Joe Hill (writer)

Joseph Hillström King (born June 4, 1972), better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American writer. His work includes the novels '' Heart-Shaped Box'' (2007), '' Horns'' (2010), ''NOS4A2'' (2013), and '' The Fireman'' (2016); the short story collections '' 20th Century Ghosts'' (2005) and '' Strange Weather'' (2017); and the comic book series '' Locke & Key'' (2008–2013). He has won awards including Bram Stoker Awards, British Fantasy Awards, and an Eisner Award.

King is the son of authors Tabitha and Stephen King, and the brother of writer Owen King.

Early life

Joe Hill was born in 1972 to authors Tabitha King (née Spruce) and Stephen King. He was born and grew up in Bangor, Maine. His younger brother Owen King is also a writer. He has an older sister, Naomi King.

At age 9, he appeared in the 1982 film ''Creepshow'', directed by George A. Romero, which co-starred and was written by his father.

Career

Hill chose to use an abbreviated form of his middle name for his professional surname in 1997, out of a desire to succeed based solely on his own merits rather than as the son of one of the world's best-selling and most-recognized living novelists. After achieving a degree of independent success, Hill publicly confirmed his identity in 2007, the year his first novel came out, after an article the previous year in ''Variety'' reported his identity.

Hill is a recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. He has also received the William L. Crawford award for best new fantasy writer in 2006,Excerpts from interview
in July 2006 " Locus" the A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize in 1999 for "Better Than Home" and the 2006 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella for "Voluntary Committal". His stories have appeared in a variety of magazines, such as " Subterranean Magazine", " Postscripts" and "The High Plains Literary Review", and in many anthologies, including "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" (ed. Stephen Jones) and "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant).

Hill's first book, the limited edition collection '' 20th Century Ghosts'' (published in 2005 by PS Publishing for Best Fiction Collection, together with the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for "Best New Horror". In October 2007, Hill's mainstream US and UK publishers reprinted ''20th Century Ghosts'', without the extras published in the 2005 slipcased versions, but including one new story.

Hill's first novel, '' Heart-Shaped Box'', was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins on February 13, 2007 and by Victor Gollancz Ltd in UK in March 2007. The novel reached number eight on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list on April 1, 2007.

On September 23, 2007, at the thirty-first Fantasycon, the British Fantasy Society awarded Hill the first ever Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award. Hill's first professional sale was in 1997.

Among Hill's unpublished works is one partly completed story with his father ("But Only Darkness Loves Me"), which is held with the Stephen King papers at the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine.

Hill is the writer of '' Locke & Key'', a comic book series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue, released on February 20, 2008, sold out of its initial publication run in one day. A collection of the series in limited form from Subterranean Press sold out within 24 hours of being announced.

Hill's second novel, '' Horns'', was published in February 2010. A film based on the novel was released in 2014, directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple.

''NOS4A2'', his third novel, was published in April 2013. The novel peaked at number five on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list.

Hill's fourth novel, '' The Fireman,'' was released in May 2016. It entered the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list at number one, making it his highest-ranked novel.

In 2018 a collection of four short novellas was released titled ''Strange Weather''.

In 2019, '' In the Tall Grass'', co-written with his father Stephen King, was released as a Netflix Original film. Filming for the ''Locke & Key'' TV series, also by Netflix, began in the middle of January 2019 and the first season aired in February 2020. Also, AMC began broadcasting a TV series of ''NOS4A2'' in July 2019.

Shudder announced in 2017 that their upcoming series reboot of ''Creepshow'' would contain an adaptation of Hill's short story "By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain". The series aired its first season in September 2019 and was renewed for a second season as well.

Following DC Comics's announcement in June 2019 that it would suspend publication of its Vertigo Comics imprint, they announced that Hill would oversee and share the writing for a new horror line, Hill House Comics. Hill started talking about the Hill House line in 2017 with editor Mark Doyle. The line was originally to be titled Vertigo Fall, then Joe Hill's Vertigo Fall, before eventually being renamed.

Personal life

In 1999, Joe Hill married Leanora Legrand, whom he had met at Vassar College. They had three children, the eldest among them being Ethan King. The couple divorced in 2010. In 2018, he married publisher Gillian Redfearn of Gollancz Publishing. They had twins in 2022.

Awards

* "Better Than Home" (A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize)
* "Voluntary Committal" (World Fantasy Award for Best Novella)
* '' 20th Century Ghosts'' (Bradbury Fellowship)
* ''20th Century Ghosts'' (2005 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection)
* ''20th Century Ghosts'' (2005 International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection)
* "Best New Horror" (2005 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction)
* ''20th Century Ghosts'' (2006 British Fantasy Award for Best Collection)
* ''20th Century Ghosts'' (2006 William L. Crawford award for best new fantasy writer)
* "Best New Horror" (2006 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story)
* Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award – 2007
* '' Heart-Shaped Box'' (2007 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel)
* ''Heart-Shaped Box'' (2008 International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel)
* '' Locke & Key'' (2009 British Fantasy Award for Comic/Graphic Novel)
* ''Locke & Key'' (2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer)
* ''Locke & Key'' (2012 British Fantasy Award for Comic/Graphic Novel)
* '' The Fireman'' (2017 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel)
* '' Strange Weather'' (2017 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection)
* ''Strange Weather'' (2018 British Fantasy Award for Best Collection)

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Heart-Shaped Box'' (2007)
* '' Horns'' (2010)
* ''NOS4A2'' (2013) (published as ''NOS4R2'' in the United Kingdom)
* '' The Fireman'' (2016)

Short stories

All short stories

All short stories (dates by original magazine or anthology publication):
* "The Lady Rests" (1997), ''Palace Corbie'' 7
* "The Collaborators" (1998), ''Implosion'' 8
* "Better Than Home" (1999), A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize Series, stand-alone chapbook
* "The Saved" (2001), ''The Clackamas Literary Review'' spring/summer issue
* " Pop Art" (2001), ''With Signs & Wonders'', Invisible Cities Press anthology
* " 20th Century Ghost" (2002), ''The High Plains Literary Review'', journal's final issue
* "The Widow's Breakfast" (2002), ''The Clackamas Literary Review'' spring/summer issue
* "You Will Hear the Locust Sing" (2004), ''The Third Alternative'' 37
* "Abraham's Boys" (2004), ''The Many Faces of Van Helsing'', anthology
* "The Black Phone" (2004), ''The Third Alternative'' 39
* "Dead-Wood" (2005), ''Subterranean Press'' February online newsletter
* "Last Breath" (2005), ''Subterranean Magazine'' 2
* " Best New Horror" (2005), ''Postscripts'' 3
* "Voluntary Committal" (2005), ''Subterranean Press'' stand-alone chapbook
* "In the Rundown" (2005), ''Crimewave'' 8
* "Scheherazade's Typewriter" (2005), ''20th Century Ghosts'', within the book's acknowledgments section
* "The Cape" (2005), ''20th Century Ghosts'', original to collection
* "My Father's Mask" (2005), ''20th Century Ghosts'', original to collection
* "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead" (2005), ''Postscripts'' 5
* "Thumbprint" (2007), ''Postscripts'' 10
* "Jude Confronts Global Warming" (2007), ''Subterranean Press'' online magazine, spring issue
* "Gunpowder" (2008), PS Publishing" (2009, written in collaboration with Stephen King), ''He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson'' (also included in the audiobook ''Road Rage'')
* "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" (2010), '' The New Dead'', edited by Christopher Golden
* "The Devil on the Staircase" (2010), ''Stories: All-New Tales'', edited by Al Sarrantonio and Neil Gaiman
* "Wolverton Station" (2011), ''Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2'', edited by William Schafer
* " In the Tall Grass" (2012, written in collaboration with Stephen King), ''Esquire'', June/July and August issues
* "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain" (2012), ''Shadow Show: All New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury'', edited by Mort Castle and Sam Weller
* "Snapshot, 1988" (2016); or "Snapshot" (2017), ''Strange Weather'' 1
* "Loaded" (2017), ''Strange Weather'' 2
* "Aloft" (2017), ''Strange Weather'' 3
* "Rain" (2017), ''Strange Weather'' 4
* "All I Care About is You" (2017) The Weight of Words edited by Dave McKean and Willaim Schafer
* "Dark Carousel" (2018), vinyl-first audiobook (Collected in ''Full Throttle'')
* "You Are Released" (2018), ''Flight or Fright'', edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent
* "Faun" (2019), ''At Home in the Dark'', edited by Lawrence Block
* "Late Returns", Collected in ''Full Throttle''
* "Mums", Collected in ''Full Throttle''

Collections and uncollected short stories

Collections:
* '' 20th Century Ghosts'' (2005), collection of 18 short stories:
*: "Best New Horror", "20th Century Ghost", "Pop Art", "You Will Hear The Locust Sing", "Abraham's Boys", "Better Than Home", "The Black Phone", "In The Rundown", "The Cape", "Last Breath", "Dead-Wood", "The Widow's Breakfast", "My Father's Mask", "Voluntary Committal", "Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead", "The Saved", "The Black Phone: The Missing Chapter", "Scheherazade's Typewriter"
* '' Strange Weather'' (2017), collection of 4 novellas:
*: "Snapshot", "Loaded", "Aloft", "Rain"
* ''Full Throttle'' (2019), collection of 4 short stories, 9 novelettes and 1 novella:
*: "Throttle" (novelette, with Stephen King), "Dark Carousel" (novelette), "Wolverton Station", "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain" (novelette), "Faun" (novelette), "Late Returns" (novelette), "All I Care About Is You" (novelette), "Thumbprint" (novelette), "The Devil on the Staircase", "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead", "Mums" (novelette), "In the Tall Grass" (novella, with Stephen King), "You Are Released" (novelette), "A Little Sorrow"

Uncollected short stories:
* "The Lady Rests" (1997), ''Palace Corbie'' 7
* "The Collaborators" (1998), ''Implosion'' 8
* "Jude Confronts Global Warming" (2007), ''Subterranean Press'' online magazine, spring issue
* "Gunpowder" (2008), PS Publishing