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Full Throttle: Stories Paperback – September 8, 2020
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A New York Times Bestseller
Thirteen relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including “In the Tall Grass,” one of two stories cowritten with Stephen King and the basis for the terrifying feature film from Netflix.
A little door that opens to a world of fairy-tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns.”
In “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain”—now an episode on Shudder TV’s Creepshow—two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water’s edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” cowritten with Stephen King.
Replete with shocking chillers, including two previously unpublished stories written expressly for this volume (“Mums” and “Late Returns”) and another appearing in print for the first time (“Dark Carousel”), Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears, and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best.
- Print length496 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication dateSeptember 8, 2020
- Dimensions5.31 x 1.12 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100062200690
- ISBN-13978-0062200693
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The poet laureate of everyday terrors returns with a baker’s dozen of deliciously sinister tales. . . . Miniature masterworks of modern horror, proving that life is hard, weird, and always fatal.” — Kirkus Reviews [starred review]
“In his new collection of short stories, Joe Hill shows how insanely good he is at shocking, terrible, whoa, cover-your-mouth-and-gasp endings . . . . Seamless and finely crafted work.” — New York Times Book Review
“This collection cements Hill’s reputation as a versatile master of scares both subtle and shocking.” — Publishers Weekly [starred review]
“Hill’s latest collection of short stories is compulsively readable. Thirteen stories weave in and out of gritty realism, whimsical folklore, and futuristic sf, flowing from one to the next in a fast-paced journey through the surreal. Hill fills each story with shocking plot twists, excellent worldbuilding, and satisfying kismet.” — Library Journal
" Hill is a versatile talent, and this kaleidoscopic collection whirls from crime premises that sound like they could be out of a hardboiled noir, to lyrical and magical-realist works dripping with atmosphere and impressive visuals, to midwestern gothic nightmares straight out of the ’70s horror heyday. Across them all, Hill’s clear voice and talent rings through loud and clear." — barnesandnoble.com
“Hill calls to mind Harlan Ellison at his absolute best, with a penchant for cruel characters learning hard truths.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Full Throttle is a great collection and just more proof that Hill is one of the great storytellers of the early 21st century. Highly recommended.” — SFF World
“This new collection of short fiction by acclaimed horror and suspense writer Joe Hill proves that Hill can do it all.” — CrimeReads
“A four-pack of mayhem in this sparkling collection of short novels. . . .Worth waiting in line for, if you’re a Hill fan. If you’re not, this is the book to turn you into one.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on STRANGE WEATHER
“Every piece is driven by anxiety and unease and feature Hill’s trademark characters who feel absolutely real. But it is also the sense of place that dazzles, whether it’s a sinister version of Narnia in ‘Faun,’ on a coastal pier in ‘Dark Carousel,’ or on a plane as WWIII breaks out in ‘You Are Released.’ Hill lulls the reader into deep enjoyment, even as the terror lies just around the corner.” — Library Journal [starred review]
“[I]n times like these, when real-world terrors outstrip our night terrors, how can a novelist possibly compete? Joe Hill, the author of several terrifying bestsellers, rises to this challenge in Strange Weather.” — Washington Post on STRANGE WEATHER
“[A]nother must-read from a increasingly impressive storyteller [...] Strange Weather speaks to the versatility of Joe Hill’s craft, telling deeply disturbing stories in which cataclysmic forces of nature seem like a gentle rain when set against the actions of villains who are all too human.” — barnesandnoble.com on STRANGE WEATHER
“The Weather quartet unleashes a perfect storm of styles, from a slow-burn thriller to ethereal sci-fi, all told with a consistently strong voice…. Hill whips up emotional moments in all four that strike like lightning and thunderously rumble your soul.” — USA Today on STRANGE WEATHER
“Original and gripping, a page-turner.” — George R. R. Martin on THE FIREMAN
“[The Fireman] reaffirms [Joe Hill’s] gifts for riveting attention and pushing genre conventions to new extremes. ” — New York Times Book Review on THE FIREMAN
“[A] superb supernatural thriller . . . a tremendous, heartrending epic of bravery and love set in a fully realized and terrifying apocalyptic world, where hope lies in the simplest of gestures and the fullest of hearts.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on THE FIREMAN
“[An] undeniably readable work.” — Booklist (starred review) on NOS4A2
“A genuinely scary novel filled with people you care about; the kind of book that still stays in your mind after you’ve turned over the final page. I loved it unreservedly.” — Neil Gaiman on HEART-SHAPED BOX
“Powerful . . . a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations . . . a truly memorable debut.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on HEART-SHAPED BOX
“[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.” — New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) on 20th CENTURY GHOSTS
“[O]ne of the best [horror] collections of the year.” — Locus on 20th CENTURY GHOSTS
About the Author
Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Fireman, NOS4A2, Horns, and Heart-Shaped Box; Strange Weather, a collection of novellas; and the acclaimed story collections Full Throttle and 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the Eisner Award–winning writer of a seven-volume comic book series, Locke & Key. Much of his work has been adapted for film and TV, including NOS4A2 (AMC), Locke & Key (Netflix), and In the Tall Grass (Netflix).
Product details
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks (September 8, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 496 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062200690
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062200693
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 1.12 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #76,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #215 in Ghost Thrillers
- #1,823 in Short Stories (Books)
- #4,047 in Horror Literature & Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box, The Fireman, and Full Throttle. He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long-running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with artist Gabriel Rodriguez. Much of his work has been adapted for movies and television. His second novel, Horns, was translated to film in 2014 and starred Daniel Radcliffe. His third novel, NOS4A2, is now a hit series on AMC, starring Zachary Quinto. The first season of Locke & Key was released on Netflix in early 2020 and became an overnight smash. His story, "In The Tall Grass," co-written with Stephen King, was made into a feature for Netflix, and became a mind-bending cult horror sensation. Most recently, Hill has returned to graphic novels -- his latest comics include Basketful of Heads and Plunge for D.C., and Dying is Easy for IDW.
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Some people write great horror because they know what is scary. And some people try to mix genres- the success of which greatly depends on the writing. Joe Hill’s anthology was, I thought, horror. But then I kept reading. Most, if not all, of the stories feature fantasy, but not in the right way. To me, they were unrealistic and gimmicky, and to put it simply: Bad horror. The ideas were there, but the way it all played out just didn’t live up to the ideal. While I can’t claim to know any of Joe Hill’s other works, I will say that this felt like a book of amateur writing.
I started each story with a good deal of hope, ready to enjoy their concept, their plot. But by the end of each of them, I was left greatly disappointed with how it played out. For me, a lack of realism takes out the scare in horror. Not only that, but all genres have to be realistic, even fantasy- there are certain things about life that have to make sense, in any genre. Take, for example, one of the earlier stories: Dark Carousel. It was a fine, average story, with the main enemy being this villainous carousel horses come to life. There was a point in which the characters were in a corvette and being hunted down by a herd of wild, dark horses. A corvette can withstand around 440 LBS. In the course of this fight scene, they not only ran into a 1,200 LB horse (as stated in the novel) twice, but it also stood on the car itself at more than one point, including putting its hooves on the top of the car. The part that really got me, however, was when the horse was run into, then, while supposedly laying its weight on the car (with the car still driving), it struck a hoof through the windshield of the car, shattering the safety glass into bits and pieces, and it hit the chest of one of the characters, breaking their ribs. Several things about this were unrealistic to me. The length of a corvette hood, versus a horse’s torso AND legs, being at the right length to strike a hoof through the windowshield? The dimensions of it, the physics of it, the act of this itself- it just took me out of the writing because it put red flags in my head that was simply unrealistic or not described well.
This was not the only story that did this. In fact, I found issues with most all the stories. The conclusion of Throttle was confusing to me, written without the explanation being clear enough. Wolverton Station was good, though I found it to be longwinded. By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain was merely okay, written from the perspective of a child, but also with no conclusion at all. There was not enough of an explanation there to make it scary, at least for me- too vague to enjoy. Faun was a decent story, though I felt it was more heavy fantasy than horror. In fact, it got a little bit boring to me by the end. Only one part stuck out to me: “Good old Hutch,’ Charn said “Good old Mehitabel.” And if you’ve read it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Late Returns was a wonderful story, one I enjoyed, but it was again not horror, however well written it was.
My favorite story, and what I believe to be the best story in the anthology, was All I Care About is You. Futuristic dystopian, the thing that made this story so great was the symbolism and theme of it, and the ruthless main character, Iris. The ending was great, and it made the story worth reading.
It is, however, followed up by what I consider to be the worst story in this novel: Thumbprint. This story takes on military horror. In fact, a handful of stories in this novel feature military themes, including Faun, Mums, and You Are Released. Thumbprint is the most heavily featured of this, a very stereotypical story of military PTSD turned into a murderer. Not my cup of tea.
The Devil on the Staircase was decent, giving a Paradise Lost vibe to me. However, despite the interesting staircase formatting it was written with, the story itself felt like it was very monotone, and it was hard to read without growing bored. Twittering From the Circus of the Dead was written entirely in tweets- making it a quick, dialogue heavy read. Because of the nature of the plot, it was extremely predictable, causing me to fly through it. Mums was poorly written, in my opinion. It had two great plotline ideas: One, a militaristic style plot of a man with paranoia against the government, and his lackeys. Two, a plant comes to life plot. Both were decent, but the way it was written just felt… off to me. Something wasn’t quite living up to the potential that was there.
In the Tall Grass was better in the television adaptation than the story. That’s rare for me to say, but in this case, it was true. There was only one high point, one twist, that I felt was done better in the story- and I won’t spoil that here.
And then there was the last story: You Are Released. I’m going to say it plainly: This was the wrong story to end this anthology collection on. It’s clear what is going to happen, yet the end is ambiguous, and the subject matter left me rather uncomfortable- and not in a good horror sort of way.
Here’s the long and short of it: I don’t believe these stories to be the best Joe Hill has to offer. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I don’t enjoy his particular writing, or maybe I didn’t vibe well with all the heavy military and fantasy themes here. But I’ve read military fiction before and enjoyed it, and I’ve read fantasy before and enjoyed it, and I really struggled with these. I would enjoy the story up until the ending, and then the ending would just ruin it for me: Every. Single. Time. Besides All I Care About is You, which was actually saved by the brilliant ending. Stephen King once said he sucked at endings- so much so that it’s a running joke that Bill Denbrough from IT also struggles to write endings. All I can say is that maybe Joe Hill is afflicted with the same curse. These weren’t necessarily bad ideas, and it’s not even necessarily bad writing, but there were just enough flaws to ruin it for me as a reader, leaving me with my score of a 2/5.
More than anything else, what Full Throttle gives you a sense of is Hill's range and command of so many different tones and styles. He's undeniably capable of horror, as the supernatural revenge tale "Dark Carousel" shows, following a group of teenagers as they decide to taunt and rob a carnival roustabout, only to find forces aligning against them. Or there's Hill's collaboration with his father, "In the Tall Grass," in which a pair of siblings stops by the side of the road in response to the voice of a lost child calling from an overgrown field, but soon discovering that this is no ordinary field at all. Hill's even willing to see what he can do under clever restrictions, including "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead," a truly chilling story told entirely through the tweets of a teenage girl on a doomed vacation with her family, or the literal stair-step structure of "The Devil on the Staircase." And Hill doesn't even require supernatural elements for his horror, as shown in "Thumbprint," the relentless story of a soldier who's returned home after a stint at Abu Ghraib bringing her own trauma and mental scars home with her, along with an inability to escape her past actions.
And if all Hill had was his gift for horror, that would be enough. But Full Throttle constantly shows other sides of his talents. Take, for instance, the hauntingly beautiful "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain," which tells the story of a little girl as she lets her imagination run wild down by the shores of a lake - or, is what's happening real? Whichever way it goes (and the end seems to make clear which it is), Hill captures that childish sense of carefree fun effortlessly, reminding us of a time when anything seemed possible. Or take "Late Returns," a ghost story set mainly on a bookmobile which reminds us of how books can so often be a link to key moments in our own lives. Then there's "Faun," which feels like Hill spliced together "A Sound of Thunder" with C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, only to add in a wholly unexpected new wrinkle that delighted me by changing the entire story around me.
And none of that even touches on the beautiful and unexpected final story, "You Are Released," which Hill describes as his effort to write a David Mitchell story. Told, in Mitchell style, through a series of different narrators all on a single flight, Hill first seems to be looking at how our different views in the modern world can lead to us failing to understand each other. But then the story reveals itself to be something else entirely, leading to something both optimistic and painful at the same time, and ending the story on a more hopeful note than the story's content might have suggested it would.
There's so much more to this collection - the eerie "The Devil on the Staircase," whose text layout reflects its subject in compelling ways (except, it must be noted, on the Kindle version, where that layout is lost; luckily, the story retains its unsettling mood), the Duel homage "Throttle" (the other King collaboration), the outwardly sweet science-fiction friendship of "All I Care About Is You," and more. But it all adds up to an immersive plunge into the wide gamut of Hill's ability, giving you horrors, suspense, rich characters, perfect moods, and stories that stick with you far beyond their short length. It's a great collection from a horror writer whose made it clear that his success is all his own, and not just due to his family connection. Read it and enjoy the talent on display on every page.
Late Returns is one of the most heartwarming reads I have had in years. For all the bibliophiles in my life, grab this for that story alone even if you hate horror.
Top reviews from other countries

Full Throttle doesn't have the same level of story, but they possibly come once in a career.
It does have a fine selection, although it includes a formatted story which I couldn't read on kindle because of the font, which was irksome.
But....In The Tall Grass is an incredible story. At first it felt like a retelling of Children of the Corn. But it ain't. Loved it.


Love it loved it real good book

