Full Throttle audiobook

…a child has only the two parents, but if you’re lucky enough to be an artist for a living, ultimately you wind up with a few mothers and fathers. When someone asks a writer, ”Who’s your daddy?” the only honest answer is, “That’s complicated.” You might need some version of Ancestry.com to label all the literary influences at play in Joe Hill’s latest story collection. Or maybe not, as Hill gives us a pretty good idea right off the bat, in the introduction. Pretty obvious who influencer number one might be. In fact, dad is listed as co-author on two of the thirteen stories. But the writerly genetic material that feeds these stories comes from some pretty heavy hitters, like Ray Bradbury, Bernard Malamud, Lawrence Block, Stephen Spielberg, George Romero, and the publication Fangoria (Fango to fans). Part of the fun of reading this collection is to think about the influencers noted in the intro and suss out what manifests where. Hill adds some further explanatory comments at the end of the collection, which furthers our appreciation a bit.Fangoria cover compendium - image from Mental Floss Hill offers an interesting take on the structure of a short story collection, one he derived from the writings of Bernard Malamud. A book of stories isn’t a novel and can’t have the simple narrative drive of a novel. I think it should still try to have a feeling of progression, of connectedness. It’s like a road trip. You’re staying in a different inn every night: One evening it’s a romantic Victorian B&B with a supposedly haunted gazebo out back, the next it’s a cruddy Motel 6 with what looks like old bloodstains on the ceiling. The places where you stop to rest and dream are unique—but the road is the same, always waiting to carry you on to whatever’s next. And when it’s over, you’ve arrived someplace new, someplace (you hope) with a good view. A place to breathe deep and take it all in. Or maybe kiss your ass goodbye. This is Hill’s first short story collection since 20th Century Ghosts, which came out in 2005. (Strange Weather being a collection of novellas) But it is not like he stopped writing stories in the intervening fifteen years. The stories here come from as long ago as 2006. Several have been published elsewhere, sometimes in surprising formats.The author, appearing as Billy in the 1982 George Romero/Stephen King film, CreepshowSo, the stories any good? You betcha. And they cover a range of sorts, from warm and fuzzy to gut-punch, “Holy Sh—” twists, from highly stylized to familiar. There are many references, homages, or influences (take your pick) to be seen here. Hill points them out for you in the intro. In realizing so well the feel of the work of the masters, Hill yet again reinforces his place among them.Just when you think you’ve read what absolutely has to be the best story in the collection, along comes another that makes you think you have, for sure this time, read the best story in the collection until you read the next…I am not saying that I loved all thirteen tales. In truth, I did not. While there is a considerable diversity in their sorts, what impresses me most is the feeling for people that Hill clearly possesses. He has a talent tor writing believable characters, and the creativity to come up with interesting situations in which to manifest their humanity.Joe a bit more recently – image from WikimediaThis is not flash fiction. (OK, except for that bonus nugget at the very end) The stories in Full Throttle range from 24 pages (Wolverton Station) to 49 (Late Returns), so, depending on how long your train to work takes, or how much time you allow yourself for reading before bedtime, you should be prepared for the possibility of not getting through every story in one go. But if you are someone who plops down into a comfy place and has at your book du jour for however long, no worries. THE STORIESThrottle picks up Richard Matheson’s classic story about a truck bearing down on a hapless everyman. A very young Steven Spielberg made it into a pretty good film. Hill was asked to write a story for an anthology honoring Matheson’s work. Throttle is the result. Instead of an everyman beset by a dark force, a group of bikers are returning from a particularly dark deed when they are pursued with evil intent. Pop’s expertise with hogs came in pretty handy here. Dark Carousel - takes place at a rundown seaside resort. The air was redolent with the cloying perfume of cotton candy, an odor that doesn’t exist in nature and can only be described as “pink” smell. There was always a puddle of vomit on the boardwalk that had to be avoided. There were always soggy bits of popcorn floating in the puke. There were a dozen sit-down restaurants where you could pay too much for fried clams and wait too long to get them. It also featured a carousel called the Wild Wheel. Clearly not their first rodeo, this group looks like they have been burned, and are screaming. Enjoy the ride. A group of 19-year-olds, full of themselves and a bit too much alcohol, behave badly and get an unexpected something extra. A couple of the characters are named for the hitman in dad’s Battleground. Look also for a reference to a Hill novel tucked in between the animals. The story was released as an audio book, on vinyl, read by Nate Corrdry. Wolverton - was inspired by a UK town (Wolverhampton) Hill and his PR man passed while on a book tour, prompting a loop of Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London running through his head. A Wall Street wolf comes across a different sort while riding a train in Jolly Olde. By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain - was written for a collection honoring Ray Bradbury, but was as much inspired by a childhood interest in the Loch Ness monster as it was of Bradbury’s story The Foghorn. Shift to Lake Champlain, and engage a group of kids to catch more than a glimpse of an ancient beast. But who would believe them? Hill has dad’s gift for writing kids, and shows it off here. This is one of the stories being dramatized in the 2019 Shudder network production of Creepshow, a series.Faun - (No, not Tumnus) mixes more Bradbury inspiration, from his story A Sound of Thunder with a bit of Narnian trans-world portal. But what if, instead of curious children crossing over, it was people of a more mercantile, heartless, armed sort? Totally captures Bradbury’s feel, while expanding it, and offering a contemporary perspective. The tension here is palpable, and there is a killer twist. Also, a creative spider (who may or may not be named Charlotte) weaves an invitation to a web.Late Returns offers a tale that seemed somewhere between Rod Serling (This could soooo be an episode of the Twilight Zone) and Bradbury again. After his elderly parents pass away, a truck driver returns to his hometown to see to their affairs, which includes returning a very long overdue library book. It seems the library just happens to be in need of a driver for their Bookmobile, and voila, our guy has a gig, however part-time. But there is something strange about the bus and the clientele who avail of its services. There is a bit of scary in here, but mostly it is a heart-warming homage to readers of all ages and all times. I get choked up just thinking about it. Hill says he wrote it because he hates the idea of dying when only halfway through a book.All I Care About Is You - maybe the most horrifying story in the book. Hill was asked to write something for a collection being put together by Dave McKean, based on an illustration. He already had a draft of the story in hand before the request, but filled the request nonetheless. What is frustrating is not knowing the image on which he based the rest of the tale, or if he just ignored the illustrations completely. The future-set story tells of a young lady who is very disappointed at her lack of wealth relative to her friends. She comes across a pay-as-you-go robot, pops in a few coins, and Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. More sci-fi than horror in the telling, Hill brings us back to the roots with a gut-punch of an ending. Have your albuterol handy for the end of this one. You will be gasping for air.Thumbprint - was written in 2006 and published in Issue 10 of Postscripts Magazine. It was later adapted into a graphic novel.Graphic novel cover – image from IDWMal’s father had served in Viet Nam. Mal’s war was in Iraq, her darkest battle taking place in Abu Ghraib. She’s back home now, but has become hardened, someone her father, were he still alive, would not respect. She is haunted by her experiences and crimes abroad. When pages of large thumbprints start turning up, in her mail, on her car, under her door, Mal is spooked. Fabulous tension-building in this one, with another outstanding resolution.The Devil on the Staircase - Ok, straight up, my least favorite of the bunch. The central image in the story is a staircase that may lead down to hell, inspired by the vertiginous stairways on the Amalfi coast, where Hill was vacationing when the notion struck. The form of the story is made to mirror the story itself, so, using a monotype Courier font, the text appears as stairways going up and down. In the story a young man commits a serious crime in order to win the girl he loves. It is mostly about selling one’s soul, and has a nice, sharp finish. But I never felt engaged.Twittering From the Circus of the Dead - Hill says of this one, “…here in 2019 it’s clearer than ever that social media won’t save us from zombies—it’s turning us into them.” On the road back to Cali from a vacay in Colorado, a family turns off to go to The Circus of the Dead. Not The Greatest Show on Earth, I can assure you, but possibly the last. A snarky teen reports events as they happen, on Twitter. In fact, the entire story is told in her Tweets. Some LOL material in here. We get what is going on pretty soon, but going through all the steps to the end is still wonderful. It offers a take on the importance of actual, you know, reality. I was reminded a bit of the 1962 film Carnival of Souls (no laughs in that one). Bon appetit!Mums - Anti-government zealots in the Ozarks are up to no good in various ways. Our young teen every-boy, Jack McCourt, tries his best to make sense of a crazy and maybe supernatural situation. Or has Jack inherited the family gene for being batshit nuts? His father, Hank, is a domineering sort, keeping his family virtually imprisoned on his many acres of Separatist heaven. Jack begins to see between the lines and the seeds of his newfound awareness are planted when he learns some things he was not supposed to know. In the afterward, Hill says that he fears the national crop is neither wheat nor corn, but paranoia. Clearly there are some people we should be paranoid about. In the Tall Grass - siblings Beck and Cal Demuth are driving cross-country, in Kansas, radio off, windows open, when they hear a call for help. It came from the tall grass near a church parking lot. A boy’s voice. But then another voice, his mother’s? calls out telling them not to go in. What’s a kindly-hearted pair of sibs to do? Seems the tall grass has something more going on than transforming sunlight into chlorophyll. I could tell you the tales this one made me think of, but then I would have to devour you. So, if you have already read the story, go ahead, but otherwise, probably not. (view spoiler)[It, and Children of the Corn by pops, and The Call of Cthulhu, by H.P. Lovecraft. (hide spoiler)] It was originally published in Esquire, and a feature length film rendition is due out shortly. You Are Released - an appropriate title for the last story in a collection, Hill says it is, I suppose, my attempt to write a David Mitchell story. Mitchell is the author of Cloud Atlas, Blackswangreen, and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and over the last decade I’ve sort of fallen in love with his sentences—which float and dip and soar like kites—and with his gift for kaleidoscopic narratives that quickly shift from one time and place and perspective to another. On a long flight headed east across the USA, we see the interactions, perspectives, and motivations of nine characters as they cope with the stress and with each other during a particularly dark stretch. Very nicely done. Hill adds a delicious short-short extra piece at the very end, a reward for those who read ALL the pages of a book.Strap in. Bottom line is that this is a wonderful, satisfying, warm, but scary, classical, but sometimes shocking, collection of stories that will move you, then hit you hard, and leave you knowing that you have been in the hands of a master story-teller, writing at Full Throttle. Review first posted – 8/16/19Publication dates-----hardcover - 10/1/19 - Just in time for Halloween!-----trade paper - 9/8/20November 28, 2019 - Full Throttle is named to the NY Times list of 100 Notable Books of 2019 ====================EXTRA STUFF is in comment #1 below["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

I’m mostly into novels and short stories are not my first choice to read but when it comes to evil genius thriller writers, like MY ALL TIME KING that I take a bow and THE PRINCE HILL create something new, I jump up and down to perform my happy dance, grabbing the book, turning off my phone, gathering my munchies and soft drinks, locking myself into my bedroom and starting to flip the pages nonstop! Don’t get me wrong! After saying some many highly things and expressing my dedication to those writers, I still gave FOUR SHINY, THRILLING, SHORTY STARS but this is average point for the stories I’ve read. But if it’s only for LATE RETURNS story, I’ll give ten gazillion stars! I honestly say this is one of the best stories I’ve read in my whole life. It’s about grief, time paradox, unfinished business of the people trapped in limbo and it’s about books. It’s about real good books and their importance for the people who need their own closures. I love books and I know how to deal with compelling grief so this is my dream mash-up story! My other favorite stories which deserve more than five stars with their fantastic plots, great characterizations and mouth widening parts:“All I Care about is you”, taken place at the 22th century, Iris who celebrates her 16th birthday with Clockwork boy named Chip she’d rented for an hour. But things are getting nastier, twisty eventually. Murdergame is a masterful invention and story’s sucker punching memorable ending is a blast!“In the Tall Grass”: Father- son collaboration to write this eerie, nerve-bending, ominous story that already has sold to Netflix as a movie! Something is hiding in Kansas grass. Aliens? Monsters? Cannibals? I highly suggest you not to stop your car as you hear a child’s scream for help and please do not dare to walk into the grass if you ever want to find your way out!“You are released”: You’re cruising at 37.000 feet as the Third World War begins! What? With memorable characters and their fears, their perceptions, their urge to find against the common enemy even they have racial, national, political differences. This is the final story and I couldn’t choose a better one to end our whole journey!Still good ones: “Twittering from the circus of the dead”: Your family from hell (real and hot one!) held you captive in a road trip and you write tweets about them. Interesting concept! “Dark Carousel”: This story reminded me of “Body”( It adapted as “Stand By Me”, I still remember little River Phoenix’s memorable performance with eyes filled in tears) and “It”, a group of boys’ adventurous spirit to discover the enchanted( I think “cursed” is the better definition) carousel at the Cape Maggie Pier. We get vibes of Goonies and Stranger Things (In my opinion they’re all same story’s different versions, tomato, tomahto…)Not enjoyed so much and made me give lower stars:“Throttle” ( King and prince collaboration but this one didn’t work for me! I hope they don’t expel me from kingdom or send me to the dungeon for writing these words! Hail for my king and prince!) “Wolverton Station” ( I’m not into wolves stories, thanks!)“By the Silver Water of Lake Chamberlain” – (another version of Body but this one is not my favorite)“Faun” – Hunting game for fantastical creatures! Pass!“Thumbprint”: Scary stalker stories normally work fine with me but this is too disturbing and I couldn’t connect with the characters.“Devil on the staircase”: Sorry but I prefer Zeppelin’s Stairs to Heaven or Ac/Dc’s Highway to hell!“Mums”: Resurrection of a mom with seeds by turning into mummy! It’s too nerve-binding, disturbing one. Ending part is also not quite satisfying.As a summary: I enjoyed my full throttle thrilling crazy ride! And I really loved the intimate prologue of the author who told us about his relationship with his father, meeting with George A. Romero, struggling years of his writing experience till he found his way what he really wanted to write about were fantastic beginning of our journey. They’re natural, honest, emotional, genuine words which warmed my heart!I love my KING, my PRINCE! And I loved this book so much!Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishers William Marrow for giving me early Christmas present and lighting my day by sharing this amazing ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review.

”It’s quite common to enter a library and find yourself in conversation with the dead. The best minds of generations long gone crowd every bookshelf. They wait there to be noticed, to be addressed, and to reply in turn. In the library the dead meet the living on collegial terms as a matter of course, every day.”The introduction to this collection of tales is almost worth the price of admission by itself. Joe Hill King talks about what it is like to enter a profession that his father has dominated for several decades. He has me laughing at his problems getting a story he felt strongly about published. He spends three years on this story called The Fear Tree, “which became an international bestseller in my wet dreams. In real life it was rejected by every publisher in New York and shanked by every publisher in London. For a final kick in the nuts, it was turned down flat by every publisher in Canada.” Now, of course, the significance of this is that we are talking about the son of Stephen King. He decides early on that he wants to be published on his own merit and not because he is Stephen King’s son. Thus, Joe Hill is born. Of course, it is one of the worst kept secrets in the industry, sort of like when his dad briefly became Richard Bachman. In the beginning, before people figure it out though, he has the opportunity to experience something every other writer has had to deal with...rejection. The first story is Full Throttle, which he wrote with SK. ”Live pretty or die laughing, but don’t you run. It is terrific and has me on the edge of my seat as a biker gang finds themselves in a desperate bid for survival on an interstate highway. We think of bikers creating fear in others, but this time, the roles are reversed. There are also some father and son issues that might have some basis in reality with the father and son writing team. The second story is Dark Carousel which, of course, the title brings to mind Ray Bradbury, who was a writer that Joe found to be very influential on his own writing. This is a fascinating, magical story about the consequences of assuming the worst and making snap decisions about punishment and retribution. The third story is Wolverton Station. ”I’m going to be killed and eaten by a wolf on an English train.” As I am reading this, I keep thinking about the werewolf movie set on a London train called Howl(2015), which is surprisingly engaging and a bit of bloody fun. Of course, this tale is about more than werewolves and will make you take better notice of your fellow passengers the next time you’re on a train. The fourth story is By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain and is Joe’s version of a Loch Ness story when children find a Nessie creature and attempt to convince adults to believe them. ”Gail looked out at the water, wanting to hear it again, that soft foghorn sound, and she did, but it was inside her this time, the sound was down deep inside her, a long, wordless cry for things that weren’t never going to happen.The fifth story is Faun and centers around a door that can take people to a fairy tale land. The person who “owns” the door decides to exploit it for big game hunting. ”In 1989 I began the hunts. Since then I’ve taken down everything from faun to orc, whurl to whizzle, and now my joy is giving other men the opportunity to kill fairy tales themselves, to slaughter the beasts of bedtime stories.” His joy is the HUGE amounts of money that idiots are willing to spend for the privilege of carnage. It was Paul Theroux who first clued me in on what really happens with trophy hunters in Africa these days. The animals are penned up so the American dentist can execute the animal and have his picture taken with it in a Teddy Roosevelt pose. These “hunters” then bring the stuffed head of some poor beast and their picture with the vanquished creature back to the states. There are few things more pathetic than a modern day, big game hunter. So I read this with glee, knowing that Joe won’t disappoint me, with proper retribution being administered to the immoral, gun stroking (please stay home and stroke your pecker instead...if you can find it.) morons. The sixth story is Late Returns, which is one of my favorites of the collection. A down and out, grieving truck driver finds a job as a mobile library operator. Let’s just say, things get a bit strange. ”It was early November, the first time it happened, and I knew it. The first time I encountered someone who had slipped forward, who climbed up into the truck from a different when.” The opening quote of this review is from this story as well. There is so much reverence for reading and books in this story that it was like being spoon fed shrimp and grits with bacon (my death row meal) by Hedy Lamarr.The seventh story is All I Care About is You, which is about a teenage girl who is offered a chance to have the birthday she always wanted by a rented robot. ”He’s a Clockwork, an old one, with a smiling moonlike face of crackled ceramic. His chest is a scratched case of plasteel. Within is a coil of cloudy vinyl tubing where intestines belong, brass pipettes for bones, a basket of gold wires filled almost to the top with silver tokens instead of a stomach. His heart was a matte black vapor-drive.” This story comes with an alarming twist that actually made me shudder. The eighth story is Thumbprint and is about a soldier who is trying to adjust to being back in the States after a tour in Iraq, where she finds out some very disturbing things about herself. ”’You’d be surprised what you can do to people,’ she told him.” She realizes that something from her time in the desert has come back with her when she starts receiving thumbprint messages. It makes me think about the number of people who would have gone through life just fine if they had never gone to war and discovered they had a penchant for depravity.The ninth story,The Devil on the Staircase, is about a young man who stumbles upon a gateway to the underworld. ”Then again it seemed a pagan place, the natural setting for an orgy hosted by fauns with their goaty hooves, their flutes and their furred cocks.” There is always a price anytime you make deals with the devil, and this will turn out to be no exception. The story is written in stair step form, which is a quirky and fun way to read it. The tenth story is Twittering from the Circus of the Dead and is a series of tweets by a teenage girl, very disgruntled with her mother and, as people like to do these days, sharing her frustrations with the whole world. Needless to say, I want to strangle her by about the third tweet. Things really pick up when the family stops by to watch the Circus of the Dead. Her tweets become very REAL. The eleventh story is Mums, about a boy who is growing up under the thumb of his radical, separatist father. When his mother dies, Jack buys some mum seeds to plant on her grave. ”He shakes the seeds out into his palm, and who knows, maybe they did bite him. With his blood on them, they look like the teeth of a carnivore, stained from their last meal.” Sometimes we need intervention from unlikely sources to vanquish a tyrant. Refreshed with the blood of our “patriots” kind of thing. The twelfth story is In the Tall Grass, which Joe wrote with his father. It is now a movie on Netflix that I haven’t had time to watch yet, but the story is pretty freaking terrifying. While travelling through Kansas (doomed already), a sister and brother hear a young boy calling for help from some tall grass. They are quickly separated, and no matter how hard they try, they cannot find each other again. ”She thought, All flesh is grass.” I keep thinking of that novel The Ruins by Scott Smith. Two of the strongest stories are when Joe and Stephen team up. They should think about working together more in the future. The fourteenth story is You are Released and is about a plane full of passengers who are trapped in the air as nuclear bombs are exploding on the ground. One passenger says, Would this have happened if Obama were president. The answer is, Uhh no. ”’I thought you were drinking too early,’ she says to the man beside her. ‘It turns out I started drinking too late.’” Social commentary on the unstable state of the world because voters decide they want...change. There is a lot of variety in these stories. The quality remains high for most of the collection. I tried to read a story each morning and usually would find myself musing about the story at different times throughout the day. I like to sip short story collections. They are not conducive to being gulped like novels. If you like Stephen King, you should definitely give Joe a try as well. If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.comI also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

So here's the thing. I think the audiobook medium really works to Hill's advantage because he's such a nerdy sweetheart in the introductions that it makes you just love him and want to love his books. Throttle - 3 stars This one was written with his father, Stephen King. As I mentioned, I love Joe Hill's introductions because they just make you like him as a human being, and after hearing some of the father-son fun they had that made up the origin, I enjoyed this one more than I would have just going into it cold. Anyway, it was a story about criminal bikers, a father/son relationship gone wrong, and a trucker out for his rightful revenge.Dark Carousel - 4 stars A really good story about 4 friends who fuck around with the wrong goddamn carousel. Only it was one of those spooky carousels, you know? This was one that got better as the story went on and followed the narrator into adulthood.Wolverton Station - 2.5 starsA bit too weird a take on capitalism for me. By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain -4.5 starsConsidering this was about 2 kids who found the equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster/dinosaur? Yeah, this made me choke back some serious tears.It's a story about childhood first loves and what might have been. How he packed so much story into this shorty was just amazing. Faun - 4 stars Is fantasy/horror a thing? Because if so, Hill just did that.This one is about hunters who get more than they bargained for. The ending goes a bit off the rails, but it was still very enjoyable. Late Returns - 5 starsI cried. This one is more paranormal than horror. It's about a guy who moves home after his parents die to put things in order and ends up driving the local library's spooky little bookmobile. And I snuffled all through that ending. Ohmygod when that guy talked about giving that little girl the last Harry Potter book? I swear to god I lost it. Thumbprint - 3.5 starsA soldier involved in, but not convicted of, an Abu Ghraib-esque prison scandal starts getting these weird thumbprints in envelopes. This one shows the horrors of war and tells one woman's tale of how she was corrupted by it. Or was she? Was she always this person?The ending was...ok. I wasn't sure how to feel, but maybe that was the point?The Devil on the Staircase - 3 starsStory of a man whose jealousy pays off because people believe what they want to believe.Because of course they do.All I Care About is You - 4 starsA sci-fiish story about a sad young woman. Wow. That ending was just...wow. It made me smile because that bitch was badass, but at the same time, that bitch was just plain bad.Mums - 4 starsA kid who (maybe?) sees things, ends up finding out the truth about his mother's death. And whether or not he's crazy, he still ends up dealing out a fair amount of justice. Possibly with the help of some plants and a great-great-grandma who looks like George Washington.In The Tall Grass - 4 starsWeird and oddly compelling look at siblings who don't deserve any of what happens to them. You know how most of the time the people in horror stories kind of (just a little bit) deserve it? Nope. Those poor hippies at the end...You Are Released - 3 starsThis one is about nuclear warfare and plane rides. Yikes.Twittering From The Circus of the Dead 3.5 starsThis one isn't included in the audio version and I had to download the library's ebook to read it.It's a story about a teenage daughter who is recording all of her hate for her mom and their family vacation on her Twitteresque feed. And then they run into a zombie circus. Which makes her mom seem like less of a monster. If you stick around till the very end of Hill's thank-yous you can hear a teeny-tiny story called A Little Sorrow. It's just about a guy who buys a Sorrow to put on his shoulder and whisper to him that he's a worthless piece of shit, just so he doesn't have to be alone.It's maybe a couple of paragraphs long?I'm certainly not a connoisseur of horror stories, but to me, these were all really good.

Final Average Rating – 4.07 StarsI enjoyed this collection of Joe Hill short stories and flew through the audiobook – I could not stop listening! It had its high points (Late Returns) and low points (Thumbprint) but, overall, a solid collection. I have included my short review of each story below – you may have already seen them as my status updates as I was reading.Also, interesting note on the audio edition: It does not include Twittering From The Circus of the Dead. After finishing the audio yesterday, I had to go out to the library and check out the large print edition of this book (the only copy they had) so I could finish it. I have included my quick analysis of it between The Devil on the Staircase and Mums which is where it falls in the print edition.Introduction- 5 stars - King family intros are always a pleasure!Throttle - 4 stars - I listened to this previously when it was combined with Matheson's Duel. A dark and gritty story of revenge - very much in the same spirit as Matheson's story. Written with Stephen King.Dark Carousel - 4 stars - Hill's take on the evil carnival. Basically, don't mess with or disrespect creepy people at a travelling carnival. If there are consequences, don't say that Hill didn't warn you!Wolverton Station - 4 stars - A commentary on American capitalism taking over the world. Anthropomorphic mayhem! Warren Zevon would be a fan of this one!By the Silver Water Of Lake Champlain - 3 stars - A decent little creepy story for fans of Cryptozoology. Took me a while to get into and kind of left me feeling like there should be something more.Faun - 3.5 stars - I liked the way this one started. It fell off for me towards the end. Not your C. S. Lewis NarniaLate Returns - 5 stars - The best so far! I loved every part of this story. Well crafted, mysterious, and tugs at the heart-strings. This is a short story worth visiting even if you don't try any of the others. All I Care About Is You - 4.5 stars - I am not quite sure why I liked this one so much. In fact, halfway through I didn't think I liked it at all. But, the ending really brought it home for me. Very clever storyline and twists. Thumbprint - 2.5 stars - a story of PTSD. This one didn't really do much for me. It was okay, but I couldn't get into and then it was suddenly overThe Devil on the Staircase - 3.5 stars - the shortest story in the book so far. Interesting and chilling. A take on the "selling your soul" story.Twittering From The Circus of the Dead - 4.5 stars - clever and entertaining! Silly but scary! Glad I went and got a physical copy from the library so I could read this one.Mums - 4.5 stars - Very well done story of madness, horror, paranoia, and revenge. Sowing the seeds of family dysfunction. In The Tall Grass - 5 stars - creepy and disturbing excellence. Not for the easily queasy. This one is about as shocking as they come! Written with Stephen King. You Are Released - 4 stars - straight forward, not tongue-in-cheek, commentary. If you are easily terrified by flying and the current political climate of our world, this one will definitely scare the crap out of you!

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories but I am a fan of Joe Hill and he was able to draw me in with this collection of short stories. I had previously read the two short stories in this collection which he co-wrote with his father - Full Throttle and In the Tall Grass. There are quite a few short stories in this book with my favorites being Late Returns and Dark Carousal and my least favorite being Faun. But in all honesty, I have to admit my very and I mean very favorite part of this book was the Introduction by Hill titled "Who's your Daddy" where he talked about his parents, his father reading to him every night and their combined experiences on the set of Creepshow. Be sure to read this part as well. Be sure to read the end of the book as well. There Hill talks about his inspiration for each short story and tells how this collection was written over the course of ten years. He also has another tiny little short story at the very end titled "A little sorrow" If you missed it, you haven't read far enough.All in all, a very enjoyable, creepy, entertaining, and thrilling ride.Thank you to Harper Collins Publishers - William Morrow and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

So right now this review is just for Late Returns, a Locus award-nominated novelette in this collection (plus a few brief comments on other stories ... we'll see how many of them I get to before I have to send this book back to the library). :) Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:Joe Hill, who like his famous father typically writes in the horror genre, switches it up in Late Returns. John Davies, still dealing with grief from the double suicide of his ailing parents and out of work since his lost his job as a trucker in the aftermath, visits the library to return a long-overdue book and winds up with a part-time job driving their 1963 bookmobile truck, complete with psychedelic murals on the sides (“What does it run on?” he asks, “Unleaded? Or bong water?”). Gradually he realizes that some of the bookmobile patrons are townsfolk who are now dead, but have slipped forward in time to return their overdue books to the bookmobile. The first driver of the bookmobile calls these people “late returns.”I have a major soft spot for both library-themed fantasy and time-travel stories anyway, and Late Returns is a poignant and bittersweet tale that’s liable to touch even hardened hearts. But this story is grounded by its realistic details — like the trouble the “late returns” have seeing books written after their time unless placed in their hands — and by the well-rounded characters, particularly the time-traveling mother of a famous local author. She and others travel forward in time, each for their own compelling reason, and it’s the bookmobile librarian’s duty and honor to find and give them the books they need to read. It’s a lovely concept and a well-told tale.I've also read the title story, "Throttle," which Hill co-wrote with his father Stephen King. A motorcycle gang of ten guys - some more lowlife than others - has lost $60,000 of money they "invested" in a meth lab when it blew up. Some of them are really angry about that. Plus in the aftermath, there was a terrible, bloody encounter that they're now on the road to distance themselves from. But a trucker at their last stop may have overheard them talking about it, and now there's a big truck on the highway bearing down on them ... It's gory but thoughtful as well. It reminds me a lot of that old 1971 Spielberg movie Duel,* but amped up, and with more information about the trucker as well as who and why he's chasing. *ETA: In fact, I just got around to reading the story notes at the end, and "Throttle" was written as a tribute to the original short story "Duel" by Richard Matheson that inspired the movie. "Throttle" was originally published in He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson. So my instincts were right, though it probably wasn't a major leap that I saw the connection. :) Here's a copy of the original story "Duel": https://talesofmytery.blogspot.com/20...

A nice effort by the son of the "King" of horror. Thirteen well-written stories that will help you go full-throttle through this book. Some will be quite memorable.

Vary rarely do I review the audio of a book. Though I’m a big audiobook reader/listener, I tend to swap between the physical and audio versions of I’m reading and generally just review the actual book itself, not the audio production. There have been a few notable exceptions, most especially Daisy Jones & The Six, but those exceptions are few and far between. Today, I have another exception to add to the list with Joe Hill’s most recent short fiction collection, Full Throttle. And it was such a strong collection! There were only two stories that I really didn’t care for and two that I felt were just okay, as opposed to the nine stories that were either 4, 4.5, or 5 star experiences.In my opinion, short stories are the fictional form most well suited to an audio format. A short story on audio is often the perfect length for a long walk or a traffic jam or chores on a Saturday morning. And there is something about being read to that brings me right back to childhood, even if the stories I listen to as an adult are far removed from those that my mother once read to me. There was only one aspect of this particular collection that drove me crazy; a lack of information on which reader narrated which story. There is of course a list of narrators, but I couldn’t find a breakdown of stories paired with their readers ANYWHERE. Amazon, Audible, AudioFile Magazine, Harper Collins’ website, and even Goodreads reviews got me nowhere. And I read every single review! So I took it upon myself to research and match up the narrators with their stories to the best of my ability. Seriously, this is the most research and legwork I’ve ever put into a review. If you happen to notice any errors in my pairings, please message me and I will correct said mistake posthaste.Below you’ll find micro reviews for each short story. But before I get into the tales themselves, I’d like to say a bit about Hill’s opening. I absolutely adore the forward of this book: Who’s Your Daddy? Getting some background on Hill’s relationship with his famous author parents and how he grew up to be a writer himself. How could he not be compared to the King of modern horror when that King is his dad? And honestly, how both he and his father handled rejection is so inspiring. I love that Hill decided to follow in his father’s footsteps but didn’t want to get there riding said father’s coattails. And now, without further ado, here are my thoughts on the stories in this collection.Throttle (with Stephen King), read by Stephen Lang: 3 starsNot super original, but a story well told. I found it an interesting departure from the relationship Hill described having with his own dad in the forward. There was nothing wrong with this story, but it felt decidedly more King than Hill. While the trappings were different, this is a story I’ve heard before.Dark Carousel, read by Nate Corddry: 4.5 stars I really loved this one. I don’t think a scary story involving a carousel can exist without making me think of Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, and I was glad Hill gave him a nod with the mention of The October Country. There was also a quick reference to NOS4A2 that was fun to catch. The story itself was engaging and tense, and I didn’t fully predict the outcome. There were a couple of horrifying moments that I could actually visual, and they totally creeped me out in the best way. This is a story I’ll happily read every October.Wolverton Station, read by Neil Gaiman: 4 starsHonestly, that fourth star is for Gaiman. The man has an exquisite reading voice. The story itself was as tense as the previous story, but had an absurdity to the concept that was almost funny. I love the thought of dapper werewolves, and sports bro werewolves, and other classes of werewolf all sharing a train.By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain, read by Kate Mulgrew: 4.5 starsThis little story was sweet and heartbreaking, and it’s easy to see that Hill can write compelling and tangibly real children just as well as his father. I wish I could adopt Gail. She’s insanely smart and creative and has an imagination second to none. I would’ve come to see your find, Gail. I promise.Faun, read by Zachary Quinto: 4.5 starsThis gave me serious “The Most Dangerous Game” vibes, but the fantasy edition. It was inspired by Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” but managed to never feel derivative. It also paid homage to fantasy tales like Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but with a very dark twist. In my opinion it was one of the most original and least King-ish of the stories in the collection. Also, don’t hunt what you don’t understand. And don’t be a dick, because sometimes it’s fatal.Late Returns, read by Wil Weaton: 5 starsA time traveling book-mobile that gives those nearing their deaths one last, great read from the future? YES PLEASE. Books are the best thing in the world for bringing people together, and I can’t think of any parting gift from the world as wonderful as a chance to read a perfect-for-me book that won’t be written until long after I’m gone. Also, Hill found a way to namedrop himself and it made me smile. Very poignant, and definitely my favorite. It’s a story I would happily buy a physical copy of and which I would love to find a way to give to my bookwormy friends.All I Care About Is You, read by Ashley Cummings: 4 starsThe most sci-fi story of the collection. Iris felt very real, and struck a perfect balance between snotty, selfish teenager and tired, philosophical young adult who has had to grow up before her time. The future Hill crafted for this story is incredibly intriguing, walking a line between a fantasy world and a world so overly saturated in entertainment that it borders on a dystopia. It’s a ferocious life, and Iris is definitely cut out for it. It was sweet and thoughtful, sad and horrible, all in turns.Thumbprint, read by Laysla De Oliveira: 1.5 starsOne of my two least favorites of the stories. I can’t put my finger (or thumb) on what it was that I hated so much. Every character is either a horrible person or pitiable. It did nothing for me, except make me doubt that humanity is in any way redeemable. It felt oddly preachy, even though I can’t nail down what exactly was being preached. I just didn’t like it.The Devil on the Staircase, read by George Guidall: 3.5 starsThere was something fairy tale-esque about this story that I really enjoyed. It felt like a fable made real. This was the shortest story in the collection and I think it suffered for it. With just a bit more information this could have been at least a 4 star tale, but it ended up feeling a bit rushed.Mums, read by Connor Jessup: 4.5 starsWell, that was absolutely terrifying. By far the scariest story in the collection. There were some images evoked that I’m pretty sure are going to haunt my dreams for a while. It’s amazing to me how significant the mom’s name turned out to be, and I’m still not positive what was real and what was dreamed. I don’t think I’ll ever plant anything on a grave; precut bouquets will just have to do. *shudders*In the Tall Grass (with Stephen King), read by Stephen Lang: 4 starsVery creepy. And scary. While different in plot, the setting brought to mind another classic King short story, "Children of the Corn." Stories like these are why I have no desire to go through corn mazes at Halloween time. No thank you. Pregnant women, steer clear!You Are Released, read by Joe Hill: 1.5 starsMy other least favorite. Too realistic to be enjoyable. I read to escape, so I was immediately turned off by the real politics and the plausible danger. I also found it very forgettable; the story is already fading away in my mind. It did nothing for me. Except for the spelling bee girl. She was adorable. Half a star for her.Twittering From the Circus of the Dead (read by no one, as it was included as a PDF): 4 starsI totally understand why this wasn’t recorded as part of the audiobook, but was instead included as a PDF. The tweet format would have lost its power if spoken instead of visually read. The format worked incredibly well for this story. I’m always on the lookout for good circus stories, scary or otherwise, and this was a good one made more interesting through its formatting.Overall, I found this to be an incredibly strong collection. While I think that Full Throttle would be worth purchasing for “Late Returns” alone, there are a host of great stories here. And they’re varied enough that there’s something here for just about everyone.You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

A bunch of excellent short stories. Guaranteed to send chills throughout your body!

An excellent parable like tale. A poor man rises to power after slaying the beloved of his cousin and going down the stairs to hell. A strange blonde mysterious boy is offering uncanny objects. There is even reference to a certain Mr Mussolini... Very literary bible like tale with many allusions and well known motifs. Terrifying at some parts and highly recommended!

This is a fine, fine collection of short stories.When I decided I wanted good, traditional horror with fantastic characterization and full-hilt (or throttle) gore, I knew I couldn’t go wrong with Hill.It’s not like this is all he does, but when I just want that visceral surprise death after getting to know some rather interesting folk, I found myself laughing out loud in a good number of these.Maybe it says more about me than I intended. *shrug* Oh, well! Obvious modern morality plays are FUN.I think I loved the first five of these stories best. My ABSOLUTE top story now makes me wish I had a job driving a bookmobile truck. I mean, seriously, I LOVE this story.My least favourite story happens to be Hill’s SF foray. Sadly. I mean, I’m a big fan of SF in general and Hill is obviously a fan of the genre, as seen from his many literary references, but it just didn’t do anything for me.But when he goes right for the jugular of either fantasy through tiny doors, including big game hunters, or a Sons of Anarchy treatment by way of Duel, I’m all over it. :)

Introducción: una introducción de su vida y como comenzó a escribir.1. Acelera. Escrito a dos manos con Stephen King. Un grupo de moteros huye por la carretera mientras un camión los persigue y los atropella uno a uno.2. El carrusel de las sombras: unos adolescentes son perseguidos por unos caballos qué escapan de un carrusel de feria, su objetivo la venganza.3. La estación de Wolverton: nuestro protagonista intenta sobrevivir en un tren llenó de hombres lobo mientras piensa que en la siguiente parada está su salvación.

The masterful Joe Hill returns with FULL THROTTLE, a collection of thirteen short stories. The thirteen tales range from dark fantasy to horror to sci-fi, but they all share the same relentless drive and sense of momentum that Hill has become known for. The book opens with a lengthy introduction, which reads more like a chat with really interesting friend. Hill relates several anecdotes about his career, childhood, and growing up as Stephen King's son, including one story that he means to be funny, but is actually quite alarming. (The story involves King driving his young son around while drinking beer and throwing the cans out the window.) Hill also include story notes at the end of the book, which range in length from one sentence to a few pages apiece. The stories themselves vary in quality, with the worst of the bunch opening the collection. THROTTLE is a collaboration between Hill and Stephen King (One of two in the book), and is the weakest story in the collection. Originally published in a Richard Matheson tribute anthology, THROTTLE is a tribute to Matheson's DUEL, with a vengeful trucker stalking a motorcycle club along a desolate stretch of desert highway. The characters are all despicable and interchangeable, and if you've seen/read DUEL, there's nothing new to see here.DARK CAROUSEL and LATE RETURNS are Hill channeling his famous father, which he does perfectly. Both are pure Stephen King; DARK CAROUSEL tells a pitch-black tale of supernatural vengeance that could have been penned by King early in his career, while LATE RETURNS is a gentle remembrance of the ghosts of the past, which is reminiscent of King's more recent output. THE DEVIL ON THE STAIRCASE and TWITTERING FROM THE CIRCUS OF THE DEAD both play with form as they tell their tales. DEVIL is formatted in such a way that the sentences and paragraphs resemble ascending and descending staircases, while TWITTERING is told entirely in a teenaged girl's tweets, as she slowly realizes the the out-of-the-way circus that her family stumbled upon may have more going on than meets the eye. FAUN and BY THE SILVER WATERS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN both have their literary roots in other authors. BY THE SLIVER WATERS... was originally published in a Ray Bradbury tribute anthology, and is a beautiful tribute to the legendary author. Hill tells a wonderfully understated story about two children who stumble upon the corpse of a lake monster, and debate what to do with it. Bradbury would have been proud. FAUN is a spin on C.S. Lewis' NARNIA books, and features a millionaire who leads rich hunters into an enchanted wonderland to hunt mythical beasts. FAUN is the most frustrating story in the book. While almost every story is outstanding, this is the one that I most wanted to continue.....If Mr. Hill were to expand this into a novel, or sequelize it, I would not object in the least. THIUMBPRINT and MUMS both have a militaristic bent to them: THUMBPRINT follows a disgraced vet who comes home from the desert to find herself stalked by a mysterious person sho is leaving papers with thumbprints on them in and around her home, and MUMS follows a young boy whose father is planning an act of domestic terrorism. WOLVERTON STATION is a whimsically dark story that evokes echoes of English folk horror, while ALL I CARE ABOUT IS YOU ventures into futuristic sci-fi, as a young girl, depressed about how her family's recent financial downturns will effect her birthday, finds solace in the company of a robotic friend-for-hire. The book includes a second Hill/King collaboration, IN THE TALL GRASS, another story that has the King family DNA written all over it. If the story is a little too derivative of Scott Smith's THE RUINS, well.....at least it is a well-told, riveting derivation. Another story that ended with me wanting more. Hill closes out the collection with YOU ARE RELEASED, which really hit me hard. The story follows a plane full of people who discover that World War III may have broken out while the were airborne. He doesn't take up a lot of space with this tale, but he manages to create a plane full of real people, and avoids the easy stereotypes. Closing the book with this story really gave me a lot to think about. (This book also includes the literary equivalent of a motion picture after-credits scene, so stay tuned.) Hill writes a great novel, but his short stories are where he really excels. In his introduction, Hill surmises that he probably has another few dozen short stories in him before he calls it a day.....I hope it turns out to be a lot more than that. HarperCollins provided a review copy.

When it comes to reviewing a short story collection, sometimes I break it down to comment on each individual one and sometimes I go for one overall review. It has nothing to do with the quality of the book and everything to do with my level of laziness. For this book I am giving it my 100% because it was outstanding AND I am wanting to go balls to the wall, full throttle (lame joke I know but hey, why the hell not).MISC. Introduction: Who’s Your Daddy? – This was my favorite part of the book because it gave the reader some insight into life growing up with the King family. Story Notes and Acknowledgements -As always, I enjoy the hell out of the behind the scenes information.FAVORITES Throttle – Biker gang meets determined trucker. With the backstory of family and growing up in the introduction it made perfect sense to start with the story that was cowritten by Stephen King. The use of father and son to write it matched perfectly with the content of the story. Dark Carousel – Dark thundering visions from a payback gone wrong. I loved the visuals this story painted in my mind. By the Silver Water of the Lake Champlain – The one that got away. This story brought out the nostalgia for past adventures I went on with my neighborhood friends. Late Returns – You can check a book out any time you like, but you can never leave. The only negative about this story was that I would have loved it more as a novel. This girl wanted way more. Mums – A mother’s love. This was a nightmare inducing story when “things” started sprouting.NOT SO FAVORITES Wolverton Station – A train pulls into a station where things aren’t as they seem. Faun – Once upon a time, hunting in a faraway land. All I Care About is You – Rent a robot friend for the day. Thumbprint – When your past comes back to haunt you. The Devil on the Staircase – Cascading words tell a fable. Twittering from the Circus of the Dead – Step right up and get your tickets for a night of family fun.N/A BECAUSE I ALREADY READ/RATED THEM In the Tall Grass – Lost in the grass. You are Released – One-way flight.

Excellent collection. My favourites were Mums, Throttle, In The Tall Grass, Late Returns, and You Are Released. I applaud Hill for trying different things with the short story format. Highly recommended.

Everything short story in this collection is perfect. Literally. Every. One. As a librarian I ADORED Late Returns; a story about a bookmobile that happens to service ghosts intent on returning their overdue books. All I Care About is You didn't grab me at first, but two pages later I was sold and the ending threw me for a freaking loop. The world building in that short story is masterful and I read a whole novel set in that world! Faun was like Chronicles of Narnia meets Oz with a dark twist and characters who aren't very moral (karma bitch!). I could go on and on about how much I loved each story, but really, do yourself a freaking favor and read this book. The stories are dark, trippy, fantastical, amazingly well written, and impossible to put down or guess the ending to. I even loved the intro; Hill talks about all the influences he had while writing the book from Ray Bradbury to his father, Stephen King, to Lawrence Block and monster movies; Joe Hill credits a lot of amazing creators out there for helping inspire his unique style. It's a love letter written to the greats that us mere humans are lucky enough to get to read. An amazing collection and one I'll revisit again and again. Joe Hill's writing is only getting better and I can't wait to read what he writes next!!