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Six unlikely but resilient kids encounter the way of a immense and fearsome paranormal malevolence that has invaded our world from the deepest abyss of darkness. They are compelled to spend their lifetimes battling it, experiencing terror upon terror in the struggle.

A Resonant Premise with a Fresh Approach

This describes the premise, roughly, of the master of horror’s iconic book It (his best; undeniable). It is also the plot of King’s son Joseph Hillstrom King’s recent massive horror novel, in which six friends summon the age-old, infinitely malicious dragon the Sorrowful Monarch from the Long Dark to help them defeat some baddies. Needless to say, their arcane ceremony has unintended consequences.

Celebrating a Authorial Heritage

The author started his career going to great lengths to avoid any connection from his renowned parent, using the pseudonym he continues to employ and steering clear of encounters with his agent (he exhibits a striking resemblance to his father). But in this latest novel, he leans into it. Several quotes that intentionally mirror some of the senior author’s well-known (that classic opening line); a scene that evokes a recurring theme in King’s works (a battle of wits). Throughout this massive book, Joe Hill takes pleasure in his family connection, and the audience revels alongside.

Meet the Main Characters

Back to those friends: five of them are pupils at the made-up Rackham College in Maine. There’s Arthur, bookish and brilliant, cracking ancient puzzles in his free moments; the character Colin, wealthy, sharp, and known for crushing obstacles in his path; twins Donna and Donovan; the stunning Allie. Then we have Gwen, who remains outside their academic circle, but emerges as crucial of their group as they experiment, partly convinced, partly skeptical, in the occult.

The Pivotal Summoning

The protagonist finds himself, due to circumstances beyond his control, forced into stealing prized manuscripts from his beloved college library by a set of regional villains. This tears at his bookish heart, especially when he’s made to take the library’s most valuable and disturbing work: the journal of occultist Enoch Crane (put to death “for trafficking with the devyll in 1703”; the book’s jacket is crafted from his flesh). These young investigators peruse the diary, realize they are able to call forth what the author references as a armoured devil” to aid our hero with his blackmail problem – and devote the remaining story reaping the consequences. The dragon will undoubtedly remove those problematic neighborhood criminals, but they must select a different victim each year or succumb to the dragon’s wrath. As Arthur later puts it: “You invoke terrible forces, all you get is further monstrosities.”

Genre Dexterity and Inventive Breadth

Spanning forty years, Hill also moves with natural fluency between genres: as the friends attempt to deal with the situation they find themselves in by, variously, selecting clearly malevolent individuals to sacrifice, or hunting down ways to destroy the entity themselves, we go from page-turner to shadowy tale, covert operations to romance to terror. My favorite genre switch was to a heroic journey, far beneath the surface below Cornwall, a segment tinged by JRR Tolkien that was gloriously terrifying.

A Rich Tapestry of Horror and Optimism

We encounter trolls – bridge-dwelling ones and internet antagonists, genuinely frightening and perfectly brought to life. We see enchanted blades and treacheries, heart-stopping scenes of bravery and ones of appalling malevolence, both earthly and extraterrestrial. It stands as a masterpiece: a chilling book that is primarily a paean to the human inventiveness, and to devotion and companionship. “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 assemble around a surface, making preparations to call forth their serpent into being with the force of their minds.

As Hill puts it in his epigraph: “This is dragon territory”. Ensure you experience it.