From the first pages of Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box we are drawn to Judas Coyne (think Gene Simmons on the downtrodden, with the looks of a bearded Ted Nugent) and his plight of living in the here and now even though his heart is stuck in “once upon a time”. Having such an empathetic main character helps draw the reader into this story about a washed up middle-aged rocker, his string of depressed goth playthings and his collection of artifacts of the strange and macabre.
The story begins with Jude’s assistant, Danny, discovering an ad on the internet promising a “real ghost” for sale. Jude takes an immediate interest in adding this to his collection of morbid curios, believing full well that it’s a hoax but willing to hand over the cash just to find out. He gets more than he bargained for when the Dead Man’s Suit arrives, packaged in the titular heart-shaped box.
Almost immediately Jude comes face to face with the spirit of Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of one of Jude’s past groupie girlfriends, although he doesn’t get the connection until later when it becomes clear that the malicious spirit is here to avenge the death of his now-departed step-daughter.
With Craddock’s ghost plaguing both Jude and his current girl-toy “Georgia” (Jude names his girlfriends by the state they are from in an effort to displace any emotion toward them), the aged rocker is forced to face his past while outrunning their ghostly pursuer.
Early in the story Georgia pricks her finger on pin within the Dead Man’s Suit and her hand becomes the author’s device reflecting the growing doom as it goes from merely sore, to swollen, to pustulating and discolored over the course of the novel.
One of the most interesting things about Heart-Shaped Box is the way in which the author depicts Craddock’s spirit itself. Gone are the glowing mists or shapeless figures that we’ve become accustomed to. Instead we are presented a very real image of the man sitting in his old-style shaker chair, seemingly at ease in his suit with his hat on his knee, as if taking a simple afternoon nap. But his eyes are black lines scribbled and twisted like cartoon spirals, his movements are jittering like photographs strung together in a flip-book.
Georgia’s face swam before him, and he had an alarming thought, that her eyes had been missing, hidden behind black scribbles. She was dead, and she was with the ghosts. He struggled back toward wakefulness for a few moments and almost made it. He opened his eyes frantically. Georgia stood in the door to the library, watching him, her little white hands balled into little white fists, and her eyes were her own. He felt a moment of sweet relief at the sight of her. Then he saw the dead man in the hallway behind her. His skin was pulled tight across the knobs of his cheekbones, and he was grinning to show his nicotine-stained teeth. Craddock McDermott moved in stop motion, a series of life-size still photographs. In one moment his arms were at his sides. In the next, one of his gaunt hands were on Georgia’s shoulder. His fingernails were yellowed and long and curled at the end. The black marks jumped and quivered in front of his eyes.
Craddock also carries a chain with the crescent shaped pendant and sharp razorblade attached that, when alive, he used to hypnotize people. Now in death you can imagine it’s function. This is definitely not Casper the Friendly Ghost here!
A power struggle begins as Jude fights off Craddock’s ghostly efforts at mind control, all the while trying to keep his sanity and Georgia safe from the powers of the dead man’s suggestions. They take to the road, picking up a few endearing characters along the way, including Marybeth’s (aka Georgia the former stripper with whom Jude is now involved) Nan. The wickedly opinionated but accepting grandmother character is a refreshing relief from all the doom and gloom, breathing a sweet comedy into the story – as well as being a strong part of Jude’s sudden change in approach to the predicament. We are taken for a wild ride as things are, of course, not as they seem
Complaints about Heart-Shaped Box are few. I could have done without the animal killing; a thing I have rarely found necessary to a plot. Here it did work with the story, as it was explained that Jude’s dogs were his guardians and “died for a cause”, but the protagonist’s reaction to the loss of his companions and protectors didn’t seem genuine. If it were me I would have broken down and gotten angry as hell but Jude just takes it as par for the ghostly coaster ride he’s on.
The story also lost a little steam near the ending, which wasn’t unexpected as it had been going at such a fast pace from the very beginning. It almost seemed inevitable that the ending wouldn’t impact as strongly as the rest of the story had been.
However, those complaints are minor. Overall, I’d have to say that Heart Shaped Box is a tight read from start to finish. It easily sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages of this twisted tale. I’m looking forward to more from Joe Hill in the future.
~ Bonnie D.
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
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