Anyone read any of Owen's stuff? I am under the impression that he is the one in the family that stepped away from horror.

Apologies...

Joe Hill seems like a nice guy, but to put it bluntly, he isn't very good. No one would be paying any attention to him if it weren't for his DNA. People like to argue with me about this, but it seems pretty obvious: People love King, and they want to annoint his son his rightful heir.

But literary horror is dead. No one is willing to pay for it. Name one new horror author besides Hill in the last fifteen years that broke the NY Times bestseller list. (I'll save you the trouble. There weren't any.) Do you really think there were no other talented authors publishing horror novels in the last decade and a half? It's not talent, people. It's the pedigree.

All of them I've tried. I bought the 20th Cent Ghosts collection in England before it came out here -- before anyone knew he was Steve King's son. I had no idea why he was getting so much acclaim, but I like horror, so I try to keep up.

From the 20th Cent Ghosts collection I recall reading "The Black Phone," "Abraham's Boys," "20th Century Ghosts," and "Best New Horror." I didn't finish the collection, but I remember those. To me the stories seemed manipulative, implausible, and poorly written. Couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

A few months later, the news broke and Joe Hill is King's son. The world is suddenly his oyster. HEART SHAPED BOX came out and I figured what the hell. This time I didn't shell out cash, though; I picked up a copy at the library. But I still couldn't get into it. A rock star protagonist? Seriously? Seemed like a joke, like KISS VERSUS THE PHANTOM or something. I just couldn't buy it, or anything that happened in it. In my view, there's no reason for anyone to like him except for his lineage.