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Overview
Joe Hill has been hailed as "a major player in 21st-century fantastic fiction" (Washington Post); "a new master in the field of suspense" (James Rollins); "one of the most confident and assured new voices in horror and dark fantasy to emerge in recent years (Publishers Weekly); a writer who "builds character invitingly and plants an otherworldly surprise around every corner" (New York Times).This gifted and brilliantly imaginative author catapulted to bestsellerdom with the chilling Heart-Shaped Box and cemented his reputation with the prizewinning volume of short fiction 20th Century Ghosts. At last, the New York Times bestselling author returns with a relentless supernatural thriller that runs like Hell on wheels. . . .
Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.
But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . .
Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster 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. . . .
Editorials
npr.org on HORNS
“A satisfying and entertaining book.”Time magazine
“On the strength of two masterly thrillers—2007’s Heart Shaped-Box and his newest Horns—Hill has emerged as one of America’s finest horror writers.”Bookgasm.com
“Hill’s one incredibly talented writer with a wicked sense of humor and a master’s control of pacing.”Pittsburgh Tribune
“A devilish, ingeniously designed story that positions Hill in the same realm as Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Lethem, and Stephen King.”Charleston Post & Courier
“a tight and well-plotted murder mystery, as well as a thoughtful meditation on good and evil....[HORNS] establishes Hill as one of the most clever and talented writers working in the genre.”The Globe and Mail
“Fast-paced, well-made, and wonderfully weird.”Wilmington News Journal
“[D]evilishly good…Hill is a terrificwriter with a greatimagination. He has a special talent for taking us and his characters to very weird places.”Valdosta Daily Times
“”Darkly comic in places, touching in others, chilling on occassion…”Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“No one working in horror today is more adept than Hill …His writing is both merciless and compassionate, driving hard toward the painful truth in every story while holding fast to the desires of his protagonist. ”Oregonian
“The wise guys point out that the literature of horror fantasy tends to be both romantic and conservative. Normalcy is idealized and so precious that its violation is the essence of horror. Joe Hill’s sweet, fanged demonology takes us there.”DreadCentral.com
“HORNS should bring even more fans to Joe Hill . . . he has his own style, and it is very accessible as well as fast-moving. . . . HORNS is a fast-paced, fascinating murder mystery/love story with a dash of the devil himself to spice things up.”Seattle Times
“Hill’s survey of the question of suffering is a wild ride, as filled with thrills as his hero’s headlong plunge down to a dark and dazzling river.”New York Journal of Books
“Horns is a well wrought tale with intellectual merit. Not only are we entertained, we are challenged to think as well.”Bookreporter.com
“Brilliant in conception...HORNS is a rollercoaster of a work filled with thrills and chills.”St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Horns is not only scary but it’s also insightful, often funny and sometimes sweetl romantic.”Tulsa World
“Horns is a pitchfork-packing, prodigal son’s take on religion…But the real meat of the story dissects man’s relationship with good and evil wihtout sacrificing a bit of suspense…Horns is a mesmerizing page-turner.”Orlando Sentinel
“Fire and brimstone have rarely looked so good.”USA Today
“[Horns is] devilishly good. . . . Hill is a terrific writer with a great imagination. He has a special talent for taking us and his characters to very weird places.”Providence Journal-Bulletin
“This is masterful allegory as Hill proves himself…to be a compelling chronicler of human natures continual war between good and evil.”San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] fresh, tough-minded take on what it means to make a deal with the devil and your own worst nature.”Los Angeles Times
“HORNS is thoroughly enjoyable and often original.…a richly nuanced story. Fire and brimstone have rarely looked this good. ”Miami Herald
“[HORNS is] a creepy murder mystery, a tragic love triangle, and a sweetly wistful coming-of-age story. It’s the kind of book that has you laughing on one page, crying on another and making sure the doors and windows are safely locked on a third.”DreadCentral.com [horror entertainment review website]
“HORNS should bring even more fans to Joe Hill . . . he has his own style, and it is very accessible as well as fast-moving. . . . HORNS is a fast-paced, fascinating murder mystery/love story with a dash of the devil himself to spice things up.”Victor LaValle
…what makes Horns such a pleasure is that [Hill] avoids the seriousness that can pervade books meant to be spooky. He understands that horror readers can have fun, even laugh, and that makes the scary parts more effective…Horns remains compelling because, on top of Hill's humor, the ideas are so interesting. For all the ways this is a commercial book—the good guys and the bad guys are pretty clearly defined; redemption is a foregone conclusion—there's a wonderfully cockeyed idea at the book's center, one that's also much older than the written word. Sometimes, if you want to do God's work, you need the Devil to get it done.—The Washington Post
Janet Maslin
The strange thing about Horns is that its opening scenes aren't all that strange. Its author, Joe Hill, is able to make Ig's problem seem like the most natural thing in the world. Mr. Hill writes with such palpable enthusiasm that he has no trouble hooking readers, especially with a book that is clearly on the side of the angels, though hellbent on using every devil reference it can…[Hill] is able to combine intrigue, editorializing, impassioned romance and even fiery theological debate in one well-told story.br>—The New York TimesPublishers Weekly
In bestseller Hill’s compulsively readable supernatural thriller, his second after Heart-Shaped Box, dissolute Ignatius Perrish wakes up one morning to find a pair of satanic horns sprouting from his forehead. To the residents of Gideon, N.H., this grotesque disfigurement only confirms their suspicions that Ig raped and murdered his girlfriend, Merrin Williams, a crime for which he was held but soon released for lack of evidence. Ig is also now privy to the deepest, and often darkest, private thoughts of anyone he touches. Once Ig discovers through this uncanny sensitivity the true killer’s identity, he schemes to reveal the culprit’s guilt through natural means. Toggling between past and present, and incidents that range from the supernaturally surreal to the brutally realistic, Hill spins a story that’s both morbidly amusing and emotionally resonant. The explanations for Ig’s weird travails won’t satisfy every reader, but few will dispute that Hill has negotiated the sophomore slump. 6-city author tour. (Mar.)Library Journal
Ignatius Perrish led a charmed life as the popular son of a wealthy and talented family and the storybook lover of the perfect Merrin Williams. Then, after high school, it all went wrong. Merrin was raped and murdered, her head bashed in, and everyone assumed Ig was the killer, even after he was exonerated. A year after Merrin's death, following a barely remembered night of debauchery, Ig awakens with a pair of three-inch horns growing from his forehead. Along with these come abilities that shock and disgust him but also bring him closer to finding Merrin's real killer. As the plot builds through flashbacks and clever exposition, Ig's true nature reveals itself, and the reader is left questioning the traditional border between good and evil. VERDICT The promising short-story writer of 20th Century Ghosts didn't quite reach the mark with his debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box, but with his sophomore effort, Hill has written a novel that is all his. Highly recommended, particularly for fans of Clive Barker and Christopher Moore. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/09; also available in ebook and HarperLuxe large-print editions.]—Karl G. Siewert, MLIS, Tulsa City-Cty. Lib.Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"No one working in horror today is more adept than Hill …His writing is both merciless and compassionate, driving hard toward the painful truth in every story while holding fast to the desires of his protagonist. "Orlando Sentinel
"Fire and brimstone have rarely looked so good."USA Today
"[Horns is] devilishly good. . . . Hill is a terrific writer with a great imagination. He has a special talent for taking us and his characters to very weird places."Charleston Post & Courier
"a tight and well-plotted murder mystery, as well as a thoughtful meditation on good and evil....[HORNS] establishes Hill as one of the most clever and talented writers working in the genre."Tulsa World
"Horns is a pitchfork-packing, prodigal son’s take on religion…But the real meat of the story dissects man’s relationship with good and evil wihtout sacrificing a bit of suspense…Horns is a mesmerizing page-turner."Bookreporter.com
"Brilliant in conception...HORNS is a rollercoaster of a work filled with thrills and chills."New York Journal of Books
"Horns is a well wrought tale with intellectual merit. Not only are we entertained, we are challenged to think as well."Seattle Times
"Hill’s survey of the question of suffering is a wild ride, as filled with thrills as his hero’s headlong plunge down to a dark and dazzling river."Providence Journal-Bulletin
"This is masterful allegory as Hill proves himself…to be a compelling chronicler of human natures continual war between good and evil."Miami Herald
"[HORNS is] a creepy murder mystery, a tragic love triangle, and a sweetly wistful coming-of-age story. It’s the kind of book that has you laughing on one page, crying on another and making sure the doors and windows are safely locked on a third."Los Angeles Times
"Horns is thoroughly enjoyable and often original.…a richly nuanced story. Fire and brimstone have rarely looked this good. "San Francisco Chronicle
"[A] fresh, tough-minded take on what it means to make a deal with the devil and your own worst nature."St. Paul Pioneer Press
"Horns is not only scary but it’s also insightful, often funny and sometimes sweetl romantic."[horror entertainment review website]
"HORNS should bring even more fans to Joe Hill . . . he has his own style, and it is very accessible as well as fast-moving. . . . HORNS is a fast-paced, fascinating murder mystery/love story with a dash of the devil himself to spice things up."Oregonian
"The wise guys point out that the literature of horror fantasy tends to be both romantic and conservative. Normalcy is idealized and so precious that its violation is the essence of horror. Joe Hill’s sweet, fanged demonology takes us there."Pittsburgh Tribune
"A devilish, ingeniously designed story that positions Hill in the same realm as Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Lethem, and Stephen King."Wilmington News Journal
"[D]evilishly good…Hill is a terrificwriter with a greatimagination. He has a special talent for taking us and his characters to very weird places."The Globe and Mail
"Fast-paced, well-made, and wonderfully weird."Valdosta Daily Times
""Darkly comic in places, touching in others, chilling on occassion…"Bookgasm.com
"Hill’s one incredibly talented writer with a wicked sense of humor and a master’s control of pacing."DreadCentral.com [horror entertainment review website]
“HORNS should bring even more fans to Joe Hill . . . he has his own style, and it is very accessible as well as fast-moving. . . . HORNS is a fast-paced, fascinating murder mystery/love story with a dash of the devil himself to spice things up.”npr.org
“A satisfying and entertaining book.”Time Magazine
"On the strength of two masterly thrillers—2007’s Heart Shaped-Box and his newest Horns—Hill has emerged as one of America’s finest horror writers."Connie Ogle
"Horns is dark, twisted, even sometimes funny in a macabre way."Book Details
Published
March 8, 2011
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
416
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780061147968