I wasn't expecting to like this short story as much as I did. For it's very small size, it developed the two main characters well enough to make me very invested. The first interview gets you curious to know if Martin was involved in the train accident while the second one takes you to someplace else. The ending was great and closed the story very well. I definitely recommend it, specially because it won't take more than half an hour to read.

I really love Joe Hill's writing, and this short story was a quick joy to read. Clever premise, well told, with nothing unnecessary. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.

"Ushers" by Joe Hill is the absolutely perfect example of what a short story should be. Everything about it is tight. The dialogue and character development is pristine, the visuals are balanced with the story and the pacing could serve as an example in a writing class about how best to pace a short story. It took less than 30 minutes to read and I was smiling through it, even as I shuddered (penny-colored eyes?!?! eughhhhhh) because it was everything I wanted and needed in my current post-election, dying of the year, here comes the darkness, morosity. I read it twice in a row and then texted my mom about it so that she could read it. Next up, the book club nerd friends at butidigressbookclub.

Good Things: uh, everything. I keep coming back though to the plot pacing and dialogue. EXCELLENT.

Opportunities: It was so neat, you might think it's TOO neat. Too ... too. But then I came back to "naw, let the man have his perfect short story". He's earned it and put in the work and it's so good to know that even as some of our literary hero's are aging, new 'my-age' author's like Hill, and Chuck Wendig, Stephen Chobsky, and Grady Hendrix are coming up through the ranks...ready to shock and awe us with the depths of their awful wonderful imaginations.

Mr. Hill sir, I hope you didn't meet a fiddling demon at a crossroads to get this story...cause it's damn good.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read by netgalley and Amazon Original Stories. The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #ushers #joehill #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs #horror #chefskiss

This is a wonderful short story from one of my favourite authors, Joe Hill. It may be a very quick read but WOW it really packs a punch. I can't recommend this fantastic story highly enough.

USHERS
BY: JOE HILL

I met Joe Hill the Author of this short story that can be read in about five minutes called, "USHERS," and I was very impressed how quiet and humble he is. That was quite some time ago, after he wrote his second book. What impressed me the most is how talented he is at writing in the Horror genre and he is really talented. But what I liked about him is that he is well established now and he did it all on his own talent. He is Stephen King's son, yet when I met him he was so kind and down to earth and I said to myself that he is going to be famous, because I was so impressed by his talent and the fact that he has earned his place as a skilled and talented writer who has in fact to rise to fame without using his father's name to get to be a celebrated Author. He earned his place among the great horror writers all on his own talent and with the merit of his writing. He has risen to fame all by his own talent without ever promoting his work by using his relationship with his father, Stephen King.

This was a short tale about a young man named Martin Lorensen who is being questioned by two Special Agents, who one of them by the name of Special Agent Anthony Duvall think he's most likely not responsible for the derailment of Mohawk 118, a train crashing that killed passengers. MOSTLY, he thought, didn't mean he was ENTIRELY convinced that Martin didn't have some involvement. They are there in a bookstore cafe having a friendly chat and Martin is making jokes about the Special Agents names. He thinks that sometimes when someone engineered the death of a few dozen people, it was Duvall's experience that sometimes they often wanted to tell. Duvall and his partner were often wanting to tell after they orchestrated the pulverization of a few dozen people. And after all, there was also the matter of the school shooting at Martin's High School, six years ago. Martin Lorensen was either an extraordinary lucky young man or extraordinary UNLUCKY, depending on how you wanted to look at it. OR --just possibly --luck didn't figure into it at all.

Martin is carefree and using sarcasm, but he wasn't there on that train when it crashed, and he wasn't at school the day of the school shooting. Martin had got to the bookstore before the two Special Agents and had bought a few books. One is called, "Four Thousand Weeks," and one of the agents what lasts four thousand weeks? Referring to one of the titles of the book s Martin bought which is called "Four Thousand Weeks," and Martin replies: "A human life."

I don't want to spoil anymore of the story, but I loved it and in just a few short pages Joe Hill manages to do wonders with character development and atmosphere. He fully fleshes out the two main characters Martin and Special Agent Duvall. I love how he plays with imagery like the color black and gray with soot. This is a testament to the pure talent of a masterful writer on top of his game. I loved the ending, as well. It is hard to achieve a fully fleshed out creepy character such as he managed with Martin, in a story within a few pages, but Joe Hill managed to prove his writer's prowess in this short tale.

It's not gory or bloody, but a masterpiece that has convinced me to read more of Joe Hill's work beyond his first two books. I don't know why I requested this since I already own it. This can be read for free on Amazon if you have Kindle Unlimited. It is Amazon's Original short story.

Publication Date: November 1, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Joe Hill you rock, and Amazon's Original Short Stories for my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#Ushers #JoeHill #Amazon's Original Short Stories #NetGalley

Joe Hill is an amazing storyteller.
I fell in love with his writing starting with "The Heart-Shaped Box" and "Horns".
Even though I’m not generally fond of short stories, he has never disappointed me with anything I’ve read from him.

"Ushers" is a wonderful example of Hill’s mastery in storytelling—how he can bend reality into a nightmare and seamlessly weave together ordinary events and the supernatural, leaving no visible edges.
It delves into life and its many meanings.
It explores death, its mysteries, and everything that revolves around it.
It touches upon souls and minds. The plot is compelling to the very end.

The characters are perfectly outlined, even with just a few brushstrokes. The dialogues are fluid and realistic.
The plot twist arrives right when you expect it, yet it still manages to surprise you.
The very last words of this story gave me shivers (but also consolation... you’ll see).

I believe this is a work that any teacher could use as an example of masterful writing in a creative writing class.
Amazingly balanced.
Wonderfully absorbing.
Deeply moving.
A tiny masterpiece.

Short and sweet. You can power through in a half hour or so.

I enjoyed the small glimpse into the life of someone who can see when people are about to die. The short brings up questions about mortality and the nature of life and death, fate and free will.

What a fun little read.

The Ushers is a short, poignant story about life and death, and I found myself captivated by it. Though being so short, the characters really came to life, and I wouldn't mind reading more about Martin Lorensen.

Ushers by Joe Hill is a fine short story. I expected it to be really creepy, but that was unfortunately not the case for me. I was a little bit disappointed on that part, but otherwise it was a nice story for so little pages.

A short story by one of my favorite authors, Joe Hill, which is also exclusive to Amazon.

The dialogues are very good and so is the story. Since it is a short story, I finished reading it quickly, but I would like to read this story developed into a book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Joe Hill again amazes me with his story telling and characters.
I couldn’t put the book down.
And it made me feel fear and dread.

When I decided to read Ushers, I didn't know what to expect. Granted, I rarely read synopses, and that was the case with this quick little read. I like Joe Hill's work that I've read, and this story was no exception. Ironically, I've only read his short stories (so far), and my only complaint with this one is that it wasn't a bit longer. I felt like this story would have worked really well as a prologue to something bigger, but with that being said, just a bit more short story would have been enough. I really liked the quick ride to a shock-drop finish, and it's likely that I won't forget this story for a while. It's probably about time I got around to reading some of Hill's novels! Thank you to #AmazonOriginalStories, #AmazonFirstReads, #JoeHill and #NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title.

Enjoyed this one very much, another fantastically written short horror story from author Joe Hill. Never disappoints, highly recommend!

Loved this read by Joe Hill. Was a quick read that also managed to give me the chills. Who are the Ushers? You are about to find out!!

There was less horror and general creepiness than I expected, but this was still a great short story. The settings were immersive, and the characters were distinct and compelling (or as compelling as you can get within 20ish pages). The slow release of information about the main character’s past makes you doubt whether you’re being told the truth, and that in turn gives the story an unsettling vibe that I really enjoyed. The humour in this didn’t always work for me, and the ending felt pretty obvious, but the tension and pacing made it an interesting read nonetheless.

This was a very well written short story and it was an ok read - it didn’t leave much of a impression on me, other than it was predictable and I didn’t feel that is was creepy or unsettling, which is what I was expecting.

Joe’s writing style has left me a tad intrigued though and there is a possibility that I would read more of his work.

Thank-you Amazon Original Stories, Joe Hill and NetGalley for this Digital Advanced Readers Copy, in exchange for an honest review.

That was a short story where I had no idea what was going to happen.

I loved the easy atmosphere where you can follow the rhythm of the characters without mishaps, feeding only doubts of curiosity.

The creativity here was something that immediately won me over, I mean, the walk in the author's thinking about what the Ushers would be and how it would fit into the story... I never saw it coming.

And speaking of surprises, the ending!! As soon as I started to understand where that ending was headed, I knew I would have to recommend this story.

By the way, how the author manages to connect me with two characters that I only followed for a few pages, I will never understand, but I still love!!

ps: No, Im NOT talking about the two detectives iykyk

This was an interesting short story but I didn't absolutely love it. It was just too short and the ending was very predictable for mr. I also didn't find it all that spooky. That being said, the concept of the "ushers" was really cool. The character of Martin Lorensen was also really intriguing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is the second time I'm saying this about a book , the theme was cliched and yet the execution matters.

This book had me on the edge in just 29 pages. The book starts with an interview with two detectives and a young man. He is suspected to have hand in two mass tragedies where lot of people lost their lives. There is no evidence against him. So either he is a psycho or he is mastermind.

The conversation between them gave me chills. I wanted to know if the young man was actually afterall a psycho. The twist was unexpected and frankly I would have been happy if it had been either of the things but alas. That is why I call it cliched but the ending, on no. In just 29 pages, I felt attached to the characters.

That connection which made sense in the end had me go whattttttt.

Thank you very much Netgalley and Amazon original stories for this wonderful short story. Definitely one of my favourite and I already recommended it to many reader friends.

Joe Hill's short story Ushers follows two detectives as they interview a suspect in connection to a devastating train crash. What begins as a standard interrogation spirals into something far darker, uncovering layers of tension that keep the reader hooked until the end.

This was my first time reading Joe Hill, and it certainly won’t be my last. Hill is talented at pulling you into the story from the first page. The pacing is fast yet never feels rushed, allowing the plot to unfold seamlessly without becoming overcomplicated. The suspense is palpable, building with each exchange of dialogue, and while I did predict the ending, it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story. Hill's knack for creating tension and atmosphere ensures Ushers leaves a lasting impression.

Note: Arc provided by Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.