Heart-Shaped Box

It's pretty obvious that Joe Hill learned a thing or two from his dad about how to scare a reader. I must admit, it's not the type of scary story I usually read. I usually indulge in a different brand of horror, the kind that you have fun being scared while reading because you don't REALLY believe in monsters, werewolves, vampires, and so forth, but this different. Half way through the book I realized that I was rushing through it just to rid myself of it because it's so dark and grim. While I don't think I believe that a werewolf will come scratching at my window, I DO believe that an angry spirit with black scribbles for eyes and unfinished business will haunt you. Let me be clear, I didn't try to read as quickly as possible just because it was such a dark book, or because it wasn't a good book. I wanted to finish because it really did give me goosebumps and served its purpose, which was to scare the hell out of me. If you're looking for the "fun" sort of horror story that will let you cringe during the day, but sleep peacefully at night...THIS IS NOT IT. That being said, on to some of the more technical elements of the story.

I was not a fan of the dialogue in this book. I've discovered that writing dialogue is a gift that only few writers are blessed to have. Those who don't have the gift often force their dialogue until it sounds completely foreign and unnatural and you don't get a real sense of what the speaker is trying to express. While Joe Hill is not the worst (I would have to hand this award to the lovely Ms. Charlaine Harris)I've certainly read better bits of dialogue. Second, some parts of this book just completely dragged, especially toward the middle. I know that Hill was just trying to give the reader a true sense of who the main character is, but some parts of the story were repetitive, especially when he reflects on his time spent with some of his ex-girlfriends. I know that some irrelevant paragraphs are necessary because novels would be reduced to chapter books with out them, there were just way too many of them in this book. Hill could have knocked off about 100 pages and the story would have gotten along just fine.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good old fashioned ghost story, but I'm finished with this book and will be glad to never look at its pages again. Well done, Joe Hill.

Heart Shaped Box was not quite what I was expecting. As I read this in October 2011, I was hoping for a book that would scare the pants off me and have me going to bed worrying about whether I had, in fact, completely closed the closet door. I am one of those people who tends to scare easily, and one of the things that scares me most is ghosts, and therefore I expected from the description that I would find this novel terrifying.

For the first 150 or so pages, Heart Shaped Box was exactly that. There's a ghost, and it's a ghost on a mission of vengeance, and for me that is the WORST kind of ghost: the ghost you can't shake, because it's not localized to a place or an object, but to you personally. The problem is that after that first part of the novel, the ghost ceases to be terrifying. Rather than engaging in a full on confrontation with his tormentee, the ghost is limited to a few skirmishes here and there as if to just mildly remind you that oh yeah, there's a ghost. He's out to get you. BOOOOO. There were four scenes in this book that scared me, and at least one of them had very little to do with the ghost. I suppose I expect in a ghost story to have more than three scenes that frighten me, and that's why this book wasn't quite what I had hoped for. But at the very least I think I can diagram why there were only three scenes: without spoiling, it appeared to me that Hill created a ghost that was nearly invulnerable for a time, which is certainly scary but in a novel impossible to surmount. But then Hill took it too far the other way and made the ghost too vulnerable. Once the ghost's vulnerability had been exposed, there was no real reason to scare the ghost, barring that vulnerability being taken care of, and what we're left with then is an impotent ghost hardly capable of delivering the scares I craved.

So you've got an impotent ghost, not too many scares...why the decent (albeit not high) rating? Well, Hill does create characters I cared about, and further, he made them grow and change in substantial, tangible ways throughout the novel, which is not something you commonly see in horror stories. Typically, a character is just there to be scared and be the object of a spectre's fury. There is no need for depth, and hence the novelist does not create it. Not so for Heart Shaped Box. Hill creates here a protagonist that at the beginning I had very little sympathy for but who I gradually came to respect and admire by the end. He doesn't do this in some drastic, unbelievable way, but rather through a few choice scenes that highlight the character's inner change. Nor does he do this merely for the protagonist, but also the love interest. I was surprised and delighted by this, and it made the novel much more entertaining than your typical run of the mill horror piece.

I also found myself chuckling quite a few times at this book, and in the good way. Hill has a few turns of phrases that are simply hilarious in an organic way. This was also unexpected in a horror novel.

To sum up: if you want to be scared, I suggest you look elsewhere. But if you're open to a novel that has interesting characters looking for a solution to a mildly scary problem, Heart Shaped Box is a fine read.

I enjoyed reading Heart-Shaped Box, but I don't think Joe Hill is quite mature in his writing yet. The pace of the book seemed a little odd to me, and it didn't actually grab hold of me and keep me going -- I was curious as to how it'd all turn out, but the narrative itself didn't keep pushing me through it. The characters are interesting but not really truly engaging, and the idea is a little creepy but not enough to keep me up at night or even to make me all shivery. Some of the formatting was irritating and kind of threw me out of it, too -- the whole sections of italicisation.

I don't actually have much to say about this, to be honest. I enjoyed reading it, but it doesn't induce strong feelings in me one way or t'other.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Impressive for a debut novel; above average when compared to other ghost stories. Heart-Shaped Box is definitely worth a read for fans of paranormal stories about unlikable characters and redemption. That, Jude/Justin being a major d**k, was the biggest obstacle for me. Eventually I was able to get past his d**ckyness though. My favorite parts of the book: the atmosphere and the dogs. Note: This was my first experience with Joe Hill's writing. In all honesty, I enjoyed the sneak peak at 20th Century Ghosts more than Heart-Shaped Box. If "The Last Breath" is any indication, I can't wait to read 20th Century Ghosts!

The quick one word review for this book: GAAAAAAAAAH.

Which is to say that the horror of Heart-Shaped Box and its details are done extremely effectively. It’s very hard to pull off such an evocative reaction on a debut novel, but Joe Hill pulls it off here. It’s creepy, ambiguous, and has a clearly terrifying villain. Also, so much of the horror aspect isn’t focused on how many kills and how gory things get, but rather reflects the dark side of humanity. It’s one of those books that facilitates leaving the lights on at night. And while the reveal does feel a little obvious, especially if you really catch on to it, it doesn’t lessen the impact of the book.

I like that Jude’s complicated and is actually a bit of a prick. But not so much of a prick that you think he deserves what’s coming to him. He’s definitely someone with a past, has acknowledged that he’s made mistakes but doesn’t feel like he needs to harp about them—instead, Jude’s ready to accept his fate. He just doesn’t want anyone else being dragged down with him. You really do get the feeling that he did care about Anna and does love Marybeth, but given his past it’s hard to connect with them. The only thing I really wish that was built on was Jude’s family history, seeing as how much it plays into the climax. Marybeth, btw, is awesome. I love that she doesn’t put up with Jude’s crap, but is willing to help him out and figure out what really happened with Anna.

And then there’s our villains. Oh dear God. Craddock’s description is creepy to begin with, the tall, lanky gentleman ghost with a razor. WHO WILL NOT STOP AT ANYTHING. Gaaah. While it feels a bit like of a cop-out to have his daughter, Jessica, reveal her intentions and reasons for sending Craddock to Jude, when you figure out what’s been really going on, it moves into the realm of completely disturbing. (This is my only warning for the book: do not read it if you’ve been sexually abused, because it’s triggering.) It’s one thing to think “Okay, Jessica’s upset because her sister’s dead, maybe things will turn out okay.” NO. Well, they do in the end, but not completely. And the horrifying about these two is that what they’re doing is very real, and sadly does happen all too often in real life.

The ending does come out of left field a little, especially with Jude’s insistence that they have to return to his family house in Louisiana. That said though, this is one of the most intense books I’ve read. It’s very creepy, unsettling, disturbing—it hits all of the right horror notes. Highly recommended (aside from the aforementioned reasons), definitely check this one out.

I actually started reading this book before I realised it was written by Stephen King's son, so that wasn't a factor when I started reading this: I randomly picked it up from a promotion table in the store because I had recently heard the song by Nirvana. I was in the mood for a ghost story, so I gave it a go.

It actually starts off rather creepy, scarier than a lot of stuff I have recently read. However, after creating this eerie atmosphere it loses a lot of steam, descending into a rather mediocre, rushed ending. Shame since it started off quite well.

Read this for October's #1book140.

Better than I thought when I first started it. Had a few false starts reading the first few chapters cos was too busy (and partly cos I was too scared to continue).

This is an amazing first novel. There's no denying that "Heart-Shaped Box" is a horror story -- it's got ghosts and gore and its share of creepiness -- but at its bloody and cold heart, this is a terrific character study that effectively blends the psychological and physical elements of horror. Honestly, Joe Hill explores the aspects of internal demons that make his father, Stephen King, so wonderful to read.It's the deep and true psychological exploration that keeps pulling me back to the horror genre, and what makes this novel so good. The intense internal discovery of one's past, present and potential future. Sometimes the frightening elements of oneself manifest in the physical world, but almost always they are generated by the internal self. Hill's prose is excellent, story pacing terrific, and he demonstrates in his first novel, that he knows how to build characters. All this combined puts on display Hill's understanding of the human character, and his ability to tap into the inner human psyche.Hill's lead in 'Heart-Shaped Box' is aging hard rock icon Judas Coyne. He's got a bundle of boyhood trauma which compounds as Coyne runs through young girlfriend after young girlfriend. When one ends up committing suicide, his haunted past starts to catch up with him. In an early scene, while facing the ghost of his ex's step-father, he's forced to consider: "...maybe ghosts always haunted minds, not places. If he wanted to take a shot at it, he'd have to turn the barrel against his own temple."In the horror genre, ghosts can be real and can come from one's past. But it's the ghosts of the mind that are the kind that never go completely away. I wouldn't consider this book a 'fright-fest', but it's deep, literary and very memorable. I highly recommend it.

Fast-paced and entertaining. My only gripe with it was that the story was pretty predictable. The characters were very stereotypical and the effort to create multidimensional aspects to them seemed forced. I'd recommend it--and I'm interested to see where Joe Hill goes next.