By Dean Poling
Using a pen name, the son has taken to following in his father’s literary footsteps. Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Hill had a hit with his debut horror novel, “Heart-Shaped Box,” a few years ago. He dazzled with several gems in his short-story collection, “20th Century Ghosts.” Now, he returns with a second horror novel, “Horns.” Ignatius Perrish awakes one morning to discover he’s sprouted horns from his forehead, an ironic twist since his father and brother have found fame and fortune playing trumpets, i.e. horns, an instrument that Ig’s asthma never allowed him to master. Ig’s new horns play music of a different tune. His horns cause whomever he encounters to share their deepest transgressions and reveal the sins they wish to commit. Given that Ig has wrongly been accused of brutally killing his beautiful girlfriend, he hears many insidious thoughts voiced from family, friends and associates regarding himself. Not an easy thing to have horns. Ig has a devil of a time waking up to discover he’s become the devil. Hill’s novel may have some readers considering ground covered years earlier in Harlan Ellison’s masterful short story, “Hitler Painted Roses”: Is perception stronger than fact when it comes to condemnation? If everyone believes a person commits a crime, even if the person did not, can those mistaken beliefs condemn the innocent? Darkly comic in places, touching in others, chilling on occasion, Hill’s “Horns” also explores the strange idea that the devil may be bad because he can’t escape the bad everyone wants to do. Hill’s devil is fueled by negative energy, but he’s also fueled by Ig’s tormented soul. In the world of Joe Hill, can the devil be the hero in a world populated by the wicked souls of bad people? After all, as Hill notes in one passage, doesn’t the devil punish evil-doers? Not a book for everyone, but if you liked “Heart-Shaped Box,” or are shopping around for a new master of horror, look for a thrill with some Joe Hill.
