Possibly a case of Split Personality, as he claims that 'someone else' committed the murders. Affably Evil: Child murderer Al in 'The Black Phone' acts like a fairly normal person most of the time, even to his captive.Accidental Hero: The reason Finney survives long enough to hear the phone ring is due to Al's brother being in the same house, preventing Al from killing him.Admiring the Abomination: When Francis becomes a giant locust in 'You Will Hear the Locust Sing,' everyone who sees him is terrified - except Francis' best friend, who just says, 'Awesome!' For that matter, Francis' own reaction to his transformation is basically the same.'Scheherazade's Typewriter': A daughter discovers that her dead father's typewriter is still writing stories.'Voluntary Committal': A story of two brothers, one of whom is an Idiot Savant who builds vast cardboard forts that connect to different worlds.'My Father's Mask': A family goes on a strange trip where everyone is forced to wear masks.'Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead': Two ex-lovers meet each while working as extras on the set of George A.'The Widow's Breakfast': A hobo comes across a good Good Samaritan.'Last Breath': An old man runs a museum which contains the last breaths of various notable individuals.Years later, as a literal Basement-Dweller living with his mother, he finds the cape again. 'The Cape': A young boy discovers that he can fly with the use of a cape, until he and his brother suffer severe injuries using it.'In the Rundown': A videostore clerk discovers a grisly scene on a weedy dirt lane.Has been adapted into a feature film released in June 2022 later printings of the collection were released under the title The Black Phone to capitalize on this. 'The Black Phone': A young boy is kidnapped by a child murderer and held in a basement with a mysterious black phone hanging on the wall.'Better Than Home': About a troubled boy (strongly hinted to have autism) whose father manages the Boston Red Sox.

'Abraham's Boys': Set after Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing has moved to the United States and tries to teach the sons he fathered with Mina Harker about vampires.

'You Will Hear the Locust Sing': A young man wakes up and finds that he has turned into a giant insect.

'Pop Art': A young outcast befriends another boy who is made out of inflatable plastic.

'20th Century Ghost': An old-style movie theater is haunted by the spirit of a young woman who died there.

'Best New Horror': A jaded editor of an annual horror anthology discovers a disturbing short story and attempts to track down its elusive author.

While the stories are predominately horror, there are some other genres as well.

20th Century Ghosts is a short story anthology written by Joe Hill.

20th century ghosts the black phone