🔗 Share this article

A group of six quirky but resilient youngsters fall into the path of a vast and terrible supernatural darkness that has entered our existence from the outer limits of oblivion. They must spend their lifetimes confronting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

An Echoing Storyline with a Fresh Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; no debate). It parallels of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new horror doorstopper, in which a band of six invoke the ancient, deeply sinister beast the Sorrowful Monarch from the Endless Night to help them defeat some villains. As one might expect, their supernatural ritual has unintended consequences.

Acknowledging a Literary Legacy

Joe Hill started his career making great efforts to remain separate from his famous father, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. Several quotes that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a scene that recalls a King plot point (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Hill is delighting in his lineage, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Back to those friends: the majority are students at the made-up Rackham College in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, bookish and intelligent, cracking Old English riddles in his free moments; another key figure, rich, sharp, and known for crushing those who oppose him; Donna and Donovan; the attractive Allie herself. Additionally, Gwen appears, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they dabble, half believing, half not, in arcane arts.

The Pivotal Ceremony

Our hero becomes, for reasons we don’t need to go into, compelled to pilfer rare books from his treasured institution’s archives by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, notably because he’s compelled to seize the collection’s foremost and disturbing publication: the logbook of practitioner Enoch Crane (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the book’s jacket is fashioned from his hide). Our Scooby gang read the journal, discover they could summon what Crane describes as a “arrogant beast to help Arthur out with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. The dragon will indeed rid them of those troublesome local drug dealers, but they must select a new sacrifice annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Range

Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with seamless grace between genres: as the companions strive to manage the predicament they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we go from thriller to shadowy tale, covert operations to affectionate subplot to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths beneath this UK region, a segment infused with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

A Detailed Tapestry of Fear and Optimism

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and internet antagonists, genuinely frightening and superbly depicted. There are magical swords and betrayals, pulse-pounding sequences of courage and instances of appalling malevolence, both earthly and supernatural. It stands as a masterpiece: a horror novel that is above all a paean to the creative spirit, 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 Colin as the companions assemble around a surface, preparing to summon their dragon into being with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.