Ever since I was lucky and fortunate enough to score an advance copy of Stephen Graham Jones’ Don’t Fear the Reaper, the much-anticipated sequel to the genre-bending My Heart is a Chainsaw, it shot to the very top of my end of PhD term reading list. Talk about something to look forward to, the jackpot of all possible carrots dangling in front of a horror fanatic’s face!

If a horror writer could win the Nobel Prize for literature, or the Pulitzer Prize for that matter, I’d honestly have to say that Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) would have to be the front runner. He writes horror with poetic fashion. He tells stories with a rhythm all his own, unique in every way possible.

He has the ability to write sentences, that create visuals, that render feelings, that then linger with the reader long after you’ve read them, and not just for hours, but days and even weeks. That’s talent. And his storyline structures are quite simply (well actually, the furthest thing from simple really) ingenious.

I had absolutely adored My Heart is a Chainsaw. Since it instantly became my all-time favorite horror book (which is saying a heck of a lot considering who I read religiously), I was both excited and worried when a sequel was announced. I was thrilled to hopefully get another Jade adventure (what an absolute iconic female heroine!), but a little part of me was thinking “Why mess with perfection?” We do live in an era of constantly trying to stretch a great thing and ride it out as long as it’s profitable.

Having had the chance, the opportunity, the honor of reading an advanced copy of Don’t Fear the Reaper, I can honestly say that I was wrong to ever doubt in SGJ’s decision, ability, and talent to make the sequel even better that the first one.

It takes guts (Ha! Spiller alert, and that’s not a typo!!) to decide to write a sequel to your magnum opus. And yet, he majestically pulls it off. It’s like the sequel is both an homage to the original while being its own original masterpiece. Echoes of the first one resonate at times, and as SGJ ever so gently increases the intensity (and body count!), he also masterfully intertwines flashbacks from My Heart is a Chainsaw, but in the most haunting ways possible. I actually heard and felt Jade/Jennifer’s ordeal. Who needs this turned into a movie or extended series when the absolute very best way to enjoy it is to read SGJ’s written words and let them feed and play out in our imaginations.

Don’t Fear the Reaper is more than just a slasher movie within a horror novel, and so much more than just a moral within a fairy-tale. It’s a perfectly woven and intertwined dramatic mystery, a gore-packed horrific nightmare, a clever whodunnit really, a multi-cam action-adventure thrill ride that packs more than punches, but also stabs, slashes, hooks, rams, and yes, even typically genre-banned shots fired! But there’s also a deeply rooted cultural storyline that further elevates Reaper unto a realm of its own, up to a different plane of existence, and this is where I dare talk about it as a necessary consideration for the highest of literary awards and praise.

A final note, one that I have mentioned before in prior reviews of Stephen Graham Jones’ works, is that yet again, his post novel acknowledgements are so insightful, so revealing, and so generous.

Don’t Fear the Reaper is an excellent sequel to one of the best books I read last year.
It does everything a second book should do. It grips you from the opening, taking your arm and yanking you back into a world you had been before. Once you’re inside, you take a look around you and think ‘oh I’m glad to be back here’.
There’s more blood, chaos, and carnage than Chainsaw. But there’s also the relationships that have strengthened through the gap in time between the stories. Jade is no longer a loner who pushes away everyone who cares about her. She tries to abandon the ‘slasher-thoughts’ that plagued her youth, but as it turns out, they are what keep her alive in the death trap that is Proofrock.
Jones really shows off here how versatile of a writer he is as well. There’s more perspective shifts, each with distinctive voices. Heavier suspense with each chapter, guiding us through the slasher maze of the story that only lasts a few days, narrative time. Nothing is as clean cut as it seems. As it’s made apparent in this book, when the killing starts, it’s a free for all for anyone who’s had slasher-like fantasies.
I can’t wait for the next one, and I honestly hope it doesn’t stop there. I could read Jade Daniels taking down serial killers in her same home town forever. Keep ‘em coming!

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I should just expect anything I read by Stephen Graham Jones to be awesome, that way I don’t have to go through all these roller-coaster expectations.

I liked My Heart is a Chainsaw, but honestly, I didn’t know HOW it could have been continued realistically. Fortunately, however, it did just that. It continued realistically. Consequences and massive changes and well-founded fear and the need to re-invent oneself featured foremost and I was all for it.

People DO change. As do slasher sequels. :)

Reading this was a real wowzer. I’m a slasher film fan, too, and the core meta-analysis is something that is dear to me. Of course, it’s even better when it’s centered on such great characters. No spoilers, but I think this book deserves its placement with Empire Strikes Back and Two Towers.

For anyone else who was on the fence about this, don’t be. It was wild and very, very entertaining, like Scream but with even more down-to-earth reason and intelligence. :)

Sometimes the second book in the trilogy is not quite as good. I think this is just a tiny bit of an issue with this one -- it is still quite amazing but just doesn't have that freshness that the first one did. Also introduces some new characters and focuses on a few previous ones that I didn't expect. Overall still great and I don't want anyone to think it's not! Plenty of twists, some good character and relationship development for Jade.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Chainsaw was so good, captivating, strong characters and quick thrills. Sadly this book was not Chainsaw. The characters weren’t as well developed and I found the pace SO slow. I’m not sure if it was the hype this book had to live up to following in Chainsaw’s footsteps but unfortunately I can’t say I enjoyed this read.

Extraordinary well crafted! Best book from this author so far. Pure fun to read and it was perfect for me to read in the fall.