My Heart Is a Chainsaw (1) (The Indian Lake Trilogy)

Nestled in what could be a National Forest, Indian Lake in Proofrock, Idaho, is being threatened by a developer who envisions wilderness mansions for the wealthy on the pristine side of the lake with impoverished locals, many of them Native Americans, living far enough away on the other side of the lake. More than merely threatened are two tourists from the Netherlands: Sven and Lotte. Hoping to “soak in” the natural beauty of the area before returning home, they encounter something evil on the water as they venture out upon it in a canoe. Something that has survived which shouldn’t have. Something which makes sure neither Sven nor Lotte will survive. The two of them are only the beginning.MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW (2021) is the latest novel by the remarkable Stephen Graham Jones. As he does in his last novel, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS (2020), Jones brings a beautifully composed, literary style to a novel which is quite dark (with occasional sparkles of humor) and references to Native American life today as well as cultural beliefs with roots in what many would deem to be the supernatural. Lush with vivid description which appeals to one’s various senses, Jones chronicles his story in a leisurely fashion, slowly building suspense and fright, until the latter portion of the novel becomes quite cinematic and frantic in tone and action.A superb trait of Jones’ writing is his ability to create and animate amazing, diverse characters. Minor characters as well as those principal to the plot are real and believable. Foremost among them is high school senior Jade Daniels, a Blackfeet native. All but alienated from her peers, having taken a leave from school after an attempted suicide, Jade’s closest friends are a history teacher, Mr. Holmes, and the local sheriff, Hardy,—both of whom are ironic choices as friends because Jade is constantly in trouble with both of them—and others as well—until Letha Mondragon appears on the scene, her family planning on moving into one of the mansions across the lake.Far from being a mere fan, Jade is a walking, talking encyclopedia of slasher film knowledge. She lives and breathes slasher films and wishes she actually was in one. Slasher films are obviously her escape from the grim reality she sees daily. “Horror is [her] religion.” Jade also envisions her new friend, Letha, becoming a “final girl,” the one who nearly always is the last one standing, the survivor in slasher films. As much as she would like to be a “final girl” herself, Jade knows the rules: “Final girls are good, they’re uncomplicated, they have these reserves of courage coiled up inside them, not layer after layer of shame, or guilt.” Jade doesn’t fit the mold. She is far from an innocent much like most “final girls” and Jade also carries within her a dreadful secret.The papers she writes for Mr. Holmes to receive extra credit so she can still graduate are all devoted to slasher movies. Jones’ omniscient narrator and Jade throughout the novel provide a primer on slasher movies with frequent mention of and discussions about film titles and content. Some of Jones’ references, however, are subtle, but to fans of the genre, they are readily identifiable. However, even dedicated slasher film fans are likely to add titles of films they need to see or re-watch from reading MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW.With the deaths of Sven and Lotte along with an ever-growing list of victims, Jade has the confirmation she has long perceived—Proofrock is about to become front and center in a real-life slasher film with grisly horrors fast approaching. Adding further validation to Jade’s theory and worse of all—what could be better timing and a more ideal setting for a slasher attack than a Fourth of July celebration in which the entire town participates. It is an annual Proofrock celebration and fast approaching.As Jade attempts to “train” Letha to become a “final girl,” the two are plunged deeper into a world of terror and personal peril which Jones masterfully relates. The author deftly builds suspense in MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW and if possible, the novel takes on a darker and darker tone, growing deadlier teeth, as it becomes more and macabre. Amazingly, with all of the nightmarishness, Jones utilizes Jade and her at times flippant attitude to add touches of sardonic humor throughout. Jones also makes sure his readers never lose sight of the humanity involved as well as the motivation behind the ever-growing number of deaths in his story. His messages regarding American life today and poverty never become intrusive or moralizing.Readers who patiently follow the plot of MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW and its growing intensity with anxiety are treated to a tremendous climax during the town’s Independence Day celebration. Ironically, part of the town’s celebration includes a yearly outdoor showing of the movie JAWS, a film Jade explains earlier is a slasher film at heart. Jones pulls out all of the stops as chaos reigns in the water in the projected movie, just as does blood, killing, and a bountiful supply of gore in Indian Lake itself.True to the tradition of slasher films, the nerve-wracking bedlam which takes place in Indian Lake is followed by an even more potent, personal show-down between good and evil. The conclusion of MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW is tremendously successful and unforgettable.Stephen Graham Jones follows the story with a most heart-felt and insightful Acknowledgements in which he gives thanks to numerous people for aiding in the completion of MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW and why. He also informs readers the novel was ten years in the making, having undergone a number of total rewrites until a satisfactory story was given birth. The effort put into MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW is most evident throughout. Readers will be pleased.

It seems lately that a lot of authors and filmmakers are interested in producing not only horror stories, but specifically self-aware or self-referential meta-horror. This is no exception. However, while I largely feel like that trend has worn itself out despite being interesting in the beginning, this particular book stands out from the crowd in all the right ways.The main character, Jade, is a psychologically complicated horror fan who believes she sees the beginnings of the "slasher cycle" in her small town. Told from her point of view, the story allows us to see inside the workings of a slasher story from the perspective of a horror fan well-versed in all the tropes and yet somehow directly involved in the story. Horror fans will find the constant references to slasher movies, new and old, popular and obscure, fascinating and entertaining (though if you're a stickler about spoilers, be warned that the book does give away a few of the endings of said horror movies). But what's even more important is that this format allows us to get a look inside the main character's mind, and she's a fascinatingly complicated person. Deeply flawed (as she admits herself several times throughout the narrative) yet nevertheless likable and often relatable.The plot has plenty of red herrings and takes plenty of turns, to the point that even a slasher fan like myself (or, indeed, like the main character) can't figure it out until we're meant to, which is a towering accomplishment in a genre that, let's face it, often skews toward the formulaic. Stephen Graham Jones has a talent for exploiting those formulae to subvert our expectations, and it makes this book not only a great horror novel but a thrilling mystery.It does take a little while for the plot to really get going, but that's not a problem here because the character study that dominates much of the book's length is gripping throughout. However, in an attempt to plug the reader directly into the character's mind, the book is written in a stream of consciousness style that won't be to everyone's taste. I mostly found it stylistically elegant, though even I struggled to keep caught up with a couple of the twists and turns in the main character's inner monologue. Others will likely find the style distracting. Even if you find yourself in that camp, though, you really ought to read the book anyway, because the plot and characters are well worth it.And the final reveal--or at least part of the final reveal--will send chills down your spine, especially once you start to reflect on some of the earlier passages in light of the new information. This is a psychologically deep (and sometimes devastating) book that belongs in the library of any horror fan.

‘My Heart is a Chainsaw’ is the latest from Stephen Graham Jones, the Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction.Last year I read his ‘The Only Good Indians’ and just loved it. So I was very excited for this novel, especially on learning that its premise was focused on slasher films.Jade Daniels is a half-Native American teenager living with her dad in Proofrock, a rapidly gentrifying rural lake town in Idaho. She is just one class away from graduating high school and in order to complete her local history course she is composing an epic essay on a unifying theory of slasher films. In it, she is incorporating local folklore and history including ‘Camp Blood’, an abandoned summer camp where a murderous rampage took place fifty years ago.When Letha Mondragon arrives at school, Jade identifies her as the Final Girl, a key component in slasher films, and is convinced than an irreversible sequence of events has been set into motion.As tourists go missing and tensions rise between her local community and the wealthy newcomers building mansions on the other side of Indian Lake, Jade is prepared for the killer to rise. She is convinced that it will all come to a head on the 4th July, when the town gathers on the water to celebrate. Of course, there are people in Jade’s life that question whether she is delusional or compensating for more mundane horrors.This is the second novel that I have read recently that focuses upon the concept of the ‘Final Girl’, a term that I hadn’t encountered before, even if it makes a great deal of sense as a major trope of the slasher genre.Following a shocking opening chapter this was more a slow burn character-led novel, which then switched gears for its breathtaking, extremely gory conclusion.Like Jade’s brain the novel was packed with references to slasher films. I caught quite a few, though by no means all.This was a great deal of fun, as only well written comic horror can be; though its more than ghost masks and big knives and also integrates themes such as alienation, racism, mental health, abuse, and other social issues including the town’s increasing economic divide.I enjoyed the time I spent with Jade, in many ways a kindred spirit to my teenage self. I was amused by the description of her fascination with Letha Mondragon’s ‘incredible’ hair at their first meeting. Throughout I admired her wry, snarky views on life and her undeniable courage.In his acknowledgments Stephen Graham Jones writes about the genesis of the novel and his own appreciation of the slasher genre.Overall, I found ‘My Heart is a Chainsaw’ very much my kind of horror novel. It is well written, literary, and multilayered: addressing serious issues while continuing to honour the traditions of its genre. It is genuinely frightening yet with dark humour and self-awareness running through it.Stephen Graham Jones has quickly become one of my ‘must read’ authors and I look forward to exploring his back catalogue as well as news of upcoming projects.Certainly highly recommended for fans of intelligent horror.

I'm 40 pages in to this and I'm giving up on it. Started off strong, first chapter is creepy and engrossing. Then we meet Jade. Probably the most irritating protagonist ever committed to page. An annoying teenager trying way too hard to be edgy. My only hope is that as the book progressed and the slasher arrived, Jade would be the first to meet his knife. There are much better horror books out there, don't waste your time on this dross.

This book is meant to be an ode to slasher movies. I have a soft spot for slashers because of their mixture of thrill and awkward meta-humour. I also grew up with Ghostface from Scream burned into my memory as the icon of horror movies. Therefore, I had high expectations for this book. It had a promising opening that kept me going for the whole book. I also did not dislike the main character as much as some of the reviewers. I actually quite enjoyed the twist on the classic white-dominated slasher and the social commentary that this offered. However, I found the constant referencing of slasher history and comparison to various movies very tiring after a while. I thought that this got in the way of the actual story. This may have been intentional, but I found it annoying to get so lost in the mix of movie references that I did not follow what was happening. After a quite arduous first half of the book, things picked up again later on. Yet, in sum, I think that this book is probably only for the very hardest of hard-core slasher fans.

As a die-hard slasher fan, whose copy of Carol Clover's 'Men, Women and Chainsaws' is well-thumbed I absolutely loved this book. But the word 'Heart' screams louder from these pages than 'Chainsaw'. It has real heart, and tragedy, and redemption and everything you would want from a book that really isn't a horror, but one girl's rites of passage to finding her truth. Jade is a complete anti-hero, and by complete I mean the done deal. Her story is heartbreaking, but her backbone is made of steel. Or maybe that should be iron. You don't need to be a slasher fan to read this book (it helps to get the in jokes and references, but for the purposes of telling her story, Jade will teach you everything you need to know). Brilliant.

This is a special book. Almost the book SGJ has built up to (maybe the double-header with The Only Good Indians), the slasher book, at least. It’s equal parts love letter, thrill ride, twisty-turny adventure, and blood splattered gorefest, all with a beating, churning chainsaw heart at its centre.Jade is a fascinatingly complex protagonist full of wit, slasher knowledge, and pain. This is her story, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.