The Wraith by Joe Hill

Published by IDW Publishing on August 12, 2014

Joe Hill, the pen name of Stephen King's son, has written a couple of best-selling horror novels, including NOS4A2 . He has also written some acclaimed comic books. The Wraith combines the world Hill created in NOS4A2 with the graphic novel form. It is a self-contained, stand-alone story.

Charlie Manx drives a 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith. The Wraith comes in handy when taking children to Christmasland, where every day is Christmas ... forever. Joe Hill's prose fills in Charlie's chilling personality as Charlie describes his upbringing (in which a combined mortuary-whorehouse figures prominently) and explains how, as the result of being swindled into investing in Christmasland, Charlie came to acquire the Wraith.

Eventually we get interlocking stories in different time frames about an uninsured guy who can't get medical treatment for his son and a group of convicts who break out of a prison van and get help from a fellow who helps people disappear. The fellow picks them up in ... you guessed it ... a Rolls Royce Wraith.

The story is strange until we arrive at Christmasland, when it turns truly bizarre. And gruesome. But intermixed with the gore are some poignant moments and sympathetic characters. The Wraith is not as memorable or as substantial as the work Hill did in the Locke & Key series, but it has its own bloody appeal.

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