"Four well-crafted short stories that will have you wondering what happens next"
Reviewed by Debbie Wiley
Posted April 5, 2018
Horror
Joe Hill always takes me on strange journeys with
unexpected and sometimes downright disturbing scenarios.
STRANGE WEATHER is no exception as Joe Hill entertains us
with four intriguing new short stories that just might
have you think twice about the events surrounding you.
From a story featuring a magical camera that steals
memories, to an apocalyptic rain of nails, to the
weirdest cloud story you'll ever read, and to a mall
shooting, each story in STRANGE WEATHER is sure to keep
you wondering what the heck will happen next. What if you could lose some of your memories with the
simple snap of a button on a Polaroid camera? In
"Snapshot", Michael Figlione is just trying to survive
eighth grade as an overweight, average kid when Shelly
Buekes wanders back into his life with a crazy story
about the Polaroid man. I loved this story and the
interesting supernatural take on dementia. "Snapshot" is
one of the few stories of Joe Hill's that could easily
pass for his one of his father's stories, and I loved the
nostalgia of it even more so for that reason. "Loaded" takes on the phenomenon of public shootings and
gun violence and is eerily relevant to recent events in
the news. A shooting at a mall leaves a mall cop as a
hero, but what if his story isn't exactly the truth? Joe
Hill tackles this real world situation in a story that
still gives me chills long after I finished it. With the
issue of gun being heavily debated in the news media,
"Loaded" tackles this controversial subject with a gut-
wrenching and disturbing look at what all can go wrong
when guns are involved. "Aloft" was the only story I didn't like in STRANGE
WEATHER and left me scratching my head as to what the
heck I'd just read. Aubrey hates heights, but finds
himself about to parachute out of a plane. Things get
weird after he lands on a cloud and I'm not even sure how
to describe this story other than to say it's not typical
of Joe Hill's other works. Some will appreciate the
creativity of "Aloft," but it's definitely my least
favorite of his works. STRANGE WEATHER concludes with "Rain," which is my
favorite story due to the apocalyptic nature of the
storyline. One moment things are fine in Boulder,
Colorado and the next moment it's raining nails.
Honeysuckle's world falls apart in an instant, but she
doesn't give up. I love her strength as she struggles to
survive in a suddenly changed world. If you love a well-crafted short story, don't hesitate to
give Joe Hill's anthology, STRANGE WEATHER, a try.
Whether the story is tinged with the supernatural,
downright weird, all too realistic, or apocalyptic, each
story is guaranteed to entertain. I can't wait to see
what else the mind of Joe Hill has in store for us!
SUMMARY
A collection of four chilling novels, ingeniously wrought
gems of terror from the brilliantly imaginative, #1 New
York Times bestselling author of The Fireman,
Joe Hill. "One of America’s finest horror writers"
(Time magazine), Joe Hill has been hailed among
legendary talents such as Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, and
Jonathan Lethem. In Strange Weather, this
"compelling chronicler of human nature’s continual war
between good and evil," (Providence
Journal-Bulletin) who "pushes genre conventions to new
extremes" (New York Times Book Review) deftly
expose the darkness that lies just beneath the surface of
everyday life. "Snapshot" is the disturbing story of a
Silicon Valley adolescent who finds himself threatened by
"The Phoenician," a tattooed thug who possesses a Polaroid
Instant Camera that erases memories, snap by snap. A
young man takes to the skies to experience his first
parachute jump. . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly
solid cloud, a Prospero’s island of roiling vapor that seems
animated by a mind of its own in "Aloft." On a
seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open
up in a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that
shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. "Rain"
explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of
nails spreads out across the country and around the
world. In "Loaded," a mall security guard in a coastal
Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes
a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the
glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking
his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze
approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and
embark on one last day of reckoning. Masterfully
exploring classic literary themes through the prism of the
supernatural, Strange Weather is a stellar
collection from an artist who is "quite simply the best
horror writer of our generation" (Michael Kortya).
What do you think about this review?
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy