Take a Ride on the Night Road

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals...a used hangman's noose...a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder...

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts — of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door...seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang...standing outside his window...staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting — with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand...

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.


I used to love to read scary horror stories but recently I’ve been more into the mixed genres (like Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong, & Laurell K. Hamilton). It was fun coming back to the old horror and debut author Joe Hill does this fabulously in his novel Heart-Shaped Box. It was cool, fast-paced, and actually unique! I can’t say that the book was actually scary but it was quite creepy in a psychological way in some parts and the characters themselves are so interesting!

There were many aspects of Heart-Shaped Box that I loved but how music played such an important role in the books is one of the main ones. I also liked the way ghosts were portrayed as well. I’ve never said this before and I probably won’t ever say it again but although I really enjoyed the book, I think Heart-Shaped Box would have made an even better movie. Can’t wait to see if someone in Hollywood will pick it up!

I doubt I would have found this wonderful book (and new author!) if it hadn’t have been for one of my online book groups (The Reading Loft) choosing it as the October group read. Stephen King had better watch out, there’s a new guy in town... and he just happens to be his own son.

~The author's webpage is linked above but Heart-Shaped Box has it's own site complete with a book trailer and tons of other interactive things.

Reminder: The pictures above are also links to information and interviews.

Joe Hill Interview: