Halloween is a night of costumes, candy, bonfires, and ancient traditions, but when darkness falls, some legends refuse to stay buried.
Travel to forgotten towns where impossible rituals continue beneath the harvest moon. Meet haunted children, grieving parents, vengeful scarecrows, hungry jack-o'-lanterns, escaped killers, ancient Scottish curses, restless war ghosts, and sinister spirits waiting behind familiar masks. From nostalgic trick-or-treating and eerie small-town folklore to cosmic nightmares, gothic revenge, psychological terror, and outrageous splatter horror, every story captures a different face of the year's most terrifying night.
Featuring twenty-one chilling tales from some of horror's finest voices—including Brian Hodge, Ronald Kelly, Jeff Strand, Jeffrey Thomas, William Meikle, Gord Rollo, Mark Morris, Brian Moreland, John Everson, Steve Stred, Ryan Colley, Veronica Smith and many more, The Horror Collection: Halloween Edition is packed with unforgettable frights, unsettling legends, and haunting surprises.
So carve your pumpkin, leave the porch light on... and pray that whatever comes knocking isn't looking for candy.
These well-crafted tales make for a perfect October read, or if you love Halloween as much as I do, they are a welcome treat any time of year.
Among my many favorites were Ghosts of Candies Past by Jeff Strand in which a father discovers something unusual when he checks his kids' Halloween haul. You can always count on this author for a few laughs among the gore.
Marrowvale by Kurt Fawver is a chilling tale of secret Halloween traditions and the writer who is invited to view the festivities.
Sweet Tooth by Brian Moreland is about the struggle Helen faces to keep away from the Halloween candy. Although she will face a new challenge this year with one very special trick-or-treater.
The Boy In The Garden by Callum Pearce is the story of a ghostly visitor who has suddenly been appearing every Halloween for the past 3 years. He seems to be coming much closer to the house this year.
John just wants a pumpkin to carve like every other kid in town, but his father won't allow it. Instead, he must have a tumshie. I wonder who will regret it in Tumshieheid by William Meikle.
Morgan Hayden is 12 years old and new in town. He doesn't know anyone, so he's excited when he finally makes his first friend, but soon he will also meet The Pumpkin King by Steve Stred.
No Halloween anthology would be complete without a babysitter alone in the house with a creepy child, which brings us to Watch Over Smiley by Stephen Crowley.
These were just a few of my favorite treats in this huge volume of 21 tales, guaranteed to satisfy your craving for horror set in the most wonderful time of year.
My thanks to KJK Publishing for the e-ARC
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