I don't know who is writing good horror novels anymore.  Granted, I'm more of a non-fiction guy myself (although I currently can't put down Christopher Moore's "Lamb") but the only name I ever associate with successful horror fiction is Stephen King.  Of course, King has now become a punch line, especially since upcoming book, "Under the Dome" has the same premise as "The Simpsons Movie".  I don't know if an association with King helps or hurts a project but since Joe Hill's "Horns" was just picked up by Mandalay and Joe Hill is King's son (Hill is short for Hillstrom, his middle name) I guess we'll find out.  Hit the jump for a story that sounds better than one involving a fucking dome.

According to Variety, "Horns" is a love story driven by horror and vengeance (maybe I'm just speaking from personal experience, but isn't that redundant?) where the central protagonist, awakes one morning to discover he has horns.  Variety's description sounds nowhere near as the full description of the book which I've included below.  I'm perfectly happy to mock King but Hill could have something here and I just hope that Mandalay doesn't try to play up his famous father and lets Hill's story stand on its own.

"Ignatius Martin Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke the next morning with a headache, put his hands to his temples and felt something unfamiliar, a pair of knobby, pointed protuberances. He was so ill-wet-eyed and weak-he didn't think anything of it at first, was too hung-over for thinking or worry. But when he was swaying over the toilet, he glanced at himself in the mirror above the sink and saw he had grown horns while he slept.

The second son of a renowned musician and doting mother, Ig Perrish has a privileged life and expectations of a bright future with his childhood sweetheart, Merrin Williams. But life takes an unexpected dark turn when Merrin is brutally killed and suspicion falls hard on Ig.

A year passes, but Ig is nowhere near over his grief or his rage . . . feelings that come to a head in a lost evening of alcohol and hate. When he wakes the next morning he discovers that he has undergone a surreal transformation, and is in possession of an incredible power. It isn't long before he turns his terrible new abilities towards vengeance. Unfortunately Ig is about to learn that when it comes to revenge, the devil is in the details" .

"Horns" is set to hit bookshelves on February 9, 2010.