I thought this was alright but probably just not for me. The writing felt a little too reliant on sarcasm and pop-culture references to make the story feel creepy or tense, and the story was a little too straightforward to be read as satire or commentary with a hint of horror. While it was a quick read with an easy message to grasp and a cool concept, I just felt like it was a little too predictable and didn't do anything new to interest or engage me. This isn't bad by any means it just isn't anything else either.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Joe Hill for providing me with an eArc in return for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Fun little story! I always want more from Joe hill, and this is no exception. I miss his longer books!

How Joe Hill managed to write a horror novella that’s so compelling and powerful is beyond me! This man is a genius! I absolutely recommend this book! A MUST READ! Especially for spooky season!

Joe Hill is as always a master storyteller. His ability to give such a great deal of detail and character building is this short story solidifies his masterful story telling. This story sucks you in and gives you the chiils as you slowly realize what is playing out alongside the characters. Great story and one I was happy to add to my list of books. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

Okay, so first of all can we talk about the cover to this story? Gorgeous. It makes the 80s kid in me incredibly happy. It is possibly the best book cover in the history of book covers, and this story could have consisted entirely of Joe Hill's grocery list and I still would have read it just because of the cover. So, yeah.

As for the story itself, there's not really a whole lot to it but it's entertaining. It's kind of Unbreakable meets Final Destination meets Dead Like Me meets Odd Thomas? Martin Lorensen is being interviewed by the police because he's been a part of some awful shit … or, more accurately, because he's managed to avoid being a part of some awful shit. It's mildly creepy at times but definitely not scary. Once you reach a certain point in the narrative, it also becomes a little predictable … I'd dare say that there are very few readers who won't guess the ending at least a page or two in advance. It's a tiny bit humorous and the characters are mostly likeable.

Honestly, this story is pretty great but it needs more … about 300 pages more if you get my drift, Mr. Hill. I'd be one of the first in line to buy a full-length novel about Martin and the otherworldly soot-covered ushers.

My overall rating: 4.25 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with a copy of this story to review. Its publication date was November 1, 2024.

I've enjoyed all of Joe Hill's stories I've read. I love the characters and attention to detail that seem to be a hallmark of the King family. Several reviews have mentioned similarities to The Twilight Zone and, while I agree, I don't think that's a bad thing. For such a short read, I was a little scared there at the end!

This was such a creepy short story. The end had me screaming! I will definitely be looking to this author for more disturbing short stories.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy!

"Ushers" by Joe Hill is a short story about two federal agents interviewing a young man who has mysteriously escaped death twice.

Hill is a gifted writer, and "Ushers" manages to be both eerie and oddly comforting. It's a quick page-turner of a story with excellent writing that creates suspense throughout. The story is written in the form of interviews/conversations, and the dialogue is very well done. The voices are distinct and authentic on all three characters, and the writing is descriptive without tipping over the edge.

If I had one criticism, it would be with the cover artwork, which is eye-catching and interesting but has a couple of problems. The story has a very distinct descriptor for what is depicted in the cover art, and it's perhaps the most memorable and creepy bit of imagery in the story. The artwork also serves as a bit of a spoiler as well. I didn't pay too much attention to it, and if this story was contained in a collection, it wouldn't have cover art to give anything away. In my opinion, "Ushers" is best enjoyed when going in completely cold. It allows the mystery to unfold in a very satisfying way.

"Ushers" is a story and a premise that I'm sure will stick with me for a while. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced read.

If I want a whole book based on this story and the main character, I have to give it 5 ⭐️s.

I’ve been a fan of Joe Hill’s since “Horns”, and I love the way he depicts happenstance heros… ordinary guys in extraordinary situations.

If you want a good quick read in between full length novels, this is a great choice!

‘A young man who has improbably escaped death twice reveals his secret in a spine-tingling short story by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.’

Such a fun, lil freaky-deaky-creepy short story by J. Hill!

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this arc in exchange for review.

Pub Date Nov 01 2024.

This was a fun, quick read with a great twist at the end. When I pick up a book by Joe Hill I am expecting a dark and unique book and this book did not disappoint.

Something about the way Joe and Stephen write people feel warm. Even when they're unlikable, there's an undeniable connection. They're human.

fast paced, short, entertaining. one can only hope that this becomes a full length novel because there feels like there is so much left to say. so much lore to be explored.

Ushers is a horror short story which follows Martin Lorensen who has narrowly survived two catastrophes through what appears to be sheer luck or coincidence. When he is interviewed by federal agents about these events, it turns out that there is more than just luck involved and Martin may know more than he is letting on.

This short story was absolutely incredible! I loved the plot and the foreshadowing leading up to the ending was done immaculately. Martin was a really interesting main character and I loved how quick witted and charming he was and how this made you question his involvement in the various incidents. Despite the story being 30 pages long, I thought that Martin's backstory was well developed and we gain a good understanding of him as a character. The story is structured as interviews between Martin and the police so is very dialogue heavy which made it very fast paced and easy to read.

I typically don't really read horror as it is a genre I find quite intimidating however having loved this short story I will definitely be exploring the genre more. This was my first Joe Hill book and I will be reading more of his work for sure.

Overall I loved this short story and thought that the plot was perfectly suited for a story of this length.

3.5 stars!

Joe Hill has been on my TBR for awhile now so I jumped at the chance to finally get a taste of his writing, and I am now even more eager to read a full length novel of his!

This had some potential Final Destination vibes at first and I thought it was going in that sort of direction, but it took a slightly different turn that I really liked. Very readable, very tense, very good.

Ushers is a short story by award-winning, best-selling American author, Joe Hill. Twenty-three-year-old counsellor, Martin Lorenson is being questioned by FBI Special Agents John Oates and Anthony Duvall. He didn’t get on a train that crashed, killing twenty-eight and injuring another one hundred and sixty, but what has them suspicious is that he told Audrey Giovanni not to get on the train, or she would die.

What he tells them checks out: he couldn’t have had anything to do with the crash, but it’s not his first narrow escape: the Agents aren’t fully convinced. He’s a likeable enough young man who works at a secure residential facility for disturbed teenagers, and later, he offers to share the truth with Duvall, a story so fantastic that Duvall decides he should be at a mental health facility, but as a patient, not part of the staff. It couldn’t be true, could it? This is a brilliant little dose of Joe Hill’s talent.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.

This is a perfect short story for a dark winter night! I love well-written short stories, and I thought this one was perfect in story, tone, and pacing. My favorite of his short stories up till now was The Pram, but I think Ushers is in first place now; I would read an entire book exploring this concept. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, eerie short read.

This is a nice quick, fun short story. Not wholly original but enough of a twist to make it unique. I’d love to read more with this character.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Joe Hill for allowing me to read Ushers.
I really enjoyed this short story. It kept me guessing and wondering who the Ushers are and would be. It was well written and engaging. I would definitely recomend to my friends.

I enjoyed the short story well enough, but it didn’t really hit the way I wanted it to. It took me a while to get into it and I didn’t really care if Martin was guilty or not. I wish the ushers got more than one paragraph because I barely understood how impacted Marin to begin with. Overall, it was a solid short story, but I was hoping for more.

This could have used a LOT more meat, but that's mostly a AAA this is so good i need more kinda thing. 5 stars, really cool idea, hoping to see it as a full ~300 page novel at some point.