Judas “Jude” Coyne: A retired, cynical 54-year-old heavy metal legend who collects bizarre and macabre items (like a used hangman’s noose and snuff films). Jude’s assistant buys a dead man’s funeral suit online after an offer from the stepdaughter of the deceased. The suit arrives at Jude’s remote farm in a black, heart-shaped box.
The suit is inhabited by the spirit of Craddock McDermott. He is a malicious ghost who blames Jude for the suicide of his stepdaughter, Anna (a former young lover Jude discarded). Craddock appears to Jude holding a razor blade on a chain, following him through the house, in his car, and on television. The ghost drives Jude’s assistant to suicide and targets Jude’s 23-year-old girlfriend, Marybeth (Georgia).
Jude and Marybeth try to run away, but the supernatural stalker follows them across the country. They discover the seller sent the suit for revenge while hiding her own complicity in Craddock’s abusive past.
This was an okay read. I feel I was really hyped up by the blurb of it, and was disappointed in it. After reading Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 I was underwhelmed by this one. It just didn’t grab me. I read the audiobook, maybe that was the issue… I will definitely try other books by Joe Hill in the future.
Read for the Read Between the Lines Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 36: A Ghost Story
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
