A campy, feminist slasher packed with female rage, dark humor, and one final girl who is officially over it.
Goodreads | This B Just Won’t Die
Release date: October 13, 2026
Publisher: Simon Audio
Narrator: Natalie Naudus
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Synopsis:
This humorous, heart-pounding, feminist slasher takes on misogynist social pressures with one former scream queen as she is pursued by a serial killer impersonating the antagonist of her films. Former scream queen Barbra Jacobs desperately wants to break out of the box Hollywood has neatly packaged her in. Cast as the star of the Mirror horror franchise films twenty years ago, the breakout role that shaped her career has also destroyed her dreams of being taken seriously as an actress. Now forty, and still seeking the approval of everyone around her, she makes ends meet by signing old photos of herself and doing meet and greets at horror conventions. So when a producer calls asking her host The Monsters We Made, a hot new horror docuseries, she sees it as a step in the right direction. But when fans begin dying around her—and in ways that mimic the kills in her films—Barb is thrust back into a role she can’t seem to walk away The Final Girl. Will she ever break out of the display-box-life she’s been imprisoned in, or will Mirror Man end it all in Barbie’s Scream House?
Review:
Apparently “pink horror” is a thing, and if This B Just Won’t Die is any indication, I need more of it immediately. Tanya Pell delivers a wildly entertaining mashup of horror, thriller, comedy, and classic slasher movie vibes that somehow works perfectly. I don’t read a ton of horror, but this is exactly the kind I enjoy: campy, satirical, suspenseful, gruesome without taking itself too seriously, and powered by a whole lot of female rage.
And Barb? My kind of woman. She’s forty, perimenopausal, sarcastic, resentful, annoyed, and completely sick of everyone’s shit, especially the final girl role she’s been trapped in for twenty years. I loved the way Pell plays with horror tropes while also exploring aging, Hollywood, the expectations placed on women, and what happens when a woman finally gets tired of making herself palatable for everyone else. There’s plenty of humor here, but underneath it is some very real anger and emotion that gave the story more depth than I expected.
Don’t mistake all that fun for a lack of actual horror, though. There are gruesome kills, plenty of suspense, lots of action, and a killer recreating murders from Barb’s old slasher franchise. The whole thing has such a great throwback horror movie feel while still feeling fresh and modern. If you liked Dollface or How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates, this has a very similar blend of feminine aesthetics, dark humor, violence, and women who have simply HAD ENOUGH.
Natalie Naudus was fantastic on audio. She perfectly captured Barb’s rage, resentment, sarcasm, and constant annoyance while still giving the more vulnerable and emotional moments the weight they needed. Her performance made Barb feel even more vivid and was such a good match for the book’s heightened, campy energy. This was ridiculously fun, ideal for fall, and further proof that apparently my preferred flavor of horror is women being funny, furious, and possibly covered in blood.
Perfect for readers who love:
- Campy slasher movie vibes
- Feminist horror with plenty of female rage
- Dark humor and sharp sarcasm
- Funny, fed-up middle-aged heroines
- Thriller, horror, and comedy mashups
- Gruesome kills and fast-paced action
- Satirical takes on classic horror tropes
- Fantastic audiobook narration
Overall rating: 4/5
Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
