Explore the real-world places that appear in My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Proofrock, Terra Nova, Indian Lake, Camp Blood / Founders' Day Fireworks Site, Jade's House and 7 more.
Dying mountain town turned lake resort community
Jade Daniels, a half-Blackfeet teen obsessed with slasher films, watches her town of Proofrock as its wealthy newcomers push in. She sees every sign as a coming slasher, and insists a Final Girl will be needed. Her predictions begin to come true during the Fourth of July weekend.
The Stanley basin was home to Shoshone-Bannock and Tukudika peoples, then mining and ranching settlers. Stanley itself was founded in the 1870s and remained a small, remote community.
Stanley is a small town of about 100 residents surrounded by the Sawtooth Mountains, a hub for hiking, rafting and tourism.
Gated luxury development on the lake's shore
Terra Nova is the new-money enclave built along Indian Lake, home to families like the Mumfords. Jade sees it as the slasher's inevitable target. Its residents clash with locals, and it becomes the setting for key deaths.
Redfish Lake was a traditional salmon fishing ground for the Shoshone-Bannock people. Lodges and private cabins later developed along its shores.
Redfish Lake is a popular recreation area with a lodge, campgrounds, and boat tours.
The dammed lake that drowned old Proofrock
Indian Lake is the center of the town's leisure and its horror, where the Fourth of July fireworks and the first kills happen. Jade watches bodies surface and the water carry secrets. It is also tied to the town's drowned past.
Alpine lakes in the Sawtooth basin were glacially formed and are sacred and resource-rich to local Native peoples.
The Sawtooth lakes draw swimmers, kayakers, and anglers during summer months.
Site of the Fourth of July celebration and mass-casualty setpiece
The whole town gathers for the fireworks, and the slasher strikes in the crowd. Jade scrambles to guide the survivors as her horror knowledge becomes real. Characters like Sheriff Hardy and Letha Mumford are drawn into the chaos.
Independence Day celebrations are a fixture of Idaho mountain towns, often held at lakesides or fairgrounds.
Stanley hosts summer festivals and rodeos, including Fourth of July events.
The cramped home Jade shares with her abusive father
Jade retreats to her room, surrounded by slasher posters and VHS tapes, to escape her father's violence. Her essays on horror are born here. It is her sanctuary and her trap.
Rural Idaho homes in the region were historically small mining and ranching cabins, many with limited resources.
Stanley has few year-round residences, mostly modest homes and rental cabins.
Where Jade writes her slasher essays for Mr. Holmes
Jade bonds with teacher Mr. Holmes through her slasher essays. The school is where she observes classmates and where Letha arrives. Gatherings here prefigure the town's violence.
Small Idaho schools often serve vast rural areas, with consolidated districts covering many miles.
Rural Idaho schools remain community hubs with strong sports and local pride.
Law enforcement hub under Sheriff Hardy
Sheriff Hardy tries to contain the killings while Jade pushes him to see the slasher pattern. He is skeptical but increasingly pressed. The office becomes a staging ground for the final confrontation.
County sheriffs in rural Idaho cover enormous areas with small departments.
The Custer County Sheriff operates out of Challis, with substations serving Stanley.
The lakeside home of Letha Mumford's family
Letha Mumford, the new girl and Jade's Final Girl candidate, lives here with her family. Jade watches her closely as the home becomes a target. Its isolation makes it vulnerable.
Private lakeside homes began appearing in the Sawtooth area in the twentieth century for seasonal use.
Lakeside cabins around Redfish Lake are privately held or rented to tourists.
The submerged original settlement beneath the lake
Jade's research ties the killings to the drowned town's history. Old graves and ruins haunt the lake's edge. Her understanding of the slasher deepens as she uncovers the past.
Many American reservoirs flooded entire communities, including Idaho dam projects of the twentieth century.
Reservoirs around Idaho cover former homesteads, with some ruins visible during low water.
The town graveyard and burial ground
Graves and gravestones play a role in the unfolding killings and in Jade's research. The cemetery is a place of grief and confrontation. Key scenes unfold among the headstones.
Mountain town cemeteries often hold miners, ranchers, and early settlers, and sometimes Native burials.
Stanley's cemetery is small and quiet, overlooking the Sawtooth range.
Wilderness surrounding Proofrock where the slasher stalks
The woods and trails around Proofrock are where victims flee and hide. Jade and others navigate the dark forest during the climax. The terrain traps characters.
The Sawtooth Range was designated a National Recreation Area in 1972 to protect its wilderness.
The Sawtooth National Recreation Area offers hiking, camping, and climbing.
The river running through the valley beside the town
The river marks the boundary of the town and carries bodies and secrets downstream. It features in scenes of flight and discovery.
The Salmon River is known as the River of No Return and has been vital to Native peoples for salmon fishing.
The river draws rafters, anglers, and sightseers.
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