After nearly a decade-long wait, the fifth novel from bestselling horror author Joe Hill is almost here. King Sorrow, an 896-page doorstopper following a group of college friends who mistakenly summon an otherworldly evil, will be published by William Morrow on October 21. Horror fans who haven’t preordered a copy yet can save big on King Sorrow’s hardcover edition at Amazon and Walmart. Normally $40, King Sorrow is on sale for 34% off, dropping the price to $26.60.
King Sorrow isn’t the only new Joe Hill book to add to your horror collection. This week, on August 19, Hill’s debut work of fiction is getting an eye-catching 20th Anniversary Edition. Amazon has 20th Century Ghosts: 20th Anniversary Edition for $16 (was $20). Walmart was taking preorders for $15 but is currently sold out, so snag a copy while you can.
Described as a Deluxe Collector’s Edition by William Morrow, the reissued short story collection has multicolored sprayed edges and a new afterword. 20th Century Ghosts has a bunch of awesome horror stories, but it’s best-known for The Black Phone, which received a great film adaptation in 2021. With Black Phone 2 premiering in theaters October 17, now’s the perfect time to read the source material.
$16 (was $20) | Releases August 19
The 20th Century Ghosts Anniversary Edition has an appropriately ghoulish cover with misty blue and magenta cover artwork. You definitely don’t own a book with stained page edges that look like this. The edges have a mixture of violet and blue with magenta swirls and neon pink insects crawling around.
20th Century Ghosts collects a wide assortment of stories, many of which were originally published in small journals early in Hill’s professional writing career. Beyond The Black Phone, standout stories include a Dracula follow-up called Abraham’s Boys, a Kafka-esque tale about a boy who becomes a giant insect, and Pop Art, a moving tale about the friendship between a troubled boy and a boy made of inflatable plastic.
Originally released in 2005 with a very small print run, 20th Century Ghosts was a huge critical success. It won Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Awards. At the time of its publication, Hill’s identity as Stephen King’s son was unknown to the publishing world and general public. He confirmed his identity in 2007 in the lead-up to the publication of his debut novel Heart-Shaped Box.
All told, the 336-page collection features 15 stories, an introduction by author Christopher Golden, and a new afterword by Hill.
$26.60 (was $40) | Releases October 21
Hill’s fourth novel, The Fireman, released in 2016, so fans have been waiting nearly a decade for King Sorrow. The 896-page doorstopper–Hill’s longest novel to date–takes place at Rackham College, a fictional university in Maine.
When Arthur Oakes is forced to steal rare books from the college library’s exceptional collection, he consults his friend group to find a way to get out of his nightmare (he really loves books). Arthur’s buddy suggests summoning a dragon to thwart the drug dealer who is making him steal books. Arthur and five of his friends perform the summoning ritual using an old journal bound in its author’s skin. As one would expect, using a skin-bound book to summon an evil entity is a bad idea. Once the eponymous evil is summoned, the group has the unenviable task of choosing a person to sacrifice each year. If they don’t, they will be sacrificed.
As mentioned, Joe Hill is the oldest son of legendary horror author Stephen King. The duo have collaborated on several projects, including two stories in Hill’s 2019 short story collection Full Throttle. In a cool coincidence, 20th Century Ghosts: Anniversary Edition actually releases the same day as a new anthology of short stories set in the world of Stephen King’s classic 1978 novel The Stand. The End of the World As We Know It features an introduction by King and original stories by dozens of authors. You can purchase a hardcover edition of the 800-page anthology for $26.74 (was $35) at Amazon.
Joe Hill’s Novels
All four of Joe Hill’s previous novels have been bestsellers and several have won awards. His 2007 debut novel Heart-Shaped Box won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. His 2010 novel Horns was adapted into a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe in 2014. NOS4A2 (pronounced Nosferatu) was published in 2013 and later adapted into a two-season television series by AMC. The 2016 novel The Fireman is a post-apocalyptic novel about a deadly fungus that is definitely worth reading if you enjoyed The Stand.
- Heart-Shaped Box (2007)
- Horns (2010)
- NOS4A2 (2013)
- The Fireman (2016)
- King Sorrow (2025)
Short Story and Novella Collections
Along with 20th Century Ghosts, Hill has published two additional collections of shorter fiction. The 2017 collection Strange Weather features four novellas (short novels), and the aforementioned Full Throttle is Hill’s most recent original publication.
- 20th Century Ghosts (2005)
- Strange Weather: Four Short Novels (2017)
- Full Throttle (2019)
Joe Hill’s Locke & Key series and other comics
Joe Hill has also had a prolific career in comic books. Most notably, Hill is the creator of Locke & Key, the supernatural fantasy series that was adapted into a hit Netflix series. You can get Locke & Key’s original nearly 1,000-page run in a six-volume slipcase collection or the hardcover Keyhouse Compendium. The slipcase box set is markedly cheaper right now thanks to a deal at Amazon.
A trio of hardcover Master Editions offer another premium way to read the series, but these are pricier at $50 each, and Volume 2 is hard to find. Multiple follow-up side stories and prequels were published after the series concluded. We’ve included those below, too.
More comics by Joe Hill
For more Joe Hill comics, check out the list below. We’d especially recommend taking a look at the 6-volume Hill House Comics Box Set and Joe Hill: The Graphic Novel Collection, a nearly 500-page compilation containing five graphic novels.
