Joyland (King novel)

Background information

The idea for this novel came from an image Stephen King had held for two decades: a boy in a wheelchair flying a kite shaped like Jesus on a beach. The book was first hinted at during a 2012 interview with Neil Gaiman, then officially announced later that spring. Its cover was unveiled that September. King also cited Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire as a major inspiration.

Limited edition

Titan Books announced a limited hardcover run of Joyland on May 13, 2013, with a release date of June 11, 2013, arriving a week after the initial paperback. The novel came in three versions: a gift edition capped at 1,500 copies, a signed numbered edition of 724 copies, and a signed lettered edition of just 26 copies. All three used new cover art by Robert McGinnis, distinct from the paperback, and included a park map drawn by Susan Hunt Yule.

Plot

Devin Jones takes a summer job at Joyland in North Carolina. A fortune teller named Rozzie tells him he will meet two children that summer: a girl with a red hat and a boy with a dog. Devin lodges at a rooming house owned by Mrs. Shoplaw. His girlfriend Wendy promises to sleep with him but then ditches him.

At Joyland, Devin is placed in Team Beagle and works with Lane Hardy operating the Ferris wheel. He finds solace portraying Howie the Happy Hound, the park's mascot, and saves a young girl from choking on a hot dog, earning the trust of park owner Mr. Easterbrook. Devin, Tom, and Erin learn that a girl named Linda Gray was murdered in the dark ride Horror House years earlier and that her ghost still haunts it. Tom sees the ghost but Devin does not.

Devin takes a year off school to stay at the park. Erin researches the murder and finds it is part of a string of unsolved murders. Devin befriends a woman named Annie and her dying son Mike. Mike reveals he knows about Linda's ghost and has a dog, and Devin realizes Mike is the second child in Rozzie's prediction.

Reception

Walter Kirn at The New York Times compared the novel to a plump wad of cotton candy that dissolves when chewed, by design. The Los Angeles Review of Books noted the novel's ephemeralness but acknowledged its deeper appeal through well-drawn characters and attention to carnie patois. The Guardian called the novel a far gentler, deeper, more thoughtful book than it masquerades as, closer in tone to King's short story 'The Body' than to his horror.