Horror Aficionados discussion
Group Reads
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Sept '22 Group Read 1 - My Heart Is a Chainsaw
@Kimberly: LoL that was such a weird, unique, and freaky novel, eh? I immediately followed him and picked up some of his other content :-)
TheresaW wrote: "Michael wrote: "That blabbering is part of Jade's character. I can see how some might not appreciate her obsession and ramblings."@Michael - you said this perfectly! I relate to her as well. In f..."
I think Jade is awesome, her thought processes might well be classified as crazy though. I've been paying so much attention to the ramblings that i've missed who Ezequiel is :-)
Got my copy today, so excited to read!
I'm on pg 49 - just starting The Initiation. Jade is an interesting MC, and I feel like she could just as easily turn out bad as she could good. I LOVE the Slasher 101 interludes. They feel like the same slasher movie conversation I have with anyone that will listen :)
sorry to say i am DNFing this book at 35% im just soooooo bored
It took me a while to get use to Jade's inner monologues, but don't we all have those? And yes, I LOVED the Slasher 101 interludes too. Showing my age, but as a teenager of the 80's, I fondly remember many of those movies.
I think I will be able to get to the end of it only because I'm listening the audio book. The narrator voice makes it a little bit interesting.Otherwise I really see no point in it at all. I looks to me like Jade shoud be just locked away for ggod, I just hate the character
I like Jade's character. I think she just isn't the kind of character we aren't used to being a MC. Usually the MC learns what is happening with the audience while the Jade character (the expert, the true believer, the character who lives on the fringe and has mental health or social problems) is usually the secondary character who helps the MC.
Since this book is essentially a love letter to the Slasher genre, I like the change up. It's as if Scream followed Randy instead of Sidney or Final Destination followed William Bludworth instead of Alex.
Michelle wrote: "I like Jade's character. I think she just isn't the kind of character we aren't used to being a MC. Usually the MC learns what is happening with the audience while the Jade character (the expert, ..."
A good comparison, Michelle!
I just started reading yesterday and so far, Jade is my type of girl! She kinda reminds me of myself in high school. Can’t wait to read more!
Just finished the book. Still processing it. Thoughts to come soon!
Also, just saw - with this book, I completed my GR Reading Challenge hehehehe.
Michelle wrote: "I like Jade's character. I think she just isn't the kind of character we aren't used to being a MC. Usually the MC learns what is happening with the audience while the Jade character (the expert, ..."
Great observation, Michelle.
Trista wrote: "I just started reading yesterday and so far, Jade is my type of girl! She kinda reminds me of myself in high school. Can’t wait to read more!"Actually I just got to chapter 4 and I take back that I was like her in high school lol. I still think she’s interesting though.
I just got a copy so i will be joining all of you in reading this.
Lisa wrote: Great observation, Michelle.Michael wrote: A good comparison, Michelle!
Thanks!
Trista wrote: "Trista wrote: "I just started reading yesterday and so far, Jade is my type of girl! She kinda reminds me of myself in high school. Can’t wait to read more!"
Actually I just got to chapter 4 and I..."
Lol, that's probably a good thing. I think she's interesting too.
I slashed through this on pretty quickly. Audiobook. Felt like Ready Player One for Slasher Nerds; same reliance on a subgenre, same heroes' journey, same breakneck speed. I actually feel this one went a bit too fast (audiobook maybe). Five big things would happen in the span of 2 sentences! LOL! I had seen most of the movies referenced and Shudders documentaries along with Joe Bob Briggs made it so I understood a lot of the main character's view on slashers and horrors; actually a few I felt were left out; probably cut at the editing phase. All in all, I enjoyed reading the storytelling the same way I enjoyed Ready Player One: loved the little mental nerdgasms everytime I understood a reference.
-1 point for comparing a state with a country; Canada has serveral provinces and even more Indian tribes.
finished this morning! i was in the same boat as giovanni; had to borrow the audiobook just to finish it. wasn't really a fan of jade + i found her constant slasher monologuing too distracting from the events happening in the story. (i mean, at one point, it took ages for the characters to cross the street because she just goes on and on.) i feel like a lot of authors who write nostalgia-heavy books like this lean too hard onto the nostalgia aspect + expect it to carry the whole book, but that just never works for me. glad to see some of y'all enjoying it tho!
Alexander wrote: "I slashed through this on pretty quickly. Audiobook. Felt like Ready Player One for Slasher Nerds; same reliance on a subgenre, same heroes' journey, same breakneck speed. I actually feel this one ..."Yes! I also loved Ready Player One! Have you read Ready Player Two? I thought it was a good sequel. I gave them both 5 stars which I don't give easily.
I plan on reading more Stephen Graham Jones. Probably The Babysitter Lives, then The Only Good Indians.
I really enjoyed this book, and full transparency: I'm a lifelong fan of horror movies! This book was definitely a love letter to those who make and those who enjoy horror films. And what a brilliant mind Stephen Graham Jones has to intersect a teen girl's devotion to and knowledge of horror movies into not only a slasher/ghost story, but one that deals with how we find ways to cope with personal trauma using whatever mechanism is available to us.I liked the storyline development and resolution. I'm a big fan of SGJ's short stories, and this so far is my favorite of his novels.
I finished! And I really loved it. Can't wait to see what everyone one thinks. I could talk slasher movies all day and enjoyed Jade's thoughts and experiences.
This one has been on my TBR since it was released; glad I finally got around to reading it! I've been a fan of the author since I read another of his books, Mongrels (not a slasher, but also fantastic). He has a unique narrative voice, draws me right into the scene, the character - Jade Daniels, I won't be forgetting her anytime soon. Sure I love me some horror classics, but she's more than just 1980s Trivial Pursuit for 100, Alex: she's sympathetic, gutsy (blood and gutsy?), all the reasons why you pull for someone to live through the nightmare. Solid 5 stars for me, and definitely looking forward to the rest of the series.
I had a hard time with this one. I both loved it and found it a bit out there. Enjoyed it overall and probably need to sit with it.
I agree it was a bit out there. He also wrote another slasher that was even further out there, Demon Theory. That one was also a bit of a challenge - lots of footnotes, plus footnotes to the footnotes...one for the diehard fans of the genre. :-)
I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was present or time/surroundings explained) and the slasher movie commentary. And I can say I felt scared 0% of the time reading this book. I'm glad to see so many people enjoy this though but I guess it's not for me. Could you tell me if you read other of his works was it the same writing style?
Mod
I haven't read this one, but I read The Only Good Indians and After the People Lights Have Gone Off and didn't like his unconventional writing style in either of them. I'm guessing he probably writes everything similarly.
I found the writing/tone of The Only Good Indians very different from this one, especially in the second half. Jade's internal monologue is very rambling, and like you said, it often focuses on slasher trivia instead of characters/surroundings. I didn't feel that as heavily in TOGI. It's still internally focused, but I had a better sense of what was going on too.I also found the horror extremely gritty/graphic in that one, and there's a lot of tension-building, while I was never very scared in MHIAC. If you get a little ways into the second section (the first is short, and I wouldn't judge it by that) and still aren't vibing with the writing, then it's probably not for you.
Might also recommend Mapping the Interior, a novella that's kind of haunting, so a little different again. Similar unusual writing style, but over a shorter page count.
Tea wrote: "I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was present or time/surroundi..."I'm only about halfway through, but am having the same thought about some things being really glossed over. (view spoiler) I just felt a tad lost here - anyone else notice this?
Tea wrote: "I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was present or time/surroundi..."You might like SGJ's short stories a little better. I enjoyed The Night Cyclist (very short) and The Backbone of the World (KU). A lot of people seem to like Men, Women, and Chainsaws too, which is another really short story from him.
Lisa wrote: "Tea wrote: "I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was present or ti..."That was actually one of my favorite parts of the book, and a part where I thought Graham showed that there's some very clever writing in all of Jade's seemingly random rambling. Her internal monologue is able to hide so much from the reader, the other characters, and to some extent I think even herself. (view spoiler) I can see why you would want more development on that though! I'm interested to see what you think of the end if you're planning to finish.
Halfway through the month and I finally got my hold in from the library! I'm still weeks away from getting House Across the Lake, which I still want to read, but I love 80s slashers so this book was also a shoe in for me.
This was the third novel I've read by SGJ, and I really haven't enjoyed any of them. I enjoyed this one more than Mongrels or The Only Good Indians, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I guess I'm just not a fan of his writing style.
Im having a REALLY hard time finishing this one - Im halfway through but not impressed so far.
Just finished this last night. Liked it, but didn’t love it enough to want to read the sequel (whenever that comes out). Jade’s monologue was fine up until a point, but I had issues with some of SGJ’s descriptions of events or things happening. I understand that it’s all from Jade’s point of view, but I think the writing on some key events or character could have been more concise or clearer. 3 out of 5 stars.
Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Tea wrote: "I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was ..."Carrie, you are right about (view spoiler) SGJ certainly has an unusual writing style, and while I do enjoy it, I think it just comes with some bumps in the road. I loved The Only Good Indians, and it was certainly unusual. I'm just finding this one more rambling and hard-to-follow.
Just finished this and I loved it. SGJ writing style is not for everybody and believe it or not it turned me off from reading “ The Only Good Indian “ but I feel like this one got me so use to his writing style that now I’m a fan of his. I gave this 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ just barely cuz there were high’s and low’s in this one but overall it met my expectations.
This is the only book quite like it by Stephen Graham Jones, although he does write in first person often. Try MONGRELS or THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS. Give it 50 pages or so. If you're not engaged by then, I"d say this writer is not for you.Tea wrote: "I really did not enjoy this one! I like slashers but I'm not obsessed with them. I hated the writing style (not many details were made clear during the scenes like who was present or time/surroundi..."
Hi everyone! Is it too late to join this one? I’m new to the whole group thing and this has been on my TBR forever lol
Mod
Not at all! Join in anytime--we keep the thread open and the discussion going. :D
@Kimberly Awesome I’ll get started ASAP :p
Michelle wrote: "I like Jade's character. I think she just isn't the kind of character we aren't used to being a MC. Usually the MC learns what is happening with the audience while the Jade character (the expert, ..."
Great comparison.
I felt sort of weird since everyone has given it such high reviews and I was not hanging in there, but it looks like I’m not the only one here who was not impressed by it. The opening was fantastic. It was very good. And then it just became something else which was weird.
I know a lot of people said it took time to get off the ground but the writing was way too rambling for me. Enjoy a good crazy ramble, like Tommyknockers, but this lost me.
(view spoiler)
I am starting this today and looking forward to joining and catching up!
I'm only about a quarter of the way through and as slow as I read (due to time constraints), I probably won't finish before the end of the month. HOWEVER.....so far, I'm actually enjoying Jade's rambling about slashers and such. I wonder if the amount of knowledge/enjoyment one has of slasher films directly correlates with one's enjoyment of this book? I would probably be irritated with Jade if I didn't have an encyclopediac knowledge of horror films like she does.....
I finished the other day, and liked it, but didn't love it. I liked Jade a lot, and I enjoy SGJ's writing, the rawness and creativity of it. But I found the actual plot events diluted by the stream-of-consciousness text, which was made even murkier by the slasher content. I was unclear on what was actually happening too many times, and had to go back and reread. I'm a horror movie and slasher fan, so I enjoyed these references, and I even found them well-done. Better than I considered them handled in The Final Girl Support Group. Jade's devotion to them being so deep, her dependence on the slasher as her thought structure, made this element authentic, but I think the actual happenings needed to be brought more to the forefront, at least for major plot points. Still quite a good read, and I'll be reading more SGJ for sure.
I just finished the book and I loved it so much! Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Mapping the Interior (other topics)Demon Theory (other topics)
Mongrels (other topics)
Ready Player Two (other topics)
The Babysitter Lives (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen Graham Jones (other topics)Stephen Graham Jones (other topics)
@Michael - you said this perfectly! I relate to her as well. In fact, I was completely enthralled with her ramblings and I've never wanted to hug a character in a book as much as I wanted to hug Jade. With the exception of Tom Cullen in The Stand. M-O-O-N, that spells HUG!