Scan barcode
imstephtacular's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
Interesting stories overall, some better than others, some that will haunt me for a while, a lot of the writing in this didn’t age well and it was hard to get past a lot of the time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Ableism, Death, Car accident, Cursing, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, and Bullying
vampirehelpdesk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
Giving it a 5 because I’m grading on a curve. I’m grateful for nepo babies like Hill and also Brandon Cronenberg because I know they’ll keep their fathers’ spirits alive long after they’re gone.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death
hunnykurls's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia
emory's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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 wish so badly that all of these stories were as good as the 2 or 3 that left me amazed at the feat of writing that they were. In reality though, reading through 20th Century Ghosts is a grab bag of either wonderful, genius mood setting and contemplation, or a story that seems to serve no purpose but to jar the reader.
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 a child being turned into a giant bug, but lacking all the Kafka metaphor and instead opting for grotesque imagery of the teen killing and eating his father, and then deciding to murder several classmates at his school, the story wrapping up abruptly as the army descends upon his killing spree. I don't see the merit besides a few off lines to nuclear testing to get in the Manhattan project part of the 20th century theme.
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 a child's grisly murder at the hands of his mother. Hill can unsettle and weave a narrative expertly, so the crutches that kept returning baffled me.
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
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
Content Warnings
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.smithreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Racism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Suicide
More...