The Witching Hour

Halloween series #2

by Paul Melniczek

Halloween is fast approaching, and for Rusty that usually means trouble is brewing for him and his friends. The past two years have been full of mischief and mayhem, as they found themselves fighting against old man Berger and his minions of evil as they tried to take control of the small town and its people. The trio of boys were the only thing standing in the way of disaster, and they had won the battle.

But perhaps not the war...

Berger's shadow now appears in a new but no less deadly guise, and Rusty once again finds himself in the midst of an age-old struggle of good against evil. Secrets have been unearthed, but new questions now arise, as the boys confront creatures which have crept out of the darkness, finding strength in the mystery and magic of the Halloween season as their power grows. Is Berger behind all the trouble again, his influence stretching from beyond the grave, or has a new enemy stepped forward?

In this hair-raising sequel to MISCHIEF NIGHT, the adventures continue and the storyline weaves itself into uncharted regions, as Rusty and his friends discover that sometimes the monsters under the bed are real...

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2013

Reviews

[L.F. Falconer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun little Halloween adventure as Rusty and his pals face an old nemesis they thought no longer existed. While reading this, "The Goonies" or "Stranger Things" kept running through my mind. Rusty's age was never stated but I placed him at around twelve. While this is the first story I've read by Melniczek, I get the impression that this is not the first adventure that Rusty, Jimmy, and Tommy have shared. Nor the last.

Melniczek makes good use of language and sets the stage well with wonderful passages of seasonal description: for example, "the trees opened up and the autumn sky greeted them brilliantly overhead as a billion stars glimmered like the timeless wicks of unseen jack-'o-lanterns grinning across the universe..."

If "The Witching Hour" well represents the rest of Paul Melniczek's works, readers young and old should have no shortage of Halloween delights.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading this story it kept going back to what happen before on Halloween. But it didn't go into much detail. I checked Paul's other books and found out that Mischief Night was the book before this one. This book would have been a lot better if I read Mischief Night first. So I could only give this book 3 stars. A good Halloween read but could of been better if I had known about Mischief Night and read it first.