Horror Aficionados discussion

The Fireman won for our #1 group read for September. Please remember to use spoiler tags and have fun!

it will be my first group read.
Exciting! =)

BUBBLEGUM0809 wrote: "it will be my first group read.
Exciting! =)"

yay! We are glad to have you join us.

Weird. By pure coincidence I bought The Fireman yesterday... so looks like I’m in!

I am pretty sure I have this in my epub collection, so I will be here

I got this a while back, but I haven't read it yet, so I'll be joining in : )

I enjoyed it, hope you guys do as well! :-)

I hope you guys enjoy it!

I’m very interested to hear what people think of this. Joe Hill is one of my absolute favorite contemporary novelists, period. This was, unfortunately, my least favorite of his works. I wanted to love it but found it a three star in a five star canon. Looking forward to reading your reviews, all 😊

Wow! This month I'll be ready with you my HA family! I was torn on this one personally but I'd still love to reread it!

Ally wrote: "I’m very interested to hear what people think of this. Joe Hill is one of my absolute favorite contemporary novelists, period. This was, unfortunately, my least favorite of his works. I wanted to l..."

I'm pretty much with you on this one - I like Hill's work but The Fireman didn't impress me nearly as much as his other novels.

Yea... idk. It left me wanting more and it took me a little longer to finish. Usually a Hill novel is old news by day 2 lmao! Still good though! I am excited to be going through it with my HA family though!

Ally wrote: "I’m very interested to hear what people think of this. Joe Hill is one of my absolute favorite contemporary novelists, period. This was, unfortunately, my least favorite of his works. I wanted to l..."

I was disappointed in this one. Rather than being inspired by the novels that influenced it, it felt like it was just copying them and didn't bring a lot of new material to the table.

Fireman is the first Joe Hill novel I've ever tried. I liked it mildly but I thought I wouldn't try any more of his work.

Are his other novels better?

Sarah-Grace wrote: "Fireman is the first Joe Hill novel I've ever tried. I liked it mildly but I thought I wouldn't try any more of his work.

Are his other novels better?"

I'd say so - give Heart-Shaped Box or NOS4R2 a try.

NOS4A2 is one of the best audiobooks ever. But that’s the only one I like.

Heart Shaped Box or Horns. NOS4A2 is amazing as well but the first two are short and sweet imo.

Thank you, I will try NOS4A2. That title is creative.

I haven’t read any Joe Hill, so I’m very excited to give the Fireman a go!

I am only about 70 pages in. I had to put it down for other pressing books. I am excited to jump back in.

It's a lil worrying to hear that this one of the least favourite of his novels. But I am still going to try and approach this with an open mind. I loved NOS4A2 and Horns so....

I started last week and I'm halfway into it. I'm enjoying it, but . . . (view spoiler)[ I'm still waiting for a good scare.

I wouldn't say The Fireman is slow, but I'm having difficulty characterizing the book as "horror". I'd say it's like The Walking Dead but with lots of people burning. (hide spoiler)]

Justin wrote: "I started last week and I'm halfway into it. I'm enjoying it, but . . . I'm still waiting for a good scare.

I wouldn't say The Fireman is slow, but I'm having difficulty characterizing the book a..."

Agreed. I will say you'll probably not get that good scare you're looking for, but nonetheless, I loved the book. I'm surprised how many people don't like it. I thought it was very creative and didn't want to stop turning the pages. I enjoy a completely different story now and then, and that's what The Fireman provided me. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Vickie wrote: "Justin wrote: "I started last week and I'm halfway into it. I'm enjoying it, but . . . I'm still waiting for a good scare.

I wouldn't say The Fireman is slow, but I'm having difficulty characteriz..."

It's a page turner. I'm rollin' right through it. I can tell if I'm enjoying a book by how fast I read it, usually.

I liked it a lot.

Just started the fireman and i am enjoying it so far. I actually went ahead and ordered his graphic novel Locke & Key, which I've heard is excellent. I wanted to do kind of a personal experiment to see if his writing style translates to a different medium.

So far, I've only read Joe Hill's "Heart Shaped Box" and...Meh. It didn't really 'do it for me'. I was hugely disappointed in that book, but I *do* seem to be in the minority with this opinion on it; SO I am going to give Hill another try with this group read. *fingers crossed* I always love when I find another 'go to' horror author, so here's hoping! ---Jen from Quebec :0)
(PS) My biggest fear in life is fire, so THAT should help, eh? :0P

I just read The Fireman this year and finished 2 weeks ago (it took me a while). I will follow this thread because I am curious what you all think :)
I won't tell much here, just that I didn't like it... I loved NOS4A2, though. His short stories are either great or just meh... I have very mixed feelings when it comes to Hill's work. I will have to try his other novels, though.

I agree with u both. Overall I don’t like Hill but I loved NOS4A2. I’ve tried horns, heart shaped box ... I think there was another one but I didn’t really like any of them.

I love how different everyone's opinions are, that's what I love about reading... how people interpret or react to the same book. I like Hill a lot and really enjoyed The Fireman. Now currently, I am reading Boy's Life because everyone seems to love that one. Well, I am only 60 pages in, and I'm still waiting for it to grab me. :-( We'll see how it goes.

James wrote: "Just started the fireman and i am enjoying it so far. I actually went ahead and ordered his graphic novel Locke & Key, which I've heard is excellent. I wanted to do kind of a personal experiment to..."

Locke & Key is amazing! I hope you enjoy it :)

Oh yeah that one was good too!

I've already read The Fireman, but I've been a Hill fan since Heart-Shaped Box. I find him less predictable than his dad can be at times, but overall I'm drawn towards his work. I hope you guys enjoy the book!

Feli wrote: "I just read The Fireman this year and finished 2 weeks ago (it took me a while). I will follow this thread because I am curious what you all think :)
I won't tell much here, just that I didn't like..."

I feel a lot like you do about Hill. Overall I think he's brilliant. I love Locke & Key, N0S4A2, Horns and really liked Heart Shaped Box. The Fireman was disappointing for me, and his short stories are great or the opposite of great. I really didn't like most of 20th Century Ghosts, but some of his Kindle singles are very good, the rest very forgettable.

I just finished this book. It was the first Joe Hill novel I’ve read. I liked it but I really don’t consider it horror. At one point I stopped reading it for a bit and read a couple other books instead. I wasn’t really planning at the time to go back and finish the book, but I did and I’m glad I did. I wanted to see what would happen to the characters. The book overall felt a bit long to me but I did end up liking it. It seems a lot of people don’t care for this novel as much as some of his other works, so I will have to give them a try at some point.