Here be dragons!
I’m celebrating Halloween week on Talking Scared with the very cream of the bucket list. Joe Hill is finally on the show!
The author of Heart Shaped Box, NOS4A2, “The Black Phone” and Lock & Key is back with his first novel in nearly a decade, and it’s a beast!
King Sorrow is an epic of dragons, diabolical deals, decade-spanning friendships, love and hate and everything in between. It’s bloody brilliant!
Joe talks about the triple inspiration of The Hobbit, The Secret History and Friends. We tackle tech-bros and trolls (literally), and the formidable role of his mother, Tabitha King. And if we disagree on certain characters in King Sorrow, we’re certainly on the same page when it comes to the role of love in life and writing.
This is a special one for me. A special book and a special conversation.
Enjoy!
Other books mentioned:
20th Century Ghosts (2005), by Joe Hill
Heart Shaped Box (2007), by Joe Hill
The Fireman (2016), by Joe Hill
The Hobbit (1937), by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt
The Dead Zone (1979), by Stephen King
Cloud Atlas (2004), by David Mitchell
Old Soul (2025), by Susan Barker
The Trap (1985), by Tabitha King
“The Jewbird” (1963), by Bernard Malamud
Coffin Moon (2025), by Keith Rosson
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