🔗 Share this article

Six quirky but doughty children confront the trail of a immense and terrible paranormal darkness that has invaded our existence from the farthest reaches of shadow. They are compelled to wage a lifelong battle confronting it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

An Echoing Plot with a Distinctive Twist

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent horror doorstopper, in which a band of six call forth the age-old, utterly malevolent serpent King Sorrow from the Long Dark to help them defeat some villains. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual goes awry.

Celebrating a Family Heritage

Joe Hill started his career going to great lengths to remain separate from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he bears a striking resemblance to his father). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that consciously reflect some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a moment that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a game of puzzles). In this epic story, the author rejoices in his heritage, and we delight along with him.

Introducing the Protagonists

Focusing on the companions: the majority are scholars at the made-up Rackham College in this northeastern locale. First is Arthur, academic and gifted, solving ancient puzzles in his free moments; another key figure, rich, sharp, and known for crushing those who oppose him; twins Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie herself. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they toy, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in supernatural practices.

The Critical Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, compelled to pilfer valuable volumes from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, particularly as he’s made to take the institution’s prized and unsettling publication: the journal of occultist Enoch Crane (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the cover is made from his skin). Our Scooby gang read the journal, discover they could summon what the author references as a “arrogant beast to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they are required to pick a new sacrifice every twelve months or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is more dragons.”

Stylistic Fluidity and Imaginative Breadth

Moving through four decades, the author shifts with seamless grace through various literary forms: as the friends endeavor to address the situation they find themselves in by, in different ways, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we go from thriller to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a quest story, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a part sprinkled with JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Dread and Optimism

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and internet antagonists, truly terrifying and expertly realized. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and ones of appalling malevolence, both mortal and otherworldly. It’s a tour de force: a horror novel that is chiefly a tribute to the creative spirit, and to devotion and companionship. “We required a narrative to trust and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the friends sit around the table, getting ready to invoke their beast to life with the strength of their collective will.

As Hill puts it in his introductory quote: “Hic sunt dracones”. Ensure you experience it.