• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Roger's Reads

Author & Book Reviewer

  • About Roger
  • Reviews by Genre
  • Blog
  • Review Policy
  • My Novels
  • Resources
You are here: Home / Horror / Review of The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Review of The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

November 18, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Heart shaped box cover imageFor those of you who don’t know, Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. This was my first Joe Hill novel, and I definitely plan on reading more.

The Heart-Shaped Box follows an aging rock star, 54-year-old Judas Coyne who is a collector of macabre objects. So when he sees a notice on an auction site stating that they are selling their stepfather’s ghost to the highest bidder, how could he refuse? So for a thousand dollars, Jude becomes the proud owner of the dead man’s suit, which, the ad claimed, is haunted by a spirit.

So yeah, that didn’t work out so well for him.

When it arrives, Jude and his most recent girlfriend Georgia (whose real name is Mary Beth – he always nicknames is girlfriends from the state their from: Florida, Georgia, etc.) quickly learn that this suit isn’t some relic that you can tuck on the top shelf of a closet and ignore.

Nope. This is the real deal, and they soon learn that the ghost’s name is Craddock McDermott and he isn’t only impossible to get rid of, he is vengeful and extremely dangerous — and he is scary as hell.

The ghost soon begins messing with their minds and taking over their thoughts (turns out he was a sadistic hypnotist in life) all the while bringing that gleaming razor blade that he dangles on a chain from his bony hand ever closer. I found this part especially terrifying: how in the hell can you battle a ghost that has the ability to take over and control your mind?

From this point on the story moves with a spine-tingling urgency. Jude wants the ghost gone, and the ghost wants Jude — and anyone who interferes — dead.

It’s difficult to talk too much about this type of book without giving away the story. Let me just say that pretty much each chapter is a battle for survival and this fast-paced story grows more and more intense and more and more frightening and vivid. The tension continues to escalate as there is a desperate race to somehow stop this relentless ghost before it kills both Jude and Mary Beth. This is a haunting that goes to extremes.

The Heart-Shaped Box wasn’t just a scary ghost story. It also ended by being a deep and self-revelatory story for our characters and Hill took us on an amazing ride to do so.

A word of warning — this is by no means a cute little ghost story. The novel is a gritty, dark and sinister tale of revenge from beyond the grave with some gory bits even thrown in. The characters of Jude and Marybeth were flawed, real, and relatable and Craddock….well, Craddock was utterly chilling…spine-tinglingly so. So in this way, the book was an excellent characters study as well as a frightening ghost story.

All in all, I loved this engaging book though it scared the hell out of me. It had a clever plot, gripping twists and turns, beautiful prose and the ultimate creepy villain. This is the kind of book that makes you want to keep all the lights on.

Purchase Heart-Shaped Box on Amazon

Purchase Heart-Shaped Box on The Book Depository

Filed Under: Horror Tagged With: ghost fiction, ghost stories

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Roger’s Reads

Subscribe to Roger’s Reads

Subscribe below to get news and other goodies to your inbox!

    We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

    Reviews Published 100 Book Reviews Professional Reader 80%

    What I’m Currently Reading:

    A Curse So Dark and Lonely Book Cover
    The Binding Cover Image

    Please Note:

    Any links to Amazon or The Book Depository on this site are affiliate links, meaning if you purchase anything via the links, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.  Note that I only review books/items that I’ve personally used and enjoyed, and all reviews are my own opinion.

    Categories

    • Book Challenges
    • Book Recommendations
    • Book Reviews – All
    • Book Tags
    • BookTube
    • BOTM
    • Contemporary Fiction/Classics
    • Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
    • General Fiction
    • Graphic Novels
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
    • LGBT Romance
    • Man Booker Finalists
    • Middle Grade
    • Mystery
    • Mystery/Suspense
    • Non-Fiction
    • Paranormal
    • Readathons
    • Science Fiction
    • Suspense/Thriller
    • TBRs
    • Top Tens
    • Uncategorized
    • YA Contemporary
    • YA Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
    • YA Historical Fiction
    • YA LGBT
    • YA Paranormal
    • Young Adult
    • YouTube Video
    Tweets by @rogerhyttinen

    Copyright © 2022 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in