The Black Phone and Other Stories
Previously published as 20th Century Ghosts
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- Published: Jun 09 2022
- 196 x 128mm
- ISBN: 9781399600033
Imogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud Theater.
Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It's hard to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, picked on; he doesn't have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that's behind him now. John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected...but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead...
Meet these and a dozen more, in 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS, irresistible, addictive fun showcasing a dazzling new talent.
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Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It's hard to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, picked on; he doesn't have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that's behind him now. John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected...but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead...
Meet these and a dozen more, in 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS, irresistible, addictive fun showcasing a dazzling new talent.
Press Reviews
SCI-FI NOW
Ross SutcliffeHill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch.
- Washington Post
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.
- The New York Times Book Review
[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.
- Publishers Weekly
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.
- Boston Globe
The collection of short stories ranges from creepy to sweet, with an impressive arsenal of tactics to attack your psyche.
- USA Today
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.
- Parade
Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you've read them.
- Village Voice
[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction
- Locus
One of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories
- Denver Rocky Mountain News
Each tale is unique, and the collection proves that Hill's talent is not limited to horror, but extends well into the mainstream.
- The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia)
"[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended.
- San Francisco Chronicle
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.
- Daily Mail
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.
- Coventry Telegraph
Subtle and disturbing in equal measure.
Ross Sutcliffe
SCI-FI NOWHill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch.
- WASHINGTON POST
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.
- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fully developed characters with complex emotional lives enhance the 14 stories in Joe Hill's extraordinary collection ... There's not a false note or disappointing effort in this volume.
- BOSTON GLOBE
The collection of short stories ranges from creepy to sweet, with an impressive arsenal of tactics to attack your psyche.
- USA TODAY
[Hill] displays consummate skill in a variety of genres . . . Amusing, moving, horrifying-Ghosts runs the full spectrum.
- PARADE
Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you've read them.
- LOCUS
One of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories
- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
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.
- DAILY MAIL
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.