Heart-Shaped Box

Title: Heart-Shaped Box
Author: Joe Hill
Pub Date: 2007
Genre: Horror, Fiction
Nutshell: A musician who buys a ghost on the Internet gets more than he expected

Most everyone who cares to know by now probably is aware that Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King. That fact may draw some people to his writing, or it may turn some people off. I'm not a huge fan of King myself--his stuff is either entirely too long (The Stand) or just too too. I like more than a little something left to the imagination, and I don't like a lot of gore and nastiness in my scary books. Personal preference. But I had heard that Heart-Shaped Box was on the more atmospheric and creepy side than the ew side, so when I finally found it at the library, I picked it up, since we're coming into October and the time of year for a spooky read.

I have to say, I was overall pretty happy with the book. It's generally creepy without being particularly gory. There's blood, but it is a horror novel. Nothing is overdone. There is a very icky (not necessarily horror-related) turn in the last part of the book, but it's handled deftly and nothing is dwelt on there that will make you feel like you need a shower. I will post two spoilers at the very end of the review: one that is a trigger warning, and one that is for people obsessed about the fates of animals in books. Be aware that those will be down there, and if you're not interested in either, you can skip them.

Plot: Musician and singer Judas Coyne is a sort of Gene Simmons or Alice Cooper kind of figure who has been into the shock metal scene for decades. He collects the sorts of things you might expect that sort of guy to collect, and in fact, most of the things in his collection are things his fans have sent him. One day, his assistant sees a listing on an auction site by a woman selling her stepfather's ghost along with his suit. He decides to buy it. The ghost does indeed come along with the suit, but who it is and what he wants aren't quite what Jude thought when he made the purchase.

I finished the book, which is not overly short (384 pages in hardback) in about a day. It's a quick read because the two main characters, Judas and Georgia, are definitely people you come to care about after a bit. They begin somewhat as sterotypes, but they grow on you as they let their guards down around each other and so around the reader and become more and more real as their situation grows more and more desperate. It's a good horror novel without being particularly gross or over-the-top. Hill definitely learned from his dad but brings enough of his own talent in that he should be regarded as a writer in his own right as well.


****End of Review. Spoiler Warnings Follow. Stop Here If You're Not Interested in Major Plot Points.****
Spoilers themselves are in white text. Highlight to read.








Spoiler #1: Trigger Warning (Sexual Abuse):
A major plot point concerns the longstanding sexual abuse of minor girls by older men. There are, however, no descriptions of the abuse other than the statements that it happened and a brief discourse into how (hypnotism) and the fallout of the abuse. Perpetrators are punished.


Spoiler #2: Dog Warning:
The dogs don't make it. But they are heroic and necessary, and there are puppies at the end.