2013 will be a double whammy for Stephen King fans. The big headliner may be Dr. Sleep, the Shining sequel slated for Sept. 24, 2013, but King’s other much-anticipated novel Joyland comes three months earlier in June from publisher Hard Case Crime. Joyland takes place in a small-town North Carolina amusement park, where college student Devin Jones arrives at the park to work as a carny for the summer, but he ends up experiencing much more than he bargained for when he confronts the legacy of a vicious murder and the fate of a dying child.

EW got a peek at the cover of Joyland before anyone else. Check it out below! The original cover painting is by Glen Orbik.

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Not only is King going retro with the setting of his upcoming novel, he’s also sticking to a tried-and-true format. “I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts,” he said in the press release. “I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.”

Charles Ardai, editor of Hard Case Crime, promises a layered, genre-crossing story. “Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book,” he said. “It’s a whodunit, it’s a carny novel, it’s a story about growing up and growing old, and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time. Even the most hard-boiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’ ”

What do you think of the cover? Which are you more excited about — Joyland or Dr. Sleep?

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