Ghosties

20th Century Ghosts – 3/5 Stars

Decidedly a mixed bag for me on this first collection of Joe Hill stories. What’s interesting in part is that the ways in which this book is talked about on the cover, in the introduction, and other places really seems to indicate that they weren’t sure Joe Hill was going to make it, or wanted people to take him seriously. Without a doubt he’s a serious writer, and very talented, but that sort of “son of the most famous author in the world” stigma is pretty strong here. I don’t get that attitude from his more recent publications.

But like I said, as with a lot of first story collections, this one is a mixed bag. It’s also a mixed bag in terms of the diversity of the stories. There’s a blend of different genres here, including no specific genre. Some of the stories are more or less straight up horror, some are fantasy, others more literary, others are more, I guess I would it clever in their approach.

The collection sets up in the first story with a story about stories. “Best New Horror” which I think is the story I find most compelling is also a lot of fun. It’s about a writer who edits a “Best New Horror” collection coming across a new writer with a gruesome, but masterly story that caused a stir when it was first published in a more literary journal.

And so he goes seeking the author, only to sort of recognize himself in the throes of a horror story.

I also really liked the title stories (or more so the story the title is based on) about a ghost that haunts a movie theater.

One of the funny things, that doesn’t speak to quality, is one of the ways Joe Hill is similar to his father. They both love a pop culture reference. And what’s great, despite sharing this trait, their references are very different from each other. I don’t see Stephen King namedropping Kelly Link or talking about indie rock from early 2000s. So the hip son of the old fogey comes through in this way as well. They really are different writers, even though some of the ground is similarly trodden.

Some of the other stories are also very good, and others are perplexing. Even reading about the responses to a few of the stories, I found myself not agreeing.

The Green Man – 2/5 Stars

I feel like I should like Kingsley Amis a lot, and I just can’t seem to be bothered to. Even thinking about back about first reading Lucky Jim, I wonder if I actually liked it or not. It was one of those books one of my friends really liked, and because he talked about it a lot, and because I was a grad student, and because he named his dog “Kingsley” I liked it. That, or I willed myself to like it. Or I decided to like it before I read and went from there. But now when I read his books, I find myself drifting.

I hated Old Devils, and was bored by this one.

(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/373915.20th_Century_Ghosts)