Six quirky but resilient children fall into the trail of a vast and fearsome paranormal malevolence that has infiltrated our world from the outer limits of oblivion. They must devote their lives battling it, enduring terror upon terror in the ordeal.
This is the plot, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (a standout in his career; no arguments). It similarly frames of Stephen King’s offspring Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent horror doorstopper, in which a close-knit group summon the age-old, infinitely malicious dragon King Sorrow from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their otherworldly invocation has unintended consequences.
Joseph Hillström King launched his profession striving diligently to avoid any connection from his famous father, using the pseudonym he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he bears a striking resemblance to his parent). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of King’s most famous (that classic opening line); a scene that evokes a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this epic story, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.
Focusing on the companions: most are pupils at the fictional Rackham College in the New England state. First is Arthur, academic and intelligent, solving historical enigmas in his spare time; Colin, wealthy, clever, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; twins Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie herself. And there’s Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they toy, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in the occult.
Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a group of neighborhood thugs. This devastates his scholarly soul, especially when he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and chilling title: the logbook of practitioner the historical figure (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, realize they are able to call forth what the occultist details as a “arrogant beast to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and spend the rest of the novel reaping the consequences. King Sorrow will indeed rid them of those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they are required to pick a new sacrifice annually or become his victim themselves. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”
Covering a generation, the author shifts with effortless ease across narrative styles: as the friends attempt to deal with the predicament they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or searching for methods to slay the beast themselves, we go from page-turner to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, far beneath the surface under the English county, a segment infused with the fantasy maestro that was gloriously terrifying.
We encounter trolls – the classic variety and online ones, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and instances of dreadful evil, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is chiefly a ode to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the companions sit around the table, preparing to summon their beast to life with the force of their minds.
As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “Here be dragons”. Do not overlook this.
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