Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (2007)

Aging rock star Judas Coyne has a pretty large collection of oddities, so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale, he impulsively decides to add it to his collection. Soon, the package arrives: a heart-shaped box containing an old-fashioned suit. Judas stashes it in his closet and goes about his life with his 20-something girlfriend Georgia, but the suit - and its former inhabitant - will not be ignored.

Surprise: Judas finding this sale was not a coincidence. It turns out he has a connection to this unhappy ghost, and now he and Georgia must try to make things right and get this creepy-ass thing off their backs. Not only is this a ghost story, but it's also a road-trip story and I cannot imagine a better combination.

I always tell people that Joe Hill has a different style than his father, Stephen King, but Hill's debut reminds me a lot of old-school King. This character-driven novel stars a very imperfect man, but one I came to sympathize with nonetheless. The creepy parts were so very well done, employing some of the worst parts of my nightmares, and I am literally referring to nightmares I have had. Joe Hill, how did you know?
I won't ruin it for you to detail the bits of this book that made my blood run a bit cold, but just trust me that they were there.

I've been reading horror since I was about twelve, and I no longer believe in the supernatural as I did when I was a kid. But although I don't actually get scared by horror anymore, I remember when I did believe in ghosts and, man, there were moments in this story that I found delicious because they were so perfect. Had I read this back when I first started reading horror it would have positively kept me up all night in terror, but now it just kept me up because I couldn't stop reading it. It was so much creepy fun!

Although I haven't really been able to get into Locke & Key, I find Hill's other books just perfect for me so now I'm looking forward to finally reading his newest novel, NOS4A2. I read Heart-Shaped Box for my TBR Pile Challenge and also my book group. I hope everyone else in book group likes it as much as I did!

Horns

Horns by Joe Hill (2010)

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk, doing terrible things. When he wakes up in the morning he finds that his horrible hangover is accompanied by another strange by-product of his evening: a pair of horns growing out of his head. He soon finds the horns come with a strange power. Everyone he speaks to tells him their secret, private urges, whether he wants to hear them or not. As Ig tries to understand what has become of him, the reader learns about his past : his upbringing, how he fell in love with his girlfriend Merrin, and her violent murder, of which he was accused. As Ig falls deeper into the rabbit hole, so the reader falls with him becoming completely caught up in this twisted, tortured tale coming from one of the most talented writers of horror today.

Initially, I found the whole premise of this book a little ridiculous. But I kept hearing about how good it was and I'm so glad I finally folded and picked up a copy. It was strange and weird and a little creepy, and I never was able to predict where it was going.

For those of you unfamiliar with Joe Hill, you should know that his father is Stephen King, and the apple has not fallen far from the tree. Hill has a style all his own, but now and then I was reminded of King, perhaps by the sympathetic way the characters were portrayed - King is a master at character development and apparently that trait has been passed down to the next generation. I wanted the best for Ig, who was a decent guy - a very young guy, even - who really needed something good to happen to him. Although Ignatius was the one sprouting horns, he wasn't the real devil here and I loved every moment of that character's true nature coming to light.

Horns isn't a happy story, nor is it realistic (obviously), but if you're in the mood for some twisted fun you could do much worse. The movie is being filmed now, and stars Daniel Radcliffe as Ig, a casting choice which I think just might be brilliant.

Hill's collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, was fantastic and I liked the first volume of his graphic novel series Locke and Key, though the art style wasn't exactly to my taste. After also enjoying Horns a great deal, I might be hooked. Now I'm hoping to read Hill's previous novel Heart-Shaped Box, and I'll be looking out for the forthcoming NOS4A2.

Locke and Key v.1: Welcome to Lovecraft

Locke and Key volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (2009)

At PLA I attended a session on trends in genre series, and the presenter on horror highly recommended Joe Hill's graphic novel series Locke & Key.

It begins with a murder - the father of the Locke family is killed by a former student, after which the family moves to Maine to live with the deceased's brother. The kids try to cope with their grief and adjust to their new life on the island of Lovecraft. The youngest, Bode, soon discovers a magical door that turns him into a ghost and begins communicating with a mysterious woman seemingly trapped in their well. Meanwhile, the psycho who killed their father is still on the loose and moving ever closer to the family.

I thought this was a good story with good illustrations, but I didn't find it especially scary. It has all the elements of scariness - creepy house, psycho killer - but it didn't even give me the creeps. Maybe I am just desensitized after all the horror I read as a teenager. The setup was good though, and I think the characters hold a lot of potential for the series but I'm not sure I'll continue.  Graphic novels are nice palate-cleansers now and then, but I do get a whole lot more out of regular novels.

Have any of you read this series? What did you think? I'm wondering if I should try volume 2. The reviews of this book are all so glowing that I feel like I'm missing something.