A review by neoxkc
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

3.0

This is my first foray into Joe Hill's writing but I am a somewhat devoted Stephen King reader. Having read so much King, I was very interested to see what his son's writing is like.

Spoilers for each story and my individual reviews below:

Best New Horror: 2/5 -

Spoiler

Well written but felt too obvious and the end felt rushed. Too much of a Texas Chainsaw sort of thing for my taste.

20th Century Ghost: 4/5 -

Spoiler

I liked this story, I know it is a short story but I feel like this could have been much better if it was longer and more fleshed out.

Pop Art: 1/5 -

Spoiler

I did not like this premise at all. Too goofy for me. Also the balloon people are inexplicably Jewish which is very confusing to me. The confusion only occurs because he meets another balloon person after he met Art that is a woman who turns out to also be Jewish so there must be a reason Hill has chosen to make this choice but I am at a loss as to what he is trying to say exactly.

You will hear the Locust Sing: 2/5 -

Spoiler

Meh. Kids turns into a giant Grasshopper and kills his family and classmates. Sort of Kafka through the lens of modern senseless violence I suppose.

Abraham's Boys: 5/5 -

Spoiler

Pretty interesting sequel-ish to Dracula that focuses on Van Helsing's sons growing up in America.

Better than home: 3/5 -

Spoiler

This one didn't really grab me and by the end I was wondering why it is in this collection. Story about a boy that seems to have autism or something and people don't quite understand him. Written very well but pretty mundane.

The Black Phone: 5/5 -

Spoiler

I can see why they chose this to adapt into a movie as it is a pretty interesting concept. Could have been a bit longer but it sounds like the movie expands on the story quite successfully.

In The Rundown: 2/5 -

Spoiler

Oh brother, this guy stinks. Main character is a jerk. After he gets fired from his job for physically threatening a coworker, he happens upon lady who he thinks has just killed her children. After he comes to this conclusion, they get into an altercation where he gets scratched and he physically attacks her. Eventually he runs to get help and runs into a state trooper car and the story ends before he is very clearly going to prison for attacking the woman and killing her kids since he is now covered in blood and scratch marks and having attacked her as well.

The Cape: 3/5 -

Spoiler

An angry man-child who has a cape that lets him float kills his girlfriend who left him because he is a loser and then implies he will kill his brother, the end. Blah

Last Breath: 4/5 -

Spoiler

Creepy doctor collects people's last breath in a museum called the Museum of Silence.

Dead Wood: 5/5 -

Spoiler

Can trees be ghosts? "Something that doesn't know it's alive, obviously can't be expected to know when it's dead" (Super short story but that is a great line)

The Widow's Breakfast: 3/5 -

Spoiler

A story about a Widow making breakfast for a hobo during the depression. Thought this was going to take a turn into a story similar to The Library Policeman but it did not. Not enough happens and ends too abruptly for me

Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead: 2/5 -

Spoiler

Failed comedian runs into an ex and her son on the set of Night of the Living Dead and contemplates the road not taken.

My Father's Mask: 3/5 -

Spoiler

A boy and his parents go to a cabin because they are on the run from the "playing card people". I honestly did not quite get this story.
It is written very well but like other stories in this book, it feels like the ending is rushed for the sake of finishing the story rather than developing it completely.

Voluntary Committal: 5/5 -

Spoiler

Story about two brothers, one of the brothers falls in with a bad element and the other brother creates elaborate cardboard forts that seem to be more than meets the eye. I think this is probably the strongest of the stories in this collection.

Scheherazade's Typewriter: 4/5 -

Spoiler

This story is "hidden" in the acknowledgments section. Short and sweet story about a haunted typewriter.

TLDR: A mixed bag of short stories in my opinion, and a big chunk of the stories aren't even really scary or even horror in some cases. A lot of the primary characters are pretty miserable/unlikable so harder to get into some of the stories for me.