Best New Horror audiobook

That was really good! I enjoyed it a lot!Was really creepy, although I think if it was possible I would love to read "button boy" in full!The thought of that story creeped the hell out of me! All reviews can be found at http://lennonslair.blogspot.co.uk/

A grizzly representation of the horror publishing business. Almost feels like a sort of inside-joke for dedicated horror writers and readers, poking fun at the obscene and over-the-top nature that often comes with its contents. Genuinely scary at times and offers a black-comedy view on the business.

Best New Horror was one of the few Joe Hill stories that wasn't completely for me. A big part of it appealed to me as a fan of the horror genre. As a kid I have always loved horror movies and they are a big part of my childhood. I was able to relate to the main protagonist named Eddie Carroll who longs for that "surprise" he use to feel watching horror movies when he was younger. The is something I have a problem with, whenever I go to see a new horror movie with hopes of being "surprised" or at the very least entertained. (Yeah, I know how jaded I sound.) Becoming disenchanted with a hobby is always a disappointment no matter what your age is. (Especially one that you are passionate about.) It makes me wonder if Joe Hill has ever felt this way at one point or another. A few other aspects I really enjoyed about this book is that this story takes place in a neighboring town that I lived right next to. (Poughkeepsie, NY.) I loved how certain locations were referenced, I believe Joe Hill went to college at Vassar which is like ten minutes away from where I live. As a fan this is really cool to me. The other aspect to the story that I find fascinating is his detailed description of horror conventions, which is (if you have ever been to one) really cool. So overall I would say I was very pleased with more then half of this novella, at least until I got to the ending of it. The only thing that really pulled me away from the overall plot was the short story Eddie reads called "Buttonboy." If you have ever seen a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, then you'll have a great idea of what "Buttonboy" is all about. I get why people find gore scary and at times it can add to a story's shock value. (Sometimes in a good or bad way.) Now I know as a horror fan I should probably be used to gore and torture. But something about Buttonboy really felt out of place to me, I wasn't expecting it from Joe Hill I guess. I kept waiting for something original to happen with this plot thread, but I kind of knew where it was heading and wad unsatisfied when my assumptions turned out to be true. Perhaps my expectations were just too high I suppose. Overall I give it a solid 3.5 stars out of 5. It had some really good parts and I felt connected to the background elements. But the ending and grotesque nature of the "story within the story" made me distance myself from it a little bit. Maybe I am just to hypersensitive. lol

Uno de los mejores relatos cortos que he leído. Lo tiene todo: una historia dentro de la historia que por sí sola ya te pone los pelos de punta y da un mal rollo importante; una pizca de investigación (el protagonista, editor de una revista de relatos de terror, emprende la búsqueda del autor de una historia que le impactó); y un final a la altura del resto de la obra (con homenaje a la matanza de Texas incluido). Además de todo esto, es un relato de unas pocas páginas, así que no da tiempo a estropearlo cómo puede pasar con algunas novelas de idea interesante pero que fallan en su desarrollo.El primer 5 estrellas que pongo.

It gave me nightmares, not many stories are able to do that to me! Really loved this one!

Very short but title very apt. I agree that button boy is the book that should have been written.

“He wants to see how long I can live without a soul inside me.” A delightful short story from Joe Hill’s compilation “20th Century Ghosts.” I love a story within a story and honestly ‘Button Boy’ would have been a terrifying tale all on its own.

This story does everything that a quality horror story should. Eddie Carroll proves to be a protagonist that anyone with any experience in the publishing field can relate to. He's disenchanted and jaded, understandably so. In publishing, editors are constantly looking for that one gem, the story which will set the literary world on fire. It's not easy, since every submission claims to be exactly that. Every writer claims to be Hemingway, every book is boasted as the next coming of Les Miserables. What makes this story so impacting is that Joe Hill understands that, and characterizes it perfectly. When Eddie Carroll finds such a story, he's desperate to have it. That desperation is captured in the pages of this tale, through his unrelenting search for the story's author. Through his odyssey, Eddie fights through many trials, from annoying agents to unhelpful city workers, even self-involved bloggers. When the story ends, the reader is filled with the soul-sucking realization that the story hasn't ended, never will end, possibly hasn't even begun yet, and yet, it's over. It's the frustrating "so, what happened next?" feeling that the legends of horror (Lovecraft, Poe, Hitchcock) mastered, and Joe Hill captures perfectly here. Joe Hill is quickly becoming the new face in horror, horror for the next generation. If this story is any evidence of what he's capable of, the genre is in good hands.

A great, chilling story that combines so many aspects of a good, American horror story.Eddie Carroll is an editor of an annual compilation of horror stories called "America's Best New Horror". After reciving an incredibly disturbing short story, Eddie sets out to find it's author. The search appears to be tricky at first, and horrifying at the end!This is a story from "20th Century Ghosts", I never read the whole book yet, but after sampling "Best New Horror" I can't wait to give it a go. Joe Hill just never dissapoints!

I love Joe Hill. The more I read of his books, the more I love his stuff. This was a short story, and it was quite fantastic. It’s creepy, with some skeezy characters, and I love the way Hill has both a real world element interspersed with both the Button Boy story and other aspects of come to life Horror. I must get hands on more of his books.

This short story encompasses everything I love in horror fiction: sympathetic characters, immersive storyline, pop culture references, quality writing and a believably freaky element of the grotesque.

This story haunts my dreams...infinitely creepy.

creepy

Did someone at Best New Horror irritate Joe Hill? I found this darkly amusing. But then, I'm twisted.