I loved the slower pace of My Heart is a Chainsaw, but this one was a bit more my style! It was still so fantastically interesting and gruesome, and the commentary and discussions were brilliant. All the stars, always!

At its most efficient horror is magical realism. You recognize the characters, the scenarios, maybe even the scenery as genuine and relatable—everything except that one pesky element, be it a demon or a vampire or a slasher there to throw a bloody spanner in the proverbial works. I can think of no better illustration of this than the final act of Stephen Graham Jones’ 2021 novel My Heart Is a Chainsaw.

Chainsaw‘s gory payoff takes place during sleepy Proofrock, Idaho’s annual Independence Day showing of Jaws. Here a waterfront viewing of the Spielberg classic devolves into an all-out slaughter at the hands of a horror film hat-trick; the supernatural Stacey Graves emerges to lay waste to the community that shunned her, land developer Theo Mondragon goes to monstrous lengths to cover up a series of all-too-mundane murders of his own, and protagonist Jade Daniels is able to dispatch her abusive father in the chaos.

Jones’ follow-up, Don’t Fear the Reaper, picks up four years after the Independence Day Massacre. Despite video evidence implicating her in the murder of Tab Daniels, Jade (now Jennifer) Daniels is found not guilty, and, having nowhere else to turn, makes her way back to Proofrock.

There she finds the town not quite as she left it. Sheriff Hardy—who along with murdered history teacher Mr. Holmes formed a sort of surrogate support system for Jennifer in the previous novel—has stepped down from his post, a literally diminished man after left-threatening injuries sustained during the massacre. Her friend and fellow final girl Letha Mondragon, now a wife and mother, also barely survived her encounter with the Lake Witch, and now carries all the requisite scars (physical and psychological) inherent in that post.

Despite the abandonment of the neighboring Terra Nova development, though, this Proofrock is a more bustling take on the one-horse town setting of My Heart Is a Chainsaw—due in no small part to an influx of families more than willing to ignore the slayings to take advantage of the free college tuition offered to Proofrock’s high school graduates.

If that sort of willful ignorance, that innately human ability to ignore barely buried trauma, was mostly hinted at in Chainsaw, it’s on full display in Reaper. Here the entire community is happy to hand-wave away all the unpleasantness of but four short years prior in the name of little more than self-preservation.

And, of course, like all good sequels, this book is more than happy to pile on new characters, new lore, and new threats. At first, these seem to take the form of Dark Mill South, a serial killer (the titular reaper) who conveniently escapes custody just as blizzard conditions further isolate the people of Proofrock from any outside assistance, but, Stephen Graham Jones being Stephen Graham Jones, there’s a certain amount of misdirection inherent in this larger-than-life madman.

Initially more than happy to shed her previous creepy girl persona and ignore the obvious horror movie references of the novel’s first few kills herself, Jennifer relies even more on Letha, who seems to have taken up the mantle of the town’s ever-vigilant slasher aficionado. Thankfully, by the second act, Jennifer is back to being the Jade we all know and love, her encyclopedic knowledge of VHS-error boogiemen still intact.

Like Chainsaw before it, Don’t Fear the Reaper trades not only in old-school slasher references but in the trappings of related media, like the lingering mystery of the classic whodunit and the eerie ambivalence of the Italian Giallo (whose gloved killers did a lot of the heavy lifting for the proto-slasher archetype). Returning characters/survivors like the Baker twins (Cinnamon and Ginger), Galatea Pangborne, and even former frenemy/current deputy Banner Tompkins help fill out the cast, but newcomers such as the aforementioned Dark Mill South more than hold their own against these known quantities.

Jones particularly uses newbie Mr. Armitage to great effect. Ostensibly the town’s replacement history teacher, he’s no Mr. Holmes, even though he entertains the same sort of extra credit assignments that brought the Mr. Holmes/Jade Daniels dynamic to the forefront of the previous novel. (Read: elaborate treatise on horrors both fictional and functional.)

This time the “Horror 102” content is explored through the lens of Gal Pangborne, one of the massacre’s youngest survivors looking to make a little sense of all that senseless slaughter. However, given that Armitage is, a) a horror nut drawn specifically to the town’s dark history, and, b) an unseemly predator of a different type, these asides come across as more clinical, robbed of much of the underlying warmth of Jade’s previous missives.

Despite threats from all sides and red herrings galore, Don’t Fear the Reaper keeps its horrors rooted firmly in reality until pretty late in the game. Just as the late-chapter reveal of the Lake Witch served to ratchet up the impact of her story, Reaper‘s supernatural twist also punches above its weight class. It’s a nice callback to some established Proofrock history that blends seamlessly with the author’s brand of eerie folk horror.

In the end, Don’t Fear the Reaper didn’t displace My Heart Is a Chainsaw as my favorite Stephen Graham Jones book, but it’s a creepy companion piece that, like any slasher sequel worth its salt, knows when to lean into its established tropes and when to swing for the fences. There are, for example, the requisite awkward adolescent sexuality and clueless adults, but when the former weaves in canonical queer representation and the latter has the outright gall to paint last season’s final girl as this season’s self-deluded grownup, you’re reminded why the genre (in written or visual form) always manages to endure.

Like The Empire Strikes Back before it, Don’t Fear the Reaper is a grim and challenging middle chapter. By its conclusion, when all the dirty laundry has been aired and all those narrative twists pounded flat, we’re again left with Jade getting far less than what she rightly deserves. But what else could we expect?

As a woman, as a Native American, as an abuse survivor, as just another daughter of the impoverished middle-of-nowhere that this Idaho town represents, Jade Daniels is everyone who’s ever been left behind. And yet we hold out hope because, if you’ve ever ticked any related outsider boxes yourself, Jade’s success, no matter how minor or transitory, is your success—it’s a win for the whole damn team.

I can’t imagine what the final volume of the Indian Lake Trilogy will hold for our luckless protagonist, but just as Jade’s own mother, a woman previously defined by her outright inability to support and protect her only daughter, earns a modicum of redemption in Reaper‘s bloody resolution, I’m holding out hope that Jade or Jennifer or whoever she has become by the story’s end will, at last, be accepted as the hero we readers already know she is.

Access to an uncorrected reader’s proof of Don’t Fear the Reaper was provided for the purposes of this review. This post contains affiliate links. The saw is family!

Thoughts.

While I did like the first one, I think this one was better. It was really great. As with the first it is perfect for anyone who loves slasher films. They are referenced throughout in order to figure out how to defeat the slasher in this book.

But like a true horror buff Jones knows that horror is more about the surface. So there is social commentary as well. As it does talk about the residential schools that Native children were subjected to.

If you are a horror movie fan I definitely recommend this series.

I was really excited to revisit Proofrock in <i>Don't Fear the Reaper</i>. The first book in this trilogy, <i>My Heart is a Chainshaw</i>, was a wild ride—such a deep dive into the mind of a character that is absolutely obsessed with the slasher genre. Unfortunately, <i>Don't Fear the Reaper</i> was missing some of the magic of the first book.

This book switches up perspectives, following different characters' experiences in each chapter. This approach left me feeling less connected than in the first book, where I was 100% invested in Jade's train of thought and motivation.

I also had difficulty following the plot at times. The plot felt meandering and perhaps overly long. When combined with Stephen Graham Jones' writing style that often requires the reader to fill in the blanks, leaving things unsaid though implied, I found myself rereading paragraphs and pages to try to understand what was happening. I, personally, have to either entirely let go or <i>really</i> concentrate for this writing style to land.

While <i>Don't Fear the Reaper</i> was maybe a miss for me, you know I'm picking up the third in this trilogy. Can't miss out on the exciting conclusion! 💀

Note: This is the second volume of “The Indian Lake Trilogy.” If you have not read the first volume, I suggest reading
It — “My Heart is a Chainsaw.”

Jade Daniels has gone back to her name Jennifer Daniels. She is no longer Jade. Returning to Proofrock from prison, she meets a friend former Sheriff Hardy. It’s an awkward moment but then it’s okay. Hardy calls for his ride home and has Jennifer go back with him to Proofrock.. Banner driving to get Hardy can’t believe Jade/Jennifer is with him. He drops her off in Proofrock where she goes to see Letha. Jennifer is trying to put her past behind her but Dark Mill South, serial killer has escaped and has started fis killings again. While bodies pile up again Jennifer savvy kicks in. She must once again get her friends and authorities again using her familiarity with cinematic slaughter to save them all from dying. Even though she knows the movies (with slaughter) so does the killer. Will Jennifer be successful in saving the community of Proofrock?

The author cleverly blends graveyard humor with unnerving suspense. He gives the characters in the novel distinctive personalities. I love the suspenseful horror novel — it kept me on the edge of my seat. His horror heroine
is terrific. The author has become my favorite horror writer. I look forward to reading the third volume and other novels he writes.

Let me just preface this by saying that I tend to have a terrible memory when it comes to books in a series. And since I read My Heart is a Chainsaw a few years ago, I don’t remember a lot from it.

Did I reread it before I read this book? No, I did not. Instead I just used context clues to try to figure out what was happening. Did it work? I mean, kind of? I should’ve reread My Heart is a Chainsaw but it’s fine.

I did love this book regardless. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and, y’all, it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!!

This book made my horror loving heart so happy!!! It was essentially a love letter to classic horror films, particularly slashers, and that’s something I always love to see! There were so many film and character references. This was an absolute horror pop culture DREAM!

I loved the characters. The twists were EXCELLENT! The snowy setting was just perfect (but made me wish I had read this earlier in the week when I was actually snowed in). And the horror was on point!!

Stephen Graham Jones does it again!! I cannot get enough of his books and I am already eagerly awaiting the last book in this series. Though I will definitely be rereading this book and My Heart is a Chainsaw before that release! (I’ll have to pick up physical copies of both!)

If you’re also a horror fan, please check out this series! It is EXCELLENT! And I think I liked this one even more than the first? (But also terrible memory?) They are both amazing!!! Definitely worth the read!!!

And thank you to NetGalley & Gallery Books for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

(4.5 stars rounded up to 5)

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones is a literary horror thriller and the second book in the Lake Witch trilogy.

I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over fifteen hours and is narrated by a full cast including Isabella Star LaBlanc and fifteen others. While the first book in the series has a singular point-of-view, this installment is heavily multi-POV.

Jade--now going by her birth name Jennifer--Daniels has returned to her hometown of Proofrock after her murder conviction was overturned. Convicted serial killer Dark Mill South has also found himself in town, after escaping from his prison transfer during a blizzard. Over the next day and a half, many bodies hit the floor and Jade and her friends must figure out what is happening.

Please read the first book in this trilogy, My Heart is a Chainsaw before picking this one up. Jones mentions in his Acknowledgements that he looked to The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back to figure out how to craft the middle part of a trilogy and I think he landed that pretty well.

SGJ is an amazing observational writer. He has such a way with descriptions that I feel I can nearly see a perfect image in my head while I am reading. I was pleased that this book also contains interludes with essays written by a student to their history teacher, a lovely reference to a similar plot device in the first book.

And boy oh boy, the themes in this book. There's a focus on trauma, and how differently people process it (or specifically do not process it and just ignore it). There's the usual examples of humans also being monsters, and a hefty dose of trope subversion.

The only downsides to this one is that in part due to the many POVs the plot was a little confusing to me at times. The first book in the series meandered a bit, but was a great character study of Jade, especially when it picked up in the back half of the novel. Similarly, the back half of this one also picks up the thread a bit more, with an almost manic dash to the end that keeps up.

If you're a fan of the slasher genre, you might like this series!

Tropes in this book include: slashers, local legends, revenge plot, isolation in blizzard

CW: blood, gore, murder, firearms, implied abuse, body horror, body fluids

Just finished this one and OH. MY. GAWD! DONT FEAR THE REAPER was just perfection in every sense of the word. Jade is complex and bada**. The supporting characters were so exceptionally written and the story was just *chefs kiss* Can’t wait for the 3rd book in this series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jade is back! My Heart is a Chainsaw was so much fun, a crash course in horror icons, tropes, and movies. I was really excited for the sequel. In Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones continues his master class on horror, seamlessly weaving it in with Jade sharp, humorous observations. Jade and Letha together were excellent.

Stephen Graham Jones continues his legacy of writing beautiful slashers. I'm a librarian who is an advocate for the horror genre. I booktalk it as a countercultural movement that takes the same emotional, thematic, and heavy messages we get in capital-L Literature and packages them in a way that says "this is for everyone." Stephen Graham Jones makes my job easy. His books are fun and entertaining, and they will absolutely twist your soul with their powerful themes. I recommend his work often, and I can't wait for those library patrons who enjoyed My Heart is a Chainsaw to come in and pick this up, so we can chat about it at the service desk.

Very gory just like the first novel. Once you get past the gore I really like the story though. Very creepy novels!

I'm not normally a fan of horror, but this series has a hold on me! I found Don't Fear the Reaper to be really entertaining, clever, engaging, and terrifying (obviously). I do wish I had more knowledge of horror movies, because then I'd appreciate the references more.

I was slightly confused by some parts of the plot, but I think that's because I listened to the audio. For the next book in the trilogy, I'll read a physical copy so I can refer back to certain elements.

Overall, a strong Book 2 in this horror trilogy!

Thanks to Gallery Books for the gifted copy.

My heart is a chainsaw was awesome and I am so glad to follow these characters again. Jones writing is unparalleled and will stick with you for a long time. This is a must read from this author. Another winner!!!

4.5/5 stars! This is a dark horror story, a sequel to the author's "Don't Fear the Reaper," I really enjoyed this story. It is a twisted serial killer story and the consequences of the next round of murders in this small town. I found the writing to be a little dense at times, but overall I found it to be deeply and darkly satisfying. Jones does a phenomenal job of mixing the horror elements with the psychology of why killers do what they do. I will be reading more books from this author in the future.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was so action packed and gory - exactly what you'd expect from a slasher!

It did an excellent job recapping the events of the first book which I really did need since I listened to the first one on audio. You would think that doing two slashers would be hard because how many times could you read about someone being torn apart.... Many many times in the answer.

The ending was a bit unsatisfying for me, but Stephan Graham Jones is well on his way to being a favorite author of mine.

The writing was fantastic, the characters were fantastic, and the body horror made me feel sick to my stomach.

Proofrock, Idaho, is a small town marred by tragedy. The Independence Day Massacre that concluded My Heart is a Chainsaw, the first novel of Graham’s Indian Lake Trilogy, claimed more than a dozen lives. Eyewitness accounts of the chaos differed dramatically, but misfit high school senior Jennifer “Jade” Daniels found herself saddled with at least some of the blame. Volume 2 of the trilogy, Don’t Fear the Reaper begins four years after the bloodbath. Released from prison after a mistrial, Jennifer returns to the only home she’s ever known. While deep in her heart she knows that the nightmare isn’t over, that a legendary threat remains at large, she yearns to put the past behind her. But small towns have long memories, and everywhere she turns she finds herself confronted by the scarred and the grieving. Complicating matters even further is that her slouching return coincides with the blizzard-aided escape of Dark Mill South, an enigmatic serial killer hoping to add a few more bodies to his count.

Winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a Novel, My Heart is a Chainsaw introduced readers to Jade Daniels, an angry and rebellious half-Indian girl with an encyclopedic knowledge of slasher movies. While much of the first book centered on her use of horror flick trivia to recognize and deal with a lethal menace in her hometown, it was also an achingly empathetic portrait of a deeply hurt and isolated young woman trying to make her way in an insular community that didn’t seem to have any place for her. She is, as Jones aptly sums up, a girl whose feelings are too big for her body. Don’t Fear the Reaper presents a slightly matured version of Jones’ Final Girl. She prefers to be called Jennifer now, not Jade. And after living through a very real nightmare, scary movies have lost their luster. Despite her attempts to move on, however, to the citizens of Proofrock she’s still the same old Jade. Circumstances also conspire to mire her in the past, as once again she finds herself in a real-life horror movie where knowing the tropes and rules of the game can mean the difference between living to see another day and joining the rapidly expanding ranks of the dead. Burying the past is a luxury she may not have.

Not only does Jennifer remain a captivating heroine, Jones extends his empathy to the surrounding cast of characters as well. Where the first book dealt with one traumatized girl, Don’t Fear the Reaper shows us a traumatized community. Horror movies usually end with the monster’s death, we’re spared the aftermath. But Proofrock is a small town. The loss of so many during the Independence Day Massacre is still keenly felt years later, and to each other the survivors are living reminders of the tragedy. The former sheriff now relies on a walker. The town beauty struggles with an ongoing regimen of prescription medications and reconstructive surgeries. Not all of the characters whose minds we’re invited into are sympathetic, some are fairly reprehensible, but Jones doesn’t play favorites. He makes us understand their motives, their regrets, their aspirations. (And then has them murdered in graphic, inventive ways worthy of the best slasher films.) For this reader, the humanity with which the characters are portrayed was the highlight of the book.

Both volumes share masterful characterization, but Don’t Fear the Reaper differs significantly from its predecessor in terms of pacing. Much of My Heart is a Chainsaw is a slow burn, but this follow- up volume is remarkably compressed. Excluding flashbacks, postscripts, and other asides, the heart of the book takes place in a matter of hours. The struggle for survival is absolutely relentless. Where before Dark Mill South’s killings may have been serial in nature—with victims separated by time and geography—when he arrives in Proofrock he launches an all-out spree. Cut off from the outside world by inclement weather, with power and phone lines failing, the residents of town find themselves immersed in a new massacre, one that many are fatally oblivious that is even occurring.

While Dark Mill South displays a degree of fortitude worthy of movie slashers Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, as in My Heart is a Chainsaw many of the supernatural elements mentioned in Don’t Fear the Reaper remain tantalizing, more often hinted at than foregrounded. Not all of our narrators are reliable, and quite frequently these witnesses are amped up on adrenaline or mortally wounded during their brushes the otherworldly. During these passages, Jones switches to a more gauzy, impressionistic style that requires one to read between the lines. It seems that there are phantasmal elements in play even beyond the legendary Lake Witch described in the first volume. Questions remain unanswered, but the dots the reader are given to connect have begun taking on an intriguing shape.

Like Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, Stephen Graham Jones balances serious literary chops with an unashamed love of genre fiction. Both My Heart is a Chainsaw and earlier stand-alone novel The Only Good Indians (2020) have attracted accolades both within and outside the horror fiction community, and Don’t Fear the Reaper seems destined to enjoy the same recognition. It’s a satisfying follow-up that leaves one exhilarated and excited for the trilogy’s conclusion. Part of me wonders if three volumes is enough, however. As any scary movie fan can tell you, the best franchises have a habit of outgrowing trilogies.

Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult…strike that…Stephen Graham Jones is the sequel to Jones’ 2021 slasher novel My Heart is a Chainsaw from @sagasff . I received an eARC from the publisher through @netgalley but I also bought three print copies (two of which are signed) plus the audiobook and pre-ordered the @sstpublications signed and numbered edition…all opinions are my own. My Heart is a Chainsaw was one of my favorite books of 2021, if not of all time. It’s the story of Jade Daniels, a high school student in Proofrock Idaho who’s obsessed with slashers and interprets the changing landscape of her community, as well as the events of her life, through the lens of her encyclopedic cinematic knowledge. Before continuing, I think it’s helpful to consider that this trilogy is not Jones’ first slasher story (see The Last Final Girl 2012) nor was Chainsaw the only major horror novel of the sub-genre released that year (see The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix). Novels paying homage to decades-old gory killing spree movies are perhaps horror fiction’s answer to the popularity of true crime podcasts as well as perennially popular mystery, thriller, and legal books found in bookstores, airports, and libraries across America. Slashers are very much of the literary zeitgeist, and with Chainsaw Dr. Jones has delivered one of the finest contributions in recent memory. Having written such an excellent, and basically resolved book, it therefore seemed surprising to me that he decided to pen a sequel (in what is slated to be a trilogy.) But much like Jason’s sudden aquatic entrance in F13, this surprise is most welcome. I’d be lying if I said I liked this book as much as it’s progenitor, but it’s still pretty dang good. Many of my favorite characters from Chainsaw return and are joined by new cast members as a terrifying slasher enters the scene. Dark Mill South is a figure fit for haunting Freddy’s nightmares. Jones has crafted a great premise, even if it is occasionally bogged down by changing POVs from chapter to chapter, and the overall quantity of characters and plot lines that, when compounded by SGJ’s challenging prose, left this reader sometimes lost. Still, it’s chilling book with tons of meta slasher references for the initiated. At first I felt like Jones was trying to recapture or even out do his prior effort, but isn’t that the way of the genre? Be it Friday, or Halloween, or Scream, or any other slasher series…isn’t the convention more gore, more scares, more characters, more…of what made the original a success combined with references and homages to other great works of the genre? Jones has written a great slasher sequel that might or might not surpass Chainsaw, but is a worthy successor. It’s got a great ending that makes the series feel like a duology, but the good news is there’s more to come. I’m throughly looking forward to Indian Lake number 3! Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️#dontfearthereaper #bookstagram #bookreview #horror #stephengrahamjones #myheartisachainsaw #netgalley #slasher

Some of the issues I had from the first book in this series really came out more in this one, IMO. The author's writing style is kind of hard for me to latch onto and really get invested in. The plot and characters for most of the book felt so distant to me, so I found myself not excited to pick up the book. Overall, though, I thought the story was interesting, and I'll probably read the third one in the trilogy.

Jade Daniels returns to Proofrock after four long years, but she's not going to catch a break.

Stephen Graham Jones is quickly becoming one of my favorite horror writers. His style is incredibly unique. He keeps you on your toes and devouring each page, the urgency to get through to the other side of the story is tangible.

Don't Fear the Reaper may be a sequel but it's stronger than the first, in my opinion. It encompasses more of the classic slasher vibe. It was like revisiting an old friend, catching up on their stories and experiences that have occured since your last visit. It was faster paced than the first and it was even more disgusting, a perfect balance. A perfect wintery gorefest for all who enjoy the genre. I cannot wait for the third book in this trilogy!

I want to thank NetGalley, Stephen Graham Jones, and Simon and Schuster Canada for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love Stephen Graham jones. He really bring stories to life and has such a unique way of telling them. I was so excited to get this arc and wasn’t disappointed.