In Hill’s world, the interactive continuum of life and death are intriguing and, in their way, ultimately satisfying, as is the way he resolves a series of storylines and sometimes dead characters. No one knows, so the rules are there for the making. Indeed, part of the fun of a good ghost story is the way the author defines his or her imagined universe. Or maybe some genes are just extra stocked with imagination and the ability to convey it. Let’s just agree that he studied quite literally at the feet of the master and that he has applied his lessons well. Imagine then how silly I felt when, after finishing the book, I finally read something about it and learned that, duh, Joe Hill is King’s son. That King characterization thing of capturing the minute essentials of humanity, even while scaring the life right out of them, is alive on these pages. I thought often of Stephen King as I read, because despite the relentless haunting at the center of the story, I was fully engaged with characters who felt juicy, real, and alive (even when maybe they weren’t). But as a book, this is one heck of a ghost story. If they make the movie, I won’t watch it, as the graphic nature of the supernatural gore would give me nightmares for the rest of my human life and into the haunting years of my afterlife as well. For a horror non-fan like me, it’s the vivid and vicious ghost story I never knew I always wanted. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill is a terrifying ghost story about an aging heavy metal rocker, his goth stripper girlfriend, and the death-minded ghost pursuing them.

Heart shaped box book review