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vampirehelpdesk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While it does have some of King’s signature hard boiled sentimentality, Hill brings in a new kind of scumminess I enjoy. These are the tales of the boys born of King’s tough-guy-soft-centered fathers, and these boys are mean. They’re confused about their own emotions and as a result of their inner turmoil, they lash out, they spit venom, they doom themselves. There’s also a Bradbury-esque reflection towards nostalgia and watching boyhood heroes dim to quiet crescendos. Some stories are not fully baked, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I had a great time reading this.
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death
stephanieheld's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
callmeugly02's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Death, Child death, and Body horror
emory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I understand how it works. The racist and misogynistic redneck character puts us in a somber, edgy mood, so why should it matter that there's no reason for him to be there? That's what it was like, is it not? The weird and overly sexual descriptions of the women are supposed to irritate, let you into the mind of the teenage narrator, upset you, put your hackles up. And the graphic violence children have inflicted upon them is supposed to unsettle. It's a horror anthology, duh. And I could've accepted any of those answers had they not become trends in damn near every story. Like the abrupt endings to half the stories collected, this blatant bigotry with the intent to disturb or the overtly detailed goring and injury of almost always children, or, failing that, a woman who'd spent the whole story being characterized as a stupid, frigid bitch. So I'm left with the question of why?
I'm not a connesuir of horror, and I'm sure there's plenty of arguments about shock for shock's sake, the value in being disturbed, the catharsis inherent to that. Or that it makes one question why one finds certain things scarier than others. But I do struggle to find the point in stories like You Will Hear The Locusts Sing, in which the entire narrative is
Of course it could all be taste. It's horror, I'm supposed to be upset. But what really started to bother me about it even beyond my initial feelings was that Hill has the skill not to rely on these tricks of shock and disgust. Had I read Pop Art, My Father's Mask, Better Than Home, or really any story in this anthology, save a select few that I distinctly disliked, on their own, I'd have nothing but praise. They all elicited visceral and emotions reactions, the astoundingly original narratives boosted by the carefully crafted suspense and elaborate but never unbelievable narration. It's amazing writing even when there's no point. The feeling of shock was from a great read, not from the detailed description of
These are stunning vignettes of dread and despair, a skilled trip through the unnerving and disorienting. Id call quite a few, like Pop Art, Bobby Conroy..., My Father's Mask, Voluntary Committal, and Dead-Wood among some of my favorite short stories I've ever read. The boys experiences in My Father's Mask tap into a long lingering childhood confusion and fear. Pop Art was astoundingly poignant and its metaphors were never cloying or unearned. There's high highs and low lows, and as stories start to repeat ideas, you start to see behind the curtain. I guess the skill of Joe Hills writing is that I wanted to keep reading anyway.
And just for fun:
🙄- You Will Hear the Locust Sing, In the Rundown, Last Breath, Scheherazade's Typewriter
😐- The Black Phone, Best New Horror, The Cape
👍- 20th Century Ghost, Better Than Home, Abraham's Boys, Voluntary Commital, The Widows Breakfast
💫 - Pop Art, Dead Wood, My Father's Mask, Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
Weird characterization of women in about 75% of stories. Racist remarks made by 'bad' characters to establish them as bad more than once. Pretty much every trigger warning one could imagine on top of that, but I'd assume you'd guess that going in.