There’s so much to love about the third installment of Ti West’s X universe, or as we now might know it, the Maxxxine movie trilogy. It’s set in the grimy Los Angeles of the 1980s, including the backdrop of Satanic Panic and the Night Stalker serial killer. Our protagonist is the former adult film star turned Scream Queen horror film actress, Maxine Minx, played by the incredible and indefatigable Mia Goth—in fact, the whole Maxxxine movie cast is impeccable. Because we’re in Hollywood and following her aspiring stardom, we also have a ton of allusions both from classic cinema and cult classic horror… like I said, there’s a lot to love. Even her costumes and makeup, which are conveniently for sale.
There aren’t a lot of films to scratch that niche itch detailed above. You might be tempted to, as Maxine suggests, “Go home, because I just fucking nailed that.” Plus, if what Elizabeth Bender says of the film within the film The Puritan 2 is what you crave—that is, a “B-movie with A ideas,” that raises the bar even higher. And when we can’t find what we want on screen, we naturally have to turn to literature.
Here are nine books you might enjoy if you loved Maxxxine.
The whole background premise of Maxxxine, where people go missing and then turn up murdered with pentagrams branded on their corpses, is inspired by the true crime case of the time, that of the Night Stalker—later determined to be Richard Ramirez. If you’re not familiar with that story, you’ve got to grab this work of nonfiction. I already know (based on your love of Maxine) that you like when criminals get their comeuppance by means of a vigilante beatdown, so… be my guest.
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around August 30, 2016. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
This horror novel is not only set against the backdrop of the 1980s Satanic Panic, but it’s set at a small-town Virginia elementary school where ritualistically murdered rabbits show up on the playground. It’s a must read if you love a true crime-based thriller novel.
Format
Hardcover
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around April 6, 2021. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
This collection of critical essays dives into the America of the 1980s, including the 1980s movies, music, and fashion, which is often characterized by “yuppie greed and self-absorption.” The book traces the sources of the phenomena that came to identify Maxine’s generation. If you’re interested in how cultural trends are formed, shaped, and carry on into future decades, this one is for you.
Price
$24.99
Price
$31.99 CAD
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 6, 1998. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Similarly to Maxine herself, the protagonist of this novel also fled his family for a new life… but Luke Crosswhite’s family is a biker gang vying for family against its rivals. Luke just wants a normal life… which is, to him, the one he deserves.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 19, 2024. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Speaking of refusing to accept a life you do not deserve, let’s talk about Bette Davis’ autobiography. She might not seem super relevant to the action on screen, but she’s certainly part of the Hollywood mystique… and it’s definitely hard to forget the 80s power anthem “Bette Davis Eyes” playing over the end credits after Maxine finally gets her spotlight. Here’s the story of the life of starlet Bette Davis, as told in her own words, complete with an afterword she added just before her death.
Format
ebook
(Digital original)
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around April 4, 2017. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
If it’s the pornographic kind of drama that fascinates you, more along the lines of X’s Slasher aesthetic, you might want to check out this novel of eroticized degradation which questions the nature of “fantasy, desire, and power.”
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 27, 2022. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
This new release novel by horror master Stephen Graham Jones follows Tolly Driver, a good kid in 1989 oil town Lamesa, Texas. (Kind of alludes to Pearl and her story.) Tolly himself is the slasher killer, but you’ll find yourself fighting his corner as you read his first-person autobiography.
Format
Trade Cloth; Trade Cloth
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around July 16, 2024. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
If the thing you love most about Maxine is the prodigal, evil parent, you might like this horror novel. Here, just after the birth of her first child, a daughter, Flora has to navigate the newborn stage alone because her husband is still deployed. She’s grateful when her estranged mother shows up to help… until it turns out that she’s dragged in some evil baggage behind her.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 17, 2024. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
L.A. Confidential is epic “noir”, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of The Black Dahlia. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, and offers no mercy, grants no survivors.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 1, 1997. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
