B Movies Blog

“Horror’s Not A Symptom, It’s A Love Affair”: The Indian Lake Trilogy

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping Stephen Graham Jones’s Indian Lake trilogy into the ol’ VCR.

CW/TW: su*c*d*, SA, parental abuse, and all similar topics 

It’s not that I don’t like reading. I actually really enjoy it. 

But, I’m just so busy that I usually don’t have time to read…unless something grips me. 

And, boy howdy, did the Indian Lake trilogy grip me. 

Y’all. I read all three in less than a week. 

That’s 1300-1400 pages, I believe?

I had heard of My Heart is a Chainsaw, but I didn’t have a lot of info outside of some murmurs here and there. 

Then, I heard Stephen Graham Jones’s interview with Shelby Novak and Jenn Adams. 

Video Source: Scare You to Sleep 

After hearing the way SGJ talked about writing and slashers, I ordered both My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper. 

I immediately fell in love with Jade Daniels, our final girl. 

Clearly not in a romantic way, but because I recognized a kindred spirit. A girl who wanted to get out of her town, her situation, at any cost. 

A girl who used movies to both escape and try to keep herself tethered to reality. 

Sure, I was an honor student, and I never really got into any trouble. 

But you can hide a lot of pain with enough eyeliner and band tees. Right, Jade?

One of my favorite things about this trilogy is the subversion of the final girl. We have a more “traditional” final girl in Letha, but the real hero of the series is Jade. And she’d probably hate to hear that. 

It’s true, though. 

Jade’s foes aren’t just external. They aren’t all supernatural, either. 

One of my favorite quotes in the novel is, “Horror’s not a symptom, it’s a love affair.” 

I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read it, conveniently enough, sitting outside of Alamo Drafthouse. 

Jade says this line in reference to accusations about… 

[I’ll give you a moment to skip ahead because this part can be triggering and is a spoiler] 

…her father sexually abusing her. 

Letha reads between the lines of some of the Slasher 101 papers Jade wrote for Mr. Holmes and understands what happened to her as a child. 

Lethe believes Jade turns to horror because of the abuse she suffered, but Jade corrects her. 

Jade found comfort in horror, but Michael’s knife didn’t leave the scars. 

I relate to Jade because my father was also abusive. Not to the degree of Tab Daniels, but he was verbally and emotionally abusive to me the entire time I was growing up. He did worse to KP. 

I think I love Jade Daniels so much because I understand her. I understand why she’s reluctant to trust others and why her love of horror movies isn’t detrimental. 

For me, personally, a big part of my love of horror lies in the final girl. 

She wins the battles we sometimes don’t. 

She personifies the kernel of hope we cling to, despite everything we’ve been through. 

That’s the entire idea behind a final girl, right? She often conquers the demons we can’t always defeat. 

The strength of the final girl can help us carry on. 

Unlike Jade, I was very fortunate to have KP. But, I think she and I both relied on horror for the same reasons. 

We both wanted to be Laurie Strode, Sidney Prescott, or Nancy Thompson. We wanted to exorcise the demons in our houses, but couldn’t. At least not for a long time. 

Our demons self-destructed, though. 

I digress. 

Jade’s final girl is damaged and broken. She has the tragic backstory we usually associate with the slasher. That’s the beauty of this trilogy. We’re given a final girl who has to fight both Jason and her trauma. 

She’s finding herself while trying to keep the entire town of Springwood awake. 

And, I understand that feeling. God, do I understand that feeling. 

I love this entire trilogy more than I can express, but My Heart is a Chainsaw is now one of my favorite books of all time. 

The Indian Lake trilogy is like reading a slasher trilogy. The list of horror writers I love is a mile long, but this trilogy just hits different. I can’t recommend it enough. 

If you’re anything like me, though, be prepared to bawl uncontrollably through the last pages of The Angel of Indian Lake. 

I do understand that a lot of things in this book can be triggering, so do take my CW/TWs seriously. I’d also recommend some Googling as well. 

I was trying to figure out how to end this piece when it finally hit me. I’m going to leave you with some movies I’d pair with the Indian Lake trilogy. I think Jade would approve. 

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