Scan barcode
A review by verkisto
Dark Carousel by Nate Corddry, Joe Hill
3.0
I've not read a lot of Joe Hill's work so far, but based on what I have read, I think Hill is a better writer than his dad. King's work is still compulsively readable, but he's been around so long that his tropes, characters, and plots are becoming more and more repetitious, as if he's relying on his reputation to sell books instead of his skills. Hill is still fresh enough that he has to convince us, and the way he approaches his stories is different enough, that he comes across as being better.
Enter Dark Carousel, where I start to question that conclusion.
The story isn't necessarily bad -- a group of friends with good intentions steal from a carousel operator, with dire consequences -- but it's not exactly groundbreaking. I'm thinking Hill is writing this as an homage to different horror classics (I recognized references to Bradbury and King, and I expect there might be others), but it doesn't come across that way, save for those references, so instead it just feels derivative.
Near the end of the book, after what feels like the conclusion, Hill takes the story a bit further to show how the events haunt the narrator, and that's where the story showcases his talents. I recognized this kind of style from Heart-Shaped Box, where he managed to write a powerful chapter (all of one page long) that simply conveyed the idea that life goes on. Here, though, Hill goes darker, and it's an effectively eerie part of the story.
Ultimately, the story feels like it was written simply for the gimmick (the story is available only in audio format, and only on vinyl (though it comes with a digital download)). Anyone determined enough to listen to it I'm sure could find a way, but I don't see that it's a necessary read. I'd recommend it to Hill completists, but otherwise, it's just too much effort to read a mediocre story.
Enter Dark Carousel, where I start to question that conclusion.
The story isn't necessarily bad -- a group of friends with good intentions steal from a carousel operator, with dire consequences -- but it's not exactly groundbreaking. I'm thinking Hill is writing this as an homage to different horror classics (I recognized references to Bradbury and King, and I expect there might be others), but it doesn't come across that way, save for those references, so instead it just feels derivative.
Near the end of the book, after what feels like the conclusion, Hill takes the story a bit further to show how the events haunt the narrator, and that's where the story showcases his talents. I recognized this kind of style from Heart-Shaped Box, where he managed to write a powerful chapter (all of one page long) that simply conveyed the idea that life goes on. Here, though, Hill goes darker, and it's an effectively eerie part of the story.
Ultimately, the story feels like it was written simply for the gimmick (the story is available only in audio format, and only on vinyl (though it comes with a digital download)). Anyone determined enough to listen to it I'm sure could find a way, but I don't see that it's a necessary read. I'd recommend it to Hill completists, but otherwise, it's just too much effort to read a mediocre story.