King Sorrow by Joe Hill Review – A Epic Horror Epic Is a Tour de Force

A group of six oddball but doughty kids confront the path of a vast and dreadful paranormal darkness that has invaded our world from the deepest abyss of darkness. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes fighting it, facing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

A Resonant Premise with a New Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s seminal work It (a standout in his career; no debate). It is also the plot of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s latest chilling tome, in which six friends call forth the age-old, infinitely malicious dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to aid them in overcoming some antagonists. Unsurprisingly, their supernatural ritual backfires.

Embracing a Authorial Legacy

The author launched his profession going to great lengths to distance himself from his well-known dad, adopting the nom de plume he still uses today and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he bears a uncanny likeness to his dad). But in this latest novel, he fully acknowledges it. There are lines that deliberately echo some of his father’s iconic (that classic opening line); a scene that recalls a King plot point (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Hill is delighting in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

The Cast of the Main Characters

Back to those friends: most are scholars at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. We have Arthur, studious and gifted, solving historical enigmas in his free moments; another key figure, rich, clever, and prone to trampling anyone who stands in his way; Donna and Donovan; the stunning the lovely Allie. And there’s Gwen, who doesn’t study with them, but assumes a vital role of their group as they dabble, half believing, partly skeptical, in supernatural practices.

The Pivotal Summoning

Arthur is, for reasons we don’t need to go into, obliged to take rare books from his beloved college library by a set of regional villains. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s compelled to seize the library’s most valuable and unsettling work: the journal of occultist Enoch Crane (put to death “for conspiring with dark forces in 1703”; the book’s jacket is made from his skin). Our Scooby gang peruse the diary, learn they can invoke what the occultist details as a armoured devil” to assist Arthur with his extortion dilemma – and occupy the subsequent narrative facing the fallout. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those troublesome local drug dealers, but they’ll have to choose a fresh offering annually or fall prey to the beast. In the character’s own words: “You sow dragon’s teeth, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Stylistic Versatility and Creative Breadth

Covering a generation, Hill also moves with seamless grace between genres: as the friends strive to manage the situation they find themselves in by, variously, choosing undeniably wicked targets to immolate, or seeking means to kill the dragon themselves, we go from page-turner to grim fantasy, black-ops torture to romance to fright. One particularly memorable shift was to a adventure narrative, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a part tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was magnificently horrifying.

A Detailed Canvas of Fear and Optimism

The novel features trolls – those living under bridges and internet antagonists, properly scary and expertly realized. The story includes mystic weapons and deceptions, breath-taking moments of valor and instances of appalling malevolence, both mortal and supernatural. This is a remarkable achievement: a chilling book that is chiefly a tribute to the imagination, and to affection and camaraderie. “We needed a story to believe and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the friends assemble around a surface, getting ready to invoke their serpent to life with the strength of their collective will.

According to Joe Hill in his introductory quote: “This is dragon territory”. Do not overlook this.