Joe Hill talks film adaptations, women in horror & comic books
By Carla Davis
We had the chance to chat with popular horror writer Joe Hill about his body of work, his thoughts on women in horror and the television treatment of NOS4A2.
Author Joe Hill is known for his novels (Heart-Shaped Box,The Fireman) and for the movies and series based on his work (Horns, NOS4A2, Locke & Key). He is also known for being the son of Stephen King; but, Hill is extraordinarily talented in his own right.
When this writer first read his debut novel Heart-Shaped Box, I did not even know to whom he was related. I only knew that this was the best horror novel I had read in years.
With AMC series NOS4A2 ending its second season, it was great timing for Joe Hill to chat with 1428 Elm about his body of work, and how he feels about the television treatment of NOS4A2.
1428 Elm: Hi, Joe, it’s a pleasure to “virtually” meet you! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. I’m a big fan of your work, and I am loving the NOS4A2 series on AMC, particularly in this second season.
Joe Hill : Oh, I’m so glad to hear it. I hope you love the final chapter.
1428 Elm: The first of your novels that I read was Heart-Shaped Box, probably in ’07 or ’08, and there is so much bad horror out there that I was thrilled with your book. There were passages I could literally see, and I always thought it would make a great movie. What are the odds that we are ever going to get a chance to see that great movie?
Joe Hill : You know, I think about that now and then. Because Heart-Shaped Box was one of those books that got lucky, and had a big picture sale before it ever came out. It was bought by Warner Brothers with quite a bit of fanfare, and they had Neil Jordan, who had done The Crying Game and a lot of great Irish films.
He was set to write and direct, and there was a writer’s strike, I believe in 2008, and Neil Jordan went back to Ireland to do a little indie picture, which…let’s face it, isn’t that the kind of movie we actually wanted him to make anyway?
You know, a nice personal film about the world he knows best? So, with that, Heart-Shaped Box kind of slipped away into this Hollywood netherworld where different screenwriters have worked on it, different folks have been attached to it. Every once in a while, like every 18 months, there will be a little flurry of excitement, and it seems like something’s gonna happen with it, and then everything goes silent again.