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Six quirky but doughty children encounter the way of a immense and dreadful paranormal darkness that has entered our world from the deepest abyss of shadow. They have no choice but to devote their lives confronting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the ordeal.

A Resonant Premise with a New Approach

This describes the premise, in essence, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (arguably his finest; no debate). It similarly frames of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s new massive horror novel, in which six friends invoke the age-old, deeply sinister dragon King Sorrow from the Long Dark to help them defeat some antagonists. As one might expect, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Authorial Legacy

Joe Hill began his writing journey striving diligently to remain separate from his renowned parent, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and avoiding meeting his agent (he exhibits a strong similarity to his parent). Yet with this recent release, he leans into it. Certain passages that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a moment that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this epic story, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and readers share in the joy.

The Cast of the Central Figures

Back to those friends: the majority are students at the fictional the esteemed institution in the New England state. We have Arthur, studious and brilliant, deciphering Old English riddles in his leisure hours; the character Colin, rich, astute, and inclined to bulldoze anyone who stands in his way; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their circle as they experiment, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Fateful Summoning

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take rare books from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling work: the logbook of practitioner Enoch Crane (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group examine the log, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a armored demon” to assist Arthur with his coercion issue – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. This ancient entity will indeed rid them of those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Versatility and Creative Breadth

Moving through four decades, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency between genres: as the companions attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to offer up, or seeking means to slay the beast themselves, we transition from suspense to shadowy tale, black-ops torture to affectionate subplot to terror. One particularly memorable shift was to a quest story, deep in the caves beneath this UK region, a part infused with the Lord of the Rings author that was gloriously terrifying.

An Expansive Canvas of Fear and Optimism

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and online ones, properly scary and expertly realized. There are magical swords and betrayals, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and instances of terrible wickedness, both human and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is chiefly a paean to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the friends assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their dragon into being with the force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Ensure you experience it.