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1[[quoteright:336:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joe_hill_640x432.jpg]]
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3Joe Hill (born June 4, 1972) is a relatively new writer of horror novels and a weirdness-filled comic book series.
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5There's one thing many people like to point out about Joe Hill, which is that his full name is Joseph Hillstrom King (yes, he was named after the labor activist and songwriter if you were wondering). [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Horror novelist called King?]] Well, yes--Creator/StephenKing is his dad. Fully knowing that comparisons to his father's works would be inevitable and fearing that he would be judged on the name alone, rather than the quality of his writing[[note]]also "Joe King" has [[PunnyName its own issues]] as a pen name[[/note]], Hill decided to keep his full name secret for his first publications, to the point of never meeting his agent or publisher in person (which, given that [[GenerationXerox he looks a lot like his old man]], makes a lot of sense).
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7After winning several awards for for his short story collection ''20th Century Ghosts'', and receiving critical acclaim for his first novel, ''Heart-Shaped Box'', the secret about his full name slowly started to creep out, but Hill felt that he had already created enough of a name for himself, and allowed it to happen. He has since embraced his connection to his father; the two have collaborated on a few short stories, and Hill's novels ''Literature/{{NOS4A2}}'' and ''Literature/TheFireman'' include several references to his father's work.
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9As a child, Joe appeared in the FramingStory to the 1987 horror-comedy anthology movie ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'', playing a boy whose father--played by Creator/TomAtkins--[[FantasyForbiddingFather won't let him read comic books]]. Joe's real father wrote the film, and also starred in one of the segments. Years later, when ''Creepshow'' was adapted into a [[Series/{{Creepshow}} TV series]], Joe--by now an established author in his own right--contributed a few stories.
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11Since 2015 he's also become known for his efforts to solve the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Dunes Lady of the Dunes]], a 1974 murder in Cape Cod. This was spurred by his spotting an extra in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' wearing what appeared to be the same bandanna as the victim, which could provide the key to identifying her.[[note]]She was eventually identified as Ruth Marie Terry thanks to familial DNA testing.[[/note]]
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13In 2019, he began curating Creator/HillHouseComics, his own imprint for Creator/DCComics, with him writing the books ''ComicBook/BasketfulOfHeads'' (with art by Leomacs) and ''Plunge'' (with art by Stuart Immonen).
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15!!His main works are:
16* ''Literature/TwentiethCenturyGhosts'': A collection of 14 short stories.
17* ''Literature/HeartShapedBox'': A novel, in which an aging rock star buys a ghost on eBay.
18* ''{{Literature/Horns}}'': A novel, in which a man wakes up to find he has horns on his head.
19* ''Literature/{{NOS4A2}}'': A novel about a woman who must rescue her son from a "very bad man" who takes children to Christmasland. Followed by the comic book companion series ''ComicBook/WraithWelcomeToChristmasland''.
20* ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'': A graphic novel series.
21** ''ComicBook/LockeAndKeySandmanHellAndGone'': A three-issue crossover with ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989''.
22* ''Literature/TheFireman'': A post-apocalyptic novel about a deadly spore that infects most of the world's population.
23* ''Literature/StrangeWeather'': A collection of four novellas (titled ''Snapshot'', ''Rain'', ''Loaded'', and ''Aloft'').
24* ''Full Throttle: Stories'': Another collection of short stories, including two collaborations with his father, "Throttle" and "In the Tall Grass", the latter of which was adapted into [[Film/InTheTallGrass a film]].
25* ''Up The Chimney Down'': A future novel that Hill has mentioned in several interviews since 2019 as being in the works. No other details are available yet.
26* ''ComicBook/DyingIsEasy'': A graphic novel in which a disgraced cop-turned-comedian must clear his name.
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28!!Adaptations of his works include:
29* ''Film/{{Horns}}'': A film starring Creator/DanielRadcliffe.
30* ''[=NOS4A2=]'': Television series starring Creator/ZacharyQuinto that ran from for two seasons.
31* ''[[Series/LockeAndKey2020 Locke & Key]]'': A streaming series on Creator/{{Netflix}}.
32* ''Series/{{Creepshow}}'': A horror anthology series that has adapted a few Joe Hill short stories; "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain", "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" and "Mums".
33* ''Film/TheBlackPhone'': A film based off a short story from ''20th Century Ghosts'' starring Creator/EthanHawke.
34* ''ComicBook/TheCape'': A comicbook series based off a short story from ''20th Century Ghosts''.

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