A relentlessly scary ghost story. THE BOOKSELLER Heart-Shaped Box is a horror novel that is scary within ten pages. It takes no time at all to get going after which it holds you in its jaws and doesn't let you go. A brilliantly pitched novel that marks the debut of a major contributor to the field. -- John Berlyne SF REVU While the novel's occult elements are horrific enough, the true horror is the very human cycle of abuse, as victim becomes victimiser. And the redemption is achieved without recourse to sentimentality. -- Eric Brown GUARDIAN He's successfully woven strands of family drama and American road movie with his horror, and that horror itself combines traditional motifs with images all its own, old-fashioned ghost stories with uncanny applications of modern technology. Joe Hill's debut is certainly the work of an important new horror voice. -- Alex Sarll PRESS ASSOCIATION The slick sensory prose, snappy dialogue and a handful of spooky creative touches amount to a well packaged box of tricks. A satisfying box of Black Magic. -- Stuart Weightman STARBURST Sexy, scary and modern. -- Karen Parsons LINCOLNSHIRE ECHO Disturbing, scary, the morbidly guilty forebodings building to a superbly dark crescendo. SFX Gory, exhilarating and surprisingly tender stuff. There's fresh blood on the horror scene. METRO Chilling and disturbing. SO LONDON There are scenes of great intensity in Heart-Shaped Box, and others of great humor. Jude is a wonderful creation, a fascinating blend of immaturity and world-weariness, lovable because of, not in spite of, his many flaws. STRANGE HORIZONS Hill's debut novel is as assured a debut novel as I have ever read, regardless of genre. Heart-Shaped Box, itself an entertaining and superb novel, offers hints of a great writing career to come. SFFWORLD.COM I couldn't put Heart-Shaped Box down until I was good and done. The chracter of the sountern-fried undead dowser and hypnotist Craddock creeped the hell out of me. -- Peter Murphy HOT PRESS (Ireland) Joe Hill has gone straight for the jugular with his debut horror story. (He) more than proves his birthright. -- Henry Sutton THE MIRROR The King ain't dead yet, but long live the new King. [An] excellent debut novel. THE DAILY STAR Once you peel the pages of Heart- Shaped Box, the addictive nature of the writing that has made Stephen King among the most famous living writers in the world has clearly been handed down. THE LIST (Scotland) Stephen King's son turns out to be sexier, smarter and cooler than his dad with this tale about a fading death metal star who buys a aghost over the internet. THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY A dark fantasy in the great American tradition. Joe Hill is Stephen King's son and a worthy successor in the family business. -- Roz Kaveney TIME OUT Hill writes the supernatural stuff with skill and conviction. THE LONDON PAPER Joe Hill certainly makes an impressive entrance. He has successfully woven strands of family drama and road movie with his horror, which combines traditional motifs with images all its own; old fashioned ghost stories with uncanny applications of modern technology. Joe Hill is an important new horror voice. THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH
