20th Century Ghosts

From the New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Horns comes this award-winning collection of short fiction.

Imogene is young, beautiful . . . and dead, waiting in the Rosebud Theater one afternoon in 1945. . . .

Francis was human once, but now he's an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children, and an antique telephone, long since disconnected, rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

Nolan knows but can never tell what really happened in the summer of '77, when his idiot savant younger brother built a vast cardboard fort with secret doors leading into other worlds. . . .

The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. . . .

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945. . . .

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. . . .

Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot-tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

“Fully developed characters with complex emotional lives enhance the 14 stories in Joe Hill’s extraordinary collection,20th Century Ghosts. There’s not a false note or disappointing effort in this volume.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Hill’s best stories veer away from the well-trodden creep shows and back alleys of genre writing into more dangerous territory: suburban basements, ball fields and schoolyards.” - Washington Post

“The collection of short stories ranges from creepy to sweet, with an impressive arsenal of tactics to attack your psyche.” - Boston Globe

“Subtle and disturbing in equal measure.” - Coventry Telegraph on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS

“This solid, inventive, scary collection of stories reveals a writer who has thought hard about the problematics of horror.” - New York Times on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS

“Each of these chilling tales arrests you from the opening sentence and leads you — trustingly, thanks to the simple mastery of the story-teller — into a place of gulping fear.” - Daily Mail (London) on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS

“Irresistible stories.” - Evening Herald (Ireland)

“Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you’ve read them.” - Parade

“[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.” - New York Times Book Review

“[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended.” - The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia)

“The selections range from the mundane to the surreal, with a strong emphasis on the kind of horror tale perfected by Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Stephen King.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“[O]ne of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories.” - Locus

“Each tale is unique, and the collection proves that Hill’s talent is not limited to horror, but extends well into the mainstream.” - Denver Rocky Mountain News

“20th Century Ghosts is Hill’s first collection of short stories and displays consummate skill in a variety of genres . . . Amusing, moving, horrifying—Ghosts runs the full spectrum.” - USA Today

“[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction.” - Village Voice