Horns is Joe Hill‘s second novel. [I reviewed his first one here.]

Plot:
A year ago, Ig had it all: a nice girlfriend, a good family, a great best friend and he was about to get the job he always dreamt about. And then his girlfriend, Merrin, gets raped and murdered – and Ig is the only suspect. Bit by bit, his life and he himself fall apart.
The day after the anniversary of Merrin’s death, Ig wakes up with the worst hangover of his life – and horns growing out of his head. While Ig still wonders whether the horns are really there or not, he notices that they have an effect on people: They tell him all their darkest secrets and lowest impulses.
Soon Ig decides that he will use the horns to finally learn the identity of Merrin’s killer.

Horns was really very good.It’s beautifully written and features a lot of interesting ideas about people, about religion and about all kinds of things. And it’s probably the best horror novel for people who don’t like horror novels.

[Sweet cover.]

After Heart-Shaped Box I expected a straight out horror novel, since H-S B was pretty much a straight-out ghost story. But Horns is and is not a horror novel. I mean, it has the classic signs of horror: occult supernatural stuff, revenge and blood. But there is very little blood and it’s rarely really gruesome. Also, the plot mostly revolves around Merrin’s murder and therefore the book reads more like a crime novel than a horror novel.

Well, it’s a genre-bender, which personally, I always like to read. I don’t want to say any more about the plot here so as not to spoil.

It’s really excellently written. Hill’s prose flows, he has flashes of dark humour and some really touching scenes. And when he writes the people under the influence of the horns, it’s really creepy.

Where I still had reservations after reading Heart-Shaped Box, I have none whatsoever regarding this book. I can only recommend it.

If you still have doubts, you can read the first five chapters here.