Joe Hill is clearly Stephen King's son. They both explore ideas in a similar way, from strangely magical children to New England, kids with dogs to a terrible, creeping menace that follows some poor, flawed protagonist from behind.
But Hill also has a better grip on plot than King - though that's neither here nor there.

I loved this book. I've been a fan of Hill's for a while and this even exceeded my expectations. It is well worth the nearly 700 page trek if you've ever thought the premise of almost any King novel sounded even a little intriguing. (And it does, in fact, tie in to much of the King overarching world through some easter eggs in the illustrations and outright in the text.)

But also, somehow, I never registered this as a Christmas novel?
Maybe in a couple years I'll go out for some Chinese and, instead of seeing a movie, I'll reread NOS4A2 some Christmas eve.