Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box

by Joe Hill

'Buy my stepfather's ghost' read the e-mail. So Jude did. He bought the dead man's suit, delivered in a heart-shaped box, because he wanted it: because his fans ate up that kind of story. It was perfect for his collection: the genuine skulls and the bones, the real honest-to-God snuff movie, the occult books and all the rest of the paraphanalia that goes along with his kind of hard/goth rock. But the rest of his collection doesn't make the house feel cold. The bones don't make the dogs bark; the movie doesn't make Jude feel as if he's being watched. And none of the artefacts bring a vengeful old ghost with black scribbles over his eyes out of the shadows to chase Jude out of his home, and make him run for his life ...

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

4 of 5 stars

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I read this book a few years back and it is quite thrilling and you can’t put it down. Joe Hill definitely inherited the talent for writing from his father, Stephen King. The characters all seem really credible and are described very well. None of them remains shallow. Especially the musical references throughout the whole book were something I liked. The music industry was also pictured authentically.
The book also never fails to frighten. I caught myself holding my breath several times while reading.
As I heard the book will be turned into a movie in 2014 and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I hope they will be able to capture the dark atmosphere of the book and find an actor who is really able to play a role like Jude Coyne.

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  • 16 July, 2013: Reviewed