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Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photography, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it's across Massachusetts or across the country. Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip show more right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing--and terrifying--playground of amusements he calls "Christmasland." Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble--and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx's unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He's on the road again and he's picked up a new passenger: Vic's own son. show lessTags
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It by Stephen King
BookshelfMonstrosity Malevolent entities that prey upon children are the driving force of these creepy, suspenseful horror stories. In both novels, only adults lucky enough to escape the villain's clutches in childhood are later able to battle the evil when it returns.
30
tootstorm Well: Time-traveling serial killer powered by unexplained forces. You'll see the comparison in many reviews. Shining Girls gets a more mixed reaction, and is unconventional in its structure and uncomfortable violence, but is worth looking into for fans. (The audiobook is fantastic, with a full cast of readers for every character.)
21
Member Reviews
Angst. This book caused me to angst. And hard. I also freaked out, couldn't sleep, and when I did it was fitful and in spurts, due to nightmares about the Gasmask Man. I fretted and debated over things that might possibly happen, and in some cases did happen. I even tweeted Joe Hill, for spoilers, although it was a no go, as I kind of figured. I really wanted a warning about some stuff, because I sure didn't see it coming most of the time. This book not only scared the pants off me, it also made me cry.
Wow, right? Not what I expected either. Sure, I expected to be scared. This scared me and disturbed me sometimes to the point I considered abandoning the book! A woman on twitter told me to persevere, so I did. And I am glad that I stuck show more with it because this book was amazeballs.
NOS4A2 is an amazing journey of love, imagination, and grit. Grit, because Vic McQueen is one tough cookie. I loved Vic and her take no prisoner’s attitude, her will, and her determination. Covered in tattoos, a hard drinking woman at times, who hangs with bikers, Vic is the first female antihero that I have enjoyed reading about since Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Also, is the reader supposed to make a connection between Vic and Steve McQueen? Both ride Triumphs, and share the last name, so I am assuming yes?
Vic. also known as The Brat, and bikes go way back– when she was just a young girl, she desperately wanted a Raleigh Tuff Burner. The store owner laughed and said that maybe when she was older, she could get one. A few weeks later, her father surprised her with the bike for her birthday, saying she was older now, wasn’t she? (one of my favorite parts of the story!) Vic soon learns that she and her bike together can do something spectacular – when she rides the bike, she is magic. If someone has lost something, she can find it – by riding her bike across a special bridge, one that no longer exists, except in Vic’s memory. Vic is not the only one able to create these “inscapes” as the author calls them. A librarian in Iowa by the name of Margaret Leigh (a reference to Psycho?) can tell the future with her Scrabble tiles, and Charlie Manx, has his 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith. When Charlie is in his Wraith, he can do things too, just like Vic. But his intentions are not quite as noble. Charlie kidnaps children and takes them to a place in his mind, called Christmasland. His partner is crime is a murderous manchild named Bing Partrige, who is the Gasmask Man. Bing’s job is to get rid of the pesky parents of the missing children, and Bing is allowed to do whatever he wants with them.
Vic grows up, crossing her bridge when she needs to, although every time she uses it, it takes a toll. Her home life is dissolving with the divorce of her parents, and her father’s new young girlfriend, that he is living with. Feeling abandoned by her father and angry at her mother, Vic decides to find some trouble. And she does, trouble that is named Charlie Manx. The showdown does not go well, and Vic barely escapes with her life. On her escape from Manx’s home, the Sleigh House, she runs straight into the arms of morbidly obese biker Lou. From this meeting on, their lives are intertwined, and the build a dysfunctional life together. She has not forgotten about Manx and the children, nor has he forgotten about her.
One day, this all comes to a head. Here the story picks up speed, taking you to the end of the story with Manx and Vic. I skipped a few pages, I have to admit. I also cried. I cheered. And after the full range of emotions I experienced reading this book, I finally finished mostly unscathed, and without ending up on the “naughty list”. The only thing I could have asked for was a bit more about Charlie Manx.
I found the end to be bittersweet, and perfect. If you are squeamish or easily scared, I would skip this book. But if you like to be scared, like I do, then run to the nearest store or library or the internet, and get this book! show less
Wow, right? Not what I expected either. Sure, I expected to be scared. This scared me and disturbed me sometimes to the point I considered abandoning the book! A woman on twitter told me to persevere, so I did. And I am glad that I stuck show more with it because this book was amazeballs.
NOS4A2 is an amazing journey of love, imagination, and grit. Grit, because Vic McQueen is one tough cookie. I loved Vic and her take no prisoner’s attitude, her will, and her determination. Covered in tattoos, a hard drinking woman at times, who hangs with bikers, Vic is the first female antihero that I have enjoyed reading about since Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Also, is the reader supposed to make a connection between Vic and Steve McQueen? Both ride Triumphs, and share the last name, so I am assuming yes?
Vic. also known as The Brat, and bikes go way back– when she was just a young girl, she desperately wanted a Raleigh Tuff Burner. The store owner laughed and said that maybe when she was older, she could get one. A few weeks later, her father surprised her with the bike for her birthday, saying she was older now, wasn’t she? (one of my favorite parts of the story!) Vic soon learns that she and her bike together can do something spectacular – when she rides the bike, she is magic. If someone has lost something, she can find it – by riding her bike across a special bridge, one that no longer exists, except in Vic’s memory. Vic is not the only one able to create these “inscapes” as the author calls them. A librarian in Iowa by the name of Margaret Leigh (a reference to Psycho?) can tell the future with her Scrabble tiles, and Charlie Manx, has his 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith. When Charlie is in his Wraith, he can do things too, just like Vic. But his intentions are not quite as noble. Charlie kidnaps children and takes them to a place in his mind, called Christmasland. His partner is crime is a murderous manchild named Bing Partrige, who is the Gasmask Man. Bing’s job is to get rid of the pesky parents of the missing children, and Bing is allowed to do whatever he wants with them.
Vic grows up, crossing her bridge when she needs to, although every time she uses it, it takes a toll. Her home life is dissolving with the divorce of her parents, and her father’s new young girlfriend, that he is living with. Feeling abandoned by her father and angry at her mother, Vic decides to find some trouble. And she does, trouble that is named Charlie Manx. The showdown does not go well, and Vic barely escapes with her life. On her escape from Manx’s home, the Sleigh House, she runs straight into the arms of morbidly obese biker Lou. From this meeting on, their lives are intertwined, and the build a dysfunctional life together. She has not forgotten about Manx and the children, nor has he forgotten about her.
One day, this all comes to a head. Here the story picks up speed, taking you to the end of the story with Manx and Vic. I skipped a few pages, I have to admit. I also cried. I cheered. And after the full range of emotions I experienced reading this book, I finally finished mostly unscathed, and without ending up on the “naughty list”. The only thing I could have asked for was a bit more about Charlie Manx.
I found the end to be bittersweet, and perfect. If you are squeamish or easily scared, I would skip this book. But if you like to be scared, like I do, then run to the nearest store or library or the internet, and get this book! show less
The story reads like a children’s book for adults blended with a dark thriller. Though surreal, perhaps bizarre, the increasing conflict kept me enthralled. It’s been a while since I felt I couldn’t put a book down and while I maybe didn’t feel like that all the way through I did for most of the novel. This may be in part because Joe Hill has created a better heroine for me than many blockbusting movies. Victoria may be a mess but she’s a mess with reason, has stamina, purpose, tenacity, and a whole list of exceptional traits that many female leads lack. Perhaps some belief edged close to the line but in a world where Christmasland exists a thought or bike ride away I’m prepared to suspend my doubts for the sheer enjoyment show more of reading. I like the way he stretches the story over time told at different points in the character’s lives. I may never enjoy Christmas in quite the same way but will happily live with that too for such a well-thought and excellently presented story which tugs on so many emotional strings. show less
NOS4A2 is the first novel I’ve read by Joe Hill, the son of a certain famous father, and I can safely say that the apple does not fall far from the tree. NOS4A2 is the kind of epic (and epic length) horror novel Stephen King perfected decades ago, the sort where average people are confronted with an implacable evil and must ultimately rise to the challenge if said evil is to be vanquished. By any scale, this book meets the high standards set by horror fans for a good and scary read.
First the premise: That there is a lurking evil hiding beneath the visible surface of everyday life, one that entices and snatches up the innocent and unwary and takes them to Christmasland, the creation of a malignant imagination, where they are fed upon show more and corrupted by their malevolent host, then twisted to his corrupt purpose. This vile place unto itself is unseen by the normal world as it goes about its business, except for a rare and gifted few individuals who stumble upon its secrets by accident.
The protagonist: Victoria “Vic” McQueen is one of those gifted few, a teen who always manages to be where she needs to be by riding her bicycle across a rickety bridge that magically appears when she reaches fast enough speed. One day she stumbles into Christmasland and barely escapes with her life, an event that scares her for years to come into adulthood, leaving her to doubt her sanity and haunted that she will one day come face to face with Charlie Manx again. Vic is a sympathetic heroine, starting out as one of those plucky teens who populate much of pop culture, maturing into a complex and difficult adult, one who is not always likable. She not necessarily the strong woman character to be found in many books, but that makes her all the more interesting when Vic has to do whatever it takes to save her son.
The antagonist: Charlie Manx is an interesting take on the classic vampire, one who uses a classic 1938 Rolls Royce to prey upon children and stay young long after he should have been six feet under. To some readers, Manx may seem like a one dimensional personification of evil, but Hill renders him with such detail that he becomes one of the more memorable recent horror fiction villains. By the end, it is clear that Manx is quite sincere in his wickedness, a foul predator who truly believes he is the best thing that ever happened to his innocent victims.
The supporting cast is filled with fully realized persons, starting with Vic’s son, Bruce Wayne Carmody, who becomes the focus of Manx’s vengeful wrath and must learn to face the monster alone. Bruce’s well meaning father, Lou, is unusual in that he is a sympathetic character more than a little on the heavy side, obesity often being the outward manifestation of corruption or moral weakness in many books. Manx’s loyal henchman, Bing Partridge, is the perfect Renfield to his master.
Hill’s pacing moves the story along at a fast clip for a novel at nearly 700 pages in length, with surprisingly short chapters in many sections that will be greatly appreciated by many readers. There is also a fine eye for detail and place without wasting words as the story unfolds through the tried and true three part act. Hill also makes it clear that NOS4A2 exists in a larger universe that encompasses not only his other novels, but some of his father’s works as well through a couple of well placed Easter eggs. As someone who has tried their hand at writing horror fiction, I can respect the hard work Hill must have put in to get this work completed.
I’m sure some critical readers will call NOS4A2 Stephen King light, and compare it very unfavorably to his father’s better work, but I would say that compared to the two most recent King books I have read, DOCTOR SLEEP and REVIVAL, the son’s work is slightly superior to the father. show less
First the premise: That there is a lurking evil hiding beneath the visible surface of everyday life, one that entices and snatches up the innocent and unwary and takes them to Christmasland, the creation of a malignant imagination, where they are fed upon show more and corrupted by their malevolent host, then twisted to his corrupt purpose. This vile place unto itself is unseen by the normal world as it goes about its business, except for a rare and gifted few individuals who stumble upon its secrets by accident.
The protagonist: Victoria “Vic” McQueen is one of those gifted few, a teen who always manages to be where she needs to be by riding her bicycle across a rickety bridge that magically appears when she reaches fast enough speed. One day she stumbles into Christmasland and barely escapes with her life, an event that scares her for years to come into adulthood, leaving her to doubt her sanity and haunted that she will one day come face to face with Charlie Manx again. Vic is a sympathetic heroine, starting out as one of those plucky teens who populate much of pop culture, maturing into a complex and difficult adult, one who is not always likable. She not necessarily the strong woman character to be found in many books, but that makes her all the more interesting when Vic has to do whatever it takes to save her son.
The antagonist: Charlie Manx is an interesting take on the classic vampire, one who uses a classic 1938 Rolls Royce to prey upon children and stay young long after he should have been six feet under. To some readers, Manx may seem like a one dimensional personification of evil, but Hill renders him with such detail that he becomes one of the more memorable recent horror fiction villains. By the end, it is clear that Manx is quite sincere in his wickedness, a foul predator who truly believes he is the best thing that ever happened to his innocent victims.
The supporting cast is filled with fully realized persons, starting with Vic’s son, Bruce Wayne Carmody, who becomes the focus of Manx’s vengeful wrath and must learn to face the monster alone. Bruce’s well meaning father, Lou, is unusual in that he is a sympathetic character more than a little on the heavy side, obesity often being the outward manifestation of corruption or moral weakness in many books. Manx’s loyal henchman, Bing Partridge, is the perfect Renfield to his master.
Hill’s pacing moves the story along at a fast clip for a novel at nearly 700 pages in length, with surprisingly short chapters in many sections that will be greatly appreciated by many readers. There is also a fine eye for detail and place without wasting words as the story unfolds through the tried and true three part act. Hill also makes it clear that NOS4A2 exists in a larger universe that encompasses not only his other novels, but some of his father’s works as well through a couple of well placed Easter eggs. As someone who has tried their hand at writing horror fiction, I can respect the hard work Hill must have put in to get this work completed.
I’m sure some critical readers will call NOS4A2 Stephen King light, and compare it very unfavorably to his father’s better work, but I would say that compared to the two most recent King books I have read, DOCTOR SLEEP and REVIVAL, the son’s work is slightly superior to the father. show less
With the first chapter, I became completely entranced by the story, always curious as to how it would turn out.
Joe Hill is a horror genius. He knows how to take a well known, cheerful subject (such as Christmas) and distort it to a creepy, disturbing fright show. One that will give you nightmares for weeks.
All of his characters are beautifully developed; damaged and broken and lovely. The emotion (or, in some cases, the lack of) of everyone brings NOS4A2 to a whole new level.
I listen to this on audio, and literally felt my skin crawl. If this isn't an indication for a true horror show, then I don't know what else is.
Joe Hill is a horror genius. He knows how to take a well known, cheerful subject (such as Christmas) and distort it to a creepy, disturbing fright show. One that will give you nightmares for weeks.
All of his characters are beautifully developed; damaged and broken and lovely. The emotion (or, in some cases, the lack of) of everyone brings NOS4A2 to a whole new level.
I listen to this on audio, and literally felt my skin crawl. If this isn't an indication for a true horror show, then I don't know what else is.
This novel blew me away. The audiobook version is nearly twenty hours long. I consumed it in a little under four days.
I couldn't stop. I WANTED to stop but I just couldn't make myself. I wanted to stop because this is a book drenched in sadness, fear and sacrifice.
I was living in the shadow of how bad things were going to get but I couldn't move away, not because I was fascinated by the evil in the book in some kind of ghoulish, car-crash-rubber-necking way, but because the book never extinguished the hope that good might win out and I passionately wanted that to happen.
The book also never left me in any doubt that there would be a toll. In this book, nothing comes for free, there is always a toll.
Perhaps it was because I listened to show more this book during long drives, but I began to feel that the book was the Rolls Royce Silver Wraith and that I was trapped inside it, paying for my ride by having my emotions twisted until the only option was to cry.
The book is magnificently performed by Kate Mulgrew, who I fell a little in love with when she was Captain Janeway, lighting up the otherwise unremarkable "Star Trek: Voyager" series. She brings power and passion to the voices of her characters and performs every moment of the twenty hour read with complete focus, giving the book the impact it deserves.
The book reminds me of the very best of Stephen King's writing: "IT" or "The Shining", but Joe Hill is not a Stephen King mimic, his style is all his own.
At a time when many horror/thriller books try to cram all the action into a few days to keep the experience intense, Joe Hill has produced a book that spans decades and is all the more intense for that. We see the main character, Vic, short for Victoria, grow from a young girl through to an adult mother and share all her traumas along the way. We watch Bing, a simple-minded man with an instinct for evil, evolve into someone truly monstrous over years and years. We see characters, once full of youth and promise, fall from grace and become the flawed adults so many of us are.
Joe Hill understands that good heroes have flaws but the best heroes have their flaws worsened by the heroics they perform. Vic's heroics are slowly eroding her sanity. Maggie's heroics cost her the thing she values most, using words well. In Hill's world, "with great power, comes great sacrifice".
The magical/supernatural elements of this story are handled perfectly. The iconography is original and powerful and builds upon itself as the novel progresses, The interior logic of the magic is remorseless. The magic itself remains sufficiently ambiguous to allow either doubt or belief.
The book is stronger for the fact that the "real world" is just as threatening as anything the supernatural has to offer, and by the fact that all actions have consequences. This is not a story where the heroine can sustain damage, then cast a spell or change shape, and all is well again. In Hill's world, scars are forever.
What makes Hill's world worthwhile is the love and the loyalty that the flawed, scarred, people offer to each other. They give meaning to the sacrifices.
You've probably gathered by now that I'm not going to talk about the plot, even though its a good one. I'm sure that, in a years time, I will have forgotten elements of the plot. I'm equally sure that I will remember the people and the emotions that they provoked.
My advice: let Kate Mulgrew read this book to you, but don't start it until you have many hours to spare and a private place to cry.
show less
I couldn't stop. I WANTED to stop but I just couldn't make myself. I wanted to stop because this is a book drenched in sadness, fear and sacrifice.
I was living in the shadow of how bad things were going to get but I couldn't move away, not because I was fascinated by the evil in the book in some kind of ghoulish, car-crash-rubber-necking way, but because the book never extinguished the hope that good might win out and I passionately wanted that to happen.
The book also never left me in any doubt that there would be a toll. In this book, nothing comes for free, there is always a toll.
Perhaps it was because I listened to show more this book during long drives, but I began to feel that the book was the Rolls Royce Silver Wraith and that I was trapped inside it, paying for my ride by having my emotions twisted until the only option was to cry.
The book is magnificently performed by Kate Mulgrew, who I fell a little in love with when she was Captain Janeway, lighting up the otherwise unremarkable "Star Trek: Voyager" series. She brings power and passion to the voices of her characters and performs every moment of the twenty hour read with complete focus, giving the book the impact it deserves.
The book reminds me of the very best of Stephen King's writing: "IT" or "The Shining", but Joe Hill is not a Stephen King mimic, his style is all his own.
At a time when many horror/thriller books try to cram all the action into a few days to keep the experience intense, Joe Hill has produced a book that spans decades and is all the more intense for that. We see the main character, Vic, short for Victoria, grow from a young girl through to an adult mother and share all her traumas along the way. We watch Bing, a simple-minded man with an instinct for evil, evolve into someone truly monstrous over years and years. We see characters, once full of youth and promise, fall from grace and become the flawed adults so many of us are.
Joe Hill understands that good heroes have flaws but the best heroes have their flaws worsened by the heroics they perform. Vic's heroics are slowly eroding her sanity. Maggie's heroics cost her the thing she values most, using words well. In Hill's world, "with great power, comes great sacrifice".
The magical/supernatural elements of this story are handled perfectly. The iconography is original and powerful and builds upon itself as the novel progresses, The interior logic of the magic is remorseless. The magic itself remains sufficiently ambiguous to allow either doubt or belief.
The book is stronger for the fact that the "real world" is just as threatening as anything the supernatural has to offer, and by the fact that all actions have consequences. This is not a story where the heroine can sustain damage, then cast a spell or change shape, and all is well again. In Hill's world, scars are forever.
What makes Hill's world worthwhile is the love and the loyalty that the flawed, scarred, people offer to each other. They give meaning to the sacrifices.
You've probably gathered by now that I'm not going to talk about the plot, even though its a good one. I'm sure that, in a years time, I will have forgotten elements of the plot. I'm equally sure that I will remember the people and the emotions that they provoked.
My advice: let Kate Mulgrew read this book to you, but don't start it until you have many hours to spare and a private place to cry.
show less
Victoria McQueen discovered at a young age that when something really needed to be found, she could get on her bicycle and ride through a covered bridge, always coming out right where she needed to be. Charles Manx has a car with a strange power too – he can use it to bring children to a world he calls Christmasland. While on the road his powers and imagination suck the life out of the children, transforming them into soulless monsters, much like their kidnapper. One day Victoria goes riding for trouble and stumbles upon Manx’s house – she’s the only child who ever escaped him and he’s determined for revenge.
For those of you who may not know, Joe Hill is Stephen and Tabitha King’s son and his writing reminded me very much of show more Stephen’s, but with a little more dark humor. I stumbled upon this book at the store, knowing who Joe was, and after reading the premise, decided to give it a go. While horror isn’t my typical genre, I don’t regret picking up this book. I was intrigued by the plot and quickly pulled in by Victoria, affectionately known to her father as “The Brat.” She is a brat, but a likeable one and while I wasn’t sure yet what was going to happen, I knew I was on her team.
This book was exciting! I liked Joe’s action scenes, and I often I felt tempted to skip ahead a few paragraphs to try to glimpse what was going to happen, ease some of my tension. It was also very creepy and Manx is a fantastic villain – I could easily picture him in my head and he gave me goosebumps! I love how Hill (much like his father) brings magical elements into our everyday world, creating a version of our reality that I found believable.
I learned a new word too! Caesura – noun; break, interruption.
Pro tip: Make sure you read through the acknowledgements and on to the ‘A note on the type.’
The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was Vic, at the end. I don’t want to give anything away, but I felt like her tolerance for physical pain was nearly superhuman.
If you’re a horror fan or a Stephen King fan, definitely give NOS4A2 a shot! I know I plan on reading more of Hill’s work. show less
For those of you who may not know, Joe Hill is Stephen and Tabitha King’s son and his writing reminded me very much of show more Stephen’s, but with a little more dark humor. I stumbled upon this book at the store, knowing who Joe was, and after reading the premise, decided to give it a go. While horror isn’t my typical genre, I don’t regret picking up this book. I was intrigued by the plot and quickly pulled in by Victoria, affectionately known to her father as “The Brat.” She is a brat, but a likeable one and while I wasn’t sure yet what was going to happen, I knew I was on her team.
This book was exciting! I liked Joe’s action scenes, and I often I felt tempted to skip ahead a few paragraphs to try to glimpse what was going to happen, ease some of my tension. It was also very creepy and Manx is a fantastic villain – I could easily picture him in my head and he gave me goosebumps! I love how Hill (much like his father) brings magical elements into our everyday world, creating a version of our reality that I found believable.
I learned a new word too! Caesura – noun; break, interruption.
Pro tip: Make sure you read through the acknowledgements and on to the ‘A note on the type.’
The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was Vic, at the end. I don’t want to give anything away, but I felt like her tolerance for physical pain was nearly superhuman.
If you’re a horror fan or a Stephen King fan, definitely give NOS4A2 a shot! I know I plan on reading more of Hill’s work. show less
I was excited and anxious to read this book cause I'm such a huge fan of his dad. I didn't want to have any notions in my head and tried to forget his dad all together.... but look at him though!!
Anyway....
It was a big book, but oh, so epic!
I was enamored. This Christmas-like setting at times, not what you would think of when thinking of horror. Somehow I might not look at Christmas the same again. This story was just so different from anything I have ever read. And that's a good thing. Especially reading as much as I do.
I had to know what happened to this family. They seemed cursed to me. I loved how the book wrapped up too. I wasn't ready for a sequel and thankfully, there was no room to make one. Everything came together better than show more I could have hoped for.
I have a few more books waiting for me. Can't wait to get to them. If you like intense and thrilling reads, get this one. Don't be scared of its' size... the pages go fast.
4.5/5 show less
Anyway....
It was a big book, but oh, so epic!
I was enamored. This Christmas-like setting at times, not what you would think of when thinking of horror. Somehow I might not look at Christmas the same again. This story was just so different from anything I have ever read. And that's a good thing. Especially reading as much as I do.
I had to know what happened to this family. They seemed cursed to me. I loved how the book wrapped up too. I wasn't ready for a sequel and thankfully, there was no room to make one. Everything came together better than show more I could have hoped for.
I have a few more books waiting for me. Can't wait to get to them. If you like intense and thrilling reads, get this one. Don't be scared of its' size... the pages go fast.
4.5/5 show less
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Just finished NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Is Joe Hill a horror or thriller/suspense writer? I can't tell. in Thing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night (April 2015)
Author Information
229+ Works 43,849 Members
Joe Hill is the shortened name for Joseph Hillstrom King. He was born in Maine in 1972 and is the son of Tabitha and Stephen King. He used this shortened form of his name in order to succeed as a writer on his own merits, not because of his famous father. In 2007 he publicly confirmed his identity. His first book, 20th Century Ghost, received the show more the Bram Stoker award for Best Fiction Collection, and his Best New Horror book won him a second Bram Stoker award, this time for Best Short Story. He is also a past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. Joe Hill's other books include Heart-Shaped Box, Road Rage (collaboration), Thumbprint, Throttle (collaboration), Horns, and NOS4A2. Joe Hill's novel The Fireman made the New York Times Bestseller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Joe Hill is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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- Canonical title
- NOS4A2
- Original title
- NOS4A2
- Alternate titles
- NOS4R2
- Original publication date
- 2013-04-30
- People/Characters
- Victoria McQueen; Charles Manx; Bruce Wayne Carmody; Bing Partridge; Louis Carmody; Maggie Leigh (show all 9); Tabitha Hutter; Chris McQueen; Linda McQueen
- Important places
- Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA; Here, Iowa, USA; Sugarcreek, Pennsylvania, USA; Christmasland; Colorado, USA
- Related movies
- NOS4A2 (2019 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Die Todten reiten schnell. (For the dead travel fast.)
-- "Lenore," Gottfried Bürger - Dedication
- To my mom - here's a mean machine for the story queen.
- First words
- Nurse Thornton dropped into the long-term-care ward a little before eight with a hot bag of blood for Charlie Manx.
- Quotations
- What's good stays good no matter how much of a beating it takes.
She breathed deeply of the scent of decaying fiction, disintegrating history, and forgotten verse, and she observed for the first time that a room full of books smelled like dessert: a sweet snack made of figs, vanilla, glu... (show all)e, and cleverness.
But everyone also lives in the world inside their own head. An inscape, a world of thought. In a world made of thought--in an inscape--every idea is a fact. Emotions are as real as gravity. Dreams are as powerfu... (show all)l as history.
Christmas was almost three months in the rearview mirror, and there was something awful about Christmas music when it was nearly summer. It was like a clown in the rain, with his makeup running.
She thought of mothering, which was really another word for being present and caring what happened to someone.
She'd thought love had something to do with happiness, but it turned out they were not even vaguely related. Love was closer to a need, no different from the need to eat, to breathe.
You had to know when it made sense to try to untangle something and when to just cut the motherfucker loose.
Was there any human urge more pitiful--or more intense--than wanting another chance at something?
Everyone you lost was still there with you, and so maybe no one was ever lost at all.
It was a bridge spanning the distance between lost and found, a bridge over what was possible.
The difference between childhood and adulthood, Vic had come to believe, was the difference between imagination and resignation. You traded one for the other and lost your way.
Men, she thought, were one of the world's few sure comforts, like a fire on a cold October night, like cocoa, like broken-in slippers. Their clumsy affections, their bristly faces, and their willingness to do what needed to b... (show all)e done--cook an omelet, change lightbulbs, make with hugging--sometimes almost made being a woman fun.
It sounded like delusion until you remembered that people made the imaginary real all the time: taking the music they heard in their head and recording it, seeing a house in their imagination and building it. Fantasy was alwa... (show all)ys only a reality waiting to be switched on. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Fall was here, winter coming right behind it, but for now there was still a little good riding weather left.
- Publisher's editor
- Brehl, Jennifer; Redfearn, Gillian
- Blurbers
- Koryta, Michael
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3608.I4342
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 5,061
- Popularity
- 2,749
- Reviews
- 327
- Rating
- (3.99)
- Languages
- 14 — Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Croatian, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese (Portugal)
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 47
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 15