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Book rec!
I just finished Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts, and I'm still reeling, in that dizzy, giddy way that comes after something's spun you around and left you breathless.
This is a collection of short stories, and first of all, I'd forgotten how much I love this form. It's one I never mastered (I write long, I guess -- all of my short stories sort of ... stop, rather than end, because I realize I'm running out of space). I was interested in it because his Heart-Shaped Box had gotten so much praise, and because I love good, thinky horror.
I think what surprised me most was that this collection isn't simply horror -- "Better Than Home," for instance, is simply a story about a boy and his dad (and a really gorgeous one, full of the kind of realistic, almost uncomfortable detail that makes it ring true). And some of the pieces are more dark fantasy than anything else, or maybe closer to dark magical realism -- "Pop Art," for example, which is about, very literally, an inflatable boy. (And broke my heart in about a million ways -- it's sharp and exquisite and incredibly true on every level.)
When Hill breaks out the horror, though, he doesn't hold back -- "Abraham's Boys" is horrifying on a very realistic level, and "My Father's Mask" is so startling and dreamlike and surreal, it made actually me squirmy. "Best New Horror" goes exactly where you think it shouldn't -- couldn't possibly -- go, and it works so well, it's like a gut punch.
If you like horror, or simply like excellent writing, take a look. And check out Hill's blog -- he's running a Love Your Indie Bookstore contest this month, which is awesome of him.
Now to finish Heart-Shaped Box, which is *thisclose* to giving me nightmares.
This is a collection of short stories, and first of all, I'd forgotten how much I love this form. It's one I never mastered (I write long, I guess -- all of my short stories sort of ... stop, rather than end, because I realize I'm running out of space). I was interested in it because his Heart-Shaped Box had gotten so much praise, and because I love good, thinky horror.
I think what surprised me most was that this collection isn't simply horror -- "Better Than Home," for instance, is simply a story about a boy and his dad (and a really gorgeous one, full of the kind of realistic, almost uncomfortable detail that makes it ring true). And some of the pieces are more dark fantasy than anything else, or maybe closer to dark magical realism -- "Pop Art," for example, which is about, very literally, an inflatable boy. (And broke my heart in about a million ways -- it's sharp and exquisite and incredibly true on every level.)
When Hill breaks out the horror, though, he doesn't hold back -- "Abraham's Boys" is horrifying on a very realistic level, and "My Father's Mask" is so startling and dreamlike and surreal, it made actually me squirmy. "Best New Horror" goes exactly where you think it shouldn't -- couldn't possibly -- go, and it works so well, it's like a gut punch.
If you like horror, or simply like excellent writing, take a look. And check out Hill's blog -- he's running a Love Your Indie Bookstore contest this month, which is awesome of him.
Now to finish Heart-Shaped Box, which is *thisclose* to giving me nightmares.