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A group of six unlikely but resilient kids fall into the trail of a vast and fearsome paranormal darkness that has invaded our world from the farthest reaches of oblivion. They are compelled to wage a lifelong battle battling it, experiencing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

An Echoing Plot with a Distinctive Spin

This outlines the narrative, roughly, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; no debate). It is also the plot of the celebrated author’s heir Joe Hill’s recent horror doorstopper, in which a band of six call forth the age-old, utterly malevolent serpent the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Embracing a Family Heritage

Joseph Hillström King launched his profession striving diligently to remain separate from his famous father, publishing under the pen name he continues to employ and avoiding meeting his agent (he bears a strong similarity to his father). However, in his newest work, he fully acknowledges it. Certain passages that consciously reflect some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a incident that evokes a King plot point (a game of puzzles). Throughout this massive book, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and we delight along with him.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Back to those friends: most are pupils at the imagined Rackham College in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, academic and intelligent, cracking historical enigmas in his spare time; the character Colin, affluent, sharp, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; twins Donna and Donovan; the beautiful the lovely Allie. Then we have Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but becomes a key part of their band as they toy, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in the occult.

The Fateful Summoning

Arthur is, as a result of external pressures, compelled to pilfer rare books from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This wounds his academic spirit, particularly as he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the journal of occultist this enigmatic character (condemned “for dealing with infernal entities in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group read the journal, learn they can invoke what the author references as a armored demon” to aid our hero with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative reaping the consequences. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As our protagonist states: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Dexterity and Creative Range

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends strive to manage the circumstances they find themselves in by, in different ways, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we transition from suspense to dark fantasy, black-ops torture to love story to terror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a section infused with JRR Tolkien that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Horror and Hope

We encounter trolls – those living under bridges and online ones, genuinely frightening and expertly realized. There are magical swords and betrayals, breath-taking moments of courage and scenes of dreadful evil, both mortal and extraterrestrial. It’s a tour de force: a chilling book that is above all a ode to the imagination, and to devotion and companionship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says Colin as the allies gather at the table, making preparations to call forth their serpent into being with the force of their minds.

According to Joe Hill in his opening statement: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.