Celestial | My Heart Is a Chainsaw (Indian Lake Trilogy...

My Heart Is a Chainsaw (Indian Lake Trilogy, The)

Stephen Graham Jones

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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.

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Posts about this title from Celestial

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 21

makeup and books tag! | GRWM and chat about reading

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 9 2025

my passion is just shouting horror books at you until you read them. do it.

📚 books mentioned: - Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker - Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury - Lakewood by Megan Giddings - Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine - Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark - House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland - Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros - The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin - My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones - Jackal by Erin E. Adams - The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi - Infested by Angel Luis Colón

thank you to MIRA/HPT Hive, Simon Teen, Sourcebooks, Inkyard Press, Scholastic, Bantam, and William Morrow for the gifted copies!

#horrorbooks #horrorbookrecs #besthorrorbooks #horrorbookrecommendations #SimonTeenInfluencer #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram #nycbookstagram @readmirabooks @htp_hive @simonteen @amistadbooks @orbitbooks_us @peachtreeteen @sourcebooks @tordotcompub @scholastic @riverheadbooks @sagapressbooks @ballantinebooks @williammorrowbooks @harpercollins @inkyardpress

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 28 2024

fall book recs

🍁🫣 🎃 two sets of fall book recs for two sets of fall book vibes!

my delightfully spooky bunnicula shirt was gifted from out of print!

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ash.reads.horror\ \ ash\ \ • Jul 8

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Are you feeling the heat? I know that where I live, Summer is here in full swing. I'm melting and wishing that fall weather was here already. \ \ While we're all withering under the sun's rays, I've put together a list of five different horror subgenres with some book recs in each that are perfect to read this time of year.\ \ So stay inside, pour yourself an ice-cold drink, and gulp down these books!\ \ Folk Horror \ \ \ \ Photo Credit\ \ Folk horror is perfect for almost any time of the year! With rituals and folklore a plenty, these books will suck you into their pages.\ \ Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss-- A family reenacts the Iron Age deep in the wilderness where the past begins to bleed into the present.\ \ Monumental by Adam L.G. Nevill-- A group of kayakers enter forbidden land and stumble upon an ancient sacrificial ritual.\ \ Withered Hill by David Barnett-- A woman wakes up in s small village with no memory of how she got there and finds out quickly that she can't leave.\ \ Double Walker by Michael W. Conrad-- A couple vacationing in Scotland experience a tragedy while on a hike in this chilling graphic novel. \ \ The Residents Of Honeysuckle Cottage by Elizabeth Davidson-- A couples fresh start to a remote cottage just outside a small village slowly turns into a nightmare.\ \ Slasher \ \ Photo Credits\ \ Is it truly summer if there isn't a slasher movie playing? Did you know that slasher horror books are so IN right now?\ \ My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones-- A teenage girl obsessed with slashers believes one is starting up in her small town. \ \ Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley-- A wellness retreat turns into a deadly slasher.\ \ Under The Blade by Matt Serafini--A woman who survived a summer camp massacre finally returns home after two decades on the anniversary of the slaying, awakening true evil once more. \ \ Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning-- A canceled sitcom star goes to an adult summer camp and gets trapped in the middle of a slasher.\ \ You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron-- A scare camp where guests pay to be scared turns into a real life horror movie.\ \ Ocean \ \ Photo Credits\ \ The ocean will cool you down as the summer sun beats on. Just don't let it devour you like these novels...\ \ Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant-- A research crew investigating the last location of a ship discovers deadly sirens.\ \ The Deep by Nick Cutter-- A man travels to the bottom of the Marianas Trench to a research facility to check on the scientists investigating the possible cure of a worldwide disease.\ \ Whalefall by Daniel Kraus-- A man dives into the ocean to search for his father's bones and gets swallowed by a whale.\ \ The Sea Hides It's Dead by Megan Bontrager-- A group of academics in an ancient sea cult get trapped in an underwater cave.\ \ Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield-- A woman comes back changed after being trapped deep underwater in a submarine for months.\ \ Theme Park \ \ Photo Credits\ \ Take a trip to an amusement park this summer and have a chilling time. \ \ Hide by Kiersten White-- A completion for a sum of money playing the game of hide and seek turns deadly if found.\ \ FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven-- A theme park gets hit by a hurricane and the employees trapped in the park quickly turn on one another. \ \ Shock Waves by Matt Kurtz-- An explosion near a theme park releases monsters upon the park.\ \ Ride or Die by Delilah S. Dawson-- A girl trying to impress a popular group of girls winds up in the abandoned part of an amusement park where she might ride to her death.\ \ A Cold Night For Alligators by Viggy Parr Hampton-- A determined CDC epidemiologist goes rogue to tackle a mysterious outbreak in Savannah, only to find himself entangled with a pair of urban explorers.\ \ Survival \ \ Photo Credits\ \ Fight for your life on your trip/vacation.\ \ The Ruins by Scott Smith-- A group of friends get trapped on ancient ruins and must fight for their lives.\ \ This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer-- A woman and her team discover an untouched cliff face and make it their mission to be the first to climb it.\ \ The Anomaly by Michael Rutger-- A tv show that focuses on hidden mysteries try to find a hidden cavern only to find it and get trapped within it.\ \ The Hunger by Alma Katsu-- A retelling of the fateful Donner Party.\ \ The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn--A group of friends get trapped in a cabin by both a snow storm and deadly creatures.\ \ Join for free or login

Five Horror Subgenres to explore this Summer

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 21

makeup and books tag! | GRWM and chat about reading

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Kurryreads\ \ Kerry\ \ • Nov 1 2025

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Native American Heritage Month - Thriller, Mystery, and Horror books by Indigenous Authors to diversify your bookshelves 📚📖 #nativeamericanheritagemonth #indigenousbooks #readindigenous #booktok #bookrecommendations

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Kurryreads\ \ Kerry\ \ • Aug 14 2025

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Ultimate Guide to Spooky Season Reading v2

Replying to @Kerry | Booktok 📖 Ultimate Guide to Spooky Season Reading - Version 2 📚👻🔪 Timestamps: 00:28 Stranger Than Fiction 00:39 Witchy 00:47 Creature Feature 1:03 Dark Past-Potentially Paranormal 1:14 Possession 1:19 Slashers 1:32 Haunted House 1:42 Eco Horror/Plant Horror 1:48 Supernatural 1:57 Demonic/Occult 2:06 Cosmic 2:13 Folklore 2:26 Speculative 2:35 Young Adult 2:46 Paranormal 2:55 Psychological 3:03 Crime 3:13 Historical Fiction 3:29 Cult 3:43 Vampires 3:51 Weird Girl/Feminine Rage 4:00 Sci-Fi 4:08 Cannibalism #guidetospookyseasonreading #spookyreads #horrorbooks #cultbooks #paranormalbooks #hauntedhousebooks #possessionbooks #creaturefeature #booktok #booktoker #bookrecommendations #whattoread #vampirebooks #speculativehorror #youngadulthorror #folklorebooks #ecohorrorbooks #scifihorrorbooks #slasherbooks #scarybooks

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 9 2025

my passion is just shouting horror books at you until you read them. do it.

thank you to MIRA/HPT Hive, Simon Teen, Sourcebooks, Inkyard Press, Scholastic, Bantam, and William Morrow for the gifted copies!

15 books

Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • Jun 27 2025

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Welcome Earthling Annie! Thank you for joining! \ \ \ \ Happy Cancer Season! Cancers are known for how nurturing and emotional they are but they're also fiercely protective and will always have your best interest at heart. Book recommendations that scream Cancer energy. \ \ These have characters that are protective in their own ways.. lol \ \ They Never Learn - The MC is taking out men at the college she works at for doing awful things and will never see justice. SHE'S the justice\ \ The Echo Wife - Try not to read the book description for this one, going in not knowing a thing is the best way! (Obviously check TW if needed) \ \ Dearest - Motherhood is hard but harder when your estranged mother comes to help, or is it? \ \ The Devil and Mrs Davenport - Woman gets the flu, starts seeing visions about what happened to the missing women in her area. There is nothing like this book. \ \ The Dark Becomes Her - I am the youngest of 3 sisters, I know my sisters would be Ruby Chen to help me from being possessed. This book is seriously underrated. If you like a possession story, this is one of the best ones out there. \ \ My Heart Is a Chainsaw - Jade is a Cancer and no one will be able to convince me otherwise. This story is not only a horrifying slasher, it's also deeply emotional. I love Jade, she is one of the greatest MCs in horror.\ \ Monstrilio - Mother cuts out a piece of her sons lung and nurtures it turning into a creature who she raises as her son. This one feels so obvious for me.\ \ The Secrets of Us - Another sister who will go to the ends to protect her sister. Is it obvious my sister is a Cancer? One of my favorites from Lucinda Berry! \ \ Upgrade for $5 or login

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Madisoncanread\ \ Madison\ \ • Jun 20 2025

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • May 25 2025

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Stephen Graham Jones Joins Boozhoo Books Booklcub- The Upload

Please support Indigenous voices by becoming a member of my reader community on Bindery. Every member helps our publishing imprint and goal of uplifting and promoting Indigenous voices. It's free to join:

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Apr 21 2025

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At Shelves and the City, I asked influencers to give me an Indigenous book they would recommend! Shout out to Joshua who wasn’t the only influencers to admit he hadn’t read one, but suggested he talk about it on film! You’ll also notice a lot of repeats! Nothing wrong with that! Great books! My hope is to get people to expand and read more books by Indigenous authors. At an event with over 100 readers, I passed out about 50 book bingo cards and if you didn’t get one and were there, drop a note in our chat and I will mail you one if you want! If you aren’t a member of my reader community on Bindery, joining is free (first 🔗) and I’ll be posting about my entire SATC experience and a post with all the books mentioned here to make them easy to check out! My goal with my publishing imprint, Boozhoo Books, is to help make sure people have several options in the genres they love to read #readindigenous #shelvesandthecity #bookinfluencer #bookrecommendations @steph ✨ 📚 ✡︎ (@starrysteph) @zach•booksthatslay @aubrei @priyanka 📚✨ @Alex @Amivi⁷ @serareadthat 🌿📖🤠 @SARAH @Rae @Mari - booktok + media reviews @maya @A Very Queer Book Club @Rachel Skye @EmmaSkies @Greekchoir🧋| Bailey @IG/YT: ashunti_reads @Seth | dramakingbooks @Emma Ann (@theaceofbooks) @Joshua @Michael LaBorn

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 30 2025

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Welcome to another ambitious attempt to tackle my physical TBR, this time for 2025. Let me know which books I should definitely get to and which ones I shouldn't bother with! Circle back in a year for the official reaction video :)

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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Sep 10 2024

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Newsletter #7: September 10, 2024

Well hello there. Welcome to the Newsletter I meant to put out many, many days ago. It’s been a minute.

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Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Sep 6 2024

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 28 2024

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my delightfully spooky bunnicula shirt was gifted from out of print!

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Nov 7 2022

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AN AMBITIOUS END OF THE YEAR TBR | November + December TBR

Use the code CANADA to get your first Book of the Month box for only $9.99 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/?utm\_source=youtube&utm\_medium=video&utm\_campaign=This\_Story\_Ain%27t\_Over

🤍 timestamps ↳ 0:00 My Reading Progress so far this year ↳ 2:51 Current Reads ↳ 5:48 Read in Colour Book Club Picks + Update ↳ 7:41 New Releases ↳ 11:35 A Couple Sci-Fis ↳ 12:23 Spooky Books I haven’t gotten to yet ↳ 18:25 Emily St. John Mandel Books ↳ 19:21 Some books that have been on my tbr for awhile ↳ 23:03 Shyam Selvadurai Books ↳ 24:02 Recent additions to my tar ↳ 27:10 Final Thoughts + What I’m Up to this month

📚 join my book club 📚 read books by BIPOC each month and join me during monthly liveshows to discuss! 🤍 announcement Video: https://youtu.be/u-aI8tD1RcQ 🤍 discuss on Fable: https://l.fable.co/readincolour 🤍 discuss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readincolourbookclub/ 🤍 discuss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadinColorClub

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💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Oct 5 2022

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all 149 books i own but haven't read.... 📚🙈 YET | 😳 my ENTIRE physical TBR 😳

I've done this video once before back in 2019 and I thought it was time for a refresher—here are all 149 books on my physical tbr! My hope with this video is that I'll be able to look back on it and check off all the books I've read in the future. Hope you enjoy!

The 2019 version of this video: https://youtu.be/TrGojZ8sHy0

other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

97 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 12 2022

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my autumnal reading plans | FALL TBR

BOOK OF THE MONTH is coming to CANADA 🇨🇦 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/ca This video was sponsored by Book of the Month!

other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

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