Book Review: Heart-Shaped Box

I am not usually a horror reader but every now and then I get a hankering for a good spine-chilling tale. My go-to author is Stephen King or H.P Lovecraft, but change is not always bad. It is for this reason that I branched out and chose Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box. I know that he is Stephen King's son and therefore was hoping that the apple did not fall far from the tree. My hopes came true as this novel is fantastic and certainly better than some of King's own novels. As a writer, Joe Hill can absolutely stand on his own!
Has-been rockstar Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre but when he buys a haunted suit he has no idea what he has gotten himself into! It just so happens that the suit is haunted by his ex-girlfriend's stepfather who is out of vengeance. Judas and his goth girlfriend (Georgia) decide to flee in hopes of out-running the ghost and therefore their own deaths. While on this road trip, Judas and Georgia begin to learn more about each other in a way that is not typical for horror novels making this book heart-warming and spine-tingling.
Hill's writing is wonderful. It is creepy in all the right parts but also endearing when discussing Judas and Georgia's relationship. This novel reminded me a great deal of Stephen King's "The Shining" in that the true horror of the tale is within the personal relationships and not reliant upon blood and violence. I suggest that horror readers and non-horror readers alike should take a chance on this novel. I doubt that many will be disappointed.

-DLP