NOS4A2 is a spine-tingling novel of supernatural suspense from master of horror Joe Hill, the New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box and Horns.
Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.
Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”
Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.
Horror Book Reviews Blog: NOS4A2
I had an idea of what NOS4A2 would be about based on the title alone. Anyone familiar with the 1922 black-and-white German classic film, Nosferatu, will know what I mean. I went in blind, neglecting to read the book’s synopsis, and really had no idea what I was in for. What I did know: Joe Hill is the son of the famed, and beloved, author, Stephen King. That’s the crux of what I knew. I did, however, start to read Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box a few years ago but, for whatever reason, I never finished reading. This time, I put on my reading glasses, grabbed ahold of the 692-page beast of a book, and dove into NOS4A2.
It wasn’t long before images of “The Chauffeur“ from Burnt Offerings came to mind when the character Charlie Manx was introduced and described in NOS4A2. I’m not saying that Manx was described to resemble the chauffeur, but for some reason, that is how I imagined Manx would look like. Perhaps the character from the 1976 film served as inspiration for Joe Hill?
I’m going to say, right off the bat, contrary to popular opinion, that I was not a big fan of the novel. I can hear the jeers now. It was not the writing that turned me off as it was written well enough, with the many layers, great character development, fantastic storytelling, and the wonderful imagination of Mr. Hill. No, these aspects of the story were put together well. It was the story itself, however, that I could not wrap myself around. Or, rather, I did not take to the story at all as the premise seemed familiar enough to not capture my interest much. Sure, Hill puts his own spin but, still, the narrative did not catch my interest enough.
As mentioned previously, I went in blind without really knowing too much about the story and so I went in with the assumption of NOS4A2 being a horror narrative. While there is no doubt that there were horror elements in the story, I could not get past the strong components of fantasy of which I am not a huge fan. There was also much-appreciated humor sprinkled into the story which made me chuckle and giggle here and there. A familial aspect was at its core where our protagonist, Vic McQueen, struggles to get on with her life after surviving her encounter with Charles Manx in her youth as a teenager where she conjured the “shorter way bridge”, using her mind and supernatural ability, after a tiff with her mom only to find the famed kidnapper of children to stir the pot after being explicitly told by Maggie, another character who has supernatural powers and uses Scrabble board tiles to conjure up information, to stay away from Manx. But, Vic did not heed this warning and went off in search of him anyway, as any rebellious youth would do.
“… people made the imaginary real all the time: taking the music they heard in their head and recording it, seeing a house in their imagination and building it. Fantasy was always only a reality waiting to be switched on.”
― Joe Hill, NOS4A2
After this, her life is plagued by eerie phone calls from the children of “Christmas-land” as they torment her for reasons I will not spoil here. Now, as an adult, Vic has to be cognizant of her child’s safety, Wayne, as Manx is hell-bent on getting revenge on Vic for having escaped him. This is a prime example of what I did not expect from NOS4A2 and, while Hill’s imagination is exemplary, I did not like this turn of events – the revenge angle.
Again, Joe Hill’s writing is great as his voice is very reminiscent of his father’s, King, and even made a nod to one of his novels (Doctor Sleep) which is the exact narrative that came to mind while reading NOS4A2. It was interesting to intertwine these two universes but really did not see the need to do so.
Perhaps if the book itself were a tad bit shorter I would have enjoyed it more but, in my opinion, it ran a bit too long for me, and I was itching to reach the book’s conclusion. Still, I would recommend this book to read or even listen to by way of audiobook if you have a couple of hours (days) to spare but, be forewarned, that I am giving this a soft recommendation as it simply was not my cup of tea.