Authors - Joe Hill

 

Joseph Hillstrom King was born in 1972, the second child of authors Stephen and Tabitha King. He writes under the pen name of Joe Hill .

Joe Hill chose to use an abbreviated form of his given name out of a desire to succeed based solely on his own merits instead of as the son of Stephen King. After achieving a degree of independent success, Hill publicly revealed his identity in 2007 after an article the previous year in Variety broke his cover.

He is a past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship and also received the William L. Crawford award for best new fantasy writer in 2006; the A. E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize in 1999 for “Better Than Home" and the 2006 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella with his story entitled "Voluntary Committal". His stories have appeared in a variety of magazines, such as Subterranean Magazine, Postscripts and The High Plains Literary Review, and in many anthologies, including The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror..

Hill's first book, the limited edition collection 20th Century Ghosts published in 2005 by P S Publishing, showcases fourteen of his short stories and won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, together with the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story for "Best New Horror". In October 2007, Hill's mainstream US and UK publishers reprinted 20th Century Ghosts, without the extras published in the 2005 slipcased versions, but including one new story.

Hill's first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, was published in the USA by William Morrow/Harper Collins on 13 February 2007 and by Victor Gollancz Ltd in UK in March 2007. Simultaneous to these two editions, a limited edition of Heart-Shaped Box was also released by Subterranean Press; it sold out several months prior to publication. The novel reached number 8 on the New York Times bestseller list on 1 April 2007.

On 23 September 2007, at the thirty-first Fantasycon, the British Fantasy Society awarded Hill the first ever Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award.

Hill is also the author of Locke & Key, a new comic book series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue, released on 20 February 2008, sold out of its initial publication run in one day and the hardcover edition, limited to 250 numbered and 26 lettered copies, sold out within days.

Awards

  • "Better Than Home" (A.E. Coppard Long Fiction Prize)
  • "Voluntary Committal" (World Fantasy Award for Best Novella)
  • "20th Century Ghost" (Bradbury Fellowship)
  • 20th Century Ghosts (Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection)
  • 20th Century Ghosts (British Fantasy Award for Best Collection)
  • 20th Century Ghosts (International Horror Guild Award for Best Collection)
  • "Best New Horror" (British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story)
  • "Best New Horror" (Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Story)
  • Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award - 2007

Authors Books