Book review (without spoilers): Horns.

I still haven’t learned. And I probably never will. Last night I finished Joe Hill’s latest novel, the very fabulous Horns. Now, before you add it to your To Read list, you should know a few things: Joe Hill is actually Joe Hill King, eldest son of Stephen King; Horns is tres classic horror story; I was in the mood for homemade chicken soup  comfort food a good book I could relax into and without (too much) thinking.

That being said, I. loved. this. book.  It’s the first Joe Hill that I’ve read and I’ll admit – my expectations were…well, I’m not sure what they were. I expected a lot because hellloooo, his dad is StephenFreakingKing, my favorite author of all time. I love highbrow reading, I love philosophical reading, I love reading books on muckity-muck reading lists; but Stephen King has hands down the most authentic voice I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. The apple couldn’t roll too far away from the tree, could it? On the other hand, perhaps that sort of comparison was unfair. Just because his dad wrote horror stories and he happened to do the same thing didn’t mean he’d necessarily be good at it. Sure, they did the same thing, and sure, Joe looked an awful lot like his dad (maybe not quite twinners, but close), but that didn’t mean they’d sound the same. Stories change when you swap out the storytellers. So I tried to take a deep breath before I cracked open the book.

I think it was the last breath I took until I finished.

Yes, Joe Hill writes differently. His characters feel different, his voice has a different weight to it, and I couldn’t quite predict what was going to happen. It was like being in the middle of a dream that you’ve had before…only the players and their outfits and the venue and everything else is different. And all in a very good, oh-I-can’t-wait-to-see-what’s-next! sort of way.

Once I got over how delighted I was that the story was good – really, really good – I was able to enjoy my reading adventure on its own qualities. The plot was delightfully different – but not distracting in its difference. The characters were easy to care about. The gore was just gory enough. The pace was good. The flashbacks were woven into the current storytime in just the right way. And the ending freaking me the hell out enough that I regretted finishing it during darktime, just before I was supposed to go to bed. True enough, I dreamt of the devil and the world being on fire and of being horribly afraid all night long. Goodtimes.

Horns was everything I needed it to be. It was like being 16 again, only this time I was able to really freakin’ enjoy myself because how often do I get to indulge? It might not be the same experience for you, but if you’re looking for a nice gory book to escape into for awhile, Horns is worth your while.

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