My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Also by this author: Night of the Mannequins
Published by Titan Books Limited on 2021-09
Pages: 448
Goodreads
Jade is the town outcast. She refuses to comply with social norms; she regularly dyes her hair with shoe polish and food dye. She lives with her father, an abusive alcoholic from the Blackfeet tribe. Her mother, white, left the family and now works at the local dollar store. Completely devoid of friends, no one at school notices her absence following a suicide attempt. The one class holding her back from graduation is a local history course. In order to bring up her grade, she writes a series of essays relating local lore and history to that of slasher films, her passion. The town has a tragic past; fifty years ago a murderous rampage took place at Camp Blood, an abandoned summer camp.
When she returns, she learns of the murder of two tourists, their bodies found in Indian Lake. A new wealthy neighborhood is developed across the lake on land that was once sacred. As the tension between the local community and the wealthy newcomers intensifies, so does the body count. Jade is convinced she's caught up in the middle of a real-life slasher film.
The authorities won't listen to Jade; they all know well of her obsession with horror movies. Jade knows that in all slashers films, wrongs are always righted. Her fear is that everything will come to a horrific conclusion on July 4th, when the town typically celebrates the holiday on the lake. The last ingredient for the perfect slasher film is achieved when a new rich girl moves to the exclusive wealthy neighborhood across the lake. The town now has its final girl.
What a brilliantly crafted homage to slasher films!
This may be my favorite of Jones’ novels. His books aren’t ones that I recommend to everyone. Sure, on the surface it seems like just another piece of slasher fiction. Beneath, however, is a deep and resounding message about a host of what I’d consider real-life monsters.
Jade is a well-crafted character who goes through tremendous growth and self-reflection. How can you not like her? She loves horror movies; her knowledge of the canon of slasher films is endless. Yet, you also see there is something beneath that hard exterior. A vulnerable core that is traumatized, hiding from reality and discovery.
Jade’s obsession and attempt to dissect slasher films is her own means of dealing with the horrors she lives with everyday. Discrimination, abuse, alcoholism…these are the real monsters in Jade’s life. It isn’t until she’s able to accept the existence of these monsters that she s able to fight the battle raging on right before her.
Yes, it’s gory; all slasher films are. But take a moment to look at what is beneath it all, to step back and allow your mind to get past the blood and the gore and see the wrong(s) that need righted. Only then will you be able to embrace the power between the pages of this phenomenal book.
Highly, highly recommended…with warnings, of course.
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