Horns

Slam Dunk, baby!!
This was one hell of an awesome novel, no pun intended (well, maybe just a little bit).

I had seen the movie first and I was amazed with how much I liked it. It seemed to me that everything touched by Daniel Radcliffe turned into a masterpiece, sometimes at the box office, sometimes in dark humor and content. Just seen Swiss Army Man, so I'm actually very amazed at his talent.

But more about the novel.. Like I said.. I thought Horns was so good because of the main character's acting talent, but the source material was outstanding.
It's been a while since I've read a book in this particular genre that was so captivating. Not that I want to compare son and dad, but like Stephen King could keep me on my toes with his early work, so Joe Hill follows.
That's where I want to stop with the comparison, though, since I don't think you can actually fit these two into the same category.

Joe Hill had a bit of a rough start, in my opinion. I've read Heart Shaped Box and didn't like it much, it was a little too much Clive Barker without the gore and not matured enough. It didn't leave a long impression, so I was a little reluctant to touch Horns for a while.
I even read NOS4A2 first, which was also a very well written book. Read my review here if you like: NOS4A2
It's amazing that I have read that novel about 2 and a half years ago, while I was very impressed.

It's not fair that there's so much to read and so little time.

Horns was every little bit as good as NOS4A2, even better in my opinion. Maybe because I could envision Daniel with his horns sticking out and that's not a bad image to have when reading. (wow.. that sounds awkward ^^).
So Daniel aka Iggy Perish is a common boy falling in love with a beautiful girl who comes to a sudden end. Someone murdered her and everyone suspects Iggy to have done it. To top it off, Iggy has two horns growing on his head, making him look like the devil everyone already thinks he is. The horns also seem to have an unexpected effect upon those seeing them, that makes Iggy's life on earth both more hellish as a redemption.
Written with very down to earth characters, with just a little tendency towards painting them black and white. Iggy himself has been portrayed perfectly, in his flawed perfection being the boyfriend everyone wants to have, Merrin maybe a little too picture perfect, but still maybe more so from Iggy's perspective, since we only know Merrin through others. Lee was just a tad too much, but it definitely worked in this story.

Yep, I'm definitely not forgetting this story soon. I only asked about ten times if my husband had seen the movie already. Just wanting him to know how awesome it was and he's not a book reader, so that's my only chance of getting him into my world.
He answered every time with yes, but I don't remember him being there when I saw it, so I guess we just have to redo the effort.
This one is being shelved on my top of the pops novels, I liked it THAT much.

Review of NOS4A2

I've just finished this novel, like not five minutes ago. The only thing standing between me finishing it and writing this review is choosing another book which feels like having not enough money in an Oreo store that carry all the different kinds; and closing my window because a thunder storm suddenly erupted above my house.

It's late, but not too late to get a start on getting a grip on my thoughts about this novel. Since I don't always give myself the time of day to think about a novel once I finished it since there are just too many books I still need to read, this is done best when finishing it still feels lukewarm.

Joe Hill's Nosferatu as it's title in dutch is, a clever pun with the licence plate, I grabbed it in the library, not expecting much of it. Isn't that the best though? That you think you've grabbed a mediocre novel and it turns out to be freaking awesome? I like that, A LOT! Joe Hill delivered. I've read Heart Shaped Box before and I wasn't too thrilled about that particular novel, it felt much like the first novel I read of Clive Barker. Just too strained like everything had a sheen of trying too hard to make it all fit. But enough about the one I didn't like, let's focus on the one I loved!

Nosferatu is about a car, which is definitely a returning trick in the family, but it's mostly about a girl, Victoria,  who can accomplish something extraordinary. But as the supernatural can be scary she denies being able to do it, until it gets her into trouble. Soaked in gasoline and set on fire kind of trouble. She meets a man, the driver behind the wheel of the car marked with the remarkable licence plate, and she knows he can do what she can, albeit with a different take on it.
As time goes by and Victoria, also known as Vic, captures him once but since no one believes in the extraordinary he eventually escapes and he's coming after her with a vengeance. Vic already has a son by that time and you might figure it out, he's her achilles' heel. She goes after his abductor, determined to end everything once and for all.

I loved reading this novel. I know Joe Hill is the son of one of my favourite authors, and since he's writing in the same genre, he has big shoes to fill, but he has his own style which I fell in love with reading this novel. As craftly as King, as ruthless as George R.R. Martin (why did Chris have to die?), but as human as he made his characters. I like the use of the short chapters, also the overlapping chapters when events were seen from different vantage points. The struggle feels real, what wouldn't you do to protect your child? In the beginning a technique I hadn't seen before recurred a couple of times, just enough times to make me wonder if it would go on like that throughout the novel. You've stopped in time, Joe! The first time you notice the last words of a sentence are also the words of the next chapter, is fun, but it takes away the focus on the story and instead it gets pointed to how its written.
But it's only so in the beginning, soon after I was lost in the story and I've loved every bit of it. It was fastpaces, never boring, maybe a little predictable but nothing to shocking, the point is that you know where she's going, the novel isn't about cliffhangers or swift plot turns, it's about the emotional struggle of a woman who thinks she's crazy until the craziness takes her son away. An emotional horror sleigh ride I'll be taking again, and no ticket for me! I've read the thank you's, as I always do.

Well done, Mr Hill, I'll be looking forward to your next novel.

I'm giving this 8 out of 10.

Review of 20th century ghosts

A collection of short stories by a newbie on the horror shore.
I'm not a fan of short stories, not even by my favourite author Stephen King. I dislike the effort that by the time you get your focus right, the story is done. Give me lengthy stories, stories that I can come back to night after night.
Although I must confess that I did like some of the stories in this bundle of tales.

I've read other stuff of Joe Hill before (Heart Shaped Box) and wasn't greatly impressed by it, especially since with all the praise and everything I was expecting something better, something more profoundly scary and thought through.
Well, this is thoroughly better written. Not all the stories are golden, but the ones that are, are memorable.

For instance,

Pop Art
A story about a boy and an inflattable toy. It's shows a tremendous sense of make-belief. I think I've never read a story like that, something so utterly ridiculous made serious.

The Cape
Spine tinglingly good.
A boy who thinks he's got a cape which he can fly with. When he comes of age, he finds that cape again.

The one I liked the least is You will hear the locusts sing. I've never been into the insect genre.

I'm not going to rate every story, but I will tell you that each story has something of a gem inside. It's been a long while since I've read a collection of short stories that I was this happy with.

Personal score: 4 stars