title: Heart Shaped Box
author: Joe Hill
pages: 366
first line: Jude had a private collection.
genre: horror
rated: 4 out of 5
Famous musician Judas Coyne collects rare and grotesque items. He lives with his current goth girlfriend, Georgia a.k.a. Marybeth, and his pet dogs Angus and Bon. When his personal assistant, Danny, tells him there is a ghost for sale on the Internet,
Jude buys it for $1000.00.
The package arrives at his door, it is a black heart-shaped box, inside is a suit belonging to a dead man. Jude just puts the box away in his closet and forgets about it until one day he sees an old man in his home, wearing the suit.
Turns out the suit belongs to one of Judes ex-lovers, stepfather. Anna was manic depressive and has passed away, apparently by committing suicide. Now her deceased stepfather, Craddock McDermott, wants his revenge on Jude.
The old man has black squiggles where his eyes should be, and he tends to show up everywhere Jude goes. Sound creepy? Very. This book really scared the heck outta me. I am the type that when reading a book, gets very into it, so it's no surprise I was really scared while reading certain passages in this one.
Craddock was a hypnotist in life, and used this knowledge to hurt others. Now that he is haunting Jude, he can make Jude and others do whatever he says. The sound of his voice is mesmerizing. He is trying to get Jude to kill his girlfriend, then himself.
Craddock had spent most of a week now trying to make Jude kill himself. Jude had been so busy resisting he hadn't stopped to wonder if the price of surviving would be worse than giving the dead man what he wanted. That he was sure to lose, and that the longer he held out, the more likely he would drag Marybeth with him. Because the dead pull the living down.
I really enjoyed this book, Joe Hill, is the son of none other than Stephen King.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This read was scary, creepy and intense. It has lots of twists and turns, and is full of some unexpected surprises.
I liked the main character, Jude and his girlfriend, Georgia. You want them to figure out a way to get rid of this ghost, yet it seems impossible for them. Craddock is insane and he's very scary.
Craddock McDermott moved in stop motion, a series of life-size still photographs. In one moment his arms were at his sides. In the next, one of his gaunt hands was on Georgia's shoulder. His fingernails were yellowed and long and curled at the end. The black marks jumped and quivered in front of his eyes.
It's been a while since I've read a book that scared me. This read was long overdue. I think the last book that spooked me like this one was Salem's Lot.
visit the author's website: http://joehillfiction.com/
this has been part of the following reading challenges:
suspense & thriller
TBR
100+
Triple 8
this book has also been reviewed by ladytink
