MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW is Stephen Graham Jones’ big wet literary kiss to the splatter film. While many of us who worship at its crimson-stained altar may have been invited to services by the early works of Stephen King, what has kept our posteriors on the benches have been cinematic franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and their sisters and cousins that have been produced by the dozens in sporadic waves.

There is yet another renewal of interest in this genre, thanks to streaming services and the horrors outside the door as well as within. The maw must be fed, and there are plenty of farmers, if you will. Jones provides a guidebook in the form of a coming-of-age story merged with a cinematic history lesson that works quite well, even if it takes a while for the engine to warm up.

"Jones takes the reader on a nightmarish rollercoaster of mayhem through the final fourth of the book, with a couple of corkscrew surprises and some unexpected heroics before bringing the proceedings to a close."

The book begins in fine enough form, introducing Sven and Lotte, a pair of tourists visiting the United States whose triptych abruptly ends in Indian Lake outside of Proofrock, Idaho. We witness their fate, though we don’t quite understand it. Jones then turns the narrative over to Jade Daniels, an extremely troubled 17-year-old girl who is on the cusp of graduating from high school if she can get her history assignments completed to the satisfaction of her teacher, Mr. Holmes, a tough but fair instructor who isn’t giving anything away but isn’t creating obstacles for her, either. He is one of the few people in her life who is helpful; her upbringing has been quietly horrific in an unspeakable manner.

It is no wonder that Jade is obsessed with horror films, given their twin motifs of violence and revenge. Her encyclopedic knowledge of such matters gives her a leg up when it appears that a serial/mass killer is operating around Proofrock and is getting ready for a huge grand finale to coincide with their Fourth of July celebration. Jade is sure that a series of apparently accidental but grisly deaths associated with Terra Nova, a new and exclusive development being constructed on what is becoming the upscale side of Indian Lake, is the work of a spree killer.

However, Jade’s well-known obsession makes it difficult for anyone --- except for one surprising ally --- to take her seriously. She is right about the killer, of course, given the nature of this story. It’s the “who” that she ultimately has trouble identifying. As it turns out, that foreknowledge isn’t going to be much help. Jones takes the reader on a nightmarish rollercoaster of mayhem through the final fourth of the book, with a couple of corkscrew surprises and some unexpected heroics before bringing the proceedings to a close.

Fans of horror cinema will find much to love here. Jade’s narrative is almost better described as a stream of consciousness, one in which she links obscure films with their later, better-known counterparts while taking a splatterpunk scholar approach to pointing out the common elements --- some obvious, some not so much --- that link almost each and every movie. This is undoubtedly interesting, but occasionally drags the plot down to the extent that one might be forgiven for entertaining the urge to skip ahead to the next reel/chapter to see if things pick up.

That said, there is plenty here to hold your interest. It is one of those books that, with a bit of selective editing, would work really well as a streaming service movie, and I mean that as a high compliment. Jade might well be the next Laurie. If you don’t know what that means, read MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW and find out.