The Shivers Collection by Joe Hill, Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Catriona Ward, and Owen King
Big thanks to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for
providing me with an advanced copy of this excellent collection of longer short
stories from some of the most respected writers in modern horror, The Shivers Collection. I’ve read
books by both Stephen Graham Jones (Only the Good Indians, My Heart is a
Chainsaw, Grow Up Dead In Texas, Buffalo Hunter Hunter) and Catriona
Ward (Sundial), but I’ve never read anything by Owen King, Grady
Hendrix, and Joe Hill. I have books on my to-read shelf by all of them, but
haven’t had the chance, so this collection provided me with an opportunity to get
a shorter glimpse of their work, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint. I
typically love short story collections, even when they are by different
authors. Although the stories are somewhat longer (between 35-50 pages), the
stories are all engaging and exciting. I was constantly turning the page, and
the plot development throughout the stories, along with some interesting
characters made me want to continue the stories. Although these stories are
linked within the horror genre, I wouldn’t say that they are all true horror;
rather, some of the stories are more like weird tales, akin to something you’d
see on the Twilight Zone (Graham Jones’ “The Indigo Room” and King’s “Letter
Slot”). Other stories deal with a kind of creature or monster horror (Hill’s “Jackknife”
and Hendrix’s “The Blanks”), while Ward’s story “Night and Day in Misery” was a
ghost story, but one more like the Nicholas Roeg film Don’t Look Now,
which is based on Daphne du Maurier story. In fact, the story is almost about grief
and sorrow that follow the death of a loved one, and the desire to communicate
with them once more. In addition to genre similarities (or lack thereof), the
stories almost all focus on death, especially deaths of children or loved ones.
It’s definitely somewhat upsetting, but at the same time, it might make you
appreciate your loved ones even more after reading some of these stories
(especially Hendrix and Ward).
Overall, this is a great collection, but I do think that
some of the stories stand out more than others for different reasons.
Furthermore, all the writers have different voices, and the stories are also
tonally different. The first story, “Jackknife” is by Joe Hill, and it is about
a flawed man, Dennis, whose mistakes cost him his marriage and his job. He’s
been exiled to a dilapidated rental home in rural Maine where he encounters a
strange tree that appears to be moving as he contemplates his next moves in the
wreckage of his life. This story had both humor and horror. Dennis was just a
mess, and it was interesting to see how as his life is unravelling, he somehow
confronts an evil tree. I know it sounds strange, but the tree details are
really creepy, and Hill is able to create an eerie and strange vibe in the
woods. While I didn’t really feel bad for Dennis, he wasn’t a completely evil
person, but there were points where readers are left wondering whether all of
the changes may have left him mentally unstable or whether there really is an
evil tree outside of his window.
The next story, “The Indigo Room”, was more like a Twilight
Zone episode, although there is some blood and dismemberment in the story. I
definitely enjoyed the ending, and Graham captured some of the workplace office
environment well. I also appreciated that he left a note of thanks that
explained how the story came about. Jennifer is a manager in an office, and she’s
been through a divorce. During a meeting, she witnesses something strange with
some of her co-workers during a colleague’s presentation. This ultimately
disrupts the meeting, and her son, who needs to be picked up early from school,
further threatens to disrupt her day. However, due to office policies, employees
are not allowed to have children there. She ends up having to bribe one of the
people she manages to watch her son. During this time, she gains some clarity
around the visions she witnessed during the meeting. I almost felt like this
story was more cinematic than written, and I think that this would work well as
a short episode in a horror anthology.
“The Blanks” by Grady Hendrix was the next story, and the
narrator of this story is a mother of 2 who is departing for a summer vacation
with her family on an island. Most of the story seems relatively normal. The
family talks about their plans, and the narrator is especially looking forward
to the seasonal rituals of being on vacation. She’s particularly protective of
the children. While the island seems ideal, something happened last season with
her neighbors, and now no one will talk to them. They don’t even let her on the
ferry. It’s strange and not explained until a later event in the book. This
story had a dramatic twist, and kind of shifted in its tone towards the end. I
enjoyed it, especially since we see what seems to be a fun and traditional
vacation spot where people engage in common summer rituals, but something under
the surface is strange and dangerous. Like “Jackknife”, there’s not much
explanation for “The Blanks”, but I think that makes the story all the more
mysterious and strange. It’s left me with a lot of questions and opportunities
to draw my own conclusions, which I really enjoyed about this story.
“Night and Day in Misery” was probably the most emotional
stories I read. I’ve only read one other book by Catriona Ward, and it was so
thrilling. This story isn’t as exciting, but it still has a large emotional
impact. I was finishing the book at the gym, and I was afraid I was going to
cry. Stella is a widow, who lost her child and husband in a car accident. She
plans to spend the night in the motel where they stayed right before the
accident and visit the scene of the accident 8 years after it happened. Stella
reflects on her last conversation with her husband, and how it ended with a
fight, making their deaths even more tragic for Stella since she blames
herself. However, when she visits the hotel, she begins to experience some
strange events, seeing the ghost of her son. I was blown away by this story,
and I felt like this could be in almost any kind of anthology since it has that
kind of dramatic revelation at the end that is so powerful and really makes you
think about not only the events in the story, but also about events in your own
life. This story was probably the least horrifying, but at the same time, it is
a tragic and sad ghost tale.
The last story also had some irony in it. Owen King’s “Letter
Slot” was also an interesting story that kind of reminded of stories like “The
Monkey’s Paw”, where people learn to be careful what they wish for. The story
follows Blake, a high school sophomore, and his single mother, Wendy Price,
whose health has been compromised due to an accidental fall down the stairs. This
accident and the injuries she sustained cause Wendy to lose her job, her health
insurance, and eventually her home, where they have to move into a smaller and
more run-down apartment. Blake encounters an old house with a mail slot, and he
sends a writing assignment about a letter to an advisor about his life through
the slot. This initiates a responding letter from an unknown writer who shares
that “good luck and bad luck are like twins that have been separated at birth”
and that events can change over time, and in Blake’s case, with the help of this
mysterious correspondent. This was also a great read, and I was really surprised
by the end. It was interesting to see how this event and learning about the
power of the mail slot and the house transformed Blake, in some ways. Blake,
and the story, also raise important questions about the cost of happiness and equality
in our society. Again, another story that presents some interesting ideas that
made me continue to think about it even after reading the story.
I really enjoyed all of these stories, and even though the
topics are dark, many of the stories made me think and question some ideas and
conceptions about the events in the stories, characters’ motivations, and my
own experiences with my family. This is probably not a book for everyone, but
if you look weird horror tales, then this is a great book for you. Many of the
stories seem familiar, but also take readers into new and compelling places,
whether it is through the plot, the characters, or the setting.
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