I've never had to make a vow to not read a book before I went to bed. Until recently. Joe Hill has a special ability where he's able to freak me out. This sort of accomplishment is not easily done. I'm a trickster by nature. I work at a parking garage as a valet. I like to hide in places - i.e. the back seat of cars - and scare my co-workers. Many of them have tried their damndest to scare me in return, and nearly all have failed. What I'm saying is, I don't scare easy.
I didn't develop a love for the horror genre until recently. Two writers helped me fall in love with the art form: Stephen King (duh!) and a less well known writer, Dan Wells. Stephen King needs no introduction. Dan Wells is one of three hosts of the podcast Writing Excuses. His debut novel was one of the first horror stories I ever read. It's called "I Am Not A Serial Killer." (<--- Click the title) After reading both of the guys I decided horror wasn't at all like the poor imitation served out by Hollywood. You know, the thousands of Jason movies or silly Saw movies. Horror could really get in your head and take you for a fun ride.
Somehow or another, I'm not really sure, I found out about Joe Hill. If you don't know Joe is Stephen King's middle child, and has inherited his father's talent for scaring the crap out of people. I dare say that he may have taken to the family business a little better than his dear ol' dad.
The plot for "Horns" is pretty straight forward. The main character, Ig, wakes up hungover on the anniversary of his girlfriend's murder. He quickly notices a change about himself. He has horns growing out of his head. With the new addition to his body come a few special abilities.
I'm not sure which horror writer said this but I once read, "Monsters aren't scary. People are." That's the thing about "Horns." The emotional ride that Joe Hill takes you on is more terrifying than the fact that Ignatius Perrish has devil horns growing out of his head. Sure, that's freaky. But the feelings of pain and anguish that Ig feels over his lost love is more more horrifying. The fact that people to crazy things to hurt others makes me cringe more than the knowledge that a dude has horns coming out of his head.
This book showed a lot of maturity for Joe Hill. His debut novel "Heart-Shaped Box" was a fun read, but there were things that could have been better. While reading "Horns" I noticed that Joe doesn't even read like the same writer. The work that he's put into the improvement of his craft really shines. Joe seems to be a jack of all trades. His comic run with "Locke & Key" is one of the best things going on in the comic industry, and his novels are scary fun.
Okay, one final thing, I know a lot of people won't read Stephen King because of his tendency to be wordy. I'm mean, for real, the guy can take a three-hundred page story and stretch it out over a thousand pages with minimal effort. This seems to be something Joe didn't inherit from King. He's not wordy or descriptive in the same way as his dad. His novels are easily read and can be plowed through rather quickly. Being an avid fantasy reader, Stephen King's wordiness doesn't bother me. However, it is nice to sit down with a novel that isn't a huge tome. Sometimes three-hundred page stories are much more entertaining that the ones that stretch out over thousands of pages. Brevity plays a big factor in that.
I'm rambling. If you're looking for some fun (scary) summer reading then check out "Horns." It's a helluva good time. No pun intended.
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