We Read Stuff discussion

Discussion thread for Strange Weather by Joe Hill. Spoilers are allowed.

A collection of four chilling novels, ingeniously wrought gems of terror from the brilliantly imaginative, Joe Hill

Snapshot is the disturbing story of a Silicon Valley adolescent who finds himself threatened by “The Phoenician,” a tattooed thug who possesses a Polaroid Instant Camera that erases memories, snap by snap.

A young man takes to the skies to experience his first parachute jump. . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly solid cloud, a Prospero’s island of roiling vapor that seems animated by a mind of its own in Aloft.

On a seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open up in a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. Rain explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads out across the country and around the world.

In Loaded, a mall security guard in a coastal Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and embark on one last day of reckoning.

Picked up my copy yesterday. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I can get to it, but I'm excited about this one. I've really enjoyed other books by Hill.

Just received this, I'm looking forward to it. I haven't read Hill before.

I started this today and I am so far really enjoying it. After reading Nos4a2 i’m excited to see what else hill has to offer.

I finished the first novel and I liked the beginning more than the ending. The ending felt a little bit too much like his dad’s work. I did like the Lovecraftian elements though. The whole idea of this malevolent intelligence urging the creation of computers.

D wrote: "I finished the first novel and I liked the beginning more than the ending. The ending felt a little bit too much like his dad’s work. I did like the Lovecraftian elements though. The whole idea of ..."

I thought the same thing about the final book D. I've actually been wondering if I would have made the same connection had I not known that SK was his father. The book was pretty good overall though. Snapshot was my favorite overall though. Don't some religions believe that (view spoiler)[ the camera steals the soul when you take someone's picture? (hide spoiler)] I wonder if this was the inspiration of this story. Loaded reminded me of Rage. I couldn't get it out of my head through the entire story. Aloft was more of a sci fi tale than horror in my view, but I enjoyed how imaginative it was.

I think there are a few different religions that have beliefs about photographs though most of them are more concerned with Soul stealing or idolatry than with the loss of memories. I think the obvious parallel or inspiration is Alzheimer’s but I’m not sure exactly how that fits in with the story.
“Aloft” is probably the story I liked least of the whole collection though I still thought it was pretty good. It definitely had a more sci-fi/character study feel than the other three. But I wonder if I were someone who had a fear of heights whether I’d have been more disturbed reading it.
“Loaded” and “rain” we’re about tied for the position of my two favorite stories. I also noticed that they were the most political in the collection. That probably says more about me than it does about the stories them selves. And they both had some similarities to his dad’s work but I felt like they were different enough that the similarities didn’t bother me.

I hadn't read Hill before & based on this I wouldn't again. I was looking forward to some good old horror & this was not it. In my opinion 2 of the stories (Aloft & Rain) were more science fiction & the other 2 (Snapshot & Loaded) were just short stories. I enjoyed Snapshot the most as I felt it at least had a spooky element. Loaded just felt more like a commentary on gun law (I get that & I also get how the situations played out in the novella are horrific but are not "horror"). Perhaps I have different expectations from a horror novel than other people.
The writing was only OK & it was something to pass the time but I wouldn't recommend it.

Kirstie- I’ve read a few of Hill’s books, and the only one that I think falls into the category of horror is NOS4A2. If you’re not totally put off by this one I think that one might be up your alley.

Thank you Erin, I shall put it on the list & give him another try :)

Overall a good collection of four novellas that fit the theme of strange weather with varying ability. Snapshot was a short and tidy metaphor for fearing death and dementia. Loaded was a necessarily-harsh look at the US's obsession with gun control and mass tragedy. Rain was possibly my favorite and terrifyingly too realistic (especially in our current political climate). I confess I didn't like Aloft all that much and even ended up skipping a minute or two to get through it.

Overall, it was a good collection that reminds us how terrible the world is right now.