Strange Weather: Four Novellas

Strange Weather, the latest offering from Joe Hill, is four books in one! Collected here are four novellas, united by the theme of weather (sometimes strongly, other times more subtly), with the stories running the gamut of apocalyptic rain to raging wildfires.

Hill hits the ground running with Snapshot, an eerie little coming-of-age tale revolving around a supernatural Polaroid camera. I was worried at first that this would be Hill riffing again on his father, Stephen King, who wrote his own supernatural camera story way back when with The Sun Dog, but Hill gets off a good one here and does his own thing. The result is pretty fantastic, with some solid meditations on aging and the fear of our own personal futures. There's a great deal of emotional resonance to this one, and Hill pulled pretty hard on my heartstrings. Not quite a tear-jerker, but it got pretty dang close.

Loaded is unapologetically political, and frankly I don't think it would work any other way. This story tackles America's favorite obsession, our one true golden idol - guns, guns, guns! Sensitive readers who decry having politics in their fiction will be clutching their pearls in white-knuckled fists hard enough to make diamonds when they lay their eyes on this one! This here story is a ripped from the headlines of Everywhere, USA horror revolving around racism and gun violence. I have no problem with political stories, and I agree with the majority of what Hill has to say here. What bugged me, though, is that it took a really, really, really long time for this novella to start going places. At first it felt more like a series of short stories united by a common element, as Hill introduces a number of characters over the course of several chapters (one who disappears for a good long while) before showing us how it all comes together. I was a bit frustrated, initially, but once the various threads started coming together, I found this to be a pretty decent work overall, and I now find myself wanting to see Hill play around a bit more in the crime genre.

Aloft has some cool character development and relationships, and although the situation Aubrey finds himself in during a parachute jump gone awry is certainly interesting, I just wasn't able to suspend my disbelief deeply enough for this one to gel with me. Even at novella length, it seemed to carry on longer than needed, or at least longer than my interest could stay vested, and I found myself itching to get off this ride way too soon.

By the time I was about half-way through Aloft, I was ready to chalk up this book as a loss. What had started out strong was quickly devolving, and I'd gone from a really strong opening, to an OK crime story, to finally just wanting to be done with this thing. And then I hit upon Rain, the final story in this sequence, and holy crap.

Hill admits to spoofing himself and his doorstopper of a book, The Fireman, with Rain, and while I enjoyed the former title quite a lot, this one is better. It's shorter, leaner, and our central character goes places. It's nicely apocalyptic and strange, and Hill gets in a few solid pot-shots at Donald Trump (which are both highly appreciated and slightly amusing, but also too f'ing accurate...). So yeah, I dug the heck out of this one.

Although the middle portion of the book fatigued me, Strange Weather is ultimately redeemed by its strong opening and an even better finish. If either Snapshot or Rain had been released as solo stories, each would have been an easy five star for me. Taken a whole, though, this is a pretty solid three-star collection for me and I'll be happily adding my signed pre-order to the shelves alongside Hill's other works once it arrives in October.

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss.]

Here’s the really scary thing about Strange Weather - within 4 or 5 books or so, Joe Hill has reached the heights of storytelling genius of this father. He probably hates being compared to his father, but as one one of the reviewers here says, he’s Stephen King’s Doppelganger. For me, that’s the best thing on earth. Joe Hill does the expansive, brilliant, crystal clear storytelling that Stephen King did until roundabout 2000, he has those unique, fresh, unexpected ideas. Everything supernatural is a metaphor for something that bothers mankind. Every story is a world to itself, every character someone you know or someone you are. As someone who’s seen what Alzheimer’s does up close and personal, Snapshot just floored me. It’s what Daddy did in Insomnia - using the supernatural to explore the all too human. I promise, I will stop the comparison here because Joe Hill has come into his own.

This collection of short novels - don’t be fooled, it’s not short stories - is the pinnacle of what Joe Hill has done so far, and I said the same about Nos4A2 and Fireman. This guy is growing and growing, and he was better than most authors 2 books ago.

That said, get the book, start reading - and welcome home.

I hate writing reviews because really, you don’t know me so why do you care about my opinion? Read it for yourself and form your own opinion.
But in the unlikely event you’re on the fence about this book & a rating percentage will sway you, the original stories are worth your money and time. Even if you don’t agree with Hill’s “politics” you can still enjoy his imagination and voice. I loved this book even more than Heart-Shaped Box, 20th Century Ghosts, & The Fireman. Can’t wait to read everything else Hill has written.

I hate writing reviews because really, you don’t know me so why do you care about my opinion? Read it for yourself and form your own opinion.
But in the unlikely event you’re on the fence about this book & a rating percentage will sway you, the original stories are worth your money and time. Even if you don’t agree with Hill’s “politics” you can still enjoy his imagination and voice. I loved this book even more than Heart-Shaped Box, 20th Century Ghosts, & The Fireman. Can’t wait to read everything else Hill has written.

This is a collection of four short novels (very similar to the type his dad is known for.) my favorite (mostly) was Loaded, dealing loosely with our trigger-happy society. Rain, is a darker version of bartholomew and the oobleck, but in this case, what falls from the sky can kill you. Snapshot is about a special camera that takes memories instead of preserving them. Aloft was my least favorite-about a sky-diving excursion gone wrong.

Joe has a gift for characterization. All of the people in the stories felt fully fleshed out, like someone you knew well already. While the stories often veer into horrible situations, there is little gratuitous violence or gore, and the most terrifying parts are often the everyday horrors—bullies, domestic violence, extreme weather.

I’ve read several books now by this author and look forward to reading more.

I thought the first three stories were overwritten and under interesting. The saving grace and reason it got the third
star was the final story, Rain. Loved it. Vintage King family journey into an America under siege. Good lead character and
good scenes. I do have to add I will be leery of any Hill reading in the future since I see a trend to make political opinions less and less subtle and more and more in the forefront of every story. I could care less who or what he takes shots at, I just find it distracting and a bore.

Definitely entertaining, but I was really hoping for some of the incredible depth and brilliance of Twentieth Century Ghosts. The first story had an interesting premise but seemed to meander off and never really explain itself. The second was an incredibly poignant look at race and gun control, but he ruined it by ending it with a terrible last line that was like a bad, bad and tasteless joke. It actually made me angry and ruined the entire thing. The third story was fun, much like his father's works, nothing to write home about. The final story had such amazing potential, but it read like a rough draft. The protagonist just seemed very stiff and fake, and how she reacted to certain scenes was very unrealistic.

Snapshot - beautifully written with an engaging narrator both in the book and for the audiobook. I quickly fell in love with this story.

Loaded - for me, this story felt like turning on the news to a shooting. I don't like that, but understand where the author was coming from, I think.

Aloft - an intriguing story about love, lost friendship, and facing your fears.

Rain - You truly feel for the main character if you have any sympathy for humanity. I adore this story and how the words flow and the characters grow.

This book is truly made of some Strange Weather. And I love it!

Four novellas. I liked 3 of 4. “Aloft”, I thought, was not good at all.

At any rate, this could easily be given 4 stars. Unfortunately, two stories in particular, “Loaded” and “Rain” are peppered throughout with Mr. Hill’s political views. “Rain” includes a gay relationship, which I cannot imagine anyone having an issue with. Mr. Hill does not have an issue with the gay relationship, nor should he. It’s the liberal vs. conservative political slant, in which his biased views clearly come across. That just doesn't cut it at all. Write a book on based your plot; don't use it as your political platform.
I really don’t care which side of the political spectrum one finds himself on, I don’t want to hear the author’s or any other celebrities’ views.

I’ll pay for a book or movie for the plot, writing, or acting abilities. I do not wish anyone’s views crammed down anyone’s throat.

Joe Hill has outsmarted himself here. With what is clearly a 4 star rating gets a 2 from me due to his attitude of using his notoriety as a political platform.

Four stories that don't slow down. Short and fierce. Can't decide which of the four I like the best. I won't issue spoilers save to say that one story ended with a harsh shock that really caught me off guard.

Have fun with with one.

Fantastic book of short stories by the King's son Joe!! As is often the case with SK, each novella grabbed me from page one and didn't let go until well after each story was done. Joe Hill is truly a chip off the old block. I anticipate his books with as much enthusiasm as SK, John Grisham, Neil Gaimen, and Greg Iles. Awesome read!

Have loved EVERY thing that JH has written until this book. We are all different. I read to escape. Unlike his other pieces, this book is sufficiently peppered enough with both insidious and direct current politics that I simply can't finish it.
No matter which alliance one has, inserting their political opinions into good writing is like slipping a laxative into a brownie.
If I wanted to escape into politics and opinions, I'd watch world news.
Goodbye Joe.
It was good while it lasted.

I guess the stories were well-written? They simply weren't engaging; frankly, they were boring. I found myself skipping paragraphs, and checking the percentage on my Kindle to see how much I had left to read.

This past weekend I attended the West Virginia Book Festival. It is a multiday event in Charleston that features multiple authors, preferably those local in subject or origin, but the festival also brings in many national figures. One of the main reasons for my drive down was to meet Joe Hill, the oldest son of Stephen King’s children. It didn’t hurt he has a new book out, Strange Weather, and would be signing copies after his talk. He proved to be an incredibly funny, if occasionally ribald, speaker who acknowledged the influence of his father, but also made clear his desire to stake out his own place in the artistic world, hence the pseudonym. The four novellas are each approximately one hundred pages, give or take twenty pages, and while each involves a horror element, Mr. Hill expertly shows the worst monsters are oftentimes our fellow human beings.

The first story, “Snapshot,” deals with an overweight, socially awkward thirteen-year-old named Michael Figlione. Living in California during the late-1980s, Michael’s biggest concerns are avoiding being bullied at school and the prolonged absences of his anthropologist mother from his household. When an elderly neighbor shows up in his driveway, however, he soon develops a much bigger problem. Appearing confused and forgetful, Michael at first suspects his neighbor is beginning to suffer from dementia. She warns him of a figure called the Polaroid Man who steals away a person’s memories whenever he takes their picture. Michael soon meets this heavily tattooed, creepy figure (who Michael takes to calling the Phoenician) and, after a gas station mishap, also earns his wrath.

The second and longest story in the collection, “Loaded,” involves a mall security guard named Randall Kellaway. He applied for positions in a variety of law enforcement departments, but was always turned down, largely because of his mental instability. When he stops what appears to be a mass shooting, he is lauded as a hero, but the media slowly begins to pull apart his story and his tenuous grasp on sanity disintegrates with it. As the author acknowledged in his talk, this story carries heavy political undertones reflecting the debate on gun violence in this country. It is a subject his father famously wrote about in a 2013 essay and Hill’s story also carries some similarities to King’s now out-of-print novel Rage. While I largely enjoyed this story, the last sentence made me groan at its tackiness.

“Aloft” involves Aubrey Griffin experiencing skydiving for the first time. Like many people, he has a last minute moment of panic, but ultimately still jumps. Unlike most people who parachute softly or land with a thud, however, he ends up stranded on a cloud. This cloud is somewhat sentient and provides whatever he needs (e.g. food, bed, romantic companionship). He reflects back on his life and relationship with a bandmate named Harriet and all the things that led him to the moment of the jump. He also makes a discovery that he is not the first individual to end up in this predicament and the cloud is unwilling to let people leave without a fight.

The final story in the collection, “Rain,” presents the petrifying prospect of rain being a regular occurrence, but instead of water, the sky releases nails. Anyone who has ever had a raindrop land in their eye can cringe at the thought. The first time it happens in the story, many people are caught outside and end up resembling porcupines. There is no ability to predict when it will rain next and the disaster repeats itself. Slowly the deadly rain spreads out from Boulder, Colorado to the rest of the United States and then world. By the end of the story, it is revealed who perpetuated the chaos, but it remains unclear what will become of humanity’s future.

On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Hill has also made a career working in comic books and each story is bookended by drawings similar in style to his other work, which are an added bonus. Although I have not read as much of Hill’s work as that of his father, it is clear their strongest pieces are in short fiction. Hill has a tendency to occasionally use slang and item descriptions that clearly mark the era of his works, and I am curious to see how well this book will age in future decades. Sometimes Hill’s humor is juvenile, but that is part of what makes this book fun. My one regret is I do wish the characters had stronger development of their personalities. The one exception to this is the protagonist in “Aloft,” but that is unsurprising because he spends most of the story alone. While this work will never enter the pantheon of world literature, each story is a great way to kill two hours and they can be read in any order. Joe Hill aimed to earn his own place of honor in the literary world and this collection proves his merit.

Some fun ideas but the stories are mostly overstuffed. Many horror cliches are present (e.g., nutty religious people). Suffused with lefty tropes and smugness ( virtuous lesbian, evil white male; etc.). Too bad author was so self indulgent, had the makings of a good collection.

Snapshot is the first story and it’s narrated by Will Wheaton who does a most excellent job.

Set in the 80’s, Strange Weather is the story of a 13 year old boy and his run in with a man he calls “The Phoenician”. The Phoenician is the villain of the tale. He’s ugly, vaguely imposing and possesses a camera that steals memories.

It’s also a story about aging, and about caring for those who once cared for you. It has some misty eyed moments and just a wee bit of eeriness. It lags pretty badly towards the end though and left me feeling gloomy.

Loaded is narrated by Stephen Lang who is deadly serious for a deadly serious story.

This dark tale is about guns, hate, prejudice, revenge and the media. I’m going to admit that there are many days that I have to turn off the news because I can’t take in any more of the unending ugliness occurring in the US right now (as I write this there has just been another senseless school shooting that is barely getting any media coverage). This is a story I never would have chosen to spend my free time reading had I known more before going in. I read to escape this true life horror. This story introduces a group of mostly loathsome people who come together in a climax of bloodshed at a shopping mall, taking out a few innocents along the way. In the aftermath, it turns into a story of the stupidity of hero worship and the suspicious reporter who smells something fishy. Though well written, it wasn’t my favorite and I would never read it again.

Aloft is narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris and just like the previous two narrators, he nails it.

Things go awry for a young man with an extreme fear of heights when he attempts to skydive to fulfill a wish made to a deceased friend and he ends up stranded on a cloud. This story is super imaginative but it also wasn’t my favorite. Something about Aubrey just grated on my last nerve. I don’t know if it was his fearfulness and gaseous emissions in the beginning, his never-ending pining away for a girl who was so not into him or just his personality. At any rate, it was a struggle and it shouldn’t have been. I found his thoughts boring and all we get are his thoughts. Sorry, I’m a jerk. I know this. If you’re going to throw anything my way, make sure it’s a horror book.

Rain is the final story and, if you ask me, the best in the collection. It is read by Kate Mulgrew who is one of my most favorite of all the narrators in all of the lands.

So many people seem to loath this story and find it ridiculous (and yeah maybe it is that) but I thought it was heartbreaking and sarcastically funny and Honeysuckle was a character I loved spending time with (unlike that Aubrey fellow) which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. She’s tough and resilient as a spiky rain falls from the sky and reigns terrors on those caught up in it.

I have to say, with the exception of Rain, I found this collection a wee bit unsatisfying.

Strange Weather by Joe Hill is a collection of four, short, horror novels with little to do with the actual weather and more to do with innate fears erupting from monsters found in everyday life. Weather seems to symbolize the over-arching theme of our worst enemy (self) which ties the four seemingly different novels together. Our inner thoughts (fears and beliefs) are the catalyst to the kind of weather we have to endure. Just like the weather (a snowy day is opposite of one that is sunny) these stories are different at first glance, but if you dig deeper, and I think Hill did, you discover real monsters are created out of our own paranoia and fear. And it is here, we should be afraid.
In the first story, Snapshot, the fear of memory loss and growing older plagues us in diseases -Alzheimer. This fear is embodied in a creepy guy called the Phoenician.
“But he was feverishly ugly, his chin sunk most of the way back into his long neck, his cheeks corroded with old acne scars.”
“Don’t let him take a picture of you. Don’t let him start taking things away.”
I can’t think of a scarier way to lose my memory, but to a guy that looks like the Phoenician and steals memories with a click of a camera. And the Phoenician’s descriptive doesn’t stop with his physical appearance, it infiltrates his voice, actions and mean, heartless words he often spits out at every one he encounters, especially the narrator, a young boy named Michael, a good kid who wants to do the ‘right’ thing. The story follows a straight forward almost predictable ending, so this is not what makes this story interesting. It is the motive behind the Phoenician that is interesting and it is a genuinely fun read, scary, but fun. I’m an eighties girl, so the references made me laugh out loud.
“He grinned wolfishly beneath his Tom Selleck mustache. And – look – even the Trans Am was there.”
OMG, I remember that mustache, needing charisma, and Magnum P.I. cheese stud. I became nostalgic over other Eighty fun memorabilia, G.I. Joes, Artic Blu, and the Polaroid camera. Snapshot reminded me of a shorter version of Hill’s NOS4A2, a book about good versus evil with a little digging into what we hold as humanly important and traditional. In Snapshot it would be sanity, memories intact and in NOS4A2 Christmas traditions are turned inside out distorting the complimentary reds and greens to greys, and poop brown, turning vile and freakishly horrific. Both stories make you afraid pulling at your inner fear and paranoia.
The second story, Loaded, focuses on our fear of guns, and our need to embrace them out of fear. Sure, there seems to be some politics from Hill here, but not in way that bothered me. The story pointed at not the gun, but the monster behind the trigger. The ending is worth the read on this one, and I couldn’t see it taking another direction considering the foreshadowing that lead up to it.
The third story, Aloft, strange indeed, about a man getting hijacked by a cloud while parachuting from a plane. Aubrey, the man kidnapped, is afraid of heights, but this is not the larger fear at work in this story. Are we not afraid of floating through life, as if on a cloud, and then later waking up knowing we never parted our hair differently or ate the peach life presented to us. Are we afraid of wasting so much time, there will be no time? Are we afraid of leaping off our cloud-like home and reaching a bigger potential within ourselves? This story may have taught me to be less afraid after reading it.
The last story, Rain, was the results of fear and loss. Loss was the reason for the killer rain, and fear augmented it. Once the killer rain fell, everyone began to theorize without fact and solely based on inner fear, inevitably causing a war among men. The ending came as unexpected until right before it was revealed. I like being surprised. Characterization was interesting. Honeysuckle Speck was completely flushed out in a short span of time with lines like the ones below, and heck, I just liked her.
“One look at the strappy white muscle shirt and the trucker haircut and you’d spot me for a bull dyke.”
Honeysuckle was true to her name, after wearing her sexuality out with big chunks of love for her lover Yolanda, the sweet smell of honeysuckles was left revealing real reasons to love, an invisible force that moved Honeysuckle on her journey to live, despite the grim circumstances the rain had left the world in. Rain could have easily been my favorite of the four stories, but I felt it needed to be a novel. The end, although complete, needed more flushing out. For example, the character of Ursula needed more background to play the key role she did. It was way too interesting to just be a short novel.
Strange Weather is highly recommended to those who want a good psychological scare by taking a look at reality.