Description

A pulse-pounding, terrifying rollercoaster ride of a supernatural thriller—the remarkable 2007 debut from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

“The shocks in Hill’s riveting debut novel can be lurid and blood-drenched, or as quietly chilling as a casual phone call from an old, dead friend.” — Entertainment Weekly

Sooner or later, the dead catch up . . .

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals, a used hangman’s noose, a snuff film. Many of these objects were gifts from the black-clad fans who made his metal band a legend and made him rich. But not all. When his personal assistant told him there was a ghost for sale on the Internet, Jude knew he had to have it for his private collection. He didn’t think twice.

He should have.

Jude has spent a lifetime evading ghosts—his abusive father; the bandmates he betrayed; Anna, the suicidal girl he loved and abandoned. But this spirit is different. This one means to chase him to the edge of sanity.

His new acquisition—delivered to his doorstep in a black heart-shaped box—is the restless soul of Anna’s vengeful stepdaddy. Craddock McDermott swore he would settle with Jude for ruining his daughter’s life. Soon, everywhere Jude turns, Craddock is there: behind the bedroom door; in Jude’s restored vintage Mustang; outside his window; on his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. If ever there was a case of buyer beware, this is it…

About the Author

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Fireman, NOS4A2, Horns, and Heart-Shaped Box; Strange Weather, a collection of novellas; and the acclaimed story collections Full Throttle and 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the Eisner Award–winning writer of a seven-volume comic book series, Locke & Key. Much of his work has been adapted for film and TV, including NOS4A2 (AMC), Locke & Key (Netflix), In the Tall Grass (Netflix), and The Black Phone (Blumhouse).

Praise For…

“A thriller with moments of terror and genuine humor.” — People

“A wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty tale of horror . . . . a Valentine from hell.” — New York Times

“Heart-Shaped Box is, quite simply, the best debut horror novel since Clive Barker’s Damnation Game...It’s the kind of book that the overworked adjectives people use on book jackets—relentless, gripping, powerful, a genuine page-turner—were really meant to describe, for it’s all of those things, and enormously smart besides. A genuinely scary novel filled with people you care about; the kind of book that still stays in your mind after you’ve turned over the final page. I loved it unreservedly.” — Neil Gaiman

“Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box starts with a premise that is as simple as it is brilliant: a ghost for sale on the Internet. But here is a tale that is far from a one-trick pony. It chills with every word, surprises with every page, and twists with every chapter. Here is a debut as literate as it is horrifying . . . and the resounding introduction of a new master in the field of suspense.” — James Rollins

“Heart-Shaped Box. . . rocks. It’s a flat-out, white-line, turbo-charged, relentless, bleakly humorous, and, above all, honest story . . . Hill’s fealty to the autumnal suspirations of the darkest sorts of dread is instantly apparent. And this, as they say, is just the beginning.” — Austin Chronicle

“The shocks in Hill’s riveting debut novel can be lurid and blood-drenched, or as quietly chilling as a casual phone call from an old, dead friend.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Dark, taut, and deliciously terrifying. Heart-Shaped Box is a roaring good read.” — New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs

[Hill]’s got horror down pat, and his debut is hair-raising fun.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A relentlessly scary ghost story.” — Bookseller (London)

“Hill is flawless in his ability to articulate frailties that humanize his characters and make the vulnerable to intrusions of the strange . . . . One of the most confident and assured new voices in horror and dark fantasy to emerge in recent years.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Powerful . . . a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations . . . a truly memorable debut.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“You can’t go wrong with Heart-Shaped Box.” Top Five Fiction-Books of 2007 — The Observer

“A fast-paced journey on wheels borrowed from hell’s used-car lot, and there aren’t a lot of comfort breaks...The pictures [Hill] painted colored my dreams and darkened my mood even after I’d put the book down.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer