Name: Horns
Rating: 3.833333333333333 (120 reviews)
ISBN: 9780061147951

Joe Hill

Joe Hill's critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning debut chiller, Heart-Shaped Box, heralded the arrival of new royalty onto the dark fantasy scene. With Horns, he polishes his well-deserved crown. A twisted, terrifying new novel of psychological and supernatural suspense, Horns is a devilishly original triumph for the Ray Bradbury Fellowship recipient whose story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, was also honored with a Bram Stoker Award—and whose emotionally powerful and macabre work has been praised by the New York Times as, "wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty…a Valentine from hell."

Horns

Sarah Sammis

Ignatius Perrish went on a bender, did a whole bunch of bad things and woke in the morning with horns growing out of his head. To complicate matters his horns seem to bring out worst thoughts and impulses in people. That's the promising start of Horns by Joe Hill.

The first sixty five pages of the book are wonderful. They're full of people behaving terribly, Ig being horrified at his new power over people and his reluctance to give into his new potentially demonic powers.

Then just as things are gearing up, the mayhem stops for an extended, supper sappy flashback about how Ig and his girl friend met. Part of the premise of the book is that her death prompted Ig's downfall but the flashback completely killed the tone of the book. Before the flashback it had been a dark comedy. The flashback goes for pure schmaltz and I hated every last word of it.

I skipped to the end to see if ever got its opening grove back. The ending was so completely a field of what it could have been that I left the book unfinished.

Colleen

3.5 Stars

I intended to read Horns a couple of years ago, but I ended up watching the movie first. I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to, but it seemed a bit of a discredit to the author to read the book directly after watching the movie. So I waiting a while. 

Horns is the story of Ignatius Perrish whose girlfriend Merrin was raped and murdered. Ig was never tried for the heinous acts, but in the court of public opinion he was unequivocally guilty. So he became an outcast in his own town forever treated with scorn and hatred. Then on the morning after the one year anniversary of his girlfriend's murder, Ig woke up with horns on his head. It didn't take him long to realize that the horns came with certain powers. People spilled their darkest secrets whenever they gazed upon the horns, and Ig realized he could also play the devil on their shoulder and urge them to follow their more wicked desires. Ig decides to use the power of the horns to find out what happened to Merrin and to get revenge. 

The first part, where Ig explores the powers of his horns, was entertaining. Although the whole story was dark, the beginning had bits of snarky humor thrown in. It was entertaining to watch people shed their societal skins and see what dark urges lurked beneath them. But the story became increasingly hedonistic and nihilistic and vulgar. It left me feeling down and a bit icky at times. There were also a couple of different incidents of animal cruelty (view spoiler)[(unless you are one of those people who only count it as animal cruelty if the animal is fluffy) (hide spoiler)].

The story was also very passive at times. There were a lot of flashbacks, and a large portion of the story relayed things that had already happened. Who killed Merrin and why was not much of a mystery because you find out most of what happened fairly early into the story. Sure, some of the details are withheld, but it took a lot of the suspense away. Even so, I remained engaged by the story and the writing.

I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the story had been more linear, and if it did not revel in its nihilism quite so much. Still, readers who like dark stories will probably enjoy Horns. It was certainly an interesting concept, and Hill is a talented writer even if aspects of his writing were not my favorite. 


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

zombxing

Kayleigh hughes

I am a big fan of Joe Hill. Not only does he come from a pretty stellar family (he's Stephen King's son) but he's also the writer of one of my absolute favourite graphic novel series, Locke and Key. And his novel-length fiction is just as engrossing as his graphic novels. He's a breath of fresh air. He clearly knows and respects the weight and history of the horror/supernatural genre and yet he never falls back on tired tropes or imagery. He's brilliant and this book is brilliant and life is brilliant... Too much?

I picked this one up after finishing the somewhat disappointing Gone Girl, and I was kind of amazed at how similar they are. I mean, they're totally not since this is a supernatural thriller and Gone Girl is a pretty traditional crime/neo-noir, but there are some real similarities in the plot and this one is SO MUCH BETTER. Both books are about a couple where the woman goes missing/is murdered, the husband/boyfriend is suspected, it turns out maybe the story of their relationship isn't quite as it seemed, the husband/boyfriend goes on a hunt for the real perpetrator to clear their name. But unlike Gone Girl which relied heavily on twists to count for character and narrative development, Horns is a gorgeously dark and human story that made you feel for the characters and invest in their story. It has a few twists, but they're not about swerving the story onto an unexpected trajectory, they're there to add a dimension to the story, to give you the final piece of the puzzle and to take the story to the satisfying conclusion it had been building towards.

The story follows Ig (or Iggy, short for Ignatius) a year after the rape and murder of his girlfriend Merrin. Ig was immediately suspected for the crime given his weak alibi (he was sleeping off a hangover in front of an abandoned Dunkin' Donuts) and the very big, very public fight they had the night before. And while a fire that decimated the evidence clears him officially, public opinion in their small town is that he (literally) got away with murder. So the book opens with Ig waking up with a blinding hangover and horns. Ig's first assumption is that they're a hallucination brought on by a tumor, but when he goes to show his housemate-kind-of-girlfriend and she spills a waterfall of secrets and insecurities he begins to piece together that these aren't just figments of a diseased mind.

This first part of the novel is especially phenomenal. As Ig gets more panicked and upset about his new accessories, he gets a glimpse into the minds of the people he thought loved and supported him. I won't spoil what they reveal exactly, but it's dark and absolutely heart-wrenching to see the pain and torment that Ig goes through as he realises he has no one and nowhere to turn. It isn't written as a dark and tormented story (or not overly so), but when I put it down to go to sleep that night I just felt unbelievably sad for Ig. He felt real and tangible and I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him it'll all be ok. He's so young, and he was so in love and happy and was due to fly to England to start his career the day after Merrin was murdered, and now his whole life is frozen. He can't start his career, he can't start a new relationship, he can't move on. He's stuck and is tormented by his loss and to find out that no one is on his side? So. Sad.

Using the power of the horns to try and avenge Merrin's murder, the book becomes equal parts badass revenge thriller, somewhat comical allegorical depiction of inner demons, and a sensitive portrayal of loss, love and turbulent life events. It covers so much ground, and yet it's such a contained and understated book. Or, I guess to put it another way, it's a much deeper and more thoughtful book hiding just under the surface of a contemporary supernatural thriller. Slotted within the primary narrative are two sections which take place in the character's past. The first is about the start of Ig and Merrin's relationship at 15 and the second I can't mention without spoiling the story, but it begins 6 weeks prior and leads up to Merrin's murder. Both are engaging and interesting and are when a lot of the twists are revealed, but both lasted maybe a smidge too long for me. I connected with current day Ig so much that if I was away from that section of the story too long I missed him, and I found myself rushing through to get back to the current day story. Which I guess is less a complaint about the back stories and more a double thumbs up to the engaging central story, but yes, that's a thing.

Sidebar; do you want to another reason why Joe Hill is the most awesome? If you read my Monday Links posts I linked to a buzzfeed post a couple of weeks ago about the connections that exist between Stephen King's books. Joe Hill, doing his dad proud no doubt, added some connections between his books and his dads. What!! For instance, a nice and easy one is a brief mention of Derry, a fictional town in Maine which has appeared in around 18 King stories and books. A second is more of an homage, but awesome nonetheless. In Horns Merrin's older sister died of an aggressive form of cancer at age 20. She became angry and nasty as her disease progressed and seemed to hate Merrin, which is undoubtedly a nod to the character Zelda in Pet Semetary, who is easily one of the scariest characters in any Stephen King books (seriously, I get scared just remembering her). So yep, Joe Hill is great. /sidebar

When I was about 40 pages from the end I contemplated putting the book down and walking away for awhile. I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to the story and all the characters. Of course I didn't put it down because I needed to know how it ended, but there was a brief tug-of-war where I considered it for like 20 seconds. But instead of feeling sad when I got to the end, I felt a sense of closure. It doesn't wrap up neatly or with an overly happy ending, but it was the right ending for the story and the characters and it felt good. *sigh* I just love this book SO MUCH and I can't recommend it enough.

Nicole Sargent-Carberry

3.5 stars. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Definitely not my favorite Joe Hill book, but it’s definitely unique.

Now a major Hollywood film starring Daniel Radcliffe: read it first, if you dare ... Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, a raging headache ... and a pair of horns growing from his temples. Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. Then beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone - raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances - with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, Ig was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed with a terrible new power - with just a touch he can see people's darkest desires - to go with his terrible new look, and he means to use it to find the man who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge; it's time the devil had his due.

Georgia Carr

This is such a great book. Joe Hill is a genius storyteller. The storyline is killer, and the way he delivers it? Awesome. Also, the last line is perfection. Made me smile so hard.

Olivera Mitić

So this book...huh...it's a handful, let me tell you. 
In my opinion one of the most original pieces of fiction out there.
The concept was so interesting, yet I had the feeling that Hill wasn't that sure about where he was going with this. I must say that this would have worked so much better as a novella or short story. The first few chapters were AMAZING! I wish, oh, I wish that the rest of the book had been like that as well, but after part two it was just not IT anymore, you get me? I am so sad that the author didn't make the book as a whole a critique on human nature and how we are in fact all bad and have a dark side. Reading about other people's darkest secrets was probably the most amuzing thing ever. One more thing that really killed me were the flashbacks. There was too much backstory that just wasn't necessary in my opinion.
I do enjoy Hill's writing and storytelling a whole lot more than his father's. Stephen King has this prose that just makes you cringe and feel uncomfortable, but there were scenes where Hill did that to you as well. For example, when we got to know Lee a bit better, the only thing I could think of was 'Oh my god, poor Joe! He probably got drafts of the Shining instead of fairytales for a good night story!' 
As a whole, I did like this book. It made me think a lot, and in a way, that makes it a very good book.

Jordan Robinson

Uh wow. This was fan-fucking-tastic. First of all, Ig Parrish is one of my new favorite characters ever. Second, the ending. THE ENDING WAS PERFECT. UGH. Read. This. Book. Its dark and thrilling and gripping. I love this book.

This book is for the person who loves symbology and stories that make you question the true 'devils' in the world. It is not for the faint of heart, as I cringed my way through some gruesome imagery in passages, but it does have a pretty good payoff for the trouble.

Everything from the horns to the tree house of the mind and all of the symbols in between, I was thoroughly impressed with Joe Hill. I've picked out another of his works to listen to next. I did give it three stars because the flashback moments drag quite a bit, and I did eventually look up the movie synopsis to be an idea of where it was headed in the middle of the book. I almost put it down, but I'm glad I didn't.

Lea de Sousa

I can say that Horns by Joe Hill definitely beats his dad's (Stephen King) latest novels. The love for creepy and chilling stories must be genetic because he's definitely captured that 'strange and scary' factor. 

Creepy. That's all I'll say for this one. Good, but creepy.

Arthur

The New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box returns with a relentless supernatural thriller that runs like Hell on wheels . . . Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin's murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover . . . and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre gift he intends to use to find the monster who killed his lover. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. Now it's time for revenge . . . It's time the devil had his due. . . .

Horns

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