My Heart Is a Chainsaw

Rating: 4.5/5 Knives

What if all of the slasher movies you’ve watched were a survival guide for when a killer descends on your town? That’s just what happens to Jade Daniels, a high school senior who’s obsessed with horror novels, in My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. Jade suspects a slasher will appear in her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho. So when a new student, who’s clearly the final girl who can stop the slasher, joins her school, Jade is relieved. Jade is an expert on horror movies and knows how the slasher can be defeated, so she needs to give Letha horror history lessons so she’s equipped to stop whatever is haunting Proofrock.

But it soon becomes clear that Jade is battling her own demons. Will anyone in Proofrock who can do something to stop people from dying actually listen to Jade? Or is her obsession with a Proofrock killer just a desperate cry for help? 

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is full of heart (and chainsaws, as promised in the title). Jade initially seems obsessed with horror movies, writing extra credit papers for her history teacher about slasher movies. But her obsession becomes endearing. Jade’s mom is mostly out of the picture, her dad seems, at best, ambivalent about her, and she doesn’t have many friends, so scary movies are Jade’s closest companions.

The beauty of My Heart Is a Chainsaw lies in Jones’ ability to tell a creepy slasher story while simultaneously telling Jade’s coming-of-age story. Jade comes to terms with the town police and other adults in charge refusing to do anything to stop pain and suffering (a common slasher trope), and this failure is mirrored by Jade’s parents. Jones tells the story as though it were a slasher, but then he subverts frequent slasher themes to tell a story full of depth and nuance. s

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a must-read for any fans of slasher films. Jones references a lot of slasher and horror movies, so in addition to being a great story, it’s a mini slasher history class. (And you’ll likely come away from this book with a long list of movies to watch.)

Anyone who likes slasher stories and/or stories with heart needs to read My Heart Is a Chainsaw.

PS-I’m a big baby and this book’s acknowledgements made me tear up. Jones thanks his wife and says, “My heart is a chainsaw, yes, but you’re the one who starts it.” Someone must be cutting onions on this blog post.