This novella is very Hill-esque. The writing is right up my alley and the plot is creepy and entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I went into this without reading the synopsis so I didn't know what to expect. I was a bit confused because it jumped right into the story and I had to piece together what was going on. Once I realized what it was about, it left me wanting more. It would be nice to have a second story or extension or even a longer background story. I loved the idea of this and reminded me of Manifest the tv show. I have many questions after finishing this. How did the main character get this gift? Does anyone else believe in it? What will happen to the main character? This short story has me overthinking everything I know. Great job Joe Hill!

I love Joe Hill. I think he’s a fantastic writer and so often feels like reading his father’s writing. “Ushers” is a well written and paced if not a little predictable. But the overall craft here is excellent and compelling. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

Thank you, NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this free audiobook for review. I love every Joe Hill book I’ve fever read and this book is no exception. All the creep you can ask for. Perfection! I will always pick up a Joe Hill book for the guaranteed eerie and slow horror.

Novellas that pack a huge punch are few and far between for me. I think as an author, it would have to be an incredibly difficult task to develop such a story that lingers with people in quite a small amount of pages, but Joe Hill did it and he did it well. Since it’s so short, I don’t want to give any details away, but go in blind and enjoy it for the short 29 pages it amounted to - it certainly felt like it was more, in a good way. Hill is already an auto-buy author for me, and while novellas aren’t always my favorite, I’ll take 100 more please. Thanks to Amazon Original Stories for my ebook in exchange for review. 🖤

Joe Hill certainly accomplished a lot in a brief 29 pages! Albeit short, Ushers still manages to be memorable and captivating. The characters were well-rounded and their banter was both witty and engaging. The twist at the end wrapped this bite-sized story up perfectly, and I was ultimately very pleased with the whole thing.

All of my thanks to Amazon Original Stories & Netgalley for the ARC!

A quick read, this is an intruiging book. The characters are well built, and though short, it flows well and the tension is perfectly built

I will say this is a great paranormal meets psychological thriller. And at only 29 pages without spoiling the whole story, go in blind and enjoy the story!

Very, very short story! But a great one! I wished there was way more! The story telling was awesome!! Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review!!

4/5!

A gripping and memorable short story. My first read by this author, and I'm definitely looking forward to checking out more

Thanks Netgalley for the early ARC!

This was a fantastic short story with a great hook. In short stories there is so little time to create strong characters that readers can connect with. But, this is Joel Hill, so of course this is no problem. I found this story incredibly creepy, sad, and would have loved an expansion into a full novel. Would definitely recommend.

Short stories have had such a grip on me lately, and this one was fantastic. It was a pretty quick read, less than thirty minutes, and it managed to hold my attention the entire time. I loved Martin's personality and the way he interacted with the officers. It helped to lay the groundwork for what I thought might be a bit of a twist, and well it was. Once I finally realized what was happening at the end, I felt my heart sink. Such a good unsettling read that really makes you dig deeper than you think it will.

A very quick read. Joe Hill's ushers follows Martin Lorensen as he is interviewed by two police officers following a series of incidents of which Martin is lucky to be alive.

At under 30 pages, this story kept me gripped from the very beginning all the way up to the end. With a true Joe Hill style of writing, he creates a thought-provoking tale of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With witty banter and some 80s-style jokes, I thoroughly enjoyed this short book.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me an advance copy through Netgalley.

Any book by Joe Hill is going to be good and eerie. This was just a short story, but I didn't want it to end. I wanted more encounters with the Ushers! I hope he expands this story one day.

Quanto mi piace Joe Hill. Idee che sembrano minimali, e intanto la tensione sale, sale, sale - fino a esplodere. Una piccola gemma.

Somehow this is actually the first Joe Hill I've ever read despite having read his father's work for eons. At 29 pages it's succinct with any fat trimmed and I think the perfect length for this great little mystery horror story. We get a sense of who the three characters are easily enough without needing too much more, and the unlikely questioning takes a turn into the unexpected for the detective and the reader alike.

Outside of Netgalley this was actually free with my Amazon subscription so I gave it a read there. Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eARC in exchange for review!

I loved this short story and wish so much that it was a full length novel! The premise of this was so interesting. It was so very short but evoked so much emotion and thought. This honestly felt like reading a King story and makes me really look forward to picking up more books by Hill in the future. So glad to have gotten a chance to read this one!

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