[Editorial] 4 Must-Read Horror Books for Slasher Fans

Image credit: Jessica Map Reviews

It’s the middle of the night, thunder crashes around you, the wind creaks and groans. It’s the perfect setting to watch your favorite slasher movie. Suddenly, the power goes out. No more watching a movie… but with a little candlelight, the world of literary slashers is here to sate your thirst! 

Many horror loving authors have been exploring this genre on the page, movie references included, and if you are like me, you won’t be able to get enough. The following books vary a lot in content and style, each author bringing a distinctive voice to the slasher framework. They are sure to slice and dice their way into your heart!

My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

This list begins with a book that redefines what it means to be a final girl. Jade Daniels is a half-Native American high school senior and the embodiment of teenage angst. She lives with her alcoholic, abusive father in a rural lake town in Idaho. Her town is quickly gentrifying thanks in part to a wealthy community development across the lake. To cope with traumatic life events, she is absorbed in her one great comfort: horror movies. Jade’s world revolves around the slasher, she’s a walking encyclopedia of slasher knowledge and often finds herself living more in her own fake reality than the present, ostracizing herself from her peers and the adults in the community.

When Jade sees signs of a slasher in town and believes they will soon unleash a massacre, she is convinced the new student from across the lake, Letha Mondragon, fits the bill as the town’s final girl. Jade tries to guide Letha in the ways of the final girl so she will survive. My Heart is a Chainsaw is raw and bleak, though Jade brings some comic relief in her snarky, sarcastic narration. There’s multiple layers of horror within the story, combining realism, fantasy, and folklore. As Jade morphs into the unlikely heroine, surprised by her own resilience and tenacity, we learn more about her past and the driving force behind her horror obsession.

Jones fully leans into the slasher genre while simultaneously subverting it, creating something unique and unexpected in a genre usually filled with specific tropes. In terms of his writing, Jones is extremely distinct in style and tone. Although it can feel dense at times to read, an alternative option is to listen to the audiobook instead. However, his storytelling is impeccable - there’s a reason he is one of the leading voices in contemporary horror literature.

If you like My Heart is a Chainsaw you will be pleased to know it is part one of a trilogy! The second iteration, Don’t Fear the Reaper, releases February 7, 2023, and I know that I can’t wait to delve back into Jade’s world.

Rating: 5/5

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

If you are looking for a more teen soap slasher type read, check out Goldy Moldavsky’s YA novel The Mary Shelley Club. Teenager Rachel Chavez is coping with the guilt and trauma she feels after surviving a home invasion which left her attacker dead. A year later she is starting fresh at Manchester Prep in Manhattan, but as one of the few students receiving a scholarship to attend, she already feels like she doesn’t fit in with the Upper East Side students. Things only get worse when she is blamed for a prank that targeted the school’s queen bee, who is now determined to make Rachel’s life a living hell. Fortunately, her new status as a social pariah attracts the attention of a secretive club, who soon invite Rachel into their ranks.

The Mary Shelley Club is a group of horror obsessed teens who have one objective: each member has to stage what they call a Fear Test, essentially a scary prank inspired by horror tropes. They pass their Fear Test if they produce a true fear response in their target - their target must scream. Things start to turn around for Rachel, even though they must remain secret friends in public, the group gathers to watch horror movies and participate in each other's Fear Tests. Not long after Rachel joins, someone begins to target the Club and she becomes determined to unveil the culprit.

Much like Jade in My Heart is a Chainsaw, the characters are all horror aficionados and there are many references to horror movies and culture. They use horror as a coping mechanism to deal with the stresses and fears of their real lives, not unlike many real life horror fans. By creating Fear Tests, they are able to be in control of scary situations, pushing the boundaries between amusement and cruelty. As the story unfolds, they begin to uncover that their games may have real life consequences.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

It’s not very often we get to see what happens to a final girl years after she becomes a final girl. Sure, franchises like Halloween and Scream have recurring final girls continually getting stalked by their nemeses. We’ve got a taste of the impact of long term final girl life from some of their most recent iterations like David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy and Scream (2022). If you want more exploration of what happens to these women years later and the lasting psychological effects and lifestyles they go on to lead, pick up Grady Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group.

This is a world where the final girls of some of the biggest slasher franchises actually exist and they all meet once a month in their very own support group. Hendrix weaves  together the worlds of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Silent Night, Deadly Night to create new characters and histories. The main character, Lynnette Tarkington, survived the “Silent Night Slayings”, where she witnessed the grisly murder of her entire family. Though her fellow final girls equate her survival to chance rather than “true” final girl behavior, Lynnette has lasting psychological damage leading her to become a recluse who leaves her apartment only for group meetings. When one of the other final girls is killed, it’s up to Lynnette to figure out who is picking off final girls and why. Like Jones in My Heart is a Chainsaw, Hendrix explores what it means to be a final girl, showing that being a final girl can be more than a list of stereotypical criteria.

Hendrix provides a fresh and exciting story while also paying homage to the genre. His writing style is an effective mix of quirky and strange, often including humor while also creating suspenseful and haunting circumstances and imagery. Hendrix’s books often have interesting accompaniments. His book My Best Friend’s Exorcism has a Spotify playlist of 80s music and his book Horrorstör, set in an IKEA-like store, is designed to resemble a furniture catalog. For The Final Girl Support Group, between each chapter are pages with newspaper clippings, police reports, and book excerpts, adding to the story’s world building while also serving as wonderful easter eggs for horror fans.

Rating: 4/5

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Another take on life after final girl-hood appears in Riley Sager’s Final Girls. It’s a similar premise as The Final Girl Support Group as the story is based in reality and depicts the long term effects of being a final girl. Sager is known for writing mind-blowing thrillers, and Final Girls was his debut novel where he started it all.

Ten years ago, Quincy Carpenter survived a massacre fit for the silver screen, yet she has no memory of that fateful night. Now Quincy, along with two other survivors of separate violent slayings, have been dubbed the Final Girls by the media. The three girls have never met in person and prefer it that way, whatever will help to put their nightmares behind them. Quincy’s life has been going great, she’s moving on and taking great strides in her life - personally and professionally. That is until the first Final Girl, Lisa, is found dead, stirring up Quincy’s quiet life in ways she never expected. Next thing she knows, the second Final Girl, Sam, is at Quincy’s doorstep looking for answers. Quincy’s life turns upside down as she struggles to leave the past in the past. Unfortunately, the only way to move forward for good may be to look back.

Final Girls is one of those books it is best to read without much prior information. It is full of twists and turns, and if you enjoy trying to solve the mystery as you read along, this one's for you. It will keep you on your toes right up to its shocking conclusion, feeding you little bits and pieces along the way as you uncover with Quincy what really happened that horrible night ten years ago.

Rating: 4/5

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