this is my second read from this author and his second offering. i get the feeling this man could potentially give Stephen King a run for his money over time. some stories better than others but overall a fun read.

if you have found this book, welcome to bookcrossing and thank you for taking the time to let us know about it's journey.

feel free to enjoy the book and pass it along to a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker. or simply leave it somewhere for another lucky reader to enjoy as you did!

this book not your type of read? that's ok, don't feel obliged to read it - just be kind enough to help it on it's journey.

if you haven't yet done so, please take some time to look around this wonderful site of caring, giving readers. should you decide to join, i'd be most honored to have you use my screen name (tempestsans) as your referral. if you join, each time this book (or any you register or find in the future) is picked up and journaled you'll get a notice letting you know of it's travels. i currently have books in such far away places as California, Canada, Romania, the UK, Iran, Japan, Italy, Iraq (both with our troops and with the people), New Zealand and Australia!

welcome to bookcrossing and happy reading!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

handing off to Firegirl when i have dinner with her this week in phoenix

Oooo!! I really liked Joe Hill's last book (Heart-Shaped Box) so I'm looking forward to this one too. Since it qualifies for a release challenge I'm participating in this month ("Tick Tock"), I plan on reading it and getting it out there in the next few weeks. Thanks, TS!

I liked most of the stories in this collection, though I think the last was probably my favourite. I enjoyed Hill's first work better as a whole, but I agree that this author has some serious potential and I defintely look forward to more by him. Will be moving it on soon. Thanks again, TS!

WILD RELEASE NOTES: Left on the OBCZ shelf after the November meetup. Qualifies for the "Keep Them Moving" release challenge.

I pulled this off the OBCZ shelf today to back East with me in hopes of passing it on to Guinneth (she has it on her wishlist). We, along with GoryDetails, are hoping to have a mini-meetup in New Hampshire.

WILD RELEASE NOTES: I missed Guinneth while in New Hampshire so I left this on the book-exchange shelves in the lobby. Here's hoping she gets to it before someone else does!

I was able to dash over to the Highlander and snag this last night - thanks for leaving it, Firegirl, and for cluing me in to what looks like a prime release location right in my backyard!

I'm sorry we didn't get to meet after all, and I hope your return trip was a good one.

I loved Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and am really looking forward to this collection.

What a satisfying collection of stories this is! Joe Hill is a terrific writer, and he proves that again here with pieces that are disquieting ("In the Rundown", "Pop Art"), unsettling ("The Black Phone", "My Father's Mask"), and just plain disturbing ("You Will Hear the Locust Sing".) I'd encountered two of the stories before: "Abraham's Boys" in the excellent anthology titled The Many Faces of Van Helsing mentioned in the introduction, and "Last Breath" in an anthology I've forgotten the name of.

One of my favorites here isn't a ghost (or even a horror) story. It's called "Better Than Home" and is about the relationship between a father and son. Highest on my list is probably the novella that closes the book, "Voluntary Committal".

Almost all of these stories are haunting in one way or another; Mr. Hill has certainly inherited his father's gift for writing, and then some. I really enjoyed this collection and look forward to more by Joe Hill. (Dare we hope he'll be as prolific as his dad?)

Thanks again for sharing this, Firegirl.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm mailing this off to dg7500 to fulfill a wish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Thanks so much, Guinneth!! I really enjoyed Hill's "Heart Shaped Box", and have heard even better reviews of this book, so I am looking forward to reading it very soon.

6/9/09 Update: A mixed review here. While I *really* enjoyed the genius of Hill's "Heart Shaped Box", and had great hopes for this collection of short stories, I found my self unsatisfied with the end result. There were a few diamonds scattered throughout the book, but the majority of the stories left me feeling...Meh, what was that?...and a handful were downright silly, not seeming to belong in the collection at all. I'm glad I read "Heart Shaped Box" first, because if I'd read 20th Century Ghosts as a first taste of Hill's work, I'm not sure I would have ever picked up a second book of his.

Will be passing this along to dvg shortly, and am anxious to see what her thoughts are on the book.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent out as part of a rabck package. Enjoy!

*2009 RABCK Release Challenge*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To the finder of this book:

What you have in your hands is an honest-to-goodness gift, no strings attached. You may keep it forever and ever, pass it on to a friend, or release it back "into the wild" for someone else to find. I know it may seem a little odd to find this lying around--it's my way of touching the lives of others in a positive way, with the hope that it made your day. :)

If you are new to BookCrossing, and find this book and this site, welcome! Enjoy the site, the book, and hopefully the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join BookCrossing (doesn't cost anything to join!) and if you do, please consider using any previous reader of this book ... or me, dg7500 ... as the member who referred you. Or you may remain anonymous!

If you are an old hand at BookCrossing, thanks for picking up the book! Either way, I hope you'll make a brief journal entry so all the previous and future readers can track this book's journey. Thanks, and Happy Crossing! :)

"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens ..."

Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind)

Arrived safe today! Thank you, my friend, for sharing this with me. Even though I knew it would be headed here it still was a wonderful surprise in my mailbox. I saw the return addy and I had to smile! =)
I am so excited about reading this after reading Heart-Shaped Box. While I am normally not a short story person, I can't wait to dive in. After reading all the JEs (I couldn't help myself), I am even more intrigued. I know hubby will be interested as well. Lets see who gets to start it first! lol. It will be some JE when we've finished.

I must admit that I am not one for short stories. No matter how I try, I just don't enjoy them. After reading Heart-Shaped Box, I was excited to get this one from my friend, dg7500. But after reading several of the stories, I couldn't get into it. He writes well but I just want a longer story. (Sigh.) I, like dg7500, would not have picked up another book by him had I read this first. That said, looking forward to his next book that is not a short story collection. So I will be sharing this one very soon!

Wishlist surprise for Ciloma! I hope you enjoy this collection of shorts by Joe Hill. I loved Heart-Shaped Box and Horns ~ I highly recommend those books. |Sent as part of the 2011 RABCK Release Challenge!|
Happy Reading and Happy BookCrossing!

2011-09-04 => Arrived safely in the mail. What a nice surprise!! Thanx a bunch!!
2022-08-02 => I put off reading this because I thought it was strictly ghost stories. I enjoyed the stories and was glad that they weren't all ghost stories. Weird and sometimes creepy - not at all what I was anticipating. I have so many books in my MT TBR that I won't actively seek out any more books to read. If I do run across this author, I will pick it up, though.

Left in upstairs waiting area.