This book has been out for a number of years now, and has been praised and heralded by better folks using finer words than I shall here, but I felt the desire to share my thoughts on it as well because it's just so damn good.Horns, the author's second novel, was the first of Joe Hill's works that I read, and while I wasn't in love with it, it was still intriguing, entertaining, and had hints of a promising writer. From about ten pages into Heart-Shaped Box, I already knew that I was in for a treat much more in line with my taste.The story follow Judas Coyne, or Jude, a once hugely-successful songwriter and vocalist for a heavy rock band, now retired and keeping himself occupied with an eclectic personal collection of macabre and bizarre relics. This collection includes, among other things, a three hundred year old hand-written confession by a practicing witch, a human-skull with a hole in the cranium, a worn and bristly nineteenth century noose, and a drawing of the seven dwarfs done by John Wayne Gacy Jr. Items that are more than novelty or cute pieces of comic book horror, but rather dark and twisted artifacts that were once tied to suffering and death in very real ways.Early on in the story, Coyne's personal assistant, Danny Wooten, receives an email addressed directly to Jude offering to sell him a dead man's suit, complete with the restless soul that still haunts whoever owns the suit. Though Jude rarely receives private offers such as this, he can't help but be intrigued, and ends up buying the old-fashioned black suit, which later comes delivered in a heart-shaped box. From the moment Jude's girlfriend, Georgia, opens the box and removes the carefully folded suit, a tiny piece of hell breaks loose into Jude's home and life. Jude buys the suit in the first chapter and receives it in the second, so things move quickly right off the bat and continue to be fast-moving for the majority of the novel. The chapters are short and snappy, often with new horrors in each.What Jude had thought was merely a practical joke or scare-tactic to impress some weirdo (like himself) to buy what was really just a worthless black suit turns into a relentless and disturbing haunting from the demonic shadow of an old man; a real and sinister ghost. The old man's ghostly form is described as grotesque and rotting, with horrible teeth and black, ever-pulsing scribbles over his eyes like a photograph that has been scratched over with a ballpoint pen. The old man's spirit seems to have some power to cause dread or temporary madness to wash over whomever he chooses, and Jude witnesses him using this power both on Georgia and (more severely) on Danny Wooten. While the ghost cannot physically interact with Jude, he can speak and manipulate objects, and insists on making Jude's life such a constant hell that Coyne will destroy himself for want of relief. A good deal more happens when Jude and Georgia go on the road in an attempt to flee the ghost's presence, but I'll end my summary of the plot here so as not to ruin some of the more exciting moments and twists.Suffice it to say that this book is just crammed-full of original, creepy fun. Joe Hill is able to deliver authentically scary material over and again throughout the story, which is quite a feat in this day and age where, it seems, nothing is shocking and everything is overdone. This book has a pleasantly nostalgic quality, like it is giving nods to an older brand of straight-forward, campier horror, and yet it has no trace of corny-ness or over-the-top absurdity. In Heart-Shaped Box, Hill sets out to give you chills before bedtime, and damn if it he doesn't actually pull it off!The writing style feels fresh and excited, young even, like that of a new writer, and Hill essentially was at the time. The plot and choice of words are simple, nothing extremely poetic going on here, and yet there are a number of very lovely and profound passages of intense human observation that pop up. They give you the sense that while this isn't exactly a lofty piece of high-class literature (which is fine, that isn't the point), Hill is still an author who pays attention and can articulate beautiful or difficult moments about life. And what makes horror more scary than when you really start to bond with the victim as a character?I would highly recommend this to anyone with an appreciation for a good old fashioned horror story, and it's also a great practical place to start in Hill's bibliography. It will give you a good taste of what he's capable of, and at least in my case, will make you hungry for more.