Heart Shaped Box

A horror novel by Joe Hill

Semi-retired rockstar Judas Coyne likes to compliment his dark and edgy persona with a collection of strange and macabre items, most donated by his fans. These include things like a witch's confession, a used hangman's noose, and a genuine Snuff Film (which he only saw once, then locked away forever). One day, he is sent an email directing his attention to the online auction of a dead man's suit, evidently still haunted by the dead man's ghost.

Jude doesn't even think twice before buying it.

Soon enough, the suit is delivered to his place in a heart-shaped box. And what do you know... the ghost reveals himself to be real! Except the dead man, Craddock McDermott, a hypnotist and occultist in life, doesn't like Jude one bit. It turns out Jude unknowingly has a connection with the dead man, and the real ghosts of his past are about to come back with a vengence.

Heart Shaped Box provides examples of:

 * Abusive Parents
 * Black Eyes of Evil: Craddock has sinister black shapes covering his eyes, looking like someone marked them out with a pencil.
 * Collector of the Strange
 * Complete Monster: It doesn't take long to realize this totally describes Craddock, even while he was still alive.
 * Cool Car
 * Dead Little Sister:
 * Subverted in that
 * Deep South: Birthplace of most of the characters, and the location of most of Jude and Georgia's haunted road trip pursued by Craddock.
 * Distracted From Death:
 * Do Not Adjust Your Set: One of Craddock's favorite methods of communication, talking through televisions, radios, an electrolarynx, etc.
 * Driven to Suicide
 * EBay: Jude buys the dead man's suit from a knockoff site.
 * Evil-Detecting Dog: Jude's two dogs, Angus and Bon, can detect Craddock's presence, and protect him and Georgia for most of the story.
 * Fingore: A recurring motif, starting when Jude's abusive father broke his fingers.
 * Ghostly Goals: Type B.
 * Hell Is That Noise
 * Jerkass: Jude, especially towards Georgia.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He gets better
 * Magic Music
 * The Nicknamer: Jude nicknames all of his girlfriends after their state of origin. He briefly freaks out when it's revealed that Georgia's grandmother's nickname, Bammy, is short for "Alabama".
 * Our Ghosts Are Different
 * Secret Keeper: Jude kept the secret about one of his bandmate's homosexuality well after the latter's death.
 * Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll: Jude is a veteran rocker, but hasn't actually played with his band in a long time.
 * Shout-Out: Lots of shout outs to Rock and Roll, including the title.
 * Sociopathic Soldier: A vision of the past reveals Craddock to have been one, using his powers to fuck with a POW's head.
 * Stage Name: Judas Coyne. His real name is Justin.
 * Uncanny Valley
 * Uncanny Valley