I would like to thank Titan Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for affair and honest review

Publisher – Titan

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback £5.03 Kindle eBook

Jade Daniels faces down a brutal serial killer in his pulse-punding tribute to the golden era of horror cinema and Friday the 13th from the New York Times-bestselling, multiple-award winning Jones.

Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.

Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.

Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.

NB – this book while could be read as a standalone is a sequel to the excellent My Heart is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones reviewed at the link.

Horror sequels are not unknown be they the recent return of Ghostface and the many returns of Jason and Freddy. The slasher can never die. Less often seen though in print form. Can a book resurrect monsters and characters? In Don’t Fear The Reaper Stephen Graham Jones has written an excellent sequel to the memorable My Heart Is A Chainsaw where once again Jade returns to her hometown of Proofrock a vicious killer in a snow swept town causes mayhem. It is a glorious read; impressively written and is definitely not a simple re-tread of past glories.

Four years ago the quiet town of Proofrock suffered a serious of mysterious deaths leading to one summer night an event that would be known as the Lake Witch Slayings when many of the great and powerful plus their children lost their lives due to an unexplained event. Jade was the slasher movie obsessed young town loner and while suspected of killing her father was instead often on trial for damage to public property.  Now calling herself Jennifer she arrives one snowy evening in Proofrock to start parole and only a few know she was the hero.

However, a few miles away an infamous serial killer known for his inventive and cruel ways of killing his victims now calling himself Dark Mill South was being transported to prison. An avalanche arrives and very soon Proofrock finds itself being terrorised. In thirty-six hours another twenty people will lose their lives and Jennifer may once again be at the heart of events and in a great deal of danger.

If My Heart Is A Chainsaw is very much Jade’s story and how we get to know Proofrock I think Don’t Fear The Reaper is this time Proofrock’s turn to shine. Jones creates an ambitious and confident tale that weaves multiple stories together in a fast-paced; intelligent and often gruesome tale where by the end you’re standing with he surviving characters but now fully aware of the place’s history and reputation. Proofrock is definitely not a safe place to live especially if you’re in high school!

One really impressive piece of storytelling is Jones has many mini stories within the tale and plays with narration and style. In some cases its third person but with a wry smile of dark humour as young high schoolers often seeking sex find out in true horror movie style a killer has different plans for them. Jones sets the scene; makes us know and care about he characters and then disaster strikes and just as in the movie we may find yourself peeping (and things do get…messy). That Jones builds up narration and character (something some sequels forget to do) means we get invested and as the reign of terror continues, we realise that no one is safe and people can die in many many horrible ways. This is horror and good people simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time will sadly die.

Now if that was just what Reaper was about then this would just be a great slasher movie in book form but for me the benefit of the book is Jones gets to play with time and geography in many ways. We often get an unnamed narrator who tells us the history of Proofrock’s many strange incidents with death involved and a glorious terrifying chapter of telling us what Dark Mill South has done. The big bad is in this section made into something mythic; unexplainable and standing over six and a half feet tall with a hook for a hand he is already a slasher monster in the making. Now Proofrock offers the next stage in his evolution. Indeed, as the story progresses Jennifer (and we) realise homages to famous movie deaths are taking place which start to both unnerve us as to our new killer’s intentions and from Jennifer’s perspective is challenging her desire to turn a new leaf and leave her love of horror behind. All these little vignettes and mini stories though make Proofrock both more knowable to us that we can see and taste this small town but also we become aware that strange things happening in Proofrock has being going on a long time and in the woods and the very deep town lake lie powers and mysteries only just starting to come to light. Jones cleverly mixes serial killers; folk horror and american towns to create a unique sense of place.

Lastly lets return to Jennifer (who in our hearts will always be Jade) no longer wearing her janitor coverall; heavy mascara and multiple hair dyes she is now a young woman trying to be normal. She wants to reconnect with her few friends (the elderly ex-sheriff and her one school friend Letha who alone knows Jade is a hero). Jennifer is out hero who has hung up their costume but now with everyone’s lives on the line is battling a desire to step into the breach and quote movies again – her movie knowledge may indeed be the one thing keeping everyone alive. It’s a hero journey that will put her in extreme danger and by the end in a spectacular full on finale battle on the snowy streets mean that Jennifer has to both decide who she is; what she stands for and take on the menace destroying her home no matter what. That finale is a beautiful set piece where we feel each blow; moment of terror and pain at those we lose in the battle.

By the end I am very interested what the final book in this series will have to tell us. What though I can say for now is that Don’t Fear the Reaper is already a horror highpoint of the year and cements Jones’ reputation as one of the most interesting horror authors around. We will feel like we too have survived these 36 hours but the trip we were on is bloody, enticing, dangerous and whisper it quietly a hell of a lot of fun. Strongly recommended!