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  • 20th Century Ghosts

  • Written by: Joe Hill
  • Narrated by: David LeDoux
  • Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (38 ratings)

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20th Century Ghosts

Written by: Joe Hill
Narrated by: David LeDoux
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Publisher's Summary

A dazzlingly original, award-winning collection of visions and nightmares from the New York Times best-selling author of Heart-Shaped Box.

Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon on an afternoon in 1945....Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with big ideas and a gift for attracting abuse. It isn't easy to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town....Francis is unhappy. He was human once, but that was then. Now he's an eight-foot tall locust and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing....John Finney is locked in a basement that's stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead.

The past isn't dead. It isn't even past.

©2005, 2007 Joe Hill (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

What the critics say

  • Audie Award Winner, Short Stories/Collections, 2008

"Most of the stories display the unself-conscious dash that made Hill's novel an intelligent pleasure....Not just for ghost addicts." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about 20th Century Ghosts

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh.

Not wat l'd hopee for. There were a few good ones, but mostly the stories seemed incomplete. Pared down to 6 hours, l'd have given it 4 stars.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic listen

Joe Hill is right up there with Stephen King as far as I’m concerned. Some of the stories weren’t my favourite, but that’s to be expected in a collection.
Definitely worth the purchase.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Joe Hill is a master of short, varied fiction

I'm not normally into collections of short stories like this. All too often at least some of them completely fall flat for me, and undermine the book as a whole. In fact, I can't remember a single one I've read that I would recommend.... until this one.

The beauty of this book isn't even just in how good the stories are - it's in how different they are: from tales of genuine horror and suspense, as you'd expect from Hill, to ones that are heart-warming and almost silly.

Take for example, Pop Art - I won't say anything in terms of what it's about, cause discovering that is an experience in and of itself... but at first I thought he was speaking in metaphor, then I thought it was going to be some comedic romp, and by the end I was almost in tears.

I can't say it strongly enough: nobody writes short stories - especially ones of such varied tone and subject matter - as well as Joe Hill. At least, if anyone does, I haven't discovered them yet.

Whether it's listening to the audio version or reading hard copy: you really do need to read this book.

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