What a compelling read! This thrilling book was utterly impossible to put down and as the conclusion reached a crescendo.
Such a well paced and suspenseful book! The twists were believable and not predictable.

Joe Hill, like his dad, is able to create a spooky atmosphere and story with very few pages. This was a quick and creepy story.

Robert Fass did a great job of bringing this creepy story to life.

Great audiobook. I was locked in! The narration was wonderful. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook.

Jackknife by Joe Hill is a very short Karma Horror.
Don’t look for too much depth, it’s too short for that, but the Karma definitely delivers. I liked the creepy tree vibe, poor cat though!
Thank you NetGalley & Brilliance Publishing for the ARC and I’m leaving this honest review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the audio arc or this. As a fan of most of the stories in the AO short story series Forward and Creature Feature, I was really interested to crack into this one.

This short follows Dennis, a rather detestable man. You see, he has been watching his world crumble. First getting caught being inappropriate with a student, his wife finding out, then the prospect of losing his career for his poor choices. The story doesn’t really follow someone you can root for, not even someone you can like. But also, I don’t really feel like it’s asking you to like him. I mean, he’s not even really remorseful, saying that he is being blamed for cheating and sleeping with a student when he never even got to…so yeah, that’s the kind of man he is.

But of course, people like that always seem the victim, and Dennis is looking for a comeback. While taking a walk, he removes an old jackknife without thought from an old tree he passes, and suddenly his world begins to shift…or is it the tree that’s shifting? Danger-moving-vengeful Sycamore trees have to make for marketable stories though, right?

Personally, I found this to be an okay story. The multiple threads set up with the student, her father finding out, Dennis’ wife, and the tree, felt like something that could have built into a pretty wild folklore-esque thriller third act. But with it being a short, and so short, it’s lacking all of that buildup in tension. Somewhere around a 3.5* for me.

Jackknife is a classically creepy horror story. Not the scariest, but still an interesting read. I would say that this is a pretty middle-of-the-road short horror story.

Five horror authors come together to bring us spine-tingling novellas.
🪵
Dead trees that move, a harrowing premonition, creatures no one is allowed to see, a mourning mother seeing her son’s spirit, and a deal with the devil makes for some wickedly scary tales!
😈
🔪 Jackknife @joe_hill loved the karma in this one! Such a great way to kick off the #anthology
🔵 The Indigo Room @stephengrahamjones shook me with the mom’s premonitions and that ending! 🤯
👀 Blanks @gradyhendrix I can’t with those parents! How could they do that?!
🌚 Night and Day in Misery @catward66 the grief was its own type of horror in this one, as the loss of a child can be unimaginable, but worst father of the year award goes to…
📫 Letter Slot @owenkingauthor had a twist I didn’t see coming and ugh! The way it ended will haunt me!

CW: grooming, parental death, death, murder, blood, gore, child death, violence, homelessness, adultery, animal death, injury, toxic relationships, animal cruelty, sexual harassment, alcoholism, alcohol, grief, misogyny, suicidal thoughts, emotional abuse, suicide, physical abuse

Rating higher bc it helped get me out of a reading slump for a bit.

I'm not typically a short story kind of person, but it's Joe Hill, so I had to give it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised!

For a story just under 50 pages long, it is surprisingly well-developed!

The MC is a disgraced college professor who has lost his marriage and very likely his job for engaging in naughty sexts with one of his students. Beyond causing his ruin, this description has very little pertinence to the story at hand, though.

Instead, the central plot involves a found jackknife and the cursed tree from which the MC pulled it.

The story gives serious old-school "creature feature" horror vibes, but it also blends a bit of psychological terror into the mix.

I found it quite enjoyable and am excited to read the rest of the stories in the Shivers collection.

Thanks, Netgalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC.

This book was short but incredibly engaging—right from the start, it pulled me in. The pacing was tight, the characters or themes were interesting, and it kept me turning the pages. However, the ending left me wanting more. It felt like just when things were really getting good, it was over. I would’ve loved a bit more closure or even just a few extra chapters to explore everything further. Still, definitely worth the read.

I received a gifted audiobook copy from Brilliance publishing and netgalley.

I really liked the premise of this one and the Menace of the tree. I did however have trouble connecting with the main character and his obsession with his former student. I didn't find him someone I could really root for. No pun intended.

I thought for a short story this was pretty entertaining . I always want just a little bit more though :)

I loved the eerie tone and the concept of a vengeful sycamore tree. Dennis? Not exactly sympathetic—but his fate felt fitting. This was my first Joe Hill story, and I’m hooked. 3.5 ⭐

Jackknife is another fun, short story. It felt reminiscent of his father’s work, think old-school King horror, but still all his own. I couldn’t stand our main character, he was a real creep with what felt like nothing but bad decisions. I was really waiting for him to reap what he sowed. Hill is really great at storytelling and last year’s short story was so amazing, so this was one I was really excited about and I didn’t leave dissapointed.

This is part of The Shivers collection along with stories from several amazing horror authors. I can’t wait to read them all. Thanks to Brilliance Publishing for my advanced audiobooks. The Shivers collection released today!

JACKKNIFE by Joe Hill is about a guy whose life is in shambles after being rightfully cancelled. He’s desperate to dig his way out of this mess when he comes across a jackknife embedded in a tree. This cursed object story is a lot fun. The narrator matched the emotional character perfectly!

✌🏼for Tuesday
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I’ve been killing my TBR this month so I’m doubling down on reviews today- I was gifted two short stories from The Shivers collection from @amazonpublishing on @netgalley. Here are my thoughts!
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Jackknife- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- follows a disgraced professor on sabbatical for an inappropriate relationship with a student. There’s a haunted tree that moves around with a knife attached to it. Super fun and gory and spooky, I really enjoyed this one. Joe Hill is a master of scary stories and this one is definitely worth the read.
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This was not what I wanted at all. When I read a short story that is labeled as horror I want to be hooked. I spent the whole time wanting to dnf because I was so bored

Decent creepy short story. As always I do wish it was longer but it was a good short read. I am excited to read the others in this short story series

This was such a creepy, solid horror short story! It immediately grabbed me and I was hooked until the very end! I definitely will read more from Joe Hill from now on, and the audiobook was fantastic!

Dennis Lange is a somewhat successful man whose life begins to fall apart when he is caught sexting one of his young college students. His wife Helena kicks him out so he goes to stay at an AirB&B when during one of his walks he sees a jackknife stuck into a tree, and decides to pull it out. This turns out to be another bad decision on the part of Dennis Lange.

The story was pretty good and kept me entertained, yet there wasn't any real character development for the MC and the ending wasn't as satisfying as I'd liked it to be.

I'd definitely recommend this story to those who are fans of Joe Hill, it's a good little story, or fans of horror in general.

I was surprised how much this story felt rushed and confusing. I love Joe Hill's novels but not as big of a fan of his short stories. I will say that even though I had no idea what the hell was going on up until the end it still left me horrified. Please make these available for libraries and not limit them to Audible.