The Last Night Of October by Greg Chapman

Seventy-year-old Gerald Forsyth dreads Halloween.

Every year, on October 31st, a lone child has knocked on his door – a nightmarish reminder of a tragedy from Gerald’s past.

As each Halloween came and went, Gerald has been able to keep his door locked and the monstrous memory at bay, but the ravages of emphysema have left him a disgruntled and feeble-minded old man.

When a new hospice nurse named Kelli arrives unexpectedly to replace his regular nurse on Halloween night, Gerald is caught unawares and before he can warn her, Kelli is inviting the threat into his home. The horrors that unfold will be no trick and the only treat the child will accept is the old man’s soul.
Before the night ends, Gerald will have no choice but to bring his dark secret into the light. 

Poor Gerald is not long for this world. Alone and lonely near the end of his days, his only visitors are the nurse who comes to check his vitals and a yearly terrifying specter of his past that makes itself known every Halloween. On this particular night, he has a new nurse, who asks too many questions, over stays her welcome, and invites Gerald's greatest fear to come on in.

When I read the description I thought it sounded familiar but it wasn't until a few pages in that I realized I had read this novella before. Such are the hazards of reading so many books you sometimes lose track of what you've read. I first enjoyed this story when it was previously published in the Halloween Carnival series of anthologies. It's a fun spooky story for Halloween or any time of year for those of us who enjoy ghost stories all year round. I love the new illustrations inside too that I didn't get to see the first time around. This is a great read for those who like to keep Halloween close every day of the year.

5 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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The Neighbor by London Clarke

 Claire Vogel is a recently divorced mother of four girls and a successful counselor living in a planned and prestigious community. She knows all her neighbors, and they know her. But Claire has a secret. To cope with hidden, deep-rooted pain, she often participates in risky, reckless behavior.

When the mysterious Steel Nolan moves in next door to Claire, their flirtation quickly develops into a deeper attraction. But soon after, Claire and her children contend with sleepwalking, shadow men, and disembodied voices.

As Claire begins to remember childhood memories and learns more about her new neighbor's past, her concern for her children's safety grows. Is Steel Nolan the man of her dreams … or the stuff of nightmares?

Terrifying and disturbing, The Neighbor explores the thrill of danger, the depths of evil, and the dark and sinister elements that can haunt us for a lifetime.

When I first read the description, and then got into the beginning of the book, I thought this was going to turn into one of those tawdry romance novels and that maybe the handsome hunk next door comes to the rescue of poor damsel in distress Claire. It's been a while since I've been so wrong! Yes Claire is a respected professional by day and a party girl by night if her kids are off with their father, but the new handsome hunk is not coming to anyone's rescue and sometimes you need to believe that pets and children can sense danger better than adults.

After getting involved with the new neighbor, Claire and her daughters begin to experience some very creepy happenings. Soon it becomes apparent that something supernatural is afoot in the entire neighborhood. This is no haunted house that you can just pack up and move away from.

I'm not going to get into the plot more than I have because it is best discovered for yourself. I will tell you it scared me. I read the first half very quickly because I was hooked from the start. Once I got to the halfway mark I kept putting it down. Not because it isn't good, but because it gave me the heebie jeebies. It takes a lot to scare me but The Neighbor did the trick.

5 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review

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Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas by Josh Malerman

 

Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you’ll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin. . . .

A Man in Slices: A man proves his “legendary love” to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh’s—and sends her more than his heart.

Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself.

Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture—and kill—the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin’s dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping.

Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion.

A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him.

The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it—until a little girl resolves to be the first to find the mysteries that wait at its heart.

These six novellas are all connected by the theme of a weird and creepy little town called Goblin. Other than the strange place with a dark history they don't share much else. I had high expectations from the start because I do love home town horror. In Goblin it rains all the time and people are buried standing up. The police force is referenced in a way that made me wonder whether the officers are human, or even alive. I will leave it to you to determine what they are when they play a more prominent role in the last story.  Aside from what is listed above there is also a bonus story told in two parts. It begins as a welcome and ends in an epilogue at the end of the book.

My favorite story was Presto which is about a boy who is obsessed with magic, and his favorite magician who comes to perform a midnight show in Goblin. I found it deliciously dark and creepy, and although I was interested in Peter I was mostly enjoying the back story of the magician who started out as a failure before making a pact that gave him real magic instead of tricks. This story was a 5 star read for me.

My least favorite was A Mix Up at the Zoo. It had long passages of dream  scenes and the ending was too obvious from the start. I don't care for dream sequences and they always seem over used. It may just be me but when I see pages of italics and I know it's not happening but a dream of what's happening I get the urge to skim. This was a 2 star read for me.

A Man In Slices was a 4 star read for me. It was mainly about a strained childhood friendship, and letting the guilt one feels when wanting to cut ties with someone  hold you hostage when you are the only friend they have. If anything this story will convince you to make a clean break before it's too late.

The other three stories landed somewhere in the middle for me and if they were separate novellas I would give them 3 stars each. 

I was really enjoying the welcome part of the book and I was so into this story! I was dying to know what this delivery was about. When I finally got to the epilogue where this story continues I was hoping it was somehow going to tie everything together but it mostly stayed in it's own lane. 

All in all it was a decent collection that I would rate 3.25 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review.

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Josh Malerman is the author of BIRD BOX and the singer/songwriter for the band THE HIGH STRUNG.

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

 

A young Puritan woman--faithful, resourceful, but afraid of the demons that dog her soul--plots her escape from a violent marriage in this riveting and propulsive historical thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant.

Boston, 1662. Mary Deerfield is twenty-four-years-old. Her skin is porcelain, her eyes delft blue, and in England she might have had many suitors. But here in the New World, amid this community of saints, Mary is the second wife of Thomas Deerfield, a man as cruel as he is powerful. When Thomas, prone to drunken rage, drives a three-tined fork into the back of Mary's hand, she resolves that she must divorce him to save her life. But in a world where every neighbor is watching for signs of the devil, a woman like Mary--a woman who harbors secret desires and finds it difficult to tolerate the brazen hypocrisy of so many men in the colony--soon finds herself the object of suspicion and rumor. When tainted objects are discovered buried in Mary's garden, when a boy she has treated with herbs and simples dies, and when their servant girl runs screaming in fright from her home, Mary must fight to not only escape her marriage, but also the gallows. A twisting, tightly plotted thriller from one of our greatest storytellers, Hour of the Witch is a timely and terrifying novel of socially sanctioned brutality and the original American witch hunt.

Mary tries to make the best of her marriage to Thomas Deerfield, and is as good a wife as she can possibly be considering that he treats her poorly when he is sober and violently when he is not. An act of increasing brutality is the final straw, and she attempts to escape this marriage. 

 In a time where a man's word is law and a woman's word carries very little weight in her own defense but is thought highly of should she accuse another of witchcraft or even adultery, Mary tries to navigate her way to freedom. Divorce is rare in these days, not for lack of wanting one but for the difficulty in obtaining one when a husband chooses not to allow it.

The author seems to have put in a lot of research hours to make the language of the day and the pervasive superstition and bigotry that blanketed that time period feel authentic.

I'm not sure I would consider this a thriller, but it is a compelling work of historical fiction with realistic characters and a thought provoking plot.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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