Mackenzie Hurlbert – Managing Editor
If Stephen King is the king of horror, then Joe Hill, King’s son, is the prince. Hill has recently published three horror novels and a collection of short ghost stories, and is currently working on a comic book series. His first novel, “Heart-Shaped Box,” was number eight on the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. It tells the story of an aged death-metal rocker named Judas Coyne who has an eye for the bizarre and purchases a supposed ghost off of the Internet. It arrived as a haunted suit wrapped in a heart-shaped box. Little does he know, the ghost, Craddock McDermott, is seeking revenge, and in order to make it out alive, Coyne has to face him along with other ghosts from his childhood and rocker days.
As a lover of horror in both film and literature, I approached “Heart-Shaped Box” warily. I didn’t want to immediately compare Hill’s writing to his father’s immense empire of horror fiction. I also wasn’t sure he could bring a new perspective to the world of ghost stories. I found Hill’s novel to be slow at first, then enthralling. To start, Hill’s ability to create complex characters never ceases to amaze me. Judas Coyne is a character you love and hate at the same time. In the beginning of the novel, the reader hates Coyne because he is, in simple terms, a jerk.
He is a jerk to all of his groupie girlfriends by naming them after the states they are from, like Georgia or Florida, instead of using their real names. He uses them for months then alienates them when he gets bored. At the time he is working on kicking his girlfriend Georgia out of his house. He is a jerk to his friendly agent who is constantly trying to please him. He is even a jerk to his loyal and loving dogs at times, abusing them with kicks and shouts. In short, he is not an especially likeable character, but as the reader gets to know Coyne and his childhood as Justin Cowzynski, he or she can’t help but sympathize for him at least a little bit. This tidbit of sympathy is what urges us on to find out what happens.
Hill creates a past that shapes and haunts Coyne’s character. The reader learns about his abusive father and negligent mother. The reader gains insight on Coyne’s inner conflicts and the difference between his rocker façade as Judas and his identity as farm-boy Justin. All of this is brought about by the appearance of Craddock’s ghost, who blames Coyne for his stepdaughter’s supposed suicide. Craddock’s stepdaughter had been Coyne’s previous groupie who he kicked out of his house after she suffered a couple severe episodes of depression. I know, great guy, huh?
Craddock is now apparently back for revenge, as are the rest of Coyne’s ghosts. As his past weaves into his present, Coyne reveals his weaknesses and personal fears to the reader and current girlfriend Georgia. They unite to try and put the ghosts to rest, but they end up needing some help from friends, family, the dogs, and the “other side” before the job is done. Without revealing any spoilers, I can honestly say this novel has put a whole new twist on the ghost story, and nothing in it–from the ghost, to the protagonist, to the description of the afterlife–is stereotypical.
