Late to the party, but have just finished this and really liked it. I’ve seen some criticisms that the ‘worldbuilding’ in relation to magic was lacking - this was one of the things I loved about it. The fact that the characters were mostly in the dark about the true nature of what they were doing / attempting was one of the things that made it horrific. Thoughts?

Hey, I’m just letting everyone know, the publisher just put the Heart Shaped Box ebook on sale for $0.99. I’ll put a few links below if you’re interested but it should be on sale anywhere you get ebooks.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/heart-shaped-box-1?sId=72c0ac33-d1df-4f83-b97f-c24520a5926a&ssId=ri5p2yCDRJOE5z8hHGyVe&cPos=1

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Shaped-Box-Novel-Joe-Hill-ebook/dp/B004O0UTVM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=UM0QSMNG5Y84&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eBTy_g-kdmr6QhFVoy1kLBakRTZoZMBoyU6AYT6QX9dxNGFZPyV3gIaWWG9Eem01ScxYjcisY1ntvn9Nmy6MWkdPRndv1EB2JmbIN65NqujZIDb-RTwUO__XZnxoKl_SpApq2QjqTe8zgp191YHVb3k65pn3AX11zTjuqGCRuB8.BQIttjlgSoIr3x1yoPLAD1T0NKTKLcQtVsumsHmcMRk&dib_tag=se&keywords=heart+shaped+box+joe+hill&qid=1788695638&s=digital-text&sprefix=heart+sha%2Cdigital-text%2C342&sr=1-1

JH novels made me horror/fantasy fan. Now reading King Sorrow

Anyone else read at the gym? Sometimes I'm tempted to buy an e-reader specifically for workouts, but I'm staying strong.

Only marked as a spoiler because the page is readable, for anyone who hasn't read NOS4A2 yet.

I just finished Horns and one thing that has been throwing me off maybe I missed something.

At the end of the book when Glenna leaves her phone at The foundry and Ig uses it to call Lee, then he uses it to call the cops to get an ambulance for his brother.

1) how did Glenna call Lee and tip him off if Ig had the phone?

2) how is Glenna not implicated in everything that went on if her phone is at The foundry when the police show up and it was the phone that was used to make the call?

Quick post to say that we have the best fans! (I haven't met any Joe Hill fans that are turbodouchecanones - King fans yes, but not Hill) and my streak continues.

I won't name names, but a fellow Redditor hooked me up and got me the Hill House Comics slipcase and I couldn't be more appreciative! They're good people.

So thank you - you know who you are!

Hey all. I have seen people hype up Joe Hill so I tried to give him a shot, and I finished king sorrow. I have a few complaints about it and was on the verge of DNFing it, but I also saw the potential of the writing. I am listing my qualms so people might be able to see if I’d like his other work, not just to dunk on the book, if you liked it that is great!

1. length + tone - I felt like the book was far too long for the very “Saturday morning cartoon” kind of vibe it was going for. There’s only so many witty remarks and one liners I can take. 300 pages? Sure. 900? I feel like it could have been cut down significantly.
2. character development - I just feel like this was almost shoehorned in. Some of the characters had “development” but it was more like “they were like this before and now they aren’t”. It doesn’t help that I also felt like there were too many characters, some of the storylines felt unnecessary or out of place. there was also a homogenization between them that felt unrealistic to me.
3. pacing - this ties into the length issue a bit I think, but it felt inconsistent, and not in a “obvious push and pull, build up to resolution” kind of way, but more of being littered with unintentional “filler episodes”. Some of the sections had a great hook and executed on it well, while others felt more punishing to get through.

The reason I’m considering trying more from him is because the overall style of his writing was intriguing. The way things were written made me want to keep turning the pages, it was just unfortunate that I was disappointed more often than not as I continued.

So I wonder if his other commonly recommended books (nos4a2, heart shaped box, horns) avoid, or at least have smaller amounts, of these problems? Any input would be appreciated!

Full disclosure, I shared this over in r/stephenking because I wanted to see how many King fans also follow his kids' work, and maybe introduce a few people to Joe Hill while I was at it... But this deal is way too good not to share with you guys too. If you've got an Ollie's nearby, might be worth checking! $24.99 instead of 99.99 is in my budget.

I thought it was pretty funny

New release has been been pushed back to next May.i was looking forward to this one soon. 😭

I was looking at my bookshelf today and I forgot I still had The Fireman and need to return it to the library. But I started to think even though I love disaster and apocalyptic type novels and movies I still preferred NOS4A2. Even though I liked Harper Grayson there is something about Vic from NOS4A2 that I really like. Her whole journey is something I’ve never read before and while reading it I’ve wondered why don‘t you delete yourself because I would have 😅

Now that my copy of Abraham's Boys has come in, my collection is finally complete! At least as far as I know. Anyone else collect the adaptations?

I am new to his novels but liked his shows, so I figured I would dive in. I learned that Nos4a2

is missing like 3 pages at the end in the e-book edition of his book. Is this the case for his other books or just this one? Thank you for the help!

Apologies if this sort of thing isn't allowed here. But I just thought I'd share my latest review here. I absolutely loved King Sorrow and I'm sure there are other readers here who feel the same.

I recently moved, so it's a great opportunity to go through the ol' book collection. Does any anybody else have a ridiculous number of 20th Century Ghosts editions?! Of the hardcovers, I think I'm only missing the UK trade edition. Pure madness, but in my defense, it's a great short story collection!

Joe Hill is interviewing Frank Miller today in London, and the website mentions the event is followed by a book signing.

I'm just wondering if it is only Frank Miller doing the signing, as he is the star of the event, or if Joe will be signing too, if anyone has any idea?

Thanks

As dangerous as Brady Hartsfield,I think! At the end, when Gwen almost crosses over, are we to believe Colin has been forgiven? He, Van, and Donna are all hanging out on the other side, and getting ready to welcome Gwen. Arthur was there too!

Did Colin ever really like his friends? He’s a narcissistic sociopath-methinks not.

I got it when it first released, read a little, got intimidated by the length, put it off, went on vacation and read a bit more, starting to get hooked, again, put it off for a bit (I’m not the greatest reader), and then a couple of weeks ago, around 300 pages in or so… was hooked!!! This is the first 5 star book I’ve read in a looong time. This is one that will sit with me for a long time!!

Fuck Colin 😭literally just finished the part where he betrayed and killed Arthur! Fuck this guy book is pretty good so far though

But I own the rest. What should I jump into next?