Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre — his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman’s noose, Aleister Crowley’s childhood chessboard, etc. — so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it.
The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker’s sanity.
Author(s): Joe Hill
First release: 2007
Shorts collection: No
Dedication: ‘For my Dad, one of the good ones’
Nomination(s): Yes
Movie: No
The book/story is published with these cover(s):
(Click image to see full cover)
US editions:
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| 0061241431 ARC Paperback William Morrow 2006 |
9780061147937 Hardcover William Morrow 2007 |
9780061944895 Paperback Harper 2009 |
Information about edition(s):
· There were #100 signed, tipped-in copies of the US ARC.
Subterranean Press limited editions:
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| 9780061237980 Hardcover Subterranean Press 2007 – |
9780061237980 Lettered Hardcover Subterranean Press 2007 – |
9780061237980 Hardcover Subterranean Press 2007 2nd print |
Information about edition(s):
· The Subterranean Press limited edition was first printed in three formats: A signed limited of #300 numbered from 201-500, a deluxe limited of #200 numbered from 1-200 and a lettered of #15 from A-O in traycase with deleted chapter, afterword & review.
· A second print from Sub Press had two formats: Limited, but not numbered, of #400 with blue endpapers and signed unnumbered of #100 with grey endpapers and deleted chapter, afterword & review.
UK editions:
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| ARC Paperback Gollancz 2006 |
9780575079120 Hardcover Gollancz 2007 |
9780752889184 S/L Hardcover Gollancz 2007 |
9780575082151 Paperback Gollancz 2007 |
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| 9780575081864 Paperback Gollancz 2008 |
9780575085428 Paperback Gollancz 2008 |
9781473223066 Hardcover Gollancz 2017 |
9781473222700 Paperback Gollancz 2017 |
Information about edition(s):
· The UK hardcover had some copies with a publisher-produced book plate on the title page, signed by Joe Hill. The first state dustjacket, initially priced at £ 9.99 contains a praise from Ramsey Campbell.
· A signed tipped-in edition with slipcased was produced by Gollancz of #1300.
· In the 10th anniversary edition hardcover and paperback is included The Tell-tale Heart: An Introduction to the 10th Anniversary Edition of Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.
Lividian Press limited edition:
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| Slipcased Hardcover Lividian Press 2022 |
Signature sheet Lividian Press 2022 |
Lettered Edition Lividian Press 2022 |
ARC Lividian Press 2021 |
Information about edition(s):
· Edition of #1750
· Contains from Joe The Lost First Chapter, Jude Confronts Global Warming, and an introduction by Joe Hill: The Tell-Tale Heart.
The story starts as follows:
Jude had a private collection.
He had framed sketches of the Seven Dwarfs on the wall of his studio, in between his platinum records. John Wayne Gacy had drawn them while he was in jail nad sent them to him. Gacy liked golden-age Disney almost as much as he liked molesting little kids; almost as much as he liked Jude’s albums.
Jude had the skull of a peasant who had been trepanned in the sixteenth century, to let the demons out. He kept a collection of pens jammed into the hole in the center of the cranium.
he had a three-hundred-year-old confession, signed by a witch. “I did spake with a black dogge who sayd hee wouldst poison cows, drive horses mad and sicken children for me if I wouldst let him have my soule, and I sayd aye, and after did give him sucke at my breast.” She was burned to death.
Other information:
· Promocard:
Nomination(s):
· Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel
· International Thriller Writers Inc award for Best First Novel
Movie:
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