Finished 5 in October.
1. October’s End - a collection of 3 novellas by Kevin Lucia, Jeremy Bates & Jason Parent. I really liked the story by Lucia,
‘Daughter of the Mists’, about a local librarian who runs the annual Halloween movie show. It had a very small town Halloween feel to it, & Lucia’s love for the genre really shows through. But when it came time for the blood & gore, he didn’t hold back. This story was probably the best thing I read all month. I also liked the story by Bates (‘Once Upon a Halloween Night’), about conjoined twins that get revenge on their abusers, both at school and at home. It shouldn’t have worked but it did. Didn’t care for the story by Parent at all. 3.3 / 5 (5,4,1)
2. The Horror at Pleasant Brook was another very good read from Kevin Lucia. The donning of a cursed mask unleashes a wave of horror in a small town in northern NY. This story had a lot of the same favorable attributes as ‘Daughter of the Mists’, though at times it did feel like I was being preached to. Overall, still a solid read with a definite small town Halloween-horror feel to it. 4 / 5
3. Halloween Beyond was another Halloween themed collection of 3 stories by Lisa Morton, Lucy Snyder & Kate Maruyama. These stories had more of a fantastical feel to them, as each one revolved around a pop-up store called Halloween Beyond run by a fae-like character named Maeve. My favorite story was probably the one by Lisa Morton (‘The Talking-Board’), about a girl who goes in search of her younger sister, who disappeared in the woods the previous Halloween. The Snyder story (‘New Blood’) started off with a Lovecraftian story line, but it petered out by the end. The Maruyama story (A Gentleman’s Suit’) was about a teenager who takes Death’s place on her last Halloween night at home to ferry an old friend across the River Styx. 3 / 5
4. Gone to See the River Man was the first thing I’ve read by Kristopher Triana, about a middle age woman who develops a relationship with an incarcerated serial killer. On her last visit he tells her she must find a key & take it to the River Man. I really liked the first half of this short novel. It was very atmospheric and had a genuine creepy feel to it, though the main character came off as rather stupid and naive. The second half was much more surreal, and not as much to my liking. For a story advertised as extreme horror, it wasn’t over the top in gore, though there certainly were several ‘holy shit’ moments throughout the story. I would certainly pick something else up by Triana, though just not right away. 3.5 / 5
5. October Screams ed. by Kenneth Cain was an anthology of Halloween horror stories. It seems like most of the anthologies I read any more run towards the mediocre, and October Screams was no exception. 3.3 / 5
B
1. October’s End - a collection of 3 novellas by Kevin Lucia, Jeremy Bates & Jason Parent. I really liked the story by Lucia,
‘Daughter of the Mists’, about a local librarian who runs the annual Halloween movie show. It had a very small town Halloween feel to it, & Lucia’s love for the genre really shows through. But when it came time for the blood & gore, he didn’t hold back. This story was probably the best thing I read all month. I also liked the story by Bates (‘Once Upon a Halloween Night’), about conjoined twins that get revenge on their abusers, both at school and at home. It shouldn’t have worked but it did. Didn’t care for the story by Parent at all. 3.3 / 5 (5,4,1)
2. The Horror at Pleasant Brook was another very good read from Kevin Lucia. The donning of a cursed mask unleashes a wave of horror in a small town in northern NY. This story had a lot of the same favorable attributes as ‘Daughter of the Mists’, though at times it did feel like I was being preached to. Overall, still a solid read with a definite small town Halloween-horror feel to it. 4 / 5
3. Halloween Beyond was another Halloween themed collection of 3 stories by Lisa Morton, Lucy Snyder & Kate Maruyama. These stories had more of a fantastical feel to them, as each one revolved around a pop-up store called Halloween Beyond run by a fae-like character named Maeve. My favorite story was probably the one by Lisa Morton (‘The Talking-Board’), about a girl who goes in search of her younger sister, who disappeared in the woods the previous Halloween. The Snyder story (‘New Blood’) started off with a Lovecraftian story line, but it petered out by the end. The Maruyama story (A Gentleman’s Suit’) was about a teenager who takes Death’s place on her last Halloween night at home to ferry an old friend across the River Styx. 3 / 5
4. Gone to See the River Man was the first thing I’ve read by Kristopher Triana, about a middle age woman who develops a relationship with an incarcerated serial killer. On her last visit he tells her she must find a key & take it to the River Man. I really liked the first half of this short novel. It was very atmospheric and had a genuine creepy feel to it, though the main character came off as rather stupid and naive. The second half was much more surreal, and not as much to my liking. For a story advertised as extreme horror, it wasn’t over the top in gore, though there certainly were several ‘holy shit’ moments throughout the story. I would certainly pick something else up by Triana, though just not right away. 3.5 / 5
5. October Screams ed. by Kenneth Cain was an anthology of Halloween horror stories. It seems like most of the anthologies I read any more run towards the mediocre, and October Screams was no exception. 3.3 / 5
B