Reviews

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

bookishbunner's review against another edition

4.0

"Who says it didn't?" - The Cape

Wow. Easily the biggest jolt of the entire book, and now one of my favorite lines from any short story I've read.

lauraborkpower's review against another edition

4.0

This is a terrific collection, full of stories that are sometimes terrifying, sometimes whimsical, and always well written.

Hill does a lot of exploration of the father-son relationship, which I just love given who his own father is. Short fiction is a genre Hill shines in -- he knows what short fiction should be, and he clearly loves to write it. I'll read his other stories first before coming back to his novels.

ababs's review against another edition

4.0

I'm not a big fan of short stories, but horror short stories just hit differently. These weren't all keepers, but several had shocking moments that caught me off guard and endings that left me wanting more, both signs of a good story for me.

plantywitch's review against another edition

3.0

Some of the stories really dragged on. I liked a good 3 or 4 of the stories immensely though. But ultimately really difficult to read. It took me over a month to finish.

cukorbogyesz's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

chloewiart's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

J'ai adoré ce recueil qui, finalement, n'est pas totalement horrifique. Les nouvelles étaient parfois touchantes, parfois dérangeantes et globalement je les ai toutes aimées. J'ai juste été un peu déçue par celle dont j'en attendais le plus ; "Blackphone".

Mes préférées sont "Le dernier souffle" et "Le masque de Papa"

frasergreen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

mamanewtnewt's review against another edition

I don’t really like short stories at the best of times and these really weren’t the best. 

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

4.0

This collection was bookended with two phenomenal stories and then in between there was a sprinkling of fair stories and good stories. A collection is always tough to evaluate since it consists of so many elements. But this is definitely one of the best collections I’ve read in the past several years. Maybe his dad has him slightly beat in the short story department, but I’d hand this book to a friend well before I’d pass along most short story collections.

toasty_boyo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I rated each of the stories individually as follows:

1. 4/5
2. 3.25/5
3. 5/5
4. 4/5
5. 3.5/5
6. 2.5/5
7. 5/5
8. 3.75/5
9. 3.5/5
10. 4/5
11. 2/5
12. 3.25/5
13. 3.75/5
14. 5/5
15. 5/5

Overall I did enjoy the book and clearly some more than others. The real horror and scary ones were obviously more favored. Some I felt weren’t scary and nothing really happened. Some were really gross and lewd and reminiscent of Stephen King’s writing. But oh man was fathers mask and black phone good - those are the ones I wish for more but also left me uneasy.