My Ex, the Antichrist is the kind of book that makes you feel nostalgic the moment you’ve finished it. You’re pulled into the story of these few characters and those around them, watching them grow into the final versions of themselves, and you’re excited to see where the story takes you. The interview style of writing allows for a more in-depth approach while also adding hidden depths by removing an omniscient narrator. The horror aspects of the story grew slowly until they overtook the story, resulting in a clattering of events that were pretty fun to imagine. It wasn’t scary but it was entertaining and well written by an author who took the time to know his characters.

The Best Bits

A Few of My Favorite Things

A Unique Form

I went into the novel knowing nothing about it, having chosen it entirely due to the title. I was surprised to find an interview style tell-all about a rock band who found fame and fortune after saving the world from the literal antichrist. It wasn’t the horror novel I imagined it to be, but, to be honest, it was something better. It was a mix of in-depth character profiles, striking visuals filled with demons and weapon-wielding nuns, and a conversation about music and its place in our culture, all underlying this fight to save or destroy the world. The approach was almost matter of fact, not terrifying but more ‘this happened and now we’re here. For a story about evil overtaking the world, it was an original approach and I found it kind of mesmerizing by the end.

Music is the Key

I didn’t expect this to be a profound analysis of the power of music and how it runs the world, but it definitely was. I started the book not sure how I felt about that approach to what I had hoped was The Omen 2.0 but in the end I was hooked by the writer’s clear passion for the subject matter and, by extension, the passion from his characters. You can feel the frustration in those early days of pulling a band together, the panic and thrill of performing for the first time, the sheer exhilaration of crushing it during a major show. This felt like a story about music sprinkled with bits of horror, in a good way.

An Ending for All

Like a true tell all, we get to see the ending for every one of the characters in the story, and there was something refreshing about that. After taking the journey with them, you get to see how it all ended up and, while things were better for a while, there are possible horrors on the horizon. Like any good horror novel, I’d expect nothing less. 

A Random Side Note

I often find myself blasting a reading mix made up mostly of classical music and movie soundtracks. This time around my playlist really amped it up to 100, playing Mozart’s Lacrimosa at the exact moment of the final confrontation and let me tell you, it’s highly recommended. Nothing says ‘showdown with the antichrist’ like an epic choir belting in Latin.