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20th Century Ghosts [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Joe Hill
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (172 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 16, 2008

Imogene is young, beautiful . . . and dead, waiting in the Rosebud Theater one afternoon in 1945. . . .

Francis was human once, but now he's an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children, and an antique telephone, long since disconnected, rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

Nolan knows but can never tell what really happened in the summer of '77, when his idiot savant younger brother built a vast cardboard fort with secret doors leading into other worlds. . . .

The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. . . .


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After the release of Hill's acclaimed novel Heart-Shaped Box, this collection of his short fiction, originally published in Britain two years ago made its way to the United States. Hill, the son of horror master Stephen King, runs a diverse gamut that includes some unapologetic chillers along the lines of the book's title story. Yet the essence of his material could best be described as a hybrid that connects the ironic twists from episodes of The Twilight Zone with the angst and vulnerability of childhood and adolescence. David LeDoux, whose previous audiobook credits include Douglas Coupland's Hey Nostradamus! and Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, demonstrates an especially keen knack for capturing the cadence of teen and young adult male speech patterns, with equal parts deadpan cool and quivering tension. Hill's novella Voluntary Committal provides a sublime experience of jarring suspense and compelling family drama. Admittedly, a few of the briefer works may leave listeners longing for more fully developed story lines, but Hill consistently manages to evoke emotional responses and provoke unsettling questions, which makes for a worthwhile experience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you’ve read them.” (Parade (a "Parade Pick") )

“[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction.” (Village Voice )

“[O]ne of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories.” (Locus )

“Each tale is unique, and the collection proves that Hill’s talent is not limited to horror, but extends well into the mainstream.” (Denver Rocky Mountain News )

“[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.” (New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) )

“[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended.” (The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia) )

“The selections range from the mundane to the surreal, with a strong emphasis on the kind of horror tale perfected by Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Stephen King.” (San Francisco Chronicle )

“This solid, inventive, scary collection of stories reveals a writer who has thought hard about the problematics of horror.” (New York Times on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS )

“Each of these chilling tales arrests you from the opening sentence and leads you — trustingly, thanks to the simple mastery of the story-teller — into a place of gulping fear.” (Daily Mail (London) on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS )

“Subtle and disturbing in equal measure.” (Coventry Telegraph on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS )

“Irresistible stories.” (Evening Herald (Ireland) )

Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (September 16, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061147982
  • ASIN: B002WTC98S
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (172 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The author of the critically acclaimed Heart-Shaped Box and 20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill is a two-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, and a past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. His stories have appeared in a variety of journals and Year's Best collections. He calls New England home.

Customer Reviews

The first book I read by Joe Hill was "Heart Shaped Box" which I thought was pretty good. Tracie A. Smith  |  57 reviewers made a similar statement
Was interesting and very different short stories. Bailey  |  29 reviewers made a similar statement
Hill's exceptional writing style makes even bizarre stories like "Pop Art" fascinating reading material. Richard Szponder  |  36 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
73 of 76 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh and True November 8, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Reading is a collaborative event. When the collaboration is good, the story resonates inside, touching on some emotion or history that the reader brings to the table. The very best stories are fresh and specific, though, so simply tapping into pop culture or tired archetypes won't work as an authorial technique. The story has to touch something deeper. It has to be true.

In bypassing pop clichés, the ending of a truly great story should be a surprise--not because of a trick, but because in telling the truth, the clichés get left behind.

I was three stories deep in Joe Hill's "20th Century Ghosts" before I decided that I was reading the freshest, most surprising, truest speculative fiction I'd read in decades. Each piece in this book is a gem. "Best New Horror" is a formulaic tale about an editor who's tired of formula stories. The last paragraph of the tale takes an exhilarating turn that struck me as poetic--completely reframing the story. "Pop Art" is the most unusual, touching piece of fiction I can remember. The title is a pun, and the story is absurd. How could it leave me in tears? "Better than Home" is an odd father-son love story. What is a story about baseball, uncontrollable saliva, dead bodies under a covered bridge and the joys of throwing peanut shells on the steps doing in a collection of horror tales? Fitting in quite nicely. Every tale here belongs.

Critics often say, "I couldn't put the book down." I put 20th Century Ghosts down a half-dozen times, asking myself, "How could this guy be so damned good?" Do yourself a huge favor. Buy 20th Century Ghosts and "begin collaborating" with this most talented author.
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33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars 15 wonderful, original and bizarre stories October 16, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Joe Hill has received many, many awards. This book was originally published in Britain by PS Publishing in 2005, and it won the British Fantasy Award, The International Horror Guild Award, and the Bram Stoker Award for best collection. He is also a 2006 World Fantasy Award winner, for his novella Voluntary Committal, which appears in the same book. He is the author of Heart Shaped Box. Joe, 35, is the son of authors Stephen King and Tabitha King.

Twentieth Century Ghosts contains 15 of the most severely bizarre and original stories ever conceived. Hill has been influenced by Malamud and Kafka. These tales are the stuff of Twilight Zone, seriously creepy and macabre, full of spectral and often perverse violence. Any parent other than Stephen King might be very concerned.

I think my favorite was "Pop Art," a fable of an inflatable teen, and his best friend, who happens to have a nasty father with a vicious dog. Or maybe it was "Voluntary Committal," where seriously schizophrenic Morris Lerner, builder of elaborate basement cardboard box mazes, helps out his older brother by getting rid of a nasty pal.

"Most of my stories are really that simple. They're built around the collision of the real and the impossible..." from an interview with Joe Hill by Daniel M. Jaffe on the web site Biblio Buffet.

NOTE: Many of the stories feature threatened children. If this sort of thing bothers you, stay away.

Armchair Interviews says: Read this one with the lights on.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Debut, Imaginative Short Fiction October 18, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Before "The Heart-Shaped Box" hit the bestseller charts, Joe Hill released this book as a limited edition short story collection. It won numerous awards in 2005--Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, British Fantasy Award for Best Collection, and the International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection--all before Hill was "outed" as the second son of novelists Stephen and Tabitha King.

The 14 stories included outshine his debut novel, featuring a wide variety of protagonists and situations outside of the norm in horror. In fact, not every story has supernatural elements--several stories here originally appeared in "literary" journals. "Abraham's Boys" is a post-modern twist on Van Helsing, while Hill updates Kafka with "You Will Hear the Locust Sing." The most disturbing stories, however, have no blood and gore, such as mind-freak "My Father's Mask." The novella that concludes this collection, "Voluntary Committal," is one of the most haunting novellas ever written. This edition also contains the short story "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead," which was not previously published in the UK edition.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars very good
I really enjoyed the stories. They left me wondering what could happen next in this strange world we live in.
Published 6 days ago by relyks99tx
3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag
While I loved his novels 'Heart Shaped Box' and 'Horns', this collection of short stories didn't quite resonate with me. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Taylor White
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
I admit that I picked up this book because Stephen King is my favorite writer and I heard that Joe Hill is his son and I wanted to see if he had inherited the gifts of his father. Read more
Published 8 days ago by K. L. Wood
5.0 out of 5 stars Joe Hill writes amazing stories
Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts is good. Very good. Like, Books of Blood good. Like, Night Shift, and Skeleton Crew good. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Robert Errera
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories
Joe Hill is a new favorite. All of these stories were just right. Not a dud in the bunch. I will read more of his works.
Published 13 days ago by Archie
3.0 out of 5 stars Kills me to rate this 3 stars, but . . .
I have really enjoyed reading Joe Hill's fiction. He has the gift of writing "real" characters--people who you can relate to and/or care about. Read more
Published 15 days ago by BeckyFS
5.0 out of 5 stars I can not put Joe Hill's novels down...
I expected a lot from Stephen and Tabitha King's son. He went beyond those expectations. Way beyond. He has a way of sneaking up on me and scaring me silly. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Sdalbright72
4.0 out of 5 stars Could it be true?
Joe Hill gives me a fill in for the between books of Dean Koontz and Stephen King. A real gripper.
Published 21 days ago by Bucky
5.0 out of 5 stars Great variety of short stories.
Wow. I don't usually like short stories this well. These are very thought provoking and each one grabs you right in. I am totally hooked on this guy. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Joann Baxter
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
So well written I nearly cried. The imagery Hill's work creates leaves me breathless. I would recommend this book to everyone I know!
Published 25 days ago by Lorilei
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The paperback lists for $13.99, Amazon had it ON SALE, possibly as a promotion or an overrun. Doesn't obligate them to reduce the Kindle price. So you're going to pass on a fine collection at the usual Kindle book price because the paperback is a bargain? Boy, that'll sure show 'em, eh.
Jan 18, 2013 by Johnny Hodges |  See all 2 posts
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