For me, this one started off a bit rocky. There was so much going on—so much death and destruction. And it all seemed like it was just another day. I suppose, in light of all that has happened in Proofrock, that could be forgiven. All for all that, SJG’s writing is as sharp as a strait razor. And his knowledge of slashers, and other horror, is downright sick.
“Nightfall’s always closer than you think.”
Poor Jade. This tale is packed with so much trauma—both real and supernatural—that things almost started to feel like one of THOSE old horror flicks where ALL the various monsters are jammed into one movie. Unlike those particular movies, Jade’s story is not played for laughs. Jones uses just enough humor in Jade’s story to give you a respite from everything he throws at you. The story is raw and relentless and it will ravage you.
I wish this old brain that lives in my head were so old and addled. I had a hard time remembering all of the everything Jones packed into these three books. No one will ever or could ever write such a bloody lover’s story to the ‘Last Girl.’ I grew up in the 1970s and 80s. At that time I was like a lot of boys my age—obsessed with the slasher. I religiously sequestered myself in those dark places and watched all the senseless slaughter with terror and delight. I was an eager participant, but somewhere along the way I lost my taste for that kind of blood. So I never got to finish any of Jason’s tales. Or Michael Myers’s or Freddy’s. Or of the gruesome Texas family that spawned Leatherface. So, I missed much of the love Jones showered on the genre. It seems he referenced EVERY slasher know, and then some. But I’m sure he missed a few. He had to. People can’t be that perfect.
That said, this being the final installment of The Indian Lake Trilogy, we get the LAST? of Jade Daniels. We also get Letha’s story, although not in the same way we did in DON’T FEAR THE REAPER, the second book of the trilogy. Jones ties up enough of the story threads so masterfully that I ended up hating to turn the last few pages. I did not want the story to end. And when you get to the last page, don’t skip the acknowledgments. They reveal much of what the author went through as he took us all on this bloody trip to Proofrock.
The good news is that I am certain that Stephen Graham Jones will deliver something else as only he can tell it.
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