"Heart-Shaped Box" Joe Hill

For the first two-thirds of this book, I could only read it during the day. I got creeped out the first night that I was reading "Heart-Shaped Box". Every little noise that I heard was “something coming to get me”. Only one thing kept me from giving this book 5 stars; I don’t feel comfortable recommending “Heart-Shaped Box” to anyone who doesn’t like horror. There is gore.

In the beginning of “Heart-Shaped Box” by Joe Hill heavy-metal rock star Judas Coyne (formerly Justin Cowzynski) is told by his assistant, Danny, of a woman selling a suit online. A suit with the ghost of her dead step-father attached to it. Jude has quite a collection of occult and macabre items, not the least of which is a genuine snuff film given to him by a cop.

I am honestly trying to NOT compare this to any Stephen King book, but I can’t help it. The only other time I was this creeped out by a book was near the end of “Heart in Atlantis” (I kept feeling like someone was sitting on the other side of the bed and then getting up, sitting down, getting up…). I know that Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son, but seriously, comparisons would be made to the “King” of Horror even if that wasn’t the case. If you enjoy horror, you need to check out “Heart-Shaped Box”. I already have “20^th Century Ghosts” (book of short stories by Joe Hill) on my WishList on PaperBackSwap.

Synopsis

Sooner or later, the dead catch up . . .

Judas Coyne was a collector. The bizarre, the uncanny, the grotesque. A cookbook for cannibals. A used hangman’s noose. A snuff film. Many of these objects were gifts from the black-clad fans who made his metal band a legend and made him rich.

But not all. When his personal assistant told him there was a ghost for sale on the Internet, Jude knew he had to have it for his private collection, didn’t think twice. He should have. Jude has spent a lifetime evading ghosts -- of an abusive father, of the bandmates he betrayed, of Anna, the suicidal girl he loved and abandoned. But this spirit is different. This one means to chase him to the edge of sanity.

His new acquisition -- delivered to his doorstep in a black heart-shaped box -- is the restless soul of Anna’s vengeful stepdaddy. Craddock McDermott swore he would settle with Jude for ruining his daughter’s life. Soon, everywhere Jude turns, Craddock is there: behind the bedroom door; in Jude’s restored vintage Mustang; outside his window; on his widescreen TV. Waiting -- with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand.

If ever there was a case of caveat emptor, this is it . . .