Joe Hill - 20th Century Ghosts - 7

[StefanY]

20th Century Ghosts

Overall – I normally do expect improvement from someone’s first to second book. The stories here are an interesting mix of horror, the super-natural and some that are neither of these. I enjoyed most of the stories in the collection but there were some that were a little weird for my tastes. Of course, some stories are better than others but this is true of almost every collection of short stories that I have read. I didn’t like this as well as Heart-Shaped Box, however, since this is his first work, that is to be expected.

Best New Horror – An interesting start to the collection. The editor of a compendium called the America’s Best Horror receives a tale that he feels must be included in his next volume. The trouble is, he can’t get in contact with the author. This leads to an obsessive and creepy search for the mysterious author. I thought that this story had a pretty good build up to a satisfying conclusion. Even though the reader pretty much knew where the tale was going, it was kind of like watching a good cheesy horror movie where you keep telling the character, “Hey, don’t do that!” or “Why the Hell are you going in there?” Good, good fun.

20th Century Ghost – This story takes place in a movie theater and revolves around the current theater manager and the ghost that haunts it. I really enjoyed this one. Even though it has a ghost, it’s not at all a horror story so much a fond recollection of the life of a movie theater and the effort of one individual to contact those that loved the theater in order to make an effort to save it.

Pop Art – I’m not too sure about this entry into the collection. It’s kind of like one of those Twilight Zone episodes that was WAY outside of the box and didn’t really feel like the rest of the episodes. This story is about an inflatable boy who is actually alive and living as close to a normal life as someone who’s inflatable can. It’s a really weird concept and I can’t exactly say that I found it to be all that enjoyable. It has the potential to grow on me though upon subsequent readings.

You Will Hear the Locust Sing – Back to something more along the horror vein. When a young man wakes in the morning and realizes that he has mutated into an insect, all hell breaks loose. This was an interesting story and moved along at a fairly brisk pace. After the last story, I feel like we’re on the right track again.

Abraham’s Boys – This story catches the reader up with Abraham Van Helsing and his two sons. Now living in America, Van Helsing is a hard task master trying to teach his sons to fear and respect the creatures of the night. I liked this story and thought that raised some interesting questions about Van Helsing. I especially liked the ending.

Better Than Home – This was an odd story involving a kid who suffers from anxiety attacks whose father is a professional baseball manager. It was fairly entertaining and even humorous at times, but I’m not really sure that I got the point.

The Black Phone – Ah, back to a good scary one! A young boy is abducted and kept in a basement with a strange black phone on the wall. The phone is obviously disconnected and of no use in his efforts to escape…and then it rings! I really enjoyed this one, it has a nice build up of tension and a very satisfying conclusion.

In the Rundown – A video store employee, who used to be a fairly good athlete but because of a learning disability lost confidence in himself and lost the opportunities to better his life, discovers a macabre crime scene on his way home. This one had a good premise and a nice build up, but really left you hanging in the end. I had my suspicions as to how this story would turn out, only to not have anything confirmed as it just ended in the middle of the climax. Other than that (and it’s kind of a big other than that!) it was a pretty good story.

The Cape – Two young boys discover the magical powers of a super-hero cape. When they are grown, the cape makes another appearance and the results are more sinister. I really found this one to be fairly fun and enjoyable.

Last Breath – This is a story about a unique museum – on that displays a collection of people’s last dying breaths – and the experiences of a family that visits it. This one wasn’t really scary, but extremely creepy! One of my favorites in the collection.

Dead-Wood – This is a two page discussion on whether trees can also have ghosts. Kind of interesting, but kind of weird too.

The Widow’s Breakfast – A hobo who’s friend dies jumps off of a train before reaching a depot where a nasty watchman is rumored to reside and encounters a very strange family. This story was pretty well written and an interesting read but the creepy element felt forced and squeezed in to me.

Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead – Two former lovers are reunited while cast as zombies in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. This is a fairly entertaining story with no real horror in it except for the setting. The characters are compelling and likeable.

My Father’s Mask – Back to a fairly strange one. The story centers around a teenager whose parents decide on the spur of the moment to go to his deceased grandfather’s lake house for the weekend. Strange events ensue and everyone is forced to wear masks to distinguish them from the evil playing-card people. Not a bad story, but not one of my favorites either.

Voluntary Committal – This is a story about a couple of brothers, one of whom is mentally handicapped. He has a talent for building things, first structures out of paper cups and dominos and later sprawling, magical forts out of cardboard boxes. This was a very interesting and engaging coming of age story that focuses on the bond between two very different brothers. I really enjoyed it and it was one of my favorites in the book.

Afterward – Be sure to read the afterward, Mr. Hill has included a bonus story in here!