Tag: book

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Coffee and Contemplation: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Our discussion this week is about “Hear-Shaped Box” by Joe Hill. This was Hill’s debut novel, and you can see the influences from his father, Stephen King. The story gives a new, modern twist to the haunting story. The main character, Judas Coyne, buys a ghost on the internet. Turns out, the ghost is real and is trying to kill Judas. We get a lot of backstory about Judas and about the ghost and its motives. It’s interesting to think about the main character chasing after spooky, macabre things at the beginning of the novel only to run away from them for the majority of the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t my favorite. Hill’s next novel “Horns” is better but that’s a discussion for another post. The video static eyes of the ghost as described in the novel is an interesting visual, but it made the ghost less scary for me. The book overall wasn’t terrifying, but I don’t think it was supposed to be. It feels more action/adventure than horror. It was a fun read. I liked all the characters, especially Judas’ two dogs. This book is good for teens and adults, though some parents may want to check it out before their children beginning reading. 

I do recommend this book, but it’s not my favorite by Joe Hill.

Spooky Spider Scale (How scary was the book?): 6/10 spiders 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️

Overall rating: 4 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Coffee and Contemplation: Beloved by Toni Morrison

The first book I’m looking at in my studies of supernatural storytelling is “Beloved” by Toni Morrison. Published in 1987, it won the “Pulitzer Prize for Fiction” in 1988. The genre is American Literature. This is not a horror novel; however, something supernatural takes place in the story. The story is about a family of former slaves living in Cincinnati after the American Civil War. Their home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Part of the story was based on a true-life incident that happened in 1856 involving an escaped slave from Kentucky, Margaret Garner.

The spirit in their home is a character in the story. The spirit doesn’t kill anyone but does cause problems for the family. Overall, the novel is not that scary. It’s not supposed to be. There is one scene that was difficult to read. This was the scene that depicted the real-life events of Margaret Garner killing one of her children to prevent them from growing up as a slave. The scene is important because the family believes the spirit in the house is the child that was killed. This is not a novel for children because of the adult content.

I recommend this book to everyone. If you haven’t read anything by Toni Morrison, you should. 

Spooky Spider Scale (How scary was the book?): 1/10 spiders – 🕷️

Overall rating: 5 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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Black Chaos is Coming

Official Announcement Time: My next collection of poetry is coming April 13th. The cover reveal is below. This collection will feature 30 new poems. That’s all. It’s a short collection compared to my many others. I took the advice from a reviewer and didn’t put so many poems in this time. There are a couple poems that might feel out of place, but it relates to several months of growth I experienced. You can pre-order the eBook on B&N Nook and Amazon Kindle. The paperback will be available in April. It will be a small paperback. I also plan to have some bookmarks available for sale to go along with the release of the book.

So, what’s this collection about? Here’s the online description: “Depression is black chaos. A chaos that destroys the soul and pushes friends and family away. This collection features poetry about loss and solitude. It’s a journey of rediscovering and learning to love one’s self. A journey of hitting rock bottom and climbing out of the deep pit of despair.” Maybe that’s not your cup of tea, but writing these poems was the beginning of recovery for me. I will never stop fighting this battle. It will get easier with time. Anyway, once I decide on a design for the bookmarks, I’ll ask everyone’s opinion before printing them. Tell me what you think of the cover in the comments.

The Cover