Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night Edited by Stephanie Rose

 

Return to the streets where fall leaves crunch underfoot and the glow of a harvest moon lights your way.

From the new trick-or-treaters to the big kids who know which houses give out the full-size bars, these tales deliver all the thrills of Halloween night in bite-sized pieces.

In the tradition of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, each author brings their own deliciously twisted take on the season. Some stories will make you squirm, others will send an icy chill down your spine. Whether you crave the nostalgia of flickering jack-o'-lanterns or the shock of something moving in the shadows, this collection invites you to savor Halloween every night of the year because for some of us, October never lets go.

I love Holiday horror and especially stories set on or around Halloween. I'm always on the lookout for new Halloween anthologies, even when my TBR is overflowing. I happened to notice this one when I went to update my profile on Book Sirens (which oddly still lists my social reach at less than a third of what it is) and decided to request it. After a couple of days, when it was neither approved nor declined, I withdrew my request and decided to stick with the mountain of ARCs I already have. A week later, it showed up in my email anyway, so here we are.

Why am I telling you so much about the process of getting this book instead of just getting on with a review? Because I'm struggling with this one. Not because there aren't some great stories here, but because I am not sure what age group the target audience is meant to be. Some of the stories seem to be written for young children. Others seem geared more towards a teenage audience, like those who outgrew Goosebumps and moved on to Fear Street. So while I enjoyed several stories, I'm not sure what age group to recommend it to.

A few of my favorites were The Trap Door by Skylar Crowter, in which 2 teens set out for their last ever night of trick or treating, now that they feel they are too old. They plan to make the best of this final time by starting at the home of the street's oldest and kindest resident, where full-sized candy bars are always guaranteed. When they get there, the lights are off and something is very wrong in this house.

Scare Of A Lifetime by Joseph Buckly- A man who tries to outdo himself year after year with the best Halloween decorations in town is on the hunt for something spectacular to display in his yard this year. He will impress the neighborhood if it's the last thing he ever does.

When Leaves Burn by Donna Taylor-Who doesn't love the sharp crackle of freshly fallen leaves? It's one of the best parts of the season. But there are rules to abide by in Autumn Hollow and there are consequences for gazing up at the trees in the month of October.

Trick Or Treatment by Hayley Newlin - A woman in an abusive marriage with a man who has been experimenting on her like a mad doctor finds that revenge can be electrifying.

Back Home Again by Alan Dellascio A man who had Halloween ruined for him as a child takes his daughter trick-or-treating in his old neighborhood.

Nightmare Realm by Leigh Kenny- Friends head out to a Halloween attraction in hopes that it will be scarier on Halloween than it was on opening night. Be careful what you wish for.

These were my favorites; your mileage may vary.

My thanks to Book Sirens and Stephanie Rose

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Stories:

DO YOU KNOW THE BUNNY MAN? by Angela Sylvaine

THE TRAP DOOR by Skylar Crowter

SCARE OF A LIFETIME by Joseph Buckley

IT LURKS by Zelda Zito

THE HAUNTING OF THORNWOOD CEMETERY by Maria Giakoumatos

WHEN LEAVES BURN by Donna Taylor

NO STRINGS ATTACHED by V. Castro

TRICK OR TREATMENT by Haley Newlin

BACK HOME AGAIN by Alan Dellascio

NIGHTMARE REALM by Leigh Kenny

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE DEATH by Greg Patrick

SPECTER HALLOWEEN by Briana Morgan

MALLRAT by Rikki Goodwin

THE THIRTEEN THINGS YOU FOUND IN YOUR TRICK OR TREAT BAG by Gwendolyn Kiste

How to Survive Camping #2 The Lady in Chains by Bonnie Quinn

Every year, campground manager Kate sends out a pamphlet titled “How to Survive Your Camping Experience.” It includes a list of rules to help campers have an enjoyable experience and hopefully survive any encounters with the campgrounds other…inhabitants.

With the campground in the throes of a bad year, it will take more than a list of rules to keep everyone safe. Monsters that were previously lying dormant are starting to stir, and they’re waking up hungry. Among them is the Lady in Chains, a creature feared by both human and inhuman things alike.

Her reappearance creates an upheaval in the balance of power in the campground by renewing an old grudge with the harvesters, who are willing to sacrifice anyone they get their hands on in order to gain an advantage. On top of all this, the Man with the Skull Cup has started taking an unusual interest in Kate. But with the harvesters on the prowl, the Lady in Chains hunting her down, and a sinister spider infestation, Kate is going to need all the allies she can get, even if those allies aren’t actually…human. 

Spring has sprung, summer is on the way, and the Goat Valley Campground is ready to welcome another season of campers. They should be fine as long as they read the rules. Kate, the manager, has always sent out a pamphlet on how best to deal with any supernatural beings in order to survive any they may encounter. 

As usual, there are those who don't take it seriously, but worse, this is a bad year for the campground with entities that Kate has not had to deal with before. How many campers and dwindling family members can one manager be expected to save every year? Surely not all of them. This year, not even the townspeople are safe from supernatural deaths, so what chance do the campers have?

This was a fun read that solidifies my decision to keep out of the woods. It's funny, creepy, and not too gory, although some people do get liberated from their body parts. If your vacation plans include camping this year, this is the book to bring.

My thanks to  S&S/Saga Press for the e-ARC

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Headlights by C.J. Leede

Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t. Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it's happening again.

Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they've allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.

Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along— before he and the people he loves become the next victims.

 

Special Agent Daniel Stansfield suffered trauma at a very early age that has shaped the rest of his life. As he is preparing to re-enlist he is pulled back into an unsolved murder case when it appears the unknown serial killer has started again. New victims have turned up, and people are found covered in blood and wearing the skin of these corpses with no memory of what has happened or why they would have been involved.

Pretty freaky right? Well, it would have been if it had been more about the victims and the killer and less about the investigation and the agent's memories and visions. It started off strong, but it turned into more of a slow burn mystery that, for me, never reached its full potential. There are loads of references to The Shining, but that's not enough to back up the claim that it is "Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs."  I loved the author's previous book and was hoping to feel the same about this one, but I just can't. It goes off in so many directions that I began to lose interest. You may enjoy it more than I did.

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for the advance paperback.

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Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey

An exclusive invitation.

A remote island infamous for its miraculous ecology.

A once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix everything that's broken.

But sometimes growth requires sacrifice....

WELCOME TO KINDRED COVE.

Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family—to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost.

Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef -- she will find herself.

She’s ready to be healed. She’s ready to be transformed.

She's ready to believe.

 

Celia is grieving a loss, and through a support group, she learns about a wellness retreat that she hopes will help her to heal. When she arrives, there is some conflicting information on whether visitors have ever been allowed to remain. If they have not stayed on, where exactly did they go? Because some former guests have never returned home.

I was expecting more of a folk horror than what I got out of this book. This is more a story of cult-like behavior and how someone like Celia, with her past trauma and desperation to belong somewhere, could be ripe for conversion.

There are many points of view and several timelines that bounced around too much for my taste. It was very slow going for not a whole lot of payoff at the end.

You may enjoy it more than I did, but this book was just not for me.

My thanks to Tor Books for the paperback.

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