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OverviewImogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud Theater. Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It's hard to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, picked on; he doesn't have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that's behind him now. John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected...but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead... Meet these and a dozen more, in 20th Century Ghosts, irresistible, addictive fun showcasing a dazzling new talent. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Joe HillPublisher: Orion Publishing Co Imprint: Gollancz Dimensions: Width: 13.10cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 19.70cm Weight: 0.314kg ISBN: 9780575083080ISBN 10: 0575083085 Pages: 400 Publication Date: 09 October 2008 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsReviewsHill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch. -- SCI-FI NOW Ross Sutcliffe Hill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch. -- Sci-Fi Now Ross Sutcliffe A collection of pleasantly creepy stories follows Hill's debut novel (Heart Shaped Box, 2007).Published in a number of magazines from 2001 to the present, most of the stories display the unself-conscious dash that made Hill's novel an intelligent pleasure. In addition to the touches of the supernatural, some heavy, some light, the stories are largely united by Hill's mastery of teenaged-male guilt and anxiety, unrelieved by garage-band success or ambition. One of the longest and best, Voluntary Committal, is about Nolan, a guilty, anxious high-school student, Morris, his possibly autistic or perhaps just congenitally strange little brother, and Eddie, Nolan's wild but charming friend. Morris, whose problems dominate but don't completely derail his family's life, spends the bulk of his time in the basement creating intricate worlds out of boxes. Eddie and Nolan spend their time in accepted slacker activities until Eddie, whose home life is rough, starts pushing the edges, leading to real mischief, a big problem for Nolan who would rather stay within the law. It's Morris who removes the problem for the big brother he loves, guaranteeing perpetual guilt and anxiety for Nolan. My Father's Mask is a surprisingly romantic piece about a small, clever family whose weekend in an inherited country place involves masks, time travel and betrayal. The story least reliant on the supernatural may leave the most readers pining for a full-length treatment: Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead reunites a funny but failed standup comedian with his equally funny ex-high school sweetheart Harriet, now married and a mother. Bobby has come back to Pittsburgh, tail between his legs, substitute teaching and picking up the odd acting job, and it is on one of those gigs, a low-budget horror film, that the couple reconnects, falling into their old comedic rhythms. Not just for ghost addicts. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationAuthor Website: www.joehillfiction.comJoe Hill burst onto the literary scene with 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS, which won a clutch of major awards. It was followed by the brilliant supernatural thriller HEART-SHAPED BOX, a New York Times Top Ten Bestseller. He lives in New England in the United States. Tab Content 6Author Website: www.joehillfiction.comCountries AvailableAll regions |