Title: The PramAuthor: Joe Hill
Series: Creature Feature #1
First Published: September 26, 2023
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Pages: 58
Genre: Horror, Short Stories
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
A husband’s obsessive desire for a child leads to an unexpected manifestation of his yearning in a nightmarish short story about fatherhood dreams by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.
Willy and Marianne’s farmhouse in Maine has acres of meadow and fresh air, and a lonesome bridle path in the forest along which Willy daydreams and ambles. When he’s loaned a decrepit old baby stroller to cart his groceries home, the rickety squeak of the wheels comforts him. So do the sweet coos of a baby Willy knows can’t be real. Can it? In this twisted thicket, wishes come true—with a price.
Review
The Pram is a fast and frightening short story about a couple grieving the loss of a child due to a miscarriage. Willy does everything to help his wife Marianne through her depression, even resorting to moving them to a new home in a rural town. With all the attention that Willy pours into his wife, he forgets to grieve too. The subject matter of this short story is heavy and I appreciated that the story explored a father’s grief over miscarriage.
It’s impressive how much characterization was delivered in such a short number of pages, and the pay off was a lot scarier than I expected. The town was fascinating and I almost wished this was as longer work. This is the first short story I’ve read by Joe Hill and it’s a great sampling of his work.
Quote
“It never once crossed his mind that he was depressed, too, that he had also lost a child.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Joe Hill
Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box. His second novel, Horns, was made into a feature film starring Daniel Radcliffe; his third, NOS4A2, is forthcoming as a TV series from AMC. His book of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, won the Bram Stoker Award and British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. His most recent work, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, was published in the autumn of 2017. He earned the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long-running comic book series, Locke & Key, featuring the eye-popping art of Gabriel Rodriguez.
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