In the mid-2000s, a new name sounded in literary circles - Joe Hill. The writer specializes in horror and fiction. Despite the abundance of authors of this profile, Joe stands out from his colleagues. Its difference is in fresh ideas and the ability to keep the reader in suspense until the last moment. Many of his fans note the fact that his manner and style of writing reminds them of someone.
Family relationships
The young author Joe Hill is not the only writer in the family. His father is the "king of horrors", the famous Stephen King. For a long time, his son managed to hide his relationship. Joe's mom, Tabitha King, is also a writer and a public figure. She creates works that combine realism and fantastic elements.
Joe Hill is not the only child in the family. He has an older sister, Naomi, and brother Owen, who is 5 years younger than him. The latter also followed in the footsteps of parents, but gravitates toward realism more.
In 2017, Owen and his father released a joint novel, Sleeping Beauties. Sister is an activist of the LGBT movement.
Biography
Joe Hill was born on June 4, 1972 in an American town called Bangor. He received higher education at Vassar College in the discipline of "English literature."
This program studies literature and language from the point of view of linguistics, teaches to read, write and listen competently, and instills visual literacy skills.
At the age of 12, he starred in a small role in the film "Kaleidoscope of Horrors", which was written by Stephen King.
Joe began writing in college, then he created several of his first stories. Upon graduation, the young man knew very well that he would devote his life to literature.
Alias origin
The novice writer did not want his works to be rated as books by Stephen King's son. Joe Hill is an abbreviation of his name Joseph and middle name Hillstrom. He also connects the resulting pseudonym with the famous worker rights activist, activist Joe Hill, in whose honor he was named. By the way, his namesake also had a fictitious name. The activist composed songs and poems, was mistakenly convicted and sentenced to death. After death, he became a national hero.
For a long time, none of the fans and colleagues in the writing workshop knew about the relationship between Hill and King. Only in 2005 after the release of the collection “Ghosts of the Twentieth Century” did a rumor about it appear. The formal relationship between Stephen and Joe was announced in early 2007.
Now both writers in every possible way show their kinship, including on social networks, where they like to make fun of each other. Together they created several stories.
Joe Hill's work
Joseph's first stories were published when he was a university student. They were written in the genre of fiction. The works were bought, but only printed in magazines or in modern horror anthologies. His invented stories could be read in many well-known literary magazines. Large publishers in America refused him, but it was a fee for anonymity.
The author himself does not respond so flatteringly about his early stories, calling some of them terrible, albeit technically good.
In 2005, the English publisher PS Publishing changed its anger to mercy, agreeing to release Joe Hill's book “Ghosts of the Twentieth Century”. It was a collection of 14 stories. The introduction to the anthology was written by the famous American author Christopher Golden. Critics greeted the collection well, and so did the readers.
For the stories “Better Than At Home” and “Voluntary Conclusion,” Joseph received prestigious awards. Several stories of this book became nominees, but did not receive the coveted prizes.
Famous books
In 2007, Joe Hill's first novel, A Heart-shaped Box, was released. The title of the work has a reference to the cult song of the Nirvana group.
Three years later, the writer created the "Horns." The gloomy story that sometimes the devil is able to punish sinners on earth.
In 2013, Joseph introduced the NOS4A2 novel (read as Nosferatu) to readers. In Russia, the book is called "Country of Christmas."
In 2015, the author again delights his fans with an anthology of stories. She came out under the uncomplicated title "The Best in Fiction and Fantasy."
The book “Firefighter” by Joe Hill was published in 2016 and was recognized as the best horror book of 2017. She received a lot of praise from literary critics. The rights to the film adaptation even before the publication of the novel were bought by the film company 20th Century Fox.
In addition to the listed works, the middle son of the “king of horrors” has unpublished novels in his bins, including the “Tree of Fear”, on which he worked for several years, and collections of short stories without a name. In total, he has about 30 stories and micro stories.
Joe Hill is the creator of the popular Locke and Key family comic book series.
The writer often arranges open readings of his novels. While doing this, he puts red devil horns on his head, which makes his fans happy.
Adaptations
The author of numerous stories, Joe Hill, still could not surpass his father, who has 55 novels and more than 140 stories. He is also far from him in the number of adaptations of his works, although the rights to books are redeemed even before publication. Today, Stephen King is considered the most often filmed writer.
Even before the publication of the book, “A Heart-shaped Box,” Warner Bros. bought the film rights. Pictures. Directed by Tom Pabst.
In 2013, a film was released based on the novel "Horns", bearing the same name. The role of Ignatius Perrish was played by Daniel Radcliffe. The tape did not meet the expectations for the rental, but still found its viewer.
According to the book “Country of Christmas”, an adaptation is also being prepared, the series will be released in 2019. The author himself will also act as an executive producer.
20th Century Fox acquired the rights to the novel Firefighter. It is known that the director Louis Leterrier will work on the film. Release date is still unknown.
Joseph co-authored with his father two stories: Full Gas and In the Tall Grass. According to the last of them, the film is also directed by Vincenzo Natalie.
Awards
Joseph King is the recipient of many reputable literary awards.
- Bram Stoker's Prize for Twentieth Century Ghosts and The Heart-Shaped Box. This award is given once a year for outstanding achievements in the field of literature in the genre of horror.
- British Fantasy Award for the same compilation.
- International Horror Guild Award for Anthology "Ghosts of the Twentieth Century" for achievements in the horror genre. No reward is currently being awarded.
- In 2006, Joe Hill received an award to them. William Crawford for Best Debut Book. It is about the same collection.
- World Fantasy Award for the story Voluntary Conclusion.
- Lord Rutven Award in 2014 for the novel Country of Christmas. The award is given for the best works about vampires. Lord Rutven is the first vampire described in a literary work.
- Award from the Spanish Association of Horror Writers for the same novel. He won the nomination "Foreign Book".
- Graham Masterton Award for "NOS4A2".
- For the book "Fireman" Joe Hill also received two awards: the Locus Prize and the Goodrides. The second is interesting because the winners are chosen by readers. Locus also noted in 2008 the “Heart-shaped Box” as the best debut work.
- The Eto-Horror Award in 2012 in two categories at once: the comic of the year and the story of the year. For the Locke and Key Family, he received the award again in 2013.
For not too great a creative path, the writer can boast of many literary insignia.
Personal life
In 1999, Joseph married Riley Dixon. They had three children. In 2010, the couple divorced.
Currently, Joe Hill's place of residence in the country is New England, this is one of the six regions of the United States.
Reviews
Naturally, reading tastes vary, but rarely does anyone remain indifferent to Joe Hill's work. His books cause horror, longing, disgust, but to put aside the novel becomes impossible. In this, he is similar to Stephen King.
Readers note his mastery of the word, but at the same time they say that it is impossible not to notice the similarity of the plots and some characters of his son and father. However, almost no one would have noticed this if information about kinship was still hidden. The decisive role is played by the moment that both writers have the same readership. And after revealing the secret, all of Stephen King's fans took up reading the works of his son to make sure that the apple was not far from the apple tree.
Joseph's work was also appreciated by colleagues. Christopher Golden, in the preface to his first storybook, stated that he writes elegantly and delicately, and in his works one can feel the spirit of a bygone era.
French director Alexander Aza, working on the adaptation of the novel "Horns", left an enthusiastic review for Joe Hill, saying that he was so impressed by the book that he could not resist the temptation to plunge into this diabolical underworld.
Now that Joe Hill no longer hides whose child he is, all readers compare his work with Stephen King's books. Naturally, surpassing the "king of horrors" now seems impossible. But the son inherited from his father the ability to make a mystical story out of any ordinary thing. So it is likely that by his 70s, Joseph will not only catch up with Stephen, but will be ahead of him by some criteria.