Friday, January 14, 2011

Locke and Key - Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill

I would not have even thought of this book had I not read American Vampire (which I just realized did not make it on my list of books read - must fix that). In his introduction, Stephen King notes that he used this series to help him figure out how to write a graphic novel.
Joe Hill is an amazing writer and I think I would like anything he has written. I loved Heart Shaped Box and found myself disappointed when there was nothing else of his to read. I remembered him reading Stephen King's notes and went to the library to find they had this book (and another which is patiently waiting to be read). For those who don't know, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. Joe opted to use his mother's maiden name to develop his own following instead of hanging on his dad's coat tails. He was still promoted as Stephen King's son (I actually discovered Heart Shaped Box through Stephen King's essays).
This story is wonderfully woven but I am sad to say it's not complete and I hope the next one comes out soon.
The book follows a woman and her children as they return to her husband's family home after he is brutely murdered. The youngest discovers a door where you die and become a ghost going through it and an "echo" in the wellhouse. The echo is not what it seems and I am afraid to say may be responsible for all the horrible things the family goes through. The book spends a lot of time setting up the scene which is one of the disappointing things about serial graphic novels. The house is amazing and this is one story I would love to see on the big screen just because the house is so much a part of the story.

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