Short Story of The Week #13: The Black Phone

Story Title: The Black Phone

From: 20th Century Ghosts

Author: Joe Hill

Summary

Thirteen year old, Finney, is kidnapped by The Galesburg Grabber. In his basement prison cell there is a black phone. Perhaps a call could save Finney's life.

Favorite Line

"Finney was one of the the black balloons now. There was no one to pull him back, no way to turn himself around. He was sailing away from everything he knew, into a future that stretched open before him, as vast and alien as the winter sky.

My Thoughts

I'm back. Yay! Okay on with the review. I thought since Halloween is next week I would pick a creepy story. This one was creepy alright. In a good way of course, because that's just how Joe Hill's stories are. It was definitely a surprise. I could tell from the title alone what would happen. Totally didn't see a kidnapping coming. After that there were tons of the little shocks. The way Joe Hill tied in the black telephone was awesome.

Call me weird but this story kind of made me think of the real serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Though certainly not as bad as the real thing in terms of violence and grotesque behavior. Thank goodness. Yes, I have watched one too many episodes of those true crime shows. Can I help it if I find the psychology interesting? Anyway I think I made the perfect choice for a Pre-Halloween week story. I must say The Black Phone was hard to summarize without giving the whole thing away. Actually it was hard to review without giving the whole thing away. I hope you still like the review regardless.

On a side note I did take many pictures from my dance studio's performance last weekend to show off. I actually took so many I'll have to pick just a few out of the bunch and resize them. It's so hard to choose though because some of them are so cute. See you later. Keep it shiny!