Reviews

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

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mattcolewilson's review

4.0

I’ve let this sit with me for a couple of days, so I’ve rewritten my review to be more nuanced and concise. I’m giving this four stars because I really like Stephen Graham Jones and I want this book to succeed. But that missing fifth star is a big one.

The book does some interesting things, especially with the “final girl” trope. But the story is weighed down and bloated by the frequent references to slasher movies. At first, the constant namedropping is a little charming. When it works, it serves as a meta-commentary on the genre’s tropes while fleshing out the protagonist. But more often than not, the references are too frequent and lack substance.

I doubt my complaints about this are universal. It seems that a lot of people enjoy seeing direct references to other pop culture. (I’m thinking about the popularity of Ready Player One, which I haven’t read because it sounds terrible.) But in my experience, this almost always pulls focus and comes across as either pandering or as constantly checking the reader’s credentials.

This is in contrast to Mongrels, which completely opened my eyes to a a sub-genre that I didn’t really care about. I had previously thought that werewolf stories were a little silly, but I came out the other side of that book with a whole new and deep appreciation for the genre. I have a hard time thinking this book would do the same for someone who’s not already into slashers. And it may even come across as hostile to a complete newbie.

I’m also getting tired of meta-fiction in general. Subtle nods and "if you know, you know" moments are still great. But I no longer want to be nudged and winked at while trying to experience a story. Self-aware horror was at its best when it was novel and interesting. But now that it’s become the norm, where do we go from here?

I think there are many paths forward. In my opinion, the best way for an author to demonstrate their love and knowledge of a genre is to simply write a great piece of genre fiction. Luckily, Stephen Graham Jones does that almost every time.