Isaac Asimov's Halloween

by Gardner Dozois (Editor), Sheila Williams (Editor), William Sanders (Contributor)

IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM "TRICK OR TREAT!!!"

From the award-winning pages of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine comes a new anthology of out-of-this-world Halloween tales by:

Nancy Kress * Ian R. MacLeod * Howard Waldrop * Esther M. Freisner * Lawrence Watt-Evans * Andy Duncan * William Saunders * Eliot Fintushel * S.N. Dyer and Lucy Kemnitzer * Steven Utley

1 • Words and Music • (1997) • novelette by William Sanders
33 • Beluthahatchie • (1997) • shortstory by Andy Duncan
51 • Renaissance • (1989) • shortstory by Nancy Kress
66 • Dikduk • (1995) • shortstory by Eliot Fintushel
76 • Pickman's Modem • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1992) • shortstory by Lawrence Watt-Evans
84 • Thorri the Poet's Saga • (1995) • novelette by Sharon N. Farber and Lucy Kemnitzer [as by S. N. Dyer and Lucy Kemnitzer ]
121 • He-We-Await • (1987) • novelette by Howard Waldrop
145 • The Shunned Trailer • (2000) • shortstory by Esther M. Friesner
164 • The Country Doctor • (1993) • shortstory by Steven Utley
186 • The Golden Keeper • (1997) • novella by Ian R. MacLeod

Genres: Horror, Halloween, Anthologies, Science Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of popular magazine issue, Isaac Asimov, this collection came from this perfect short stories, all in the worth of the value of something to read.

[N. M. D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you would think this to be, from the title, a collection of Halloween-related stories, you'd be wrong--just like I was. I don't believe the word "Halloween" even appears in passing once. There isn't even a shade of orange described as "Halloween orange." Not a single thing about spooky season. I also have no idea what's happening on the cover.

I suppose the intention is a collection of stories suitable for the season, in that they're all supernatural horror-ish. They're all competent enough, I just didn't care for them much. Several have abrupt endings that make me feel like they forgot to include the third act. Two are spoofs of Lovecraft (one was at least kind funny, but funny isn't my thing.) Another is Lovecraft mythos in Ancient Rome. That one was decent. One is a mystery set in medieval(?) Iceland. Another spans 5000 years, from ancient Egypt to now. The variety is there, that I can say, but I found them all so middling.

Except for one.

Steven Utley's The Country Doctor was masterly in how it slowly revealed its information. Despite taking place in one location with no real action or high-stakes feel, this story about the excessive ratio of deformed inhabitants in a soon-to-be-underwater small town--and the old timey doctor who always had candy for the kids--was slow, subtle, and compelling, perfectly balancing in the middle realm of not shoving the story down your throat, but also not being too vague. It was far and away the best one, and Utley is the only writer I walked away from this colllection wanting more from.

[Myra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I started this book years ago. But it's short stories, so putting it down for years before finishing is fine. To the best of my memory, I was not blown away by any of the stories. A few were pretty solid, many were just average. (And none that I can recall are actually about Halloween. They're just horror/suspense stories.)

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very creepy stories! More Lovecraft references than I expected for works written in the '90s. Could have used some more humor.

[Nicole Bunge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should not have been labelled with "Halloween" at all. Nothing in this has to do with the holiday, celebrations, the date, dressing up, or other things you think of with Halloween. It's got horror, murder, and a few decent Lovecraft elements, but it should have been labeled "horror" or "madness" in its theme.

The Lovecraftian stories are amusing- one set in ancient Rome, one a (sadly) dated technology story (but all these were written in the 1990s, so a lot of it is dated.) The 'deep south' Cthulhu story is terribly amusing.

The only story that really stood up was "Words and Music" by William Sanders.

Several of the others were kinda 'WTF was that?'' and even staring at the table of contents just now, I couldn't remember what they were about.