the margins rather than just mixed in with the story.

If you like slow burn possible supernatural stories you'll like this.

This is the fourth book that I have read by Tremblay and whilst in a lot of ways this book is very different from his other books, it also has a lot of elements that I really enjoy about his work. It is a little bit weird, it has supernatural elements that it is really left to the reader whether they are supernatural or not, and the ending is fairly open.

I really enjoyed the way that this story builds as we go through as the reader is continually left to wonder about the relationship between Art and Mercy as there is a disconnect between the way Art writes about his friendship with Mercy and the way that Mercy speaks about their friendship in response to portions of Art's memoir. Can we also take a moment to appreciate how clever and meta it is to have Mercy commenting throughout Art's memoir! I loved the mental image I had of this book being written where Tremblay just felt like he could rip his own writing to shreds as he was writing and just call them Mercy's comments.

This is definitely not going to be for everyone but I think if you are familiar with Tremblay's style, this is a book that could definitely be a hit for you. In terms of comp titles, I think the closest thing I could think of is My Best Friend's Exorcism; these books are quite different from one another in a lot of ways but at the core of them they are books about friendship with supernatural elements sprinkled in.

Paul Tremblay has been leading the literary horror pack for years, and The Pallbearers Club shows us exactly why. With its unique narrative approach (which includes annotations and “constructive feedback” on the story by a secondary character), this is completely unique in its set-up, and delivers something I’ve genuinely never seen done before. A smart blend of coming-of-ager and ambiguous horror, the book has some properly spooky moments involving jackets (no, really), an endearingly goofy protagonist, and an ending that fully delivers on the promise of everything that came before. Excellent.

This was another book I read both as audio and on the page. It particularly lends itself to that approach. The story is told in, literally, two parts - fortysomething Art Barbara is (PURPORTS TO BE) telling his life story while another intersperses comments, objections (for example, striking out "memoir" wherever it appears and replacing it with "novel"), critical analysis of the text and, increasingly, a counter narrative.

In the audio, the second of these is portrayed by a female narrator, her voice cutting in with Barbara's main narrative in a sharp counterpoint, creating the illusion - almost - of dialogue or debate. I have to say that the audio narration, by James O’Connell as Barbara and Gemma Carfi as - well, you'll have to wait and see - is just superb. The original concept - of a manuscript, with written interpolations - is translated into O'Connell's narration, interrupted by Carfi's waspish observations which start in the title page when she queries Tremblay's dedication.

Precisely how this second voice has access to Barbara's story [THAT's GOOD - A STORY CAN BE EITHER A MEMOIR OR A NOVEL] and why she chooses to contribute to it (and who she is) emerge slowly though the book. I will only say here that she has a stake in the whole enterprise. The result is though that The Pallbearers Club has not one but two unreliable narrators. The reader can decide to trust one or the other of them, or neither. Not only do they mislead us, they also mislead each other, and in hinting at "Art Barbara" being a nom de plume, and via Ms Second Voice playfully threatening to unmask him and reaching out even to the title page - breaking the fourth wall in effect - we have a deliciously confusing metatextual tangle that leaves the reader questioning every page, every line.

It ought to be simple. Art, a young man in the 1980s USA, needs a bit of polish for his CV, so he starts The Pallbearers Club - a group at high school that attends funerals of the lonely and friendless. In doing so he meets Mercy, an enigmatic and self-contained woman who inducts him into the ways of punk and in particular, the local music scene. Art's relationship with Mercy forms the core of the story (HA - ["STORY" AGAIN! I APPROVE!] which is structured as three acts. There is the initial meeting, and the period following, up until Art's spinal surgery to correct his scoliosis. Then, decades later, Art runs into Mercy when living away from home grubbing for a living in a succession of no-hope bands. That ends with a very strange episode in Mercy's basement apartment. Finally, they reunite in Art's home town where he has returned to live with his ageing, ailing mother after her divorce. [ANNULMENT!]

The background is an episode of New England history in which a grave was opened after suspicion that its occupant was rising at night to feed on her family, and the book - Tremblay is of course a veteran horror writer - is bedecked with call-outs to vampire mythology (as well as to popular music). Both Art's narration and his interlocutor's remarks are fully alive to this mythology, and actively comment on the resonances of it in Art's story, through they often disagree on its interpretation, leaving us with a myriad of alternatives depending not only on how welcoming we are of the supernatural but on our attitudes to the reliability of the different voices.

That ambiguity persists to the very end. Don't read this book expecting neat resolutions or clarity. Tremblay may have written a horror story (he's definitely written a horror story, if only in its bleak portrayal of Art's desperate health situation, caused by a country that refuses to meet its responsibilities to its people) but it's not a conventional one. You have to pick the pieces and assemble them but many don't fit. And in trying to put them together you can't sidestep the deeply felt portrayal of Art's life - a very mundane life, a very ordinary man, but someone who evokes a great sense of sympathy as he flounders away trying to make something of his life, the firm landmarks of his childhood melting into the mist [NOT A FAN OF THE PURPLE PROSE, TBH] and no adult consolations replacing them.

It's a read like nothing I'd encountered before, a novel [YES!] but also a memoir [NO WAY!] if a fictional one. I mean that this story of Art Barbara comes over as deeply realistic, despite the supernatural overtones, or maybe even because of them. A triumphant use of horror to show so much more of life than one could in a naturalistic novel, The Pallbearers Club will remain with me for a long time, I think.

You’ve really got to get along with the main characters in this book. Not like them, necessarily, but be interested in their twin unreliable narrator strands enough to persevere with what is an innovative ‘vampire’ novel. At times, I felt my engagement drift to Skim Reading level. It was like listening to two rather dull, self-absorbed acquaintances bicker. The background detail told through clothes and music was captivating and gave it a tidy sense of place.
The more overtly horror sections were genuinely chilling and kept me reading when the solipsism made me yawn.
I imagine the physical copy of the book would be a more rewarding experience and I’d probably pick one up as a gift for horror fiction fan gifts. However, it didn’t pack the punch I expected it to.

'Will something terrible happen? When will something terrible happen? Is the worst always to come? The worst is always to come.'

Art Barbara, noted from the front piece as the author of this novel/memoir, writes in an ever increasing stream of consciousness technique, with long, looping sentences, about the decades long danse macabre between himself, and Mercy Brown.

Neither of them can be belived-or can they?-as they identify the names are pseudonyms, chosen for their relation to the punk music scene of the 1980's and the myth/legend of the New England Vampire, also named Mercy Brown. So they identify themselves as unreliable narrators even as narrate the relative reality and circumstances of their meeting.

In order to get into college, perpetual outside and physically, mentally different Art needs something to stand out on his application form. As he would probably hate any society which would accept him as a member, so deep is his sense of self revulsion which is pitted against his innate nature to go/do/explore the wider world, he creates his own-the Pallbearer's Club. He recruits his team by posting flyers around the town, not really optimistic about his intentions to represent the outsiders, the forgotten, the unloved and unwanted at their exit from this world.

Three people answer his adverts, and the description of their first funeral is replete with such sadness, sorrow and awkwardness that despite his warnings, you take what he says as true. The irony of these young teens bearing witness to the rejects of society in order to access the most esteemed of socially accepted halls of education is painful.

And then Mercy appears and so begins her side of the story for as you read, she annotates, interferes and comments on Art's narration and soon you find your perceptions jostling alongside hers.

With nods to gothic literature including Dracula and The Crucible, Mercy and Art begin what appears to a folie a deux, a dance of mutual need as Art's body begins to fight back against him, Mercy becomes increasingly more involved in the lives of Art and his parents, and the music scene of the late 80's through to the 2000's is lovingly detailed with a sense of realness that intimates an overlapping of Paul Tremblay's real life.

Through the funerals that Mercy and Art attend, there is this encroaching sense of darkness as Mercy shows Art another side of life, introducing him to the punk rock scene, and the art of death through the Polaroids she takes of the dead as they lie in their coffins.

'Hope is believing there'll be another moment of joy,and despair is knowing there won't be one more.'

A school project that helps Art solidify the notion that Mercy is a monster, her eagerness to help him by almost laying a trail of breadcrumbs to the truth leads to a shocking and cataclysmic separation of the two. When Art eventually moves the now defunct Pallbearer's Club to his vision of what music should be, and sets himself up as a one man band, he remains massively missing the part of his life that had Mercy in it. And, as you read, you begin to wonder which, if either of them, is the real monster. You also become aware of your role as the reader, someone who is essentially reading a postscript to a life. The manuscript of the book which you are reading alongside Mercy represents the major periods of Art's development from teen, to adult, and how death and nihilism have remained a mainstay of his life no matter where Mercy was.

And at the end, you have this revelation that as readers, we are all pall bearer's of this tale, we have carried it from the opening ceremony to the last sentence. And boy what a last sentence it is. You remain rooted to the spot , unable to put it down, move on or think as flash after flash goes off in your mind about what you have just read, realising that your participation in the story which you have read makes you an active participant, For, aren't we all taking this role, carrying this book, reporting back to others about what we enjoyed, what we didn't, what worked and what flew over our heads?

This book is coffin shaped and glorious, it has been reviewed by quite a few readers as not having much going on, and in terms of action/gore well yes there is an argument to be made about this. But that is the point-it takes such balls to write such a huge novel over such a long period of time and to remain that restrained, that focussed on the life lived after Mercy appears to Art. His transformation, both physical and psychological is this great unravelling and is monstrous in its design and the pay off is so very worth it.

I read the e-arc and when the physical copy arrived yesterday, I was honestly amazed that it wasn't much bigger and thicker. Because it weighs on your mind so much, and I flew at it with the intention of sitting up until it was finished, but it has so much going on, so much to think about that I had to have a side book in order to cope with the mental gymnastics I did whilst reading The Pallbearer's Club.

It is such an outrageous and ingenious concept, I don't believe anything like this has been done before and I love it for it's boldness, the risks it takes and how it speaks so directly and fearlessly to the reader.

Rest assured, a little haunting will occur after finishing it. For Art and Mercy are not easily put back on the shelf.

I am a huge fan of Paul Tremblay's books and will try to get anyone I know to read A Head Full of Ghosts or The Cabin at the End of the World! His new book is different in that it is written in the style of the character writing their memoir and a friend of the time reading and commenting on it at various intervals. Both characters make for unreliable narrators, however, there is some good humour in there also. There was great nostalgia for me reading about the 80's and 90's and I enjoyed these references immensely. This is a unique take on the vampire trope, not usually my favourite genre, but this, being done so differently, was a very enjoyable read.

“I am not Art Barbara. That’s not my birth name. But at the risk of contradicting myself within the first few lines of a memoir, I am Art Barbara. Imagine my personage, the whole of me (I prefer that phrase to “spirit” or “soul”) exists in Plato’s World of Forms. That me, the one slicked in the amber of Greek philosophy, is Art Barbara.”

My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Pallbearers Club’ by Paul Tremblay.

From its opening above it is clear that this is a strange novel, one that is difficult to summarise.

It is presented as the faux memoir written in 2007 by ‘Art Barbara’, who in 1988 was a painfully awkward teenager with scoliosis and severe acne. Realising that he needed some extracurricular activities for his college applications, he founds the Pallbearers Club, whose members will volunteer as pallbearers at funerals for the homeless and the elderly where there are only a few or no mourners.

He forms a friendship with the enigmatic Mercy Brown. Over time he begins to suspect that she is an energy-draining vampire and is ‘the’ Mercy Brown of local New England folklore, who died in 1892 (an actual case of suspected vampirism).

Mercy serves as a second narrative voice weaving herself throughout the text in handwritten comments and margin notations. In these she deconstructs Art’s memories. Yet are either of them reliable narrators?

As I said quite an odd novel that I did enjoy once I got used to its structure. I found it quite subtle supernatural horror, rich in philosophical ideas, popular culture of the period, and quirky humour.

Its cover image reflects Art’s experience of scoliosis and the surgery he undergoes to help correct his spine.

While this is only the second novel that I have read to date by Paul Tremblay, he is an author that I am definitely interested in exploring further.

Note: As its unabridged audiobook edition was available to be borrowed, I complemented my reading with it. Having two narrators (Art and Mercy) was very helpful with respect to the switches in perspective.

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Paul Tremblay - The Pallbearers Club

Art Barbara, is socially awkward, suffers with scoliosis and the aches and pains he experiences daily are in addition to his already painful teenage existence.

Art strikes up a relationship with Mercy Brown, who he meets at The Pallbearers Club, a extracurricular club created by Art, in order to help with college applications.

It’s a rather odd correlation between the two protagonist’s, and it gets odder - Art thinks that Mercy is a vampire, and writes a memoir about his experiences that have led to his beliefs.

Mercy is reading Arts novel and is making alterations - this can’t be a memoir, it’s a novel in Mercy’s eyes, and that’s how the book reads, with adjustments in the borders and strikethroughs

The dialogue becomes quite confusing when reading the ebook version, so if possible I recommend picking up the paperback - it’s a much nicer reading experience.

Paul Tremblay’s latest novel is like nothing I’ve read before, but not necessarily what I was expecting, (based on the description).
The Pallbearers Club is a slow burn that will have you scratching your head trying to figure out whether Mercy is or is not a vampire right into the final pages - very clever Mr Tremblay, very clever.

Another good addition to the already fantastic catalog of Paul Tremblay’s work.

Massive thank you to Paul Tremblay, Titan Books & Net Galley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review

3/5

Why am I hearing about Paul Tremblay only now?
The author is clever, witty, brilliant and genius.
I loved this horror novel so much - usually not my cup of tea, but this blew my mind.
Will definitely read more of his books in the future.