heart-shaped box

I’m suspicious of any book/film with a song title for a title, so this Joe Hill novel I’ve been seeing on the shelves for a long time but I don’t pick it up or buy it because the title’s – *cringe*. And I love that Nirvana song.

Not to mention that the tag line used an ellipsis instead of a period. What is with horror/suspense novels and their damn ellipses?

Anyway, I haven’t read a good horror novel in a while (I’ve bought Joe Hill’s dad’s It, and a Clive Barker novel, but I’ll get to them later, they’re enormous), and I’m so glad I’ve read this one. Neil Gaiman, according to one of the blurbs, loved it “unreservedly”. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but Hill’s narrative has this restraint and touches of humor (not hysterical like his father’s; sometimes Stephen King practically screams the joke at you) that I fell for. It’s good. Still got the usual horror fare, like Ouija boards and ghosts talking through radios, and heroic animals, but it’s smart enough to know when it’s being faced by something silly. It’s good.

In the same bookstore where I got my copy of this, I also found an Owen King short story collection. Owen veered away from the supernatural, unlike his brother who embraced it and his dad who, well, practically lived in it. Wonder if he’s good. Maybe I’ll check it out when I have money again.