Once Upon a Hallow's Eve

by Sarah Diemer

"Stories often begin with 'Once upon a time,' or 'Once there was--' charming lines that imply a fairy tale. Our story starts with wolves in the woods, and--by degrees--gets worse.

"This tale, as you can imagine, is not the charming sort."

A young girl with a hopeless wish, a Dark King with a candle for a heart, a single Hallow's Eve night to spin the brightest of magics. "Once Upon a Hallow's Eve," a short story and original Halloween fairy tale, travels to the court of Dark Shadows and back again on a bewitching journey across a most unusual Halloween night.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, LGBT, Halloween, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Lesbian

14 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 18, 2011

About the author

I write about heroic, magical girls who love girls. YA author of Golden Crown Award-winning THE DARK WIFE (the lesbian, YA retelling of the Persephone myth) and TWIXT and co-author, with my amazing wife, author Jennifer Diemer, of Project Unicorn: A Lesbian YA Extravaganza.
http://www.MuseRising.com

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short and sweet halloween fairytale. Like the other one I just reviewed by Sarah Diemer, it follows the fairytale tropes of a young girl setting out to help her true love, with the help of several companions. It isn't as long even as the other halloween story, and has less by way of character development -- it's truly a fairytale. It's nice: made me smile.

[Jillian -always aspiring- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories often begin with 'Once upon a time,' or 'Once there was--' charming lines that imply a fairy tale. Our story starts with wolves in the woods, and--by degrees--gets worse.

This tale, as you can imagine, is not the charming sort.

I beg to differ about the "not the charming sort" wording: rather, Once Upon a Hallow's Eve: A Halloween Fairy Tale is very charming.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm being generous with the two stars here. I liked the "once upon a time" idea and the general narration, but I disliked the instaromance and everything about the male and female. The only positive is that it was she doing the saving instead.

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This being a Sarah Diemer story I honestly expected a queer fairy tale. I'm a tad bit disappointed.

[Illusode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but charming

[Josie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The thing about writing new fairy tales is that they have to be unique or have some kind of twist. This was just bland. It follows the general trope of a girl going on a journey and gaining companions who help her achieve her quest at the end -- but it's just so boring. The girl walks to the palace and kisses the Dark King to free him from an enchantment and that's it?? Her companions do ~helpful~ things like talk their way into the palace, or find the correct door for her to walk through. I couldn't help thinking it would've been more interesting if the girl had solved her own problems. (Especially since the problems aren't exactly that hard...)