NOS4A2

Title: NOS4A2

Author: Joe Hill

Published in: 2013

Date read: 7th April 2025

Score: 5/5

Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"NOS4A2," published in 2013, is a sprawling and terrifying supernatural horror novel by Joe Hill. The book is a dark, modern fairy tale about a child's imagination as a weapon, a terrifying vampire-like villain, and the cyclical nature of trauma and evil.

The story centres on Victoria "Vic" McQueen, a young girl from a working-class family in Colorado. Vic has a unique and magical ability: she can find lost things. Her power manifests through a rickety old bicycle that, when ridden on a certain road, allows her to cross into a supernatural, psychic landscape and find things that have been lost. This gift is a double-edged sword, however, as it puts her on a collision course with a monstrous figure.

That monster is Charles Manx, a seemingly immortal being who drives a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the license plate "NOS4A2." Manx abducts children, taking them to a terrifying, hidden place he calls Christmasland, a grotesque fantasy world where every day is Christmas and sadness is forbidden. He and his monstrous henchman, Bing Partridge, use a magical car to drain the children of their vitality, turning them into pale, monstrous versions of themselves.

The novel is a decades-long chase between Vic and Manx. As a child, Vic uses her "knife" (her bike) to find Manx and rescue one of his victims. This initial confrontation leaves her psychologically and physically scarred, but it also makes her the only person who has ever escaped him.

Years later, Vic is a single mother, struggling with the trauma of her childhood experience and a legacy of addiction. She has tried to forget the supernatural world, but Manx, now an old man, is still out there, continuing his monstrous work. When he abducts her own son, Wayne, Vic is forced to confront her past and use her forgotten gift one last time.

The novel is a dark and imaginative tale that explores the idea that childhood trauma never truly leaves us. The magic and imagination that once brought Vic joy now become her only hope of survival. The climax is a brutal and visceral showdown in Christmasland, where Vic, now a woman filled with a mother's rage, must face her old nemesis on his own twisted ground. "NOS4A2" is a terrifying, emotional, and richly layered novel that is a modern classic of the horror genre.

Comments:
I was so impressed with this book, the story is great and it written in a way that really gives you the creeps. Whether it is the phones or the teeth, it is beyond scary. I liked the bridges, very reminiscent of the "thinnys" and crossing to Territories in The Talisman but also different enough to belong to this book.

Books that we've read by Joe Hill (3):
Heart-Shaped Box (2007), Horns (2009), NOS4A2 (2013)