The Black Phone Summary
Joe Hill

The Black Phone Overview

Though its stories are not linked together by plot or narrative, the fifteen short fictions featured in Joe Hill's The Black Phone each revolve around the subtle horrors of modern existence. Hill pairs an old-fashioned gothic sensibility about the horror genre with an exploration of Anthropocene issues such as mental health, government bureaucracy, and wealth disparity as a means of commenting on twentieth century anxieties. The collection deals with themes of class, masculinity, childhood, romance, and mental illness.