Last Breath: A Dark Gothic Horror Short Story

by Joe Hill

From the New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Horns comes this e-short story—from Joe Hill’s award-winning collection 20th Century Ghosts.

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945. . . .

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. . . .

Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot-tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

 

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Adult, Thriller

22 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2007

About the author

Joe Hill's debut, Heart-Shaped Box, won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. His second, Horns, was made into a film freakfest starring Daniel Radcliffe. His other novels include NOS4A2, and his #1 New York Times Best-Seller, The Fireman... which was also the winner of a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror Novel.

He writes short stories too. Some of them were gathered together in his prize-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts.

He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with illustrator and art wizard Gabriel Rodriguez.

He lives in New Hampshire with a corgi named McMurtry after a certain beloved writer of cowboy tales. His next book, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, storms into bookstores in October of 2017.

Reviews

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premises: a silence museum, where you can find sealed jars with connected headphones/eardrums that help you feel the last breath of different persons. There’s also a short video on Youtube made after this story (some of the acting I found to be rather poor, but it helps you "visualize" the story).

3.5★

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Last Breath: A Short Story From ‘20th Century Ghosts (audiobook) by Joe Hill read by David Ledoux.

It’s interesting premise for a story. I didn’t realize that it was so short though.

[Andrew Lennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a little bit morbid. I'm not sure why I enjoyed it, but I did enjoy it.
It was definitely different! Very dark, very macabre. And definitely very weird.

All reviews can Ben found at http://lennonslair.blogspot.co.uk

[Beth Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect little horror short.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty interesting idea. Doesn't go anywhere. The ending is lame and stupid. Again.

[April (The Steadfast Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two fantastic stories. Haunting and without solid endings, leaving the reader something to think about. I love this guy.

Totally worth the read.

I didn't know that this was only two short stories when I started it. They're a part of a larger collection by Hill called '20th Century Ghosts' which I fully intend to read. I'll replace that with this if I read it this year.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

435 - 2016

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

A museum where the dying breaths of famous people are stored in jars, ranging from authors, celebrities and even serial killers. If you listen closely, you can hear the ghostly whispers of their final thoughts. A chilling premise, but it ended abruptly and I think it would benefit from being a bit longer.

[Ross Jeffery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this one by mistake as I’d already read it last year in Joe Hill’s collection, but it’s so good I enjoyed reading it again… subtle horror, no scary just unsettling and creepy. I loved it and it reminded me a little of a certain Black Mirror episode! Great short, but I’d recommend the whole collection!

[Kaitlyn (ktxx22) Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh! I’ll be thinking about this one for a while. Is the doctor sinister or was the recording an omen. Really enjoyed this one.

[Mayumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótimo! Climão o conto inteiro, muito foi deixado subentendido, na medida certa.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author

Joe Hill was smart to use this name to distinguish himself from his famous father, Steve King. He is a wonderful author quite separate from him and his work is wonderful. This story is unique and that’s saying a lot from one who has read as widely as I have. It is a simple story of the last breath of selected people. I have a friend who is a nurse who says you can feel a person’s soul passing when they die. This story reminds me of that. Isn’t death about the passing of something unseen and tenuous?

[Jonathan Echevarria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last Breath is another one of my favorites from the 20th Century Ghosts collection. The basic set up is simple enough, in that a family visits a museum where both famous and not so famous "last breaths" are bottled up and displayed in a exhibit. A man named Alinger is the host of the exhibit and it is revealed that he collects the last dying breaths of those he encounters dying. Being a doctor of sorts it allows him many opportunities to come across the final breaths I suppose. I can not review any more without giving away too much, but I will say the execution for this story is very well done. It isn't a very long short story only running at under ten pages I believe. Still even at the small page length I found myself enjoying the plot very much!

I give this one a satisfying 4.5 stars out of 5! Joe Hill delivers once again! If you are a fan of Joe Hill's work, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

[Mason Sabre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short read, but a great and quick read. I read a couple of reviews that say this book is rather macabre, well yes, it is in the horror section for a reason. I loved how macabre it was. I can imagine Joe Hill writing the ending to this with 'that' kind of grin on his face.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat intriguing short story. I'd give it a 2 1/2 if I could. Better than My Father's Mask, but not as good as The Black Phone.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just sad it was so short. Though there seems to be a growing trend towards selling individual short stories as ebooks these days.

Beautifully written. Intriguing. Very Joe Hill.

[Nadine Vansant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and story

A thriller short and funny. Can't say anything about the plot as I don't want to spoil it. Just read and enjoy!

[Сибин Майналовски · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много добро! Финалът малко ме раздразни, но идеята е перфектна и затова с чисто сърце шибвам пет звездички :)

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

LAST BREATH is haunting in its fully invested weirdness.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enter the museum of silence where you can listen through earphones, a persons last breath. A quick read, a little weird and creepy but enjoyable nonetheless.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the collection 20th Century Ghosts.

[William Cherico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun read! It's one of those stories that has me kicking myself with regret that I didn't come up with the concept of a "Museum of Silence" first. It's a nice meditation on the different kinds of silence with a sudden ending that was enjoyable in the way that Creepshow segments are. Dr. Alinger was a great cross between the Crypt Keeper and the bad guy from Phantasm. "Your bag, you might need something in it" with the response of "Thank you, I just might" gave me the kind of chills that reminded me why I love horror in the first place.

[Merel van Berge Henegouwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

the concept of this story is very interesting - a museum curator collecting people’s last breaths - and the writing and set up of the story are great, but as i tend to find with joe hill, after a very promising start, the ending and twist fall flat. the ‘twist’ here was predictable and, like previous joe hill stories i read, feel rushed and unimaginative.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, this really took my breath away. Let's have a look into a very special museum conserving the last breath of more or less famous persons. Is that possible? Well, the doctor claims it and all points seem to justify his approach. Fantastic story. Innovative, eerie with a great twist at the end. In the tradition of Poe. Highly recommended!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. The kid telling the doctor not to forget his bag in case he needs it for his mother...brilliant. The idea of
collecting last breaths, and the foretelling of him not having a housewife in his collection...yet. The best of short stories!

[Andy Hickman · Rating 2 out of 5]

LAST BREATH by Joe Hill
“How do you collect these breaths?”
I could only picture the curator, Alinger, like John Carradine’s role as the undertaker in The Shootist (1976).
The story was always destined towards somebody’s untimely death. **
.

[Lucian · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5.00

Awesome short story! 20 minute Scribd audio, excellent lunch break listen.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting story!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short story.

[r · Rating 2 out of 5]

☆ 2.5/5 ☆ - not gonna lie, my favourite part was the mother getting yeeted out of the story lol.