Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC of this much anticipated sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw! I have been enraptured with Stephen Graham Jones since reading The Only Good Indians-- and he just keeps impressing me with each release. When I read the first book in The Lake Witch Trilogy, I was rocked by how much I saw myself in the Final Girl, Jade. Now returning home as Jennifer, she has the weary and traumatized energy of Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. And this time? She's not alone.

This book features many POVs throughout; which I heartily enjoyed. It gives you up close and personal experiences with each death-- and trust me, there's a lot of them. That's something else I truly admire about Stephen: his literary kills are always unique and grotesquely detailed. There's something about a dangling eyeball described in at least twelve different ways that will both keep you up at night and make your stomach roll instantly. There are also just as many horror genre references that are sure to please the movie buffs and bookworms alike. It feels-- like the first installment-- like a love letter to each scary story that has come before.

If you love slashers-- I recommend this series to you. In this particular book, you meet the serial killer Dark Mill South. He is on a rampage to avenge the death of 38 Dakota men whose lives were ended by a rope... but he's not the only danger to the citizens of Proofrock. It's up to Jennifer and the other survivors of the 4th of July Massacre to rise up to evil once more. It's truly a story of how resilient humans are, and how trauma shapes and strengthens you even as it tears you apart. And, as always, the Native American representation that Stephen brings to the table is irreplaceable. All in all, this is a successful sequel in a genre that has a curse of falling flat of the first's set expectations. I can't wait to read his A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors.

An absolutely out-of-the park wonder of a sequel. This second installment in Stephen Graham Jones’ Lake Witch Trilogy delivers on everything it promises. Deftly written with spine-tingling, wince Inducing moments. Stephen Graham Jones gives us a reason to be afraid, but also gives a reason to look forward to a third installment. Pure heart and pure terror.

DNF 59%

I mostly enjoyed the first book in this planned trilogy, and was honestly looking forward to reading this.

But . . .

I felt lost.

Maybe it's because I was reading an ARC on my Kindle instead of a paper book that I could easily flip back and forth in, but I couldn't keep it all straight as to who was a past victim, a current victim, or a character from a movie. If, unlike me, you know the plot and characters' names of every slasher film, you'll undoubtedly love this one more than I did

Jones is a talented writer with a disturbing imagination, and I'm sure I'll be reading more from him in the future. I'm done with this series, however.

All biases to Stephen Graham Jones being my favorite author aside, this book was incredible. To paraphrase Scream This book abides by the rules of the sequel. I think where MHIAC had a slow burn, this one starts off with bloodshed, and more bloodshed. The depth of our characters has grown, the display of the effects of the 4th of July massacre and it's aftermath are beautifully written. You have a new killer on your hands as well as exploring the depths of the Indian Lake Witch mythos, still. This is a perfect set up for the finale in the trilogy. I dare say, almost that I liked this one even more than MHIAC, but that feels scary to say since that's one of my all time favorite books. Horror is so lucky to have SGJ.

Don't Fear The Reaper picks up 4 years after My Heart Is A Chainsaw ends. Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho... coincidentally right at the same time a serial killer escapes a prison transport.

Fans of Steven Graham Jones will likely love Don't Fear The Reaper. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I thought it was good, maybe a little better than My Heart Is A Chainsaw. But it is a slow burn. One the reader needs to sit with and let the narration roll over them, a story that needs not to be rushed. I appreciate SGJ's writing style. It is distinctive, quirky, and a bit peculiar. Like its predecessor, there are a WHOLE LOT of horror movie references that honestly were lost on me, so it became a distraction. But for slasher movie fans, this could be your jam, and you may feel more a connection and better understanding of the story.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

In Scream, horror movie nerd Randy Meeks reminds us of that the key to a slasher story's success is simplicity -- make it too complex and you lose your target audience! It's advice that Stephen Graham Jones kinda-sorta eschews in Don't Fear the Reaper, the second in his The Lake Witch Trilogy. Jade's sequel isn't really all that complex, but Jones goes the extra mile or two to make it seem way more complicated than it really is, while also laying plenty of groundwork for Book 3.

Jade has spent the four years following My Heart Is A Chainsaw in court, battling for her life. Exonerated of the July Fourth Massacre, she's returned to Proofrock just in time for all hell to break loose yet again. A police convoy transporting convicted serial killer Dark Mill South is caught in an avalanche, allowing the Indigenous murderer to escape and begin a new round of slayings in this small town that's still recovering from its last slasher clash.

Jones wastes no time getting the bloody ball rolling, either. The opening chapter is a masterclass in authoring slasher horror as two teens get their comeuppance at a motel because, remember, sex equals death in this particular corner of horrordom. It's a tense, violent start that sets the stage for what's to follow. Jones remembers Randy's Rules well - the sequel is always gorier, the body count bigger, and the death scenes much more elaborate. Thus, we get a bevy of high schoolers murdered by poisoned cupcakes à la Happy Death Day, a few others gored to death by elk antlers, and plenty of stalked-by-slasher moments.

Only, it's not just the kills that are more elaborate this time around. As I said earlier, Don't Fear the Reaper isn't particularly complex at its core, even if Jones takes the long, and at times meandering, way around to get to the big reveal of why all this stuff is happening. But it certainly is much more elaborate and involved in terms of motivations and execution, with some very potent red herrings to distract readers and horror movie know-it-all Jade. Jade isn't just a gender-swapped Randy Meeks by way of the Final Girl, either. She is, in fact, a stand-in for Jones himself and his own encyclopedic knowledge of the slasher genre, recognizing and deconstructing scenes of slaughter and the movies that inspired them (only she's four years behind, thanks to time lost defending herself in court).

And although Don't Fear the Reaper is a solid enough read on its own, it also leaves quite a lot of string dangling as the middle-child in a trilogy. Jones does enough to resolve this entry's plot while paving the way for Book 3 and giving us an idea of what's to come, but there's also a few swerves into the supernatural that seem a bit out of place, at least on first blush. That's because while The Lake Witch Trilogy is Jones's thesis on slasher horror, it's also a ghost story. Proofrock is haunted, not just by the Lake Witch haunting Indian Lake, but by the history of America itself and the treatment of its Indigenous peoples. Dark Mill South is thought to be taking revenge on behalf of the 38 Dakota Sioux hanged by the order of Abraham Lincoln, but he's not the only bloodthirsty ghoul hellbent on spilling blood amidst a storm burying Proofrock in increasingly red snow. The dead want revenge, too, and Jones gives us some slight teases as to what they're capable of...and what that might mean for the final installment of this trilogy.

Jones's main focus may have been on slashers and slasher movie homages in the first two entries, but come Book 3? Well, as Randy Meeks once reminded us, when you're dealing with the last chapter of a trilogy, all bets are off.

My Heart is a Chainsaw cemented my love for Stephen Graham Jones and Don’t Fear the Reaper is a killer sequel. I liked slasher films before but now I can’t get enough of slasher novels, they are somehow more suspenseful and deliciously more horrific, with no cheap special effects taking away from the horror unfolding. Once again we follow Jade as the final girl and she is accompanied by some fellow survivors from the last time death came to Proofrock. The new threat Dark Mills South is a killer that puts chills down your back with his brutal killings and large and imposing size. Oh boy, the tropes of slasher used here are abundant and down so well. I am afraid of spoiling anything. The deaths have become more gruesome and the battle to survive is more brutal with possible multiple killers and a snowstorm has made Proofrock unreachable during the chaos. At first, I was disappointed that Jade was pulling away from her slasher obsession but to see how she changed and has learned to cope with the past was so well done and made me happy to have an adult protagonist that is capable of growth. Jones's writing is still just as engaging as the first. He didn’t have to develop the world in this novel so the pacing in this book is even faster making it possible for more killings and character development to take place. I was never once bored while reading in fact I often gasped and yelled out loud during reading this gave me some bizarre looks from my coworkers in the break room. This is for those that love slashers and horror. If you haven’t read My Heart is a Chainsaw do it now! Then get started on Don’t Fear the Reaper.

*I was given an ARC of this by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC. I am not able to finish this book, mainly because of the writing style. It’s just not for me. I’m getting quite a bit of whiplash between the author trying to use character stream of consciousness and then more descriptive/flowery language in the narration. The story is overlong and it seems that it’s the second in a trilogy, so I’m probably missing some details from the first book that are not being explained very well in this one. The premise is exciting but ultimately falls very flat for me with the prose.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

*DNF*

I wasn’t a big fan of the first book, My Heart is a Chainsaw, but I wanted to see if the second book would get me invested in the trilogy. Unfortunately, it didn’t. I simply do not think that the author’s writing style is for me. The plot seemed to drag and, for lack of a better word/phrase, I just didn’t like it. I found all of the horror/thriller/slasher references to be too much; it took away from the story. I will not be continuing this series in the future, but I’m happy that I gave it a try!

3.5 stars

Stephen Graham Jones follows My Heart is a Chainsaw with his second book in The Lake Witch Trilogy, Don’t Fear the Reaper. Readers follow a blistering thirty-six hour slasher-inspired massacre that takes place in Jade Daniel’s hometown of Proofrock Idaho just when Jade returns following an overturned conviction.

Despite the short duration of events, this is a slow burn read. There is a LOT going on with multiple, multi-layered subplots that force you to really sit with this one and experience it (as to flying through it). This is no surprise as all of Jones books I’ve read so far follow a similar style. For anyone new to his writing, you may find it a bit confusing as he bounces between tenses and points-of-view. I struggled more with this one, as to Chainsaw mostly because chainsaw was solely from Jade’s perspective. It takes getting used to—even for someone familiar to his style of writing.

As I mentioned above, there is a lot going on and there are a lot of characters to familiarize yourself with when reading. Our serial killer Dark Mill South was the ultimate villian and to anyone who loves a good horror movie, you’ll see pieces of some of your favorite monsters in him. I’m hopelessly invested in Jade/Jennifer. I loved her character in Chainsaw and love her even more after this one. She’s a true final girl with an enourmous heart hidden beneath her complexity. I enjoyed the further development of returning characters as well.

There are a few things with this one that I didn’t love quite as much as Chainsaw, but I still enjoyed it. It was incredibly slow in parts—painfully at times. Plus with all the subplots and themes to those plots it was a bit overwhelming. I felt like I may not even have grasped everything I should’ve despite my best efforts. It’s definitely complex and thought-provoking—even metaphysical at times.

Overall, Don’t Fear the Reaper is a solid second installment to the continued insanity that ensues in this massacre riddled town. I’m totally invested in Jade and the characters and am already looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.

Stephen Graham Jones returns to Proofrock for 'Don't Fear the Reaper,' the second volume in his Indian Lake trilogy. In the first book, 'My Heart Is a Chainsaw,' high schooler Jade Daniels defended herself and her town against a blood-soaked killing spree, emerging as a final girl you couldn't help but root for, snarky, sour, vulnerable, and courageous as all get-out.

Now it's four years later and Jade --going by Jennifer now-- is back, marking the effects of the grisly Lake Witch Slayings on the town... just in time for the slasher cycle to start again. This time evading a truly gruesome and inventive serial killer, Jennifer works with allies and annoyances new and old to fight her way through the bodies piling up. It's another wall-to-wall gonzo horror extravaganza: stacks on stacks of tropes, trivia, theories, and intersections, dispensed with head-whirling swiftness and a sure hand. Amidst all the (many) plot moves and (multiple) gory action sequences, Stephen Graham Jones's greatest victories are the ways his characters grow and evolve, which is a real accomplishment when there's so much blood on the walls pulling focus.

Jones' work with point of view and secondary characters is excellent, and the supporting cast upholds a group of primary personae that are a real joy to fall back in step with. His scene work is imaginative and closely observed, immersing the reader in the action even when you might wish to be a little farther removed. Things get grotesque here, y'all. But in only the best way.

Maybe reread 'My Heart Is a Chainsaw' before diving back into Indian Lake, because you won't want to miss any of the threads Jones weaves back into this second outing. And then look forward to reading them both again to get ready for the trilogy's finale, though 'Don't Fear the Reaper' stands on its own as a horror classic.

Many thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

Don't Fear the Reaper was everything I could've wanted (and more) from the My Heart Is a Chainsaw sequel.

A complaint I heard a lot of people had about the first book was that it was slow paced, and while I see where they were coming from, I think it set up this one SO well. By the time this book began, we had such a rich established base of information about the setting and the characters. Because of that, SGJ was able to get STRAIGHT to the action here without it feeling rushed at all. Don't Fear the Reaper is faced paced and hard to put down.

One of my favorite aspects of this book specifically was seeing the growth of both Jade and Letha. SGJ's characters are the opposite of stagnant, they are dynamic and flexible and it's such a treat to get to see how they have changed over the last few years and even over the course of the few days this book spans.

I enjoyed this one even more than My Heart is a Chainsaw and now I'm devastated that I'm going to have to wait for the third in the series.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Stephen Graham Jones' love for horror and slashers shines in his second homage/installement of the Lake Witch Trilogy. Like many horror movie sequels, this story addresses what happens to the survivors after all the trauma, with new twists and even darker storylines. And just like horror sequels according to Randy Meeks, there's more kills and gore, and that's certainly the case here. Jones' writing style is unique, detailed, and submersive. Sometimes it can go overboard with details, but since I've read Jones' work before I expected and grown accustomed to it. Jade (Now going by Jennifer) is trying to move on from her past and has changed in many ways, but her spirit and personailty still shine through.
I did enjoy this book, but I still have a few nitpicks that keep it from a perfect 5 star rating. While the first book is solely Jade's POV, this one swaps around. With some characters like Letha I didn't mind the switch in narrative, but at times it felt like too many POVS and many characters we didn't really know well enough. And I can't fully explain why, but something about Jones' writing makes me have to concentrate extra hard on what I'm reading. If that's not for a certain reader I can understand, but if you're willing to put the effort in to reading it for a great story, you won't be disappointed.

"Don't Fear the Reaper" by Stephen Graham Jones was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! This book is even more brutal and gory than its predecessor, "My Heart is a Chainsaw!" Set four years after the events in "Chainsaw," Jade is back in Proofrock to begin her new life as Jennifer, a normal girl who definitely does not think life is a slasher movie. But again the bodies begin to pile up, and all signs point to an escaped serial killer named Dark Mill South. However, this is not your run of the mill, formulaic horror novel, written at a 6th grade reading level; the plot is twisty and shocking (seriously, the author comes up with the most creative ways to kill a person) and also brilliantly written. It is fast paced and I audibly gasped at times, and groaned with disgust in others. IT'S SO GORY!

"Don't Fear the Reaper" is a fitting sequel to the masterpiece that is "My Heart is a Chainsaw" and I absolutely can't wait for the concluding book in the trilogy! Five starts!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this fantastic book, in exchange for my honest review.

When I first read My Heart Is a Chainsaw I didn’t realize that it was going to become a series. The book ends in a satisfying way, but it’s also great to be able to visit the characters again 4 years later to see how the events of the first book are still impacting their lives. The atmosphere of Don’t Fear the Reaper was excellent. I loved how it was set during a blizzard and it’s as much of a fight against the elements as it’s also a fight against the slasher.

Something else that was interesting about this book was how now other people have followed Jade’s lead in studying slashers. It’s cool to see the different ways that the characters bring their slasher knowledge to the story. And how it feels endearing from some characters and completely obnoxious from other people.

While I do really enjoy Stephen Graham Jones’ stories, I sometimes have to concentrate pretty hard on the writing. Even though I’m loving the plot and characters it can take me a while to get through the books.

But overall I had a great time with this. Now knowing it’s a trilogy has me excited for the last book in the series.

I was unaware this was a middle part of a trilogy.
I read and enjoyed his the Only Good Indians and his short story the Backbone of the Wild.
So I picked up My Heart is a Chainsaw and I just couldn't. A lot of the reviews said it's worth it for the last 1/3 of the book and the pay off is worth it. Maybe if I read it instead of listening to it, I could get through it, but not today.

Disclaimer: if you didn't like My Heart is a Chainsaw, you're not going to like this one either. Jade - Jennifer - is back years later, and it's happening again. There's a new slasher and a new final girl...or so she thinks. The addition and exploration of Dark Mill South was so expertly done, it felt as if he was on par with Freddy or Jason. The slow reveal of the newcomer as <spoiler> a slasher fanatic </spoiler> was such a great addition as well. The use of the blizzard to create such a claustrophobic setting elevated the tension and had me racing through the pages. Loved it.

Talk about a gripping follow up! Stephen Graham Jones is such a versatile and savvy horror author, and much like MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW, DON'T FEAR THE REAPER is a intricate and reverent love letter to the slasher genre that both pays homage while also twisting the expectations around. I loved seeing Jade (though she prefers Jennifer now) have to return to Proofrock after her unjust stint in prison for a crime she didn't commit, and how she is just trying to get by and survive, thinking that by suppressing her knowledge and nature about slashers it will keep her safe. Jade has been through so much as it is, so I enjoyed this arc of her having to reckon with what happened in the previous book and beyond, and how she has to find her footing again. I loved her reunion with Letha, and I loved seeing Letha's own new journey as a somewhat new horror fan who is now carrying the same knowledge that Jade had been carrying. I also really liked Dark Mill South as a new antagonist, as he is hulking and foreboding (very Jason Voorhees in his murder machine ways), but there is a bit of 'he may have a point' in him as his main beef is tied to the mass execution of 38 Dakota Men in Mankato, MN in 1862 (as a Minnesota native who used to work at the MN Historical Society, I used to teach this material, so I was quite familiar with it. Go read up on it. It's very important to acknowledge and reckon with the racist and Imperialist violence this country has committed). Dark Mill South is a scary as hell and gore bringing villain. I loved it. I also loved how, once again, Jones has done some close reading deep dive analysis of the slasher genre as a whole. So many references! SO much fun.

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER is a gory and glorious continuation of a story I love. Long live Jade.

More like 3.5/5.

Everyone who writes a sequel -- and specifically everyone who writes a sequel knowing it's the second part of an eventual trilogy -- knows they're setting themselves up for some trouble. Stephen Graham Jones avoids a fair bit of those potential pitfalls and delivers an entertaining, gore-splattered thrill ride with DON'T FEAR THE REAPER.

Sequels, of course, have to expand on their existing world, and Jones throws a lot at us. Perhaps too much: Expanding the point of view well beyond Jade Daniels is a fine choice; making some.of these new characters at times indistinguishable from one another complicates things. (Having Jade's slasher obsession spread to three other characters -- two new, one the surgically reconstructed Letha Mondragon from MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW -- also makes it confusing to determine who knows or believes what about which horror myth a given section of REAPER is homaging). Along similar lines, adding both a brand new human serial killer AND some new frankly hard-to-understand supernatural mythology is both bold and at times overwhelming.

But enough with the negatives. Jones still writes incredible horror-action scenes and excels at dialogue (as well as sneaking that sarcastic tone into the narration). Jade is still the coolest cat on the block despite having matured past the (understandably) angry teenager she was in CHAINSAW. Other returning characters like Letha and Hardy have similarly new dimensions to them. The Cinnamon/Ginger sister duo is, perhaps, a big swing that doesn't entirely connect, but it's always better to see someone go for the gusto than settle for the simple. Very excited to see how this trilogy finishes up.

Unfortunately this wasn’t my favorite read. Something felt disjointed and I was left feeling a little lost. I had read book one and enjoyed it.