Since the 1970s, Stephen King has been an iconic author and creator of horror, but he also shares his passion for the bizarre with his son, Joe Hill, who was born Joseph Hillström King. The two Kings have collaborated on several highly successful projects which have gone on to be adapted for major streaming services such as Netflix. While Stephen and Joe have their own unique style of writing and have found success individually, their collaborations establish the two as an unstoppable father-son duo in the horror genre.
Stephen King is a recognizable name that has produced incredibly eerie stories for nearly fifty years. The novel that skyrocketed King to success was none other than Carrie (1973) and was adapted by Brian De Palma in 1976. Since then, it is virtually impossible to go an entire year without a new television show or movie that has been adapted from an original Stephen King story. Joe Hill purposefully chose his pen-name in order to distance himself from his father and establish himself as an individual. His most noteworthy achievement is his comic book series, Locke & Key (2008-2013), which was adapted into a television series in 2020 by Netflix.
Currently, the two writers share three collaborations. While there is no news on whether or not the two will collaborate on a project again anytime soon, it is safe to assume more joint works could surface in the future. For now, Stephen King and Joe Hill have collaborated on “In The Tall Grass” (2012), “But Only Darkness Loves Me” (not available to the public), and “Throttle” (2009).
In a limited edition anthology commemorating Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), titled He Is Legend, Joe Hill and Stephen King included their 2009 novella, “Throttle”. The story follows a gang of bikers on the road after experiencing a bloody altercation. As the gang travels the highways, a trucker torments them by trying to run them over with his semi-truck. The story resembles King’s 1986 film, Maximum Overdrive, which features murderous semi-trucks and electronics that begin to mysteriously grow self-aware and go on a killing spree.
King’s influence is there alongside Hill’s writing style which follows a more traditional thriller over his father’s emphasis on the horrific. Currently, a cinematic adaptation of “Throttle” is in the works for the streaming platform HBO Max. While neither of the father-son duo will contribute to the writing of the script, it is in safe hands with Leigh Dana Jackson whose writing credentials include Scream: The TV Series (2015-2019) and Sleepy Hollow (2013-2017).
The 2012 horror novella, “In The Tall Grass”, is one of the most well known collaborations from King and Hill. It was adapted by Vincenzo Natali as a Netflix original of the same name in 2019. The story follows Cal and Becky Demuth as they stumble upon a field of tall grass that has strange and supernatural abilities that render them helpless. As the story progresses, they begin to lose sight of any means of escape and believe they will become victims to the mysterious landscape.
Their novella resembles the unsettling environment familiar to King’s 1978 short story, “Children Of The Corn”, which features a paranormal and malevolent entity that walks among the cornstalks. King’s influence is entirely blatant in most of his collaborations with Joe Hill. Considering Hill is still relatively new to genre, it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint where his voice is exactly. Regardless, “In The Tall Grass” and its emphasis on thrilling the reader over horrifying them has become a signature motif of Joe Hill’s.
One of Joe Hill’s unpublished short stories, “But Only Darkness Loves Me”, was also done in collaboration with his father. While it is not available to the public, it is held with the Stephen King papers collection in the archive at The University Of Maine. The story’s plot is unknown, but anyone who is able to request an archivist for a copy or to look at the story could access it. As of right now, this is the only route to take to read this short story.
The most striking differences between King and Hill are their emphasis on genre specific themes. In particular, Hill shows a distinct talent with writing thrillers while his father has proven to be a skilled horror author. Their tonality is entirely different as well. Hill tends to lean into an all-ages reader demographic whereas King's work contains more adult themes. Regardless, the duo have made massive strides in the literary world together and separately.
Despite the fact that one of the three collaborations of Stephen King and Joe Hill is fairly inaccessible to the general public, the other two stories have been extraordinarily successful. Both “In The Tall Grass” and “Throttle” have resulted in cinematic adaptations for major streaming platforms. Furthermore, the popularity of these two stories showcases the talent for horror that runs through both Stephen King and Joe Hill’s veins.
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