''20th Century Ghosts'' is American author
Joe Hill's first published book-length work. A collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
, it was first published in October 2005 in the United Kingdom and released in October 2007 in the United States.
Publication history
''20th Century'' Ghosts is the first publication made by American author
Joe Hill in October 2005 by
PS Publishing
PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK.
Background
PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther.[Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing.
History
The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...](_ ...<br></span></div> which is based in the United Kingdom. The original release was available for pre-sale only through the publisher's website.
The collection has won several awards including the <div class=)
for Best Fiction Collection, as well as the
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of S ...
for Best Collection and Best Short Story for "Best New Horror." The hardcover editions are collectable, especially the signed slipcased edition that had a print run of 200 copies.
In October 2007,
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
Publishers released the first public edition of Hill's collection. This edition also contains the short story "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead," which was not previously published in the UK edition. Also in October,
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
's United States
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
released audiobook versions of the stories in this edition, at
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
0.95 per short story, through 29 October.
Limited editions
Released in October 2005, this short story collection was released in a limited edition format only. The three formats available before publication were:
* Deluxe slipcased signed limited hardcover edition signed by Hill and
Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden (born July 15, 1967) is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults and teens.
Early life
Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts ...
(introduction author) and numbered 1-200 ()
* Signed limited edition hardcover signed by Hill and numbered 1-500 ()
* Trade paperback unsigned at 1,000 copies printed ()
Contents
Best New Horror
Eddie Carroll is the editor of an annual anthology entitled ''America's Best New Horror''. As part of his job he has read and rejected many thousands of derivative stories, and he has become jaded by the process. When he reads the strangely disturbing story "Buttonboy" by Peter Kilrue, he regains his passion for his work. The plot concerns his search for the elusive Kilrue in an attempt to procure "Buttonboy" for the anthology.
20th Century Ghost
The Rosebud Theatre is an old style
movie palace
A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
, haunted by the semi-legendary spirit of a young woman. The girl died during a screening of ''
The Wizard of Oz'', appears infrequently throughout the twentieth century, and occasionally starts conversations with a select few moviegoers. The story is told by Alec Sheldon, the theatre owner, who worries about his approaching mortality and what will happen to the Rosebud after he retires.
Pop Art
This story was originally published in 2001 in an anthology titled ''With Signs & Wonders'' by Invisible Cities Press. In 2007,
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short stor ...
produced a limited edition chapbook of "Pop Art" limited to 150 numbered copies and 52 lettered copies. These books were only available through the publishers website.
The plot concerns the friendship of two socially outcast boys: the narrator, who has a dysfunctional home life, and his only friend, a human boy made of inflatable plastic who has loving and supportive flesh-and-blood parents.
Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden (born July 15, 1967) is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults and teens.
Early life
Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts ...
called it one of the best short stories in years.
You Will Hear The Locust Sing
The story of a boy who wakes up one morning to find that he has become a giant, human-sized insect.
Abraham's Boys
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his ...
, living in America following the events of ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'', tries to teach his sons about vampires.
Better Than Home
Story about a troubled boy whose father manages a baseball team.
The Black Phone
Thirteen-year-old Finney is kidnapped by a man named The Grabber. Trapped in a basement room, the boy's only hope may lie in a mysterious disconnected black phone hanging on the basement wall. The phone rings at night with the whispers of the kidnapper's previous (and now dead) victims. In 2021, this short story was adapted into a
film of the same title, with
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
as The Grabber.
In The Rundown
A video store clerk comes upon a grisly scene on a weedy dirt lane.
The Cape
Seven-year-old Eric learns that he can fly (well, sort of) while wearing his blue cape. After suffering a terrible injury he thinks the cape is lost, only to find the cape again years later.
Last Breath
The story concerns Dr. Allinger, an old man who runs a "Museum of Silence" which contains the last breaths of various people, some being famous figures such as
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
.
The Widow's Breakfast
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, a drifter encounters a widow whose offer of food and fresh clothing may be too good to be true.
Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead
A failed comedian meets his now-married ex-girlfriend during the filming of
Dawn of the Dead.
My Father's Mask
Thirteen-year-old Jack's parents take him on an unexpected trip to their cabin on Big Cat Lake. Along the way they play a game made up by Jack's mother in which they are being chased by the "playing card people". At the cabin Jack finds various masks, which he is told must be worn to disguise themselves from the playing card people. Jack grows weary of the game, but soon he finds that it may not be a game at all.
Adaptations
* ''Pop Art'' (2008), short film directed by Amanda Boyle, based on short story "Pop Art"
* ''Abraham's Boys'' (2009), short film directed by Dorothy Street, based on short story "Abraham's Boys"
* ''
The Black Phone
''The Black Phone'' is a 2021 American coming-of-age supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the ...
'' (2021), film directed by
Scott Derrickson
Scott Derrickson (born July 16, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'' (2005), ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (2008), ''Sinister'' (2012), '' Deliver Us from Evil'' (2014), '' ...
, based on short story ''The Black Phone''
References
External links
Joe Hill's official web sitePS Publishing official web site— Original U.K. publisher of ''20th Century Ghosts''
William Morrow official web site— U.S. published of ''20th Century Ghosts''
Entry for ''20th Century Ghosts''
*
{{Joe Hill
2005 short story collections
Debut books
Ghost stories
Horror short story collections
Works by Joe Hill (writer)