A true doorstopper of a novel coming in at just under 900 pages, KING SORROW may be the most complex and seminal work of Joe Hill’s career to date.

As you can imagine, there are many characters here. But the main focus is Arthur Oakes, who attends Rackham College in Maine at the start of the book, which begins in 1989. Along the way, we will become very familiar with his friends, who not only play a crucial role in the story but are complicit in the supernatural chicanery in which Arthur gets involved.

"There is so much to enjoy here. I would love to discuss it further, but I need to restrain myself so I don’t spoil the reading experience for everyone. Joe Hill has created something special and imagined a story more than worthy of the Halloween season."

Arthur’s mother, Erin, is behind bars. Although she is a religious and faith-based woman, she committed unintentional manslaughter and is patiently awaiting her release or potential parole in the next handful of months. However, Tana and Jayne Nighswander (and Jayne's boyfriend, Ronnie) have other ideas. Tana and Jayne's mother, Daphne, is in the same prison as Erin. They blackmail Arthur by forcing him to come up with at least $60,000 in rare books to sell (he works at the college’s library) or else Daphne will see to it that his mother pay the price.

Arthur begins compiling and pilfering rare books, some of which are worth a lot of money. As with any extortion scheme by bullies, there is no guarantee that it will end, even if their demands are entirely met. This is the impetus for what Arthur and his inner circle will do next to protect themselves and exact revenge against the Nighswanders. They include the wealthy Colin Wren; the desirable coed Allie Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and the brainy, bold Gwen Underfoot.

Colin comes up with an idea that any horror reader will immediately figure out will blow up in their faces. In this case, he suggests that Arthur obtain an infamous text from his library --- the journal bound in the skin of its author, Enoch Crane, a possibly evil and certainly demented man. One of the many incantations in the journal is performed in a ritual done explicitly as per the instructions, resulting in the summoning of a being known as King Sorrow to our earthly realm. King Sorrow is not only a demonic entity but also a dragon that may appear both in miniature and gigantic form. They want to use King Sorrow to stop the Nighswanders and burn down their plan. Of course, things do not go as they had hoped.

It is worth noting that early in the novel, Hill establishes that his characters and setting all exist in the same universe that his father, Stephen King, created. This is evident when they refer to the late Johnny Smith and his assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Greg Stillson. See THE DEAD ZONE for more on that. You will not regret it!

With King Sorrow released into the world, the novel becomes completely unpredictable and harks to the great discomfort that often accompanies great horror fiction. Arthur is now chasing out the evil unleashed from the mind and words of Enoch Crane, which is even described in another meta-King moment with this sentence: “The dark man fled across the snow and Arthur Oakes followed.” This is a direct reference to the opening lines of THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER.

There is so much to enjoy here. I would love to discuss it further, but I need to restrain myself so I don’t spoil the reading experience for everyone. Joe Hill has created something special and imagined a story more than worthy of the Halloween season.