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Six unlikely but brave kids confront the path of a colossal and fearsome otherworldly darkness that has invaded our existence from the deepest abyss of oblivion. They have no choice but to spend their lifetimes fighting it, experiencing one nightmare after another in the process.

A Resonant Storyline with a Fresh Approach

This outlines the narrative, broadly speaking, of Stephen King’s seminal work It (arguably his finest; no arguments). It parallels of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s new chilling tome, in which a close-knit group invoke the ancient, utterly malevolent serpent King Sorrow from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some antagonists. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Lineage

Joe Hill began his writing journey going to great lengths to distance himself from his well-known dad, adopting the nom de plume he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his father). Yet with this recent release, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (the famous Dark Tower introduction); a moment that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). In this whopper of a novel, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Main Characters

Returning to the group: the majority are students at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. We have Arthur, academic and gifted, cracking historical enigmas in his spare time; Colin, wealthy, astute, and inclined to bulldoze obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the attractive the lovely Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their group as they experiment, half believing, half not, in the occult.

The Pivotal Ritual

Our hero becomes, due to circumstances beyond his control, obliged to take valuable volumes from his beloved college library by a set of regional villains. This devastates his scholarly soul, particularly as he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and unsettling publication: the diary of occultist Enoch Crane (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang read the journal, realize they are able to call forth what the occultist details as a armoured devil” to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and occupy the subsequent narrative enduring the repercussions. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those annoying regional antagonists, but they are required to pick a new sacrifice every twelve months or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You plant seeds of destruction, all you get is additional horrors.”

Genre Fluidity and Creative Breadth

Moving through four decades, Joe Hill transitions with effortless ease across narrative styles: as the companions attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, choosing undeniably wicked targets to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we go from page-turner to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to fright. My favorite genre switch was to a quest story, deep in the caves below Cornwall, a section infused with the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Tapestry of Fear and Courage

There are trolls – the classic variety and digital trolls, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, pulse-pounding sequences of courage and instances of appalling malevolence, both mortal and otherworldly. This is a remarkable achievement: a horror novel that is above all a tribute to the imagination, 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 Colin as the companions gather at the table, getting ready to invoke their beast to life with the power of their thoughts.

In the author’s own words in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Don’t miss them.