Heart-Shaped Box

By Joe Hill,

Book cover of Heart-Shaped Box

Book description

'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…

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Why read it?

7 authors picked Heart-Shaped Box as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The first full novel by Hill—who I secretly recognized as Stephen King’s son—takes his father’s traditions to a whole new level. I fell immediately in love with Hill’s twisted yet insightful storytelling.

An aging rockstar protagonist who sets out to confront his unsettling past and weird addiction to odd memorabilia? Yes, please. I’m in awe of Hill’s ability to pack more into a single sentence than most authors do in an entire chapter. He balances the pace of a face-melting guitar solo with the gentle tenderness of vulnerability as his characters struggle to understand their place in the world.

This…

Debut novel by Stephen King’s kid.

A poppy, pulpy page-turner in the grand tradition of his father. In which an ageing rockstar obsessed with the morbid—think Ozzy or Alice Cooper—stumbles onto a newfangled website called “eBay” where one can seemingly buy anything one desires… and what does he buy? A human soul. And guess what? That ain’t good juju, so all heck breaks loose. 

From Christopher's list on for headbangers.

I’m not sure there’s a more perfect ghost story than this book!

It’s designed for readers who want goosebumps but not to be terrified and it inspired me to create a ghost story in The Book of Silver Linings that reaches through time though without the terror that Joe Hill delivers ;-).

An aging rock star named Judas buys a suit off the Internet that is supposedly haunted by its dead owner’s ghost and the haunting commences!

The history of the suit, the ghost’s malignant spirit, and determination to kill Judas is a page-turner that reveals complex characters, none completely…

The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

Book cover of The Nightmarchers

J. Lincoln Fenn Author Of The Nightmarchers

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.

J.'s book list on horror that will make you cancel your travel plans

What is my book about?

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.

Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…

The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

What is this book about?

From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?

It all seems like ancient family history to…


It’s not a location that’s being haunted in this one but a person. Aging rock star Judas Coyne collects macabre objects—think Rob Zombie, not Rod Stewart. His latest acquisition is a dead man’s suit that arrives in a heart-shaped box. He’s been warned that a ghost comes with the suit, and for once, the seller didn’t exaggerate. Judas didn’t realize just how real or how deadly this ghost would be—or that it would have a very personal bone to pick with him. One of the scariest books I’ve ever read, and the way Hill creates the hauntings is genius. I’m…

From Lucy's list on hauntings.

Heart Shaped Box is a fantastic horror novel. I thought I knew where the story was going, but I was totally wrong. The main characters are heavily flawed, but you cheer them on anyhow, hoping they can escape. This story kept my heart pumping til the last page. I loved that I didn’t guess what the ending would be.

Though Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, he has never relied on that fact, and it is solely his talent as a writer that has got him success in his career. Heart-Shaped Box, his first published novel, shows that talent on every page. This story of an aging rocker haunted by a vindictive ghost, and the lengths the rock star and his much younger girlfriend will go to in order to rid themselves of the malevolent spirit, quickly draws the reader in and holds you there all the way through. 

Creatively blocked and disenchanted with life, heavy metal legend Judas Coyne amuses himself by buying morbid trinkets online. When he purchases a funeral suit haunted by the ghost of a creepy old man who turns out to have a very personal grudge against him, life becomes more interesting (and more dangerous). Hill’s first novel, Heart-Shaped Box established his reputation as an important modern horror writer, and he has since published a raft of great spooky tales.

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