Ashley Cullins’ Your Favorite Scary Movie has just arrived in bookstores and online, compiling the history of the entire franchise — including the still-unreleased Scream 7. Yes, Cullins visited the set, and the book even includes two behind-the-scenes photos taken in front of Sidney’s house in the fictional town of Pine Grove.

For fans, this release is instantly indispensable. And the experience comes in two forms: a carefully crafted paperback and an audiobook narrated by none other than Roger L. Jackson, the official voice of Ghostface.

A Love Letter to Scream

The physical edition, published by Penguin Random House (Plume and Dutton Books), is a meticulous work of passion. The result of more than 80 interviews, it features voices directly tied to the films as well as legends like John Carpenter — creator of Halloween, Scream’s acknowledged spiritual ancestor.

Cullins’ exchanges with Kevin Williamson are particularly compelling, touching on his influences — from the Gainesville Ripper to Agatha Christie, betrayal as a theme, and the idea of returning home decades later with a heroine modeled on Laurie Strode. Their conversations are so candid that Williamson even shares new details about the turbulent production of Scream 4.

Just as engrossing are Cullins’ discussions with Neve Campbell, especially about her approach to Sidney in the seventh film.

Sidney Prescott: Out of Darkness?

For the first time since Scream, Sidney Prescott takes center stage. No longer just reacting to events, she is the driving force of the story.

“She’s always going to be looking over her shoulder. She’s always going to be aware of everybody in the room,” Campbell says. Playing Sidney means capturing a survivor who insists on finding “the few people in her life who she can trust and keep close, and the things that bring her joy.”

The book also confirms what fans glimpsed in Scream 5: Sidney is now a mother. Campbell acknowledges how heavy that choice would be. “Think about how challenging it would be to even have a child if you were Sidney Prescott,” she reflects. “How she chooses to parent is a big choice — and perhaps different than how others might.”

This development also reclaims a part of the series’ past. In the late ’90s, Maureen Prescott was not only victimized but vilified — slut-shamed by characters on screen and, at times, by sections of the fandom. That sexist framing reduced her to gossip instead of acknowledging her trauma. By giving Sidney motherhood on her own terms, Scream 7 reframes that legacy into one of resilience and renewal.

From Pen to Camera: Williamson’s Full-Circle Cut

If Cullins gives Campbell the chance to explore Sidney’s evolution, she gives Williamson the space to explain why this is the story he had to tell. For the first time, the creator steps behind the camera to direct a Scream film.

“That’s the story I care about. That’s the Scream I’ve been wanting to see,” Williamson tells Cullins. For him, denying Sidney peace would be unthinkable. “Sidney has been through so much torment, and she has been through so much trauma, that to give her anything less than a happy ending is mean. It’s just sacrilegious.”

Williamson admits this may be his only time directing the franchise. “This will probably be the only one I’ll do, so I’ve got to do everything I want to do.” That urgency drives a film he describes as both nostalgic and forward-looking — tying up Scream 5 and 6 while placing Sidney, Gale, and a few surprises at the forefront.

What convinced him was Guy Busick’s script. The pitch, Williamson recalls, gave Sidney “a real conflict, a real life, a real family, real obstacles — and then someone gets killed.” It was the balance of humanity and horror he’d been waiting for.

And as a final touchstone, he makes clear what kind of horror this chapter will deliver: “Neve wants to go back to the first one and find the suspense and really concentrate on scary and not bloody.”

The Audiobook Experience

I love physical books, but listening to Your Favorite Scary Movie in audiobook form feels almost documentary-like. With Roger L. Jackson narrating, it becomes an experience as meta as Scream itself. The man behind Ghostface’s voice revives iconic lines and channels the tone of interviewees he personally knows, adding a whole new dimension to the material.

Ashley recalls how it happened: “He was the perfect person for it, and the only one I thought of… I asked him if he would narrate the audiobook. He said yes, and I’m still pinching myself.”

Your Favorite Scary Movie is more than a book — it’s a cultural artifact. A celebration of nearly three decades of Scream and a rare glimpse into the making of Scream 7. Whether on your shelf or in your headphones, it’s an essential addition for every fan who considers themselves part of this legacy.

Available now in stores and digital marketplaces.