20th Century Ghosts

by Joe Hill

20th Century Ghosts

published

October 1st 2007 by William Morrow

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binding

Hardcover, 320 pages

literary awards

Audie Award Winner, Short Stories/Collections, 2008

isbn

0061147974 (isbn13: 9780061147975)

description

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting i...more

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All ratings | 5 stars (171) | 4 stars (211) | 3 stars (112) | 2 stars (17) | 1 star (5) | avg 4.08

all | this edition

Sandi

Sandi rated it:

(review of isbn 0061147982)

09/26/08

bookshelves: 2008

Read in September, 2008

Short story collections can be hit or miss. Some stories may be wonderful, others may be clunkers. Every story in “20th Century Ghosts” is wonderful, some are even superlative. While Hill is a horror writer, not all of the stories in this book are horror. And, some of the ones that deal with the typical subjects of horror are not horrific. To me, the best stories in this collection are:

“20th Century Ghost”, a touching story about a haunted movie theater.

“Abraham’s Boys�...more

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Peggy

Peggy rated it:

10/16/07

I love Fall. Football has returned to the airwaves. The leaves are changing colors, and there’s a cold snap in the…oh, who am I kidding. This is Texas. If we’re lucky, it will only be 85 degrees with 95% humidity as you’re reading this. Still, I really do like the idea of Fall, though, and if I have to make my own chill, well, then, so be it. The best way I know of to bring a chill to the air is to break out the scary stories. Luckily for us, one of the finest collections o...more I love Fall. Football has returned to the airwaves. The leaves are changing colors, and there’s a cold snap in the…oh, who am I kidding. This is Texas. If we’re lucky, it will only be 85 degrees with 95% humidity as you’re reading this. Still, I really do like the idea of Fall, though, and if I have to make my own chill, well, then, so be it. The best way I know of to bring a chill to the air is to break out the scary stories. Luckily for us, one of the finest collections of contemporary horror stories has just been released in the US.

Some of you may have picked up a debut novel this past Spring called Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (If you didn’t, go ahead and grab one now. I’ll wait.). It was a terrific book: fast-paced, subtle, surprisingly touching, and truly creepy. But you might not know that way back in 2005 a British publisher called PS Publishing took note of a spate of award-winning stories by a new American author and collected them all together into a book called 20th Century Ghosts. The book garnered many award mentions and landed on numerous best-of lists, but it was only available in Britain. Darn greedy Brits. Lucky for us, an American version is finally available, just in time to add some spice to our Fall. As a bonus, because we had to wait so long, we get an extra story not included in the British edition. Take that, greedy Brits!

Joe Hill is a mighty-fine writer, and this collection really showcases his talent. Are you looking for a sweet and subtle ghost story with some cogent points to make about aging and regret? Look no further than “20th Century Ghost.” Did you ever wonder what it would be like if you introduced Franz Kafka to the Nuclear Age (or just have a fondness for giant bugs)? Check out “You Will Hear the Locust Sing.” Maybe you favor a meditation on friendship and persecution? Take a look at “Pop Art,” which Christopher Golden (rightly) called transcendent. But wait a minute. I was talking about chills, wasn’t I? Maybe that’s what you want; the hard stuff. Like “Black Phone,” where a small child trapped in a very bad place receives phone calls from the dead. Or “Last Breath,” which starts out creepy and then sinks into downright disturbing. No, I know. You need a harsh story. A modern story. A story that actually uses your knowledge of horror conventions to build its atmosphere. You need “Year’s Best Horror.”

20th Century Ghosts is a terrific collection, and one that really makes use of Joe Hill’s talents. The stories differ in tone but share a style and subtlety and emotional impact – Hill weaves a web of such dark beauty that you long to be ensnared.
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Thomas

Thomas rated it:

01/06/08

Read in February, 2008

Best New Horror - Okay. I would have liked to see the story expanded and continued.
20th Century Ghost - Really good. A nice, but still creepy, "love" story for horror buffs.
Pop Art - The best short story that I have ever read. Can't go into too many details without giving away spoilers.
You Will Hear the Locust Sing - Nice story with a 1950s "giant monster" movie feel.
Abraham's Boys - Nice "continuing" tale of Van Helsing...more

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Alex

Alex rated it:

03/06/08

bookshelves: books-read-in-2007

20TH CENTURY GHOSTS BY JOE HILL: The first time you pick up the hardcover copy of 20th Century Ghosts, you know you’re in for a treat. The book is cloth-bound in darkest black, sans dust jacket, with a sticker on the front listing the title and author, along with a haunting black and white photograph. As one opens the cover, one is greeted by a dried blood-red inlay, followed by the white pages of writing. It is almost as if one is opening a black and bloody wound to read what Joe Hill has ...more 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS BY JOE HILL: The first time you pick up the hardcover copy of 20th Century Ghosts, you know you’re in for a treat. The book is cloth-bound in darkest black, sans dust jacket, with a sticker on the front listing the title and author, along with a haunting black and white photograph. As one opens the cover, one is greeted by a dried blood-red inlay, followed by the white pages of writing. It is almost as if one is opening a black and bloody wound to read what Joe Hill has to offer.

20th Century Ghosts is a short story collection of modern horror, revealing what else has been going on in the mind of the author who brought us the bestselling Heart-Shaped Box. Originally released in hardcover two years ago in England, Joe Hill fans will be happy to have this beautiful hardcover edition available at the more affordable price than the out-of-print edition only available on the likes of eBay.

With a quick introduction from Christopher Golden, author of The Myth Hunters and Strangewood, the collection kicks of with a chilling story titled “Best New Horror.” It is about an editor of the annual Best New Horror collection who is sent a fresh and disturbing story for the next edition, featuring a level of the macabre and disgust that he hasn’t seen in a long time. The editor seeks out the author and finds himself in his very own horrific story on a level with that of the one that so entranced him. The title story, “20th Century Ghost,” is a classic modern-day ghost story about an old movie theater that is being haunted by a young girl who loved to watch movies until she died suddenly one day at the theater. Now she returns every once in a while to engage a movie viewer in chilling conversation.

From there Hill takes the reader on a journey into different kinds of horror. A man in a Kafkaesque world awakes as a giant cockroach. A young boy is kidnapped by a terrifying hulk of a man who admits he won’t hurt him, but simply wants to watch him. A short and enchanting tale about the ghosts of trees. The fascinating story about a boy who can fly whenever he wears his childhood cape. Not all stories are of the horror variety, but more the mundane and yet still able to move the reader. “Pop Art” is the incredible and yet strangely enchanting story about a world where some people are “inflatable,” composed of little more tan plastic and air and must be careful not to get caught on anything sharp, or they will deflate and die. It is a moving story about a boy and his relationship with one of these inflatable people. A considerable number of the stories in 20th Century Ghosts involve children, specifically young boys. Perhaps Hill is turning to his own childhood imagination, or maybe he feels that childhood is a time when the imagination is most creative and easily convinced, even if the demons and monsters that are imagined are actually real.

While Heart-Shaped Box was not as great a book as I’d hoped, 20th Century Ghosts has convinced me that Joe Hill is an entertaining and talented new horror writer, who is still working somewhat in the style of his father’s, Stephen King, but as time passes and more stories and books are written and published, he will no doubt become one of the most popular and most interesting of today’s horror writers. I look forward to reading his next work.

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com....less

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Rob

Rob rated it:

02/03/08

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: Those interested in well-written dark fiction

I thought this was the best horror anthology I've read in years. Hill has a unique voice....it almost harkens back to a different time when horror wasn't so "in your face". Some of the stories within aren't even horror really, but they're all very well written and engaging. I loved this book. 'Abraham's Boys', 'Pop Art', and 'Voluntary Comittal' were my personal favorite selections.

I've read some comments on the Internet about Hill "riding on the coattails" of his f...more

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Richard

Richard rated it:

(review of isbn 0575081929)

02/10/08

Read in January, 2008

This book contains what are now some of my favourite short stories in any genre, and it's because Joe Hill understands particularly well that good stories are not about the things that happen, be they horrific, fantastical, strange, quirky or unsettling (all these things apply to tales in this book). Good stories are about the people they happen to. It shouldn't be possible that a tale about a boy who wakes up as a six foot grasshopper is uniquely dangerous, or that another about an inflatable...more

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Brooke

Brooke rated it:

08/09/08

bookshelves: 2008, short-story-collections

Read in August, 2008

I picked this up because one of my favorite authors, Christopher Golden, wrote the intro. He does horror really, really well, so if he liked it, then surely I would, too.

I thought it was better than the last collection of short stories I read (Paper Cities), but not as good as Hill's full-length novel Heart-Shaped Box). Hill...more

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Sari

Sari rated it:

11/23/07

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: horror fans

At first I thought this book seemed a little "much" for me...I think I've been reading kids books for so long for my boys I'm a bit out of touch with an actual adult horror/fantasy book, but the short stories in this book kept me going.

My three favorites were Pop Art, Better Than Home and Voluntary Committal. I would finish a story and each story was different and left me wanting to immediately start the next one.

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1 comments

Mai Ling

Mai Ling rated it:

05/19/08

Read in May, 2008

I was afraid to read this book at night since "Heart-Shaped Box" was so frightening, but it ended up being more weird than scary. All the stories were intriguing, and some were downright disturbing. But there were actually no ghosts. Well, maybe a few, but they weren't scary ghosts. I just hope Joe Hill ends up being as prolific a writer as his father so we get two whole generations of this family's talent!

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Johnny

Johnny rated it:

08/13/08

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Johnny by: Vlad
recommends it for: the literate.

Literary horror or horrific literature, this offering of short stories is a genre bender for sure. There are a few true horror stories (see Button Boy, Best New Horror), but for the most part the stories within are simply inventive stories, more interested in immersing you in a moment as they are in conforming to any one style. Read this book and you will smile more often than you would expect.

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Jon

Jon rated it:

08/18/08

Utterly fantastic collection of short stories. Joe Hill is a new master of story-telling, and not just horror fiction, but any fiction.

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2 comments

Kat

Kat rated it:

02/15/08

Read in November, 2007

Some of the stories were fanfreakingtastic, while others were so-so.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comments

Amy

Amy rated it:

11/08/08

bookshelves: 2008, bram-stoker-award, shortstories, thehorrorthehorror

Read in November, 2008

Along with the Neil Gaiman collection I read this year, this is the best short story collection I've read in a while - not just in horror, but best short stories, period. Of course, horror is represented - "Abraham's Boys" gives a unique perspective on Van Helsing, and "Best New Horror" is certainly horrific as well as darkly humorous, while "Last Breath" is rather ghastly. But then there are the just plain touching stories, such as "Bobby Conroy Comes Back Fro...more

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Abby

Abby rated it:

09/18/08

Read in September, 2008

A wonderful collection of horror and ghost stories from a master storyteller. In some ways, Joe Hill's writing reminds me of Kelly Link -- if she were more straightforward and less knowing. This book includes some of the creepiest horror stories I've read in a long, long time, especially, "Best New Horror", "You Will Hear the Locust Sing" "The Black Telephone" and "My Father's Mask." Despite the title, Hill mixes it up -- there are relatively few real ghos...more

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Darrell

Darrell rated it:

08/17/08

bookshelves: reviewed

Read in August, 2008

"...every fictional world was a work of fantasy, and whenever a writer introduces a threat or a conflict into their story, they create the possibility of horror."

Joe Hill's collection of short stories ranges from horror and the surreal to slices of life. While his writing is definitely engaging, I personally felt that he tended to leave too many loose ends and unanswered questions at the ends of his stories, often leaving the reader hanging as to what happens next. Not all of his s...more

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3dogMcNeill

3dogMcNeill rated it:

08/11/08

bookshelves: fiction, horror

Read in January, 2008

recommended to 3dogMcNeill by: was totally an impulse buy

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill is so good, I want to be buried with it. I want the pages to decompose until the ink of every word stains my bones. 20th Century Ghosts left me speechless, adrift, and in complete awe—I couldn't have been more delighted!

In his introduction, Christopher Golden wrote, "Not all stories in 20th Century Ghosts are horror stories, by the by. Some are wistfully supernatural, some are darkly disturbing mainstream fiction, and one lacks any ...more 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill is so good, I want to be buried with it. I want the pages to decompose until the ink of every word stains my bones. 20th Century Ghosts left me speechless, adrift, and in complete awe—I couldn't have been more delighted!

In his introduction, Christopher Golden wrote, "Not all stories in 20th Century Ghosts are horror stories, by the by. Some are wistfully supernatural, some are darkly disturbing mainstream fiction, and one lacks any trace of nastiness and is actually quite sweet. But they are subtle, friends and neighbors. Joe Hill is one stealthy bastard."

Had anyone other than Golden tried to capture the spirit of 20th Century Ghosts, I don't think I would have read it. In some subtle way, Golden’s summation fits like a prologue—he has a keen sense for what the reader has yet to experience. He creates interest without revealing spoilers. Though impossible, I felt as if Golden was watching, waiting to see if I’d flip the page to the first story. As I did, I imagined he was downright giddy in anticipation of what he knew what was coming, and I didn't.

What I found was a disturbing collection of short stories that are as wicked as they are sweet. Hill’s mastery is evident from his sharp character development to his artfully crafted sentences and thoughtful order of stories. After each story, I would reread Golden's introduction. Slowly, the origins of the stories came to life in ways that hadn't been apparent.

Explaining what this book is about is challenging. So, I’ll suffice with saying that its plain, rough black binding with sticker front and back covers is truly fitting. Its unpretentiousness rightly elevates its status to that of a raw diamond or a pearl in its oyster.

This book is for anyone who truly appreciates the art of writing and storytelling. Hill will guide you over the threshold of reality and leave you alone, disoriented and enveloped in darkness. Know then this—you have climbed inside the very essence of 20th Century Ghosts and become captive of a master storyteller. Don't be afraid. View the experience like an incredible ride on a massive roller coaster. It's normal to be terrified yet beg for more.

I honestly don't know that I will ever enjoy and appreciate the true art of writing and imagination in another book as much as I did in 20th Century Ghosts.

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Jen3n

Jen3n rated it:

08/08/08

bookshelves: favorites, horror, short-stories

Read in August, 2008

I think I like this book as well or better than any new thing I've read in the last three or four years. I'm a huge fan of short stories to begin with. I think it's an art form that too many people attempt and not enough of them are able to perfect. Or anything anywhere close to "perfect." O Henry, Mark Twain, Neil Gaiman, and <...more

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Margaret

Margaret rated it:

08/01/08

bookshelves: mystery-thriller

Read in July, 2007

Joe Hill has gone out of his way not to make a big deal out of his parentage - his father is Stephen King - but in this first anthology of short fiction he shows himself as a considerable chip off the old block. (And he clearly has a thematic interest in the father-son relationship, which he explores in several stories in a variety of creative ways.) Hill has both his father's imaginative gifts and his powerful storytelling ability, but adds to them a willingness to go into emotional terrain th...more

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MontiLee Stormer

MontiLee rated it:

(review of isbn 0061447757)

07/28/08

bookshelves: audio

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: People who think horror is too skeery

July 28, 2008
Finished this afternoon.

Meh. A few stand-out stories: The Cape, Voluntary Committal, Last Breath, but for the most part, it's a collection of short stories that run a lot too long, and aren't necessarily horror, but don't quite stand up to the dread or unease that some collections could be chalked up to.

Stories like The Widow's Breakfast, Bobby Conroy Comes back From The Dead, Pop Art, while sweet could have been saved fo...more

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Tsering

Tsering added it

07/19/08

Read in July, 2008

I do not like horror.It isn't because I'm a wimp its just because horror,whether its movies or novels, is a bit too over rated.Blood,guts and gore- neither makes my stomach churn nor gives me the creeps.No i am not a person who is ignorant and over smart, its just these 'horror' that bores me no end.Yet,on the contrary, i will read graphic novels and watch spooky flicks.Ironically i like reading Stephen King's books,in fact i have enjoyed it,but i don't own a single copy of his.
20th century gh...more

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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 4.08 (511 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 4.04 (490 ratings)
number of reviews: 156

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