Meeting Joe Hill

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I went to our local Waterstone's to hear Joe Hill talk about his new book 'NOS4R2'. We've both read some of his work and are huge fans of his famous dad (I'd mention him but this post is supposed to be about Joe). And so of course, we couldn't pass up this opportunity.

When we got to the store, probably an hour before the event started, there was already a bit of a queue forming so we grabbed a copy of 'NOS4R2' (a full-priced hardback copy for the pricey sum of £18.99 - shame on you for cashing in on Joe's fans Waterstone's!) and joined the back of the rapidly growing queue. And yes, this is Britain so of course every so often you could hear somebody asking what the queue was for. You know us Brits and our obsession with queueing.

Eventually we were seated and I started to get super excited. It's not everyday you get to meet a legend now is it. And then suddenly, this bearded bloke in a Hemingway tee shirt shuffled up the aisle asked us to smile for Twitter, took our photo and said he had to leave now and headed off back the way he came. It was then that I realised what a genuinely funny guy Joe Hill was going to be.

When he came up to the lectern and read the prologue from his new book, I felt a little like a child being read to by her father. Joe did the voices of the characters and even some weird little actions. I actually didn't want him to stop reading. I could have listened to him all night. But he had to move on to the question and answers session, which was pretty interesting. He talked about 'NOS4R2', the process of writing it, the re-drafting and the editing and then he told us about a comic book he's planning that is linked to the plot. He told us about the 8 foot tall Tardis he has in his living room that opens onto his study and about why he will never write for Doctor Who (they've never asked an American to write an episode).

And of course somebody had to ask about his dad and why he chose to drop his famous surname and write as Joe Hill. He was open and honest, telling us about how he didn't want a publishing house to accept a mediocre manuscript because he had a famous Daddy, that he wanted to be published on his own merits. Which is exactly what happened. He told us about how he originally steered as far away from horror and speculative fiction as he could, choosing instead to write New Yorker style pieces about suburban families and their troubled teenage kids. And how it wasn't until he accepted that he needed to write what he wanted to write that he wrote something good enough to get published.

It was a great night that ended with a chance to get our books signed and have a photo with the guy who I've now decided is one of the coolest writers around.

*My girlfriend wasn't really wearing a mask, she just doesn't want to appear on my blog*

What I've Been Reading:'Horns' by Joe Hill

The "New York Times" bestselling author of "Heart-Shaped Box" returns with a relentless supernatural thriller that runs like Hell on wheels . . .

Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin's murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover . . . and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look--a macabre gift he intends to use to find the monster who killed his lover. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. Now it's time for revenge . . .

"It's time the devil had his due. . . . "

The blurb on this book really intrigued me. I love horror, in fact it's probably my favourite genre. There's just something about a book that creeps you out and has you checking the room before you go in that I love. Maybe it has something to do with the flight or fight thing, adrenaline pumping through your veins. Horror writing does for me what sky diving does for other people. It makes me feel alive.

This was a stunning read. It had everything I look for in a good novel. There was horror (of both the human and non-human kind), there was a good mystery, a bit of romance and a huge helping of suspense.

Ignatius "Ig" Perrish wakes up to find he has grown a pair of horns overnight. And as if that wasn't weird enough, they seem to have some strange effect on the people around him, causing them to tell him their deepest secrets and darkest desires. In just the first 24 hours of having the horns, he finds out more about his family and friends than he ever wanted to know. And he begins to realise that there may just be one advantage to the horns. They could help him find out the truth about who murdered his girlfriend and help him clear his name.

And so begins an adventure into the dark minds of his loved ones as he tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding his girlfriend's death, while entering the no man's land of evil that lurks within man's heart.

This was one of those deep and meaningful horrors, the kind that doesn't set out to simply scare you but instead creeps inside your mind and takes root there, making you think of things differently, contemplate your own mortality.

I loved this book and can't wait to read more by Joe Hill, especially his latest novel 'NOS4R2'. I'd recommend his work for any of you who are fans of his dad (the infamous Stephen King in case you didn't know).

What I've Been Watching:'The Moth Diaries

As I said in my last post, my partner got us some free tickets to see the film version of Rachel Klein's novel 'The Moth Diaries'. After reading the novel, I was really excited to see this but I'll admit I was more than a little disappointed.

One of the things I liked most about the novel was the Psychology of it. Is Ernessa a Vampire or is the narrator sliding into a form of madness? This was kind of abandoned in the film. The plot became your basic Vampire story. Ernessa being a Vampire was less of a question, more of a fact. And as a result there was a lot of the plot that seemed to be unresolved. 

Take the moths for example. While reading the novel I began to see the moths as a psychological representation of the moths the narrator and her father would sit up watching for at night. In the film, they were linked solely to Ernessa and yet it was never explained why they were there.

I'm not going to labour the point because basically I have better things to do, but the characters in the film were incredibly 2D. I didn't care about them, I found them frankly quite irritating. And when the film finished I was kind of glad.

I wouldn't recommend seeing this film if you've read and enjoyed the novel. It might work for those who haven't yet read the book but I'm not even sure of that.

What I've Been Reading:'The Moth Diaries' by Rachel Klein

A copy of this novel has sat languishing on my book shelves for the last few years. I bought it, attracted by the stunning cover, started it straight away and then got distracted and put it on my shelf un-read. It might just have stayed that way if it wasn't for the fact that my other half got hold of two free tickets to see the film adaptation. I'm one of those people who absolutely hates to see the film of a book without having read the book first and so the day before we were due to see the film, I grabbed my copy of this book, curled up on the sofa and read all 256 pages in one sitting, barely pausing to look up.

'The Moth Diaries', as you might have gathered by the title is presented to us in diary form, an interesting concept that really works with the premise. The story opens with a kind of foreword, the now adult diarist giving us a bit of background to the diary she kept as a sixteen year old girl. She admits that she suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder complicated by depression and that her Psychiatrist has requested her permission to publish the tormented ramblings of her formative years. We never actually learn the identity of the girl we come to know so well. She is nameless to us and yet it doesn't hinder the story at all.

The diary opens at the beginning of a new school term. The sixteen year old narrator attends an exclusive all girls boarding school which over the past few years has become more of a home to her than the home she has shared with her Mother since her poet father killed himself. School is where Lucy, her best friend and secret obsession resides. Home has become the suite she shares with Lucy. But all that is about to change with the arrival of new girl Ernessa Bloch.

Ernessa is a mysterious addition to their world. Pale, foreign and a total loner, she is at odds with the world of school. But Lucy is drawn to her. Sweet, innocent Lucy who can't see the bad in anybody is sucked into Ernessa's world. But since Ernessa arrived on the scene, strange things have been happening. Death and destruction seem to plague the school and our narrator is convinced Ernessa is at the heart of it. She becomes obsessed with the idea that Ernessa Bloch is a Vampire.

But do Vampires really exist outside of the macabre stories she has been reading for her English class, or has her fevered imagination run rampant? We don't really find out and I'm reluctant to say too much in case it spoils the story for any of you who wish to read it. I will say however, that for me, 'The Moth Diaries' was psychologically taut, a brilliant painting of mental torment and teen angst. There were some lines that were incredibly poignant, that reminded me a little of my own teenage years.

It was a great read, an amazing little journey inside the mind. I'd recommend it to anybody who likes Psychological Horror with a dash of teen angst.

5/5

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What I've Been Reading:'Rage' by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

“When you're five and you hurt, you make a big noise in the world. At ten you whimper. But by the time you make fifteen you begin to eat the poisoned apples that grow on your own inner tree of pain.” 

'Rage' was the first novel published by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It's a deviation from his typical Horror novels but that doesn't make it any less horrifying. Published in 1977, it was withdrawn from publication by Stephen King in the late 1990s due to it's connection to a number of real High School shootings, 'Rage' recounts the story of Charlie Decker, a teenage boy pushed to the limits by his father and society itself and shoots two teachers before taking a classroom full of students hostage. 

But 'Rage' is more than just the story of a High School shooting. It is an examination of society, of teenage culture. While Charlie holds his school friends hostage, we get a glimpse at the ennui of teenage life, and as they sit in the classroom, waiting for Charlie to let them go or take their lives (we are never quite certain in which direction Charlie will go), they take turns at analyzing their lives, the things they have done, wish they hadn't done. They pick apart their connections to each other, the childhood experiences that made them who they are. And it becomes apparent that perhaps Charlie Decker isn't as crazy as he might seem, that this isn't simply a murder spree. Instead, this forced coming together of a group of teenagers who might otherwise fail to give one another the time of day is a teaching exercise. Charlie is showing these angst-ridden teenagers that it's not too late to take control, to right the wrongs done to them by others.

This novel is fairly philosophical, it raises a lot of questions and doesn't pose too many answers. It's a shame that it is no longer in print as I think it's a pretty enlightening piece of fiction. Although I can understand why it was withdrawn from sale. If you do want to read the book, it can be found in the Amazon.co.uk marketplace for a couple of pound as part of the Bachman Books collection.

3/5

What I've Been Reading:'The Benson (Experiment in Terror #2.5)' by Karina Halle

'The Benson' is a 50 page novella in the 'Experiment in Terror' series by Karina Halle. I'll admit that it was a short, easy read but that definitely did not detract from just how good it turned out to be.

Perry Palomino and Dex Foray are spending the night at The Benson, an up-market hotel in Portland, Oregon. There have been a whole host of ghost sightings at the hotel and the intrepid duo are determined to catch something on film. Armed with their usual camera plus an infrared camera for Perry this time, they check out the ghostly goings on at the hotel.

There are a few creepy moments in this novella and a clever little twist involving a maid (I'm trying not to say too much). All in all, I'd say it was the perfect accompaniment to the series, and it would make a great starting point for anybody who hasn't yet read any of the series.

4/5