'Buy my stepfather's ghost' read the e-mail.
So Jude did.
He bought it, in the shape of the dead man's suit, delivered in a heart-shaped box, because he wanted it: because his fans ate up that kind of story. It was perfect for his collection: the genuine skulls and the bones, the real honest-to-God snuff movie, the occult books and all the rest of the paraphanalia that goes along with his kind of hard/goth rock.
But the rest of his collection doesn't make the house feel cold. The bones don't make the dogs bark; the movie doesn't make Jude feel as if he's being watched. And none of the artefacts bring a vengeful old ghost with black scribbles over his eyes out of the shadows to chase Jude out of his home, and make him run for his life ...
Joe Hill is a recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship and the winner of the A.E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize, William Crawford, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Awards. His short fiction has appeared in literary, mystery and horror collections and magazines in Britain and America.
For more information, visit www.joehillfiction.com, visit joehillsthrills.tumblr.com, or follow @Joe_Hill on twitter.
Title: Heart-Shaped Box (GOLLANCZ S.F.)
Author: Hill, Joe
ISBN: 9781473222700
Binding:
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Publication Date: 2017-10-05
Number of Pages: 432
Weight: 0.1815 kg
HEART-SHAPED BOX is a true spine-tingler ... right away there was a subtle line that made the hairs on the back of my neck go up in a way I haven't experienced since I first discovered great horror as a teenager ... it will haunt you and startle you and stay with you and yes, visit you in your dreams - Harlan Coben, No. 1 bestselling author of TELL NO ONE, on Amazon.com
Hill's prose is lean and precise, and he renders Jude's world with impressive confidence . . . not only well-written and terrifying, but also surprisingly moving - Scott Smith, bestselling author of THE RUINS and A SIMPLE PLAN, on Amazon.com
Subtle and skilful . . . a truly memorable debut - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)