Imogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She's also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud Theater.

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It's hard to make friends when you're the only inflatable boy in town. Francis is unhappy, picked on; he doesn't have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that's behind him now. John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected...but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead...

Meet these and a dozen more, in 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS, irresistible, addictive fun showcasing a dazzling new talent.

"Each of these chilling tales arrests you from the opening sentence and leads you - trustingly, thanks to the simple mastery of the story-teller - into a place of gulping fear." - DAILY MAIL

"[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute." - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Hill's best stories veer away from the well-trodden creep shows and back alleys of genre writing into more dangerous territory: suburban basements, ball fields and schoolyards." - WASHINGTON POST

"Hill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch." - SCI-FI NOW

"Fully developed characters with complex emotional lives enhance the 14 stories in Joe Hill's extraordinary collection ... There's not a false note or disappointing effort in this volume." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"The collection of short stories ranges from creepy to sweet, with an impressive arsenal of tactics to attack your psyche." - BOSTON GLOBE

"[Hill] displays consummate skill in a variety of genres . . . Amusing, moving, horrifying-Ghosts runs the full spectrum." - USA TODAY

"Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you've read them." - PARADE

"One of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories" - LOCUS

"The selections range from the mundane to the surreal, with a strong emphasis on the kind of horror tale perfected by Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Stephen King." - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"Hill's stories are visceral and nasty in places, but never gratuitous. The collection as a whole is polished and well written. Even the most macabre themes are handled exceptionally well, so one story ever feels exploitative or trashy. Joe Hill is definitely one to watch." - Ross Sutcliffe

"Hill's best stories veer away from the well-trodden creep shows and back alleys of genre writing into more dangerous territory: suburban basements, ball fields and schoolyards." - Washington Post

"[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute." - The New York Times Book Review

"Fully developed characters with complex emotional lives enhance the 14 stories in Joe Hill's extraordinary collection,20th Century Ghosts. There's not a false note or disappointing effort in this volume." - Publishers Weekly

"The collection of short stories ranges from creepy to sweet, with an impressive arsenal of tactics to attack your psyche." - Boston Globe

"20th Century Ghosts is Hill's first collection of short stories and displays consummate skill in a variety of genres . . . Amusing, moving, horrifying-Ghosts runs the full spectrum." - USA Today

"Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you've read them." - Parade

"[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction" - Village Voice

"One of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories" - Locus

"Each tale is unique, and the collection proves that Hill's talent is not limited to horror, but extends well into the mainstream." - Denver Rocky Mountain News

"[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended. - The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia)

"The selections range from the mundane to the surreal, with a strong emphasis on the kind of horror tale perfected by Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Stephen King." - San Francisco Chronicle

"Each of these chilling tales arrests you from the opening sentence and leads you - trustingly, thanks to the simple mastery of the story-teller - into a place of gulping fear." - Daily Mail

"Subtle and disturbing in equal measure." - Coventry Telegraph