My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

My Heart Is a Chainsaw

by Stephen Graham Jones

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel

In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest chilling novel that “will give you nightmares. The good kind, of course” (BuzzFeed) from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

“Some girls just don’t know how to die…”

Shirley Jackson meets Friday the 13th in My Heart Is a Chainsaw, written by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians Stephen Graham Jones, called “a literary master” by National Book Award winner Tananarive Due and “one of our most talented living writers” by Tommy Orange.

Alma Katsu calls My Heart Is a Chainsaw “a homage to slasher films that also manages to defy and transcend genre.” On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life.

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges…a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body. My Heart Is a Chainsaw is her story, her homage to horror and revenge and triumph.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4 of 5 stars

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Yes, please! Stephen Graham Jones is back with another captivating horror novel, and we all know what that means! Time to dive back in with My Heart Is a Chainsaw.

Jade Daniels is an outcast with a desperate need for refuge. She's running from her father, her history, her town, and more – right into the arms of horror movies. At first, that refuge in the arms of horror movies feels figurative, but it doesn't take long before it becomes more literal, as the town seeps red.

This is the story of how Jade Daniels embraced horror movies as her savior, her damnation. Her victory. Her revenge. Her story.

"Some girls just don't know how to die..."

I'm sitting here, having finished My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and just trying to absorb the absolute ride I was just thrown into. To whoever promised me that My Heart Is a Chainsaw was a novel for horror fans – you were not kidding.

This novel is very much an homage to slasher films. While you don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre, it certainly wouldn't hurt here! Jade lives and breathes slasher flicks, and it shows through on each page.

"Outside of Leprechaun 6, has there even been a black final girl before? Usually in slashers, the black girls are the friends - - Scream 2, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. And that they're in the part 2's means they're a response, a bandaid."

My Heart Is a Chainsaw has been described as a love letter to horror fans. But it's also more than that – so much more than that. Once again, Stephen Graham Jones has woven fiction with scathing commentary on history. This novel is very much a critique of American colonialism and gentrification. It hits hard – just as it was intended to.

I honestly don't think I've ever seen anyone weaponize subtext in the way that Stephen Graham Jones does. It's...amazing doesn't feel like a strong enough description here. His writing hits you in the face...and then you stop to think about it, and it hits you in the heart. It's such an experience, one that I don't think I can accurately describe.

It's amazing how perfect the lens of horror films is for the message Stephen Graham Jones incorporated here. It's like two halves finally meeting. It's magical, intense, harrowing, and blinding, all in one.

Thanks to Gallery, Saga Press, and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 15 August, 2021: Finished reading
  • 15 August, 2021: Reviewed