The Halloween Store, and Other Tales of All Hallows' Eve by Ronald Kelly

When you first enter The Halloween Store, things seem normal. Fun and frightful decorations, ghastly costumes and masks of the season, and bags of candy galore. Then, as you travel farther into its shadowy depths, things begin to change. The air smells of damp autumn leaves and candle-scorched pumpkin. The shelves of All Hallows’ Eve fare grow darker and more disturbing. Strange and unsettling things of Halloweens past and present lurk amid the cobwebs and dust…

Four trick-or-treaters purchase vintage costumes from a strip-mall shop, only to discover that they must sign a mysterious disclaimer for the Halloween celebration to come…

After a man’s missing daughter is found–near death and physically altered–he must once again face a horrifying monster from his own childhood…

A teenage girl hitches a ride after a Halloween rock & roll concert, only to learn that her favorite singing idol has made a pact with the Devil himself…

Three kids receive unusual treats during a Halloween stop at their favorite teacher’s house…

During a random visit to his hometown, a businessman treats a young boy to the joy and excitement of a Halloween festival, only to find that things are not what they first appeared to be…

A rash of ghoulish jack-o’-lanterns leads a small-town sheriff to the doorstep of one of the most notorious serial killers of all time…

An advertisement in the back of an old comic book prompts two friends to place an order that they soon come to regret…

Seven horrific tales and two nostalgic essays… hand-picked for your Trick-or-Treat bag. With the arrival of a 2020 Halloween, there is no telling what terrifying treats and petrifying prizes may await you!

I love short horror stories all year round, but once the nights turn cold and the leaves begin to turn it feels like the perfect time to indulge in some Halloween tales. Every story here can stand alone, but to me they are even tastier if you have read Ronald Kelly's previous collections, as some monsters of the past do visit in this book. Fear not if you haven't read them, they are not a requirement in order to enjoy these spookalicious stories. In the title story The Halloween Store four friends get hold of some very unusual costumes and may regret not doing their shopping at Walmart. Mister Mack Is Back In Town revisits the otherworldly being that I previously met in Mister Glow-bones  25 years have passed and children are still suffering but Mister Mack may finally be caught. Blood Suede Shoes is a cautionary tale, don't accept rides from strangers when you're walking home from a rock and roll Halloween show, even if the driver is famous. In Clown Treats three friends head to their favorite teacher's house to trick or treat but end up with a nasty surprise. The Cistern felt like the best elements of Rod Serling and Ray Bradbury in a creepy story of small town horror that proves you can't go home again, or maybe  you just shouldn't! Pretty Little Lanterns is a story of a serial killer on the loose and those are not pumpkins he's carving. The Amazing and Totally Awesome Fright Creature is an advertisement two boys find in a very old comic book, and it makes me glad I listened to my mother about not sending away for things in ads although they certainly got their money's worth.

This book is all treats and no tricks. I feel like I scored a bag of full size candy bars and not a mini toothpaste or pencil eraser in the bunch.

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About the author

Ronald Kelly was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee. He became interested in horror as a child, watching the local "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights and "The Big Show"---a Nashville-based TV show that presented every old monster movie ever made ---in the afternoons after school. In high school, his interest turned to horror literature and he read such writers as Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, and King. He originally had dreams of becoming a comic book artist and created many of his own super heroes. But during his junior year, the writing bug bit him and he focused his attention on penning short stories and full-length novels. To date, he has had ten novels and eight short fiction collections published. In 1992, his audio-book, DARK DIXIE, was included on the nominating ballot for a Grammy Award.

He currently lives in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife, Joyce, his two daughters, Reilly and Makenna, and his son, Ryan (Bubba).

 

The Thing In The Lake by Conor Metz

 

Billy McGregor just wants to enjoy his summer before high school, but a creature lurks within his lake and seems to be picking off the residents one at a time. As a horror-buff, he’s quick to pick up on this and with nobody else seeming to notice, it’s up to him and his friends to take matters into their own hands.

But they aren’t the only ones after the creature.

A local cop realizes the several deaths are linked and an organization called SID is trying to cover it up. They have their own plans for the creature, but if they don't capture it quickly, things could spiral out of control due to a potential for infection. A single bite or scratch will turn any person it injures into another one of its kind.

It’s a race for who can deal with the creature first, but will any of them be successful against a genetically engineered killing machine?

It begins with an accident on a rain slicked road. If not for that, the "thing" may have never escaped, leaving death and a fate worse than death in it's wake. Then again, if not for that rain slicked road nobody may have ever found out about the ghastly experiment that has gone so terribly awry. This was a fast paced creature feature story and it doesn't take long from the time of it's escape for the "thing" to make its presence known in the most gruesome of ways. I enjoyed the relationships between Billy and his friends, and I was rooting for them to be able to handle this creature. I even liked the annoying older sister but I did wish the focus was more on the creature and it's victims and less on the not quite government/not quite military SID agents.

3.5 stars, that I will round up to 4 on sites that don't allow half stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author

CONOR METZ was born in Renton, Washington in 1984. His early years exposed him to a variety of outlandish films, novels, and comics books, which have shaped him into the writer he is today. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Double Barrel Horror: Highway Hunger / Motel Madness by Calvin Demmer

 

Two Twisted Tales from author Calvin Demmer.

"Highway Hunger" pits a young road worker against an urban legend with a taste for living flesh.

"Motel Madness" is the last stop on the way to another world, where they'll be expecting you.

These two short stories are a quick and creepy good time.

In Highway Hunger a court ordered community service gig is more than just a punishment as one man comes face to face with a road demon.

In Motel Madness a woman awakens in a strange room with no memory of how she arrived or what has happened to her traveling companions.

Both stories share an underlying theme of revenge and retribution with a bit of dark humor thrown in.

4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author

Calvin Demmer is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and Dark Celebrations. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Blood Wail by Jae Mazer

 

Every night, sisters Saoirse and Imogen beg their Dadai to read to them from an old storybook, Tales from Ramnon. They’re entranced by the mythical creatures described within its weathered pages. But when tragedy devastates their blissful childhood, the book is closed, and the sisters are forced to cope with a loss darker than they could have ever imagined.

As Saoirse and Imogen grow into adults, they attempt to navigate their lives in County Cork, Ireland. But phantoms from their past have followed them, lurking in the shadows and wailing in the night. In desperation, one sister turns to drugs to quiet the horrors, while the other embarks on a journey to seek answers from the fables and myths of their childhood.   
BLOOD WAIL is a folk horror story about addiction, loss and pain, family and love, and the possibility of creatures beyond our understanding.  

Sometimes the stories are real.

Saoirse and Imogen reveled in the stories their father read to them nightly, but were left unprepared to deal with the night he didn't come home. There was far more to these stories that had been held back from young ears and dark secrets kept from the girls that will shape their adult lives. When they begin to see and hear the wailing mournful screams of the harbinger of death they tell no one. Not even each other.

 This dark folktale combines Irish legend with real life horror in a moving portrayal of one loving family's grief and loss. 

4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author
Jae Mazer is a Canadian who was born in Victoria, British Columbia, and grew up in the prairies of Northern Alberta. After spending the majority of her life in the Great White North, she migrated south to Texas. She is a connoisseur and creator of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Many moons ago, a rampant love of reading led her to believe she could weave a good tale herself, and now she is an award-winning author with ten novels under her belt, as well as stories published in various anthologies.