Six oddball but brave kids confront the trail of a vast and dreadful paranormal evil that has entered our world from the deepest abyss of shadow. They must spend their lifetimes fighting it, enduring horror after horror in the ordeal.
This describes the premise, in essence, of Stephen King’s novel It (his best; no arguments). It is also the plot of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest horror doorstopper, in which six friends invoke the age-old, utterly malevolent dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to assist them in vanquishing some baddies. Unsurprisingly, their otherworldly invocation backfires.
Joe Hill launched his profession going to great lengths to distance himself from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he maintains to this day and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his dad). Yet with this recent release, he embraces it. Certain passages that deliberately echo some of King’s most famous (that classic opening line); a moment that recalls a recurring theme in King’s works (a riddling contest). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.
Returning to the group: five of them are pupils at the made-up the esteemed institution in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, studious and intelligent, cracking Old English riddles in his leisure hours; Colin, affluent, clever, and known for crushing those who oppose him; the twin siblings; the attractive the lovely Allie. Additionally, Gwen appears, who isn’t their classmate, but becomes a key part of their band as they experiment, somewhat credulous, somewhat doubtful, in supernatural practices.
Our hero becomes, as a result of external pressures, compelled to pilfer prized manuscripts from his cherished academic collection by a bunch of local criminals. This wounds his academic spirit, notably because he’s made to take the collection’s foremost and unsettling title: the diary of practitioner Enoch Crane (condemned “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). Our Scooby gang examine the log, learn they can invoke what Crane describes as a armoured devil” to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will certainly eliminate those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim annually or become his victim themselves. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is more dragons.”
Moving through four decades, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the allies attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to offer up, or searching for methods to kill the dragon themselves, we transition from page-turner to grim fantasy, covert operations to love story to fright. A standout transition was to a quest story, within the subterranean depths under the English county, a section tinged by JRR Tolkien that was wonderfully frightening.
We encounter trolls – those living under bridges and internet antagonists, truly terrifying and superbly depicted. The story includes mystic weapons and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of courage and instances of appalling malevolence, both earthly and supernatural. It’s a tour de force: a frightening tale that is primarily a tribute to the imagination, and to devotion and companionship. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says the wealthy student as the friends gather at the table, preparing to summon their dragon into existence with the strength of their collective will.
According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.
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