20th Century Ghosts

by Joe Hill

[pamela]

20th Century Ghosts, like most short story collections, is a book I now have a love-hate relationship with. It's hard to write short stories where every single one speaks to every reader, and like most other collections, this one had stories that I loved and stories that just didn't thrill me at all.

When Joe Hill is great, he is really great. Pop Art, 20th Century Ghosts, Last Breath, Dead Wood, and Voluntary Committal were the stories that really stood out to me as excellent. They were emotional, had depth, didn't try to do too much in their short length, and left me feeling like I'd read something profound as I turned the last page.

Other stories, however, like In the Rundown, Back to Home, and Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead, just didn't do anything for me. I found them a little pedestrian, with little or no development to keep me engaged.

The rest of the collection was fine but didn't blow me away. Many of them had stellar concepts, but there was just something missing in the execution. Many of the stories also had incredibly abrupt endings that left me unsatisfied or were just plain weird with no explanation. The overall theme of the collection was a bit all over the shop as well - many of these stories felt like they were going to be horror but were anything but.

Overall, I did enjoy the collection, and it was an easy read. I'm a big fan of Joe Hill, and I love his writing style. If nothing else, this collection gives a great snapshot of what he is capable of, and the different styles and genres in which he can write.