| 20th Century Ghosts | |
|---|---|
Cover art for the U.K. edition. |
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| Author(s) | Joe Hill |
| Cover artist | Vincent Chong |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| Publisher | PS Publishing |
| Publication date | October 2005 |
| Media type | Limited edition hardcover |
| Pages | xiv, 304 p. |
| ISBN | 1904619479 |
| OCLC Number | 60668592 |
| Followed by | Heart-Shaped Box |
20th Century Ghosts is American author Joe Hill's first published book-length work. An anthology of short stories, it was first published in October 2005 in the United Kingdom and released in October 2007 in the United States.
Contents |
20th Century Ghosts is the first publication made by American author Joe Hill in October 2005 by PS Publishing which is based in the United Kingdom. The original release was available for pre-sale only through the publishers website.
The collection has won several awards including the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, as well as the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for "Best New Horror." The hardcover editions are collectable, especially the signed slipcased edition that had a print run of only 200 copies and scarce to find on the open market.
In October 2007, HarperCollins Publishers released the first public edition of Hill's collection. This edition also contains the short story "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead," which was not previously published in the UK edition. Also in October, Apple Inc.'s USA iTunes Store released audiobook versions of the stories in this edition, at US$0.95 per short story, through 29 October.
Released in October 2005, this short story collection was released in a limited edition format only. The three formats available before publication were:
| Title | Originally published in… | Available in… |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction (by Christopher Golden) | not applicable | All editions |
| "Best New Horror" | Postscripts no. 3 (2005) | All editions |
| "20th Century Ghost" | The High Plains Literary Review final issue (2002) | All editions |
| "Pop Art" | With Signs & Wonders (2001) | All editions |
| "You Will Hear The Locust Sing" | The Third Alternative no. 37 (2004) | All editions |
| "Abraham's Boys" | The Many Faces of Van Helsing (2004) | All editions |
| "Better Than Home" | Better Than Home (chapbook, 1999) | All editions |
| "The Black Phone" | The Third Alternative no. 39 (2004) | All editions |
| "In The Rundown" | Crimewave no. 8 (2005) | All editions |
| "The Cape" | Previously unpublished | All editions |
| "Last Breath" | Subterranean Magazine no. 2 (2005) | All editions |
| "Dead-Wood" | Subterranean Press February online newsletter (2005) | All editions |
| "The Widow's Breakfast" | The Clackamas Literary Review spring/summer issue (2002) | All editions |
| "My Father's Mask" | Previously unpublished | All editions |
| "Voluntary Committal" | Voluntary Committal (chapbook, 2005) | All editions |
| "Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead" | Postscripts no. 5 (2005) | U.S. print and audio book editions |
| "The Saved" | The Clackamas Literary Review spring/summer issue (2001) | U.K. slipcased edition |
| "The Black Phone: The Missing Chapter" | Previously unpublished | U.K. slipcased edition |
| Story Notes (by the author) | not applicable | U.K. slipcased edition |
| "Scheherazade's Typewriter" | Previously unpublished | All editions ("hidden" in the Acknowledgements) |
The plot concerns Eddie Carrol, a man who is responsible for an anthology entitled America's Best New Horror. As part of his job he must look over many stories and has become jaded by the process. However, when he reads a story entitled "Buttonboy" by Peter Kilrue he feels his passion for his work growing once again. The story mostly concerns his search for the elusive Kilrue in an attempt to procure his story for the anthology.
20th Century Ghost concerns the Rosebud Theatre in which the spirit of a young girl talks to various moviegoers. She has been posthumously frequenting the cinema after she died during a screening of The Wizard of Oz. The story also focuses on Alec Sheldon, the theatre owner, and how he comes to terms with his nearing mortality and how the Rosebud will fare after his retirement.
This story was originally published in 2001 in an anthology titled With Signs & Wonders, published by Invisible Cities Press. In 2007, Subterranean Press produced a limited edition chapbook of Pop Art limited to 150 numbered copies and 52 lettered copies. These books were only available through the publishers website.
"Pop Art"'s plot is about a young boy who has a hard time in life, because he is inflatable. Christopher Golden called it one of the best short stories in years.
The story of a boy who wakes up one morning to find that he has become a giant insect.
A father tries to teach his sons about vampires, which he believes live among us.
Story about a troubled boy whose father manages a baseball team.
13 year old John Finney is kidnapped by a man named Al. Trapped in a basement room, the boy's only hope may lie in a mysterious black phone hanging on the basement wall. The phone rings at night with the whispers of the other dead victims.
A video store clerk comes upon a grisly scene on a weedy dirt lane.
7 year old Eric learns that he can fly (well, sort of) while wearing his blue cape. After suffering a terrible injury he thinks the cape is lost, only to find the cape again years later.
The story concerns Dr. Allinger, an old man who runs a "Museum of Silence" which contains the last breaths of various people, some being famous figures such as Edgar Allan Poe.
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