I’ve read a couple books by Joe Hill over the last year: a novel and a graphic novel. I’ve enjoyed them both so I was interested by this collection of short stories. As with all shorts, there was some I liked, so I didn’t and some I just didn’t get. Favourites included: 20th Century Ghosts; Pop Art - weird but beautiful; Abraham’s Boys; The Cape; Last Breathe; Dead Wood; The Widow’s Breakfast; My Father’s Mask. My feeling of reading Joe Hill and this includes his novel, is each story is perfectly crafted, well written, and yet the stories themselves leave a bad taste in the mouth for enjoying them. They’re creepy, uncomfortable and leave me feeling guilty for liking them. Essentially they border on a guilty pleasure, something I shouldn’t like because of the characters dire predicament and yet, there is still something wonderfully indulgent about reading them. An enjoyable collection worth dipping into, and certainly an author whose work I look forward to reading more of. ( )

Although there were a couple of duds in here, overall I really enjoyed this collection. Not all of these are horror- Pop Art was my favorite and it's more of a fantasy story- but a few are really unsettling. Voluntary Committal affected me like nothing I've read in quite a while, with a nice subtle Lovecraftian twist. Hill's style has many of the strengths of King but he's definitely his own writer. The hardcover is also very attractive, if you like books for their own sake. ( )

A reasonable collection of mostly horror, averaging 3.33. 20th Century Ghost and The Cape being the good stories.

20th Century Ghosts : Best New Horror - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : 20th Century Ghost - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Pop Art - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : You Will Hear the Locust Sing - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Abraham's Boys - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Better Than Home - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : The Black Phone - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : In the Rundown - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : The Cape - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Last Breath - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Dead-Wood - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : The Widow's Breakfast - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : My Father's Mask - Joe Hill
20th Century Ghosts : Voluntary Committal - Joe Hill

Hard to find editing terror.

3 out of 5

Cinema-goers leave the dead in the aisles.

4 out of 5

My plastic pal who's fun to be with.

3.5 out of 5

Bug kid.

3 out of 5

Finding some horror in dad's other job, and weapons.

3.5 out of 5

Team sucks dad.

3 out of 5

Team sucks dad.

3.5 out of 5

Bloody grabby.

3.5 out of 5

I am the bad guy.

4 out of 5

Death collection.

3.5 out of 5

Tree ghosts.

2.5 out of 5

Dead gear.

3 out of 5

Romero reunion.

3.5 out of 5

Just forget your old man, kid.

3.5 out of 5

Crazy maze.

3 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/09... ( )

I had no idea that Joe Hill was Stephen King's son until after I read Heart-Shaped Box; even though I didn't know that, his style reminded me so much of King's that I made a note of it in my reading journal. This book is no exception; in fact, I think I see more of King's influence in this book than in HSB.

That isn't to say that Joe Hill isn't his own writer, because it's obvious that he is. He tends to be more "grounded" than his father in his short stories; although he does stray into complete fantasy-land a few times ("Pop Art" being my favorite of that genre in this book), many of his stories at least seem somewhat feasible.

The book itself is a bibliophile's dream; cloth-bound with a haunting photograph on the front, it draws the reader in from the start. If you can push past the first two stories (which I think were some of the weakest in the collection), you're in for a treat. ( )

Joe Hill has made his way onto my all-time favorite author list with the publication of this collection and his novel, “Heart-Shaped Box.” The short-story is a genre in which an author can prove his/her true talent, inducing the intended emotion with as few carefully chosen words as possible. There are few great short-story writers in existence: Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, Roald Dahl, and Stephen King, of course, is always at his best in his short-stories. Hill must have paid attention to his father, because he fits right in on this list, living up to, possibly even exceeding, King’s legacy.
20th Century Ghosts is not just horror stories, though. It is, in turns, frightening, weird, and even touching. “Best New Horror” shows that Hill is able to poke fun at the very genre that he grew up in, and it will leave you knowing that you have indeed just read the freshest scary stuff out there. The astonishing and strange “Pop Art” will haunt me forever, even though I thought it was my least favorite story in the collection. That should tell you something- even my least favorite story is better than most author’s best.
This is a must-read for any fan of horror, and it is a pretty good bet for the general public as well, since many of the stories reach far beyond scary. ( )