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Six oddball but brave youngsters encounter the way of a vast and fearsome supernatural darkness that has invaded our realm from the deepest abyss of darkness. They must devote their lives confronting it, facing terror upon terror in the ordeal.

A Familiar Plot with a New Spin

This is the plot, broadly speaking, of the master of horror’s novel It (a standout in his career; no debate). It is also the plot of Stephen King’s offspring Joe Hill’s new horror doorstopper, in which a band of six invoke the age-old, deeply sinister dragon the Dragon King from the Abyssal Void to help them defeat some villains. Needless to say, their otherworldly invocation goes awry.

Embracing a Literary Heritage

Joe Hill launched his profession striving diligently to distance himself from his renowned parent, publishing under the pen name he maintains to this day and eschewing in-person meetings with his agent (he exhibits a uncanny likeness to his parent). However, in his newest work, he leans into it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of his father’s iconic (“The man in black fled across the desert …”); a scene that brings to mind a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). In this epic story, Hill is delighting in his heritage, and readers share in the joy.

The Cast of the Protagonists

Back to those friends: most are scholars at the made-up this academic setting in this northeastern locale. We have Arthur, academic and brilliant, deciphering Old English riddles in his free moments; Colin, rich, sharp, and inclined to bulldoze obstacles in his path; Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but assumes a vital role of their circle as they experiment, partly convinced, half not, in the occult.

The Pivotal Ritual

The protagonist finds himself, for reasons we don’t need to go into, forced into stealing valuable volumes from his cherished academic collection by a group of neighborhood thugs. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s forced to acquire the institution’s prized and unsettling title: the logbook of adept this enigmatic character (executed “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the binding is crafted from his flesh). The intrepid group read the journal, discover they could summon what the occultist details as a “proud worm to help Arthur out with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story enduring the repercussions. This ancient entity will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a new sacrifice every twelve months or fall prey to the beast. As our protagonist states: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is additional horrors.”

Stylistic Versatility and Creative Breadth

Spanning forty years, Joe Hill transitions with natural fluency between genres: as the friends attempt to deal with the circumstances they find themselves in by, variously, picking people who are obviously evil to immolate, or hunting down ways to kill the dragon themselves, we move between thriller to shadowy tale, clandestine torment to affectionate subplot to horror. One particularly memorable shift was to a heroic journey, within the subterranean depths below Cornwall, a segment tinged by the Lord of the Rings author that was wonderfully frightening.

A Detailed Tapestry of Dread and Courage

The novel features trolls – the classic variety and online ones, properly scary and superbly depicted. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, breath-taking moments of courage and instances of terrible wickedness, both earthly and otherworldly. It stands as a masterpiece: a horror novel that is chiefly a paean to the human inventiveness, and to affection and camaraderie. “We longed for a tale to embrace and {now we’ve got one|presently we possess it|currently we hold it,” says this character as the allies gather at the table, making preparations to call forth their beast into existence with the power of their thoughts.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “Hic sunt dracones”. Do not overlook this.