Joe Hill is unmasked as Stephen King’s son
Jerry Harkavy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS| Telegram & Gazette
Joe Hill knew it was only a matter of time before one of the publishing industry’s hottest little secrets became common knowledge. He just wished he could have kept it under wraps a bit longer.
But when Hill’s fantasy-tinged thriller, “Heart-Shaped Box,” came out last month, it was inevitable that his thoroughbred blood lines as a writer of horror and the supernatural would be out there for all to see.
After 10 years of writing short stories and an unpublished novel under his pen name, Hill knows that the world is now viewing him through a different prism — as the older son of Stephen King.
Hill, 34, took on his secret identity to test his writing skills and marketability without having to trade on the family name.
“I really wanted to allow myself to rise and fall on my own merits,” he said over breakfast in this coastal city. “One of the good things about it was that it let me make my mistakes in private.”
The moniker he chose did not come out of the blue. He is legally Joseph Hillstrom King, named for the labor organizer whose 1915 execution for murder in Utah inspired the song, “Joe Hill,” an anthem of the labor movement. His parents, who came of age during the 1960s, “were both pretty feisty liberals and looked at Joe Hill as a heroic figure,” he said.
“Heart-Shaped Box,” a title drawn from a song by the rock group Nirvana, is a fast-paced tale of another man with dual identities. Judas Coyne, born Justin Cowzynski, is an over-the-hill heavy metal rocker with a strange hobby: amassing ghoulish artifacts.
When Coyne learns that a suit purportedly haunted by a ghost is up for grabs on an online auction site, he can’t resist adding it to his creepy collection. Things turn ugly fast after Coyne learns that the suit’s occupant is a spooky spiritualist bent on vengeance following the death of his stepdaughter.
The book has drawn good reviews, with The New York Times’ Janet Maslin calling it “a wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty tale of horror” that is “so visually intense that its energy never flags.” And with its cinematic, and bloody, ending, Warner Bros. snapped up movie rights six months before the book hit the market.
As excitement percolated about “Heart-Shaped Box,” so, too, did lingering questions about its author. Inklings about Hill’s family background started appearing in online message boards in 2005 when his collection of short stories, “20th Century Ghosts,” was published in Britain.
Similarities in subject matter and appearance — Hill has his father’s bushy eyebrows and the dark beard he sported decades ago — were enough to stir suspicion among followers of the horror genre.
“It got blogged to death,” Hill recalled. But only when his identity was trumpeted in Variety last year did he realize that the secret was gone for good. “That was really the nail in the coffin,” he said.
Still, his pen name had a good ride. The editor of “Heart-Shaped Box” was unaware of the King connection and Hill’s agent remained in the dark for eight years before the author spilled the beans two years ago.
The first half of “Heart-Shaped Box” is set in New York’s Hudson Valley, the area around Vassar, where Judas Coyne lives with his latest Goth girlfriend, who is 30 years his junior, and two devoted German shepherds.
At first, Hill envisioned his tale of a suit with a ghost attached as grist for a short story. But as he added depth and back story to his characters, it ballooned into a novel 10 times longer than what he originally planned.
The choice of title was pure serendipity. Hill’s initial idea, “Private Collection,” went by the wayside when the 1993 Nirvana song popped up on iTunes as the author was getting ready to write the episode in which UPS delivers the haunted suit to Coyne. It was then that Hill decided to package the suit in a heart-shaped box.
“Coyne is fiction and (Kurt) Cobain was a real guy,” he said, “but I felt that the song fit very well with the book. The song is about a guy who feels trapped and desperate, and the book is about how someone uses music as a hammer to beat at the bars of his own cage.”
Hill and his wife, whom he met at Vassar, live in southern New Hampshire with their three children. He is reluctant to say much about his private life, recalling how a crazed fan broke into his family’s home in Bangor in 1991 and threatened his mother, a frightening episode that evoked the plot of King’s earlier best seller, “Misery.”
Stephen King declined a request for comment on his son’s novel. “He’s trying to go along with Joe’s wishes and let him do this on his own,” said his spokeswoman, Marsha DeFilippo.
But at a recent panel discussion in New York, King told a questioner that he wouldn’t rule out a collaborative book project with his son.
I'm deeply immersed in the world of literature, particularly within the realm of horror and fantasy. My expertise extends beyond just being an enthusiast; I have a profound understanding of the intricacies of writing, storytelling, and the nuances of the publishing industry.
Now, let's delve into the article about Joe Hill, who was initially writing under a pen name to test his skills and marketability without leveraging the fame associated with his family name, which, as we now know, is Stephen King.
1. Joe Hill's Pseudonymous Journey:
- Joe Hill, born Joseph Hillstrom King, chose to write under a pen name to establish himself independently from his famous father, Stephen King.
- The pseudonym allowed him to make his writing mistakes in private and rise or fall based on his own merits.
2. The Moniker - A Meaningful Choice:
- The pen name "Joe Hill" is a tribute to the labor organizer Joseph Hillstrom, reflecting the influence of his parents' feisty liberal views.
- Hill's parents admired Joe Hill as a heroic figure from the labor movement.
3. "Heart-Shaped Box" - A Tale of Dual Identities:
- The novel, "Heart-Shaped Box," is a fantasy-tinged thriller that explores the theme of dual identities.
- The protagonist, Judas Coyne, is an over-the-hill heavy metal rocker with a peculiar hobby of collecting ghoulish artifacts.
- The title is drawn from a Nirvana song, and the book has received positive reviews, including praise from The New York Times.
4. Unveiling the Secret:
- Speculation about Joe Hill's family background began in 2005, fueled by similarities in subject matter and appearance with his father.
- The secret was officially revealed in Variety in the previous year, marking the end of his pen name's anonymity.
5. Writing Process and Serendipity:
- Hill initially conceived "Heart-Shaped Box" as a short story but expanded it into a novel as he developed the characters and their backstories.
- The choice of the title was serendipitous, inspired by a Nirvana song that resonated well with the book's theme.
6. Family and Privacy:
- Joe Hill and his wife, who met at Vassar, live in southern New Hampshire with their three children.
- Hill is reserved about his private life, possibly influenced by a past incident where a crazed fan broke into his family's home.
7. Future Collaborations:
- Stephen King declined to comment on his son's novel, respecting Joe's wish to establish himself independently.
- However, at a recent panel discussion, Stephen King hinted at the possibility of a collaborative book project with his son in the future.
This comprehensive overview should provide a solid understanding of the key concepts covered in the article. If you have any specific questions or if there's a particular aspect you'd like to explore further, feel free to ask.
