N0S4A2 is a Christmas book in the way that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
It’s a horror novel that just so happens to be centered around Christmas. There are all the entrancing, alluring elements of the holidays that we love – carols, trees decorated with oranaments, the smell of gingerbread in the air – but author Joe Hill doles out each charming tidbit with a sinister twist that morphs the innocent into something incredibly dark and disturbing.
Because N0S4A2 is a story about a serial killer.
N0S4A2 (read as “nos-four-ah-two” in order to sound like Nosferatu) completely blew me away. It’s an amazing novel, though it happens to have the dubious honor of being the most disturbing book I’ve ever read. Yep, it beats out Theme Music, which was pretty warped, and it beats out Blanky, which really pushed some boundaries.
Hill’s novel blends true crime with fantasy, the supernatural with disturbing realism. The story is centered around Charlie Manx, a man with supernatural powers who steals children away by telling them he’ll take them to “Christmasland” — a place where it’s Christmas every day and they’ll never be unhappy.
Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Wrong. What Manx fails to mention is that Christmasland is a place of nightmares, where children are turned into feral, blood-thirsty demons. Note: the stolen children in Christmasland scared the shit out of me.
Let’s also mention Manx’s right-hand man, Bing, who helps abduct the children. I can’t even count how many times my skin crawled as I read about what Bing wanted to do, what he did do, to children and adults alike. There’s no question that I’d rather go to Manx’s Christmasland than spend even one minute in Bing’s House of Sleep. Despite his supernatural abilities, Manx is surprisingly human. But, Bing? Bing is something else entirely.
Obviously, N0S4A2‘s a difficult novel to get through. The story gets very intense. If you have child abduction, abuse, assault, etc., triggers, then this is so NOT the book for you. Don’t even go near it. I started reading N0S4A2 early last December, and I had to pause halfway through; my night terrors escalated to an insane level, and I decided to wait until after December 25 to finish the story.
I picked N0S4A2 back up on December 26 and had it finished by December 27. Because the story is excellent. Hill’s writing is excellent. Yes, it’s incredibly dark and disturbing, but even as you’re cringing at what happens, you’re dying to know more. Just one more page, one more page. The story is totally unique. I’d never read anything like this before in my life, and I was entranced.
If you love horror, and if you love Christmas, you’re going to love N0S4A2.
Have you read this classic “Christmas horror” story, or anything else by Joe Hill?
And, please be sure to check back in for my book-inspired recipe: Gingerbread Cake!
I could only get a quarter of the way through N0S4A2–although I like Joe’s use of language, a gift he inherited from his father, Stephen King, I felt he went for the easy grossout far too often. “Heart-Shaped Box” and “The Fireman” are the better Hill books I’ve read.
Hi Trish! Yes, there were definitely some gross passages in this book. It was hard for me to take, especially since I’ve never read any Stephen King! This was all new to me. Brilliant writing but…gritty, lol. I’ll have to give Heart-Shaped Box a try… if I think I’m brave enough! I’ve heard a lot of good things about that one. Thanks for the recommendations!
Oh my god this book sounds so crazy even for me. You’re probably like what do you mean? You read romcoms. Hey! I can get into weird and disturbing but this one sounds next level. Don’t you have fears of your cat getting abducted!? This book sounds like a nightmare! I can’t. I did watch all the Stephen King movies as a child (told you I can get into weird) but idk about this one! I read The Shining but I don’t really remember anything about it anymore.😂 I know I liked reading it.
But anyway, I think I will save this crazy book for when I need fodder to scare a guy I don’t like away from me. Let me tell you about this book I LOVED…
hahaha, I love it! Well, you know that if he chickens out from reading it, perhaps he isn’t the guy for you. 😀 This was definitely next level. I recommend it, but have a breezy rom-com on stand by in case you need a breather, lol.