Dave’s Reviews > The Black Phone > Status Update

My Father's Mask. Maybe the most difficult story to decipher in this collection. It is somewhat of a family story with some bizarre and off-putting content, and it will have you questioning what is actually real. Who is really wearing the masks and why?

Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead. This is a fun story about working as zombie extras filming a George Romero movie. At its heart though, it is a relationship story with a heavy does of comedy. I like that it adds some levity to this collection.

The Widow's Breakfast. Another story that is not exactly horror, but it does evoke an atmosphere of gloominess, and I liked it quite a bit. This is a depression era story about people severely down on their luck and just doing their best to get by during hard times.

Dead-Wood. I am not sure that this even qualifies as a story, many poems are longer than this. Just a very brief folk tale about some phantom trees. I guess it was okay?

Last Breath. A brief story about a curator who is a bit off and collects some odd items for his museum.

In the Rundown. Interesting story. It has somewhat of a true crime aesthetic to it. I was at first a little bit unsatisfied with the ending, but it is one of those where the ending is intentionally left open, leaving the reader to ponder on the possibilities for how it will play out and who will be believed.

The Black Phone. Here it is, the story that was made into a film and expanded the popularity of this collection. A good kidnapping story with a slight supernatural twist. The story is solid, but the movie really expanded upon the source material, while managing to stay within its framework, and also made it darker and creepier. Quite interesting to read Hill's original vision for this story.

Better Than Home. A father-son relationship story, which feels a bit out of place in this collection. Not bad, but also nothing special. It does contain a good dose of baseball (Tiger Stadium was especially nostalgic for me), and there is a somewhat subtle reference to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, which I had just watched quite recently.

Abraham's Boys. This is a fun and darkly atmospheric story that takes place in times past. I am keeping it very vague because there is a certain joy in discovery while reading it.