Hallowtide

by Karl Pfeiffer

Halloween, 2001. Will Andrews is found in the hallway of Savage Creek High School, shot in the head, pistol in hand. Beside him is a dead man with a bomb strapped to his chest. Two of Will's best friends are dead. Two more are wounded. When Will wakes from his coma three days later, he has no memory of what happened, but the local papers are already calling him a hero.

Now, five years later, Will is in Hell. At night, he holds his girlfriend, Jennifer, close, while in his sleep he journeys deeper and deeper into a nightmarish dreamscape. During the day, his therapist urges him to finally look into the shooting, suggesting that these nightmares may be one part of himself desperately trying to communicate with the other.

But the deeper Will digs, the further the lines between reality and fiction are blurred, and he finds himself in a place where nightmare bleeds into memory, the spiritual leaks into the physical, and the world as he knows it threatens dissolving entirely.

Both beautiful and deeply harrowing, Hallowtide combines Jungian theory with echoes of classic descent narratives, deconstructing western philosophy, depression, and religion, while following one young man's fall into Stygian wasteland and the journey that will change him forever.

506 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2012

About the author

Karl Pfeiffer is a novelist, photographer, lecturer, and paranormal investigator. He won the first season of the pilot reality series Ghost Hunters Academy and went on to work with the Ghost Hunters International team on the same network. Since then he's lead the weekend ghost hunts at the Stanley Hotel, lectures across America, and consults for numerous investigative teams across Colorado. He writes for the TAPS Paramagazine and contributes to the Paranormal Pop Culture Blog. He's the author of the novel Hallowtide, the short story collection Into a Sky Below, Forever, and he's at work on two more books; Amarricages and the Record of Dead Religions. He's a portrait and conceptual photographer in Colorado. More information can be found on his website, http://www.KarlPfeiffer.com

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

People can be haunted by so many things. The word "haunted" makes one think of loneliness, fear, unexplainable occurrences, and above all, ghosts. Hauntings in any circumstance are scary but what if it was you that was haunted? By yourself? The author captures the feeling where you're alone at night in your home and you feel uneasiness which then leads to sharp terror and then finally self indulging doubt. It's a feeling almost everyone has experienced but few authors can put those experiences in the mind to words.
"Davis took another ten steps until his bare feet met cool tile instead of the worn carpet, and that indeed, the garage door was standing open, breathing the metallic air into the house. Davis's blood ran cold and his breath stalled. He he left it open? His mind killed the question as soon as it was posed. No. Of course not. He closed the door behind him. At this point he was awake and functioning, not still drifting through some sleepy place of memory and dreams and forgetfulness. But the open door would beg to differ."
Pfeiffer explores the hidden and dirty corners of our own minds and the people that haunt us, both dead and alive. He combines ideas of personal hell and makes darker emotions like guilt and rage almost become characters in themselves.
Above all, I believe this is a love story; (albeit a creepy love story) a story that makes the reader question how far they would be willing to walk into hell for their partner. How would you change for them and how far would you be willing to walk into their OWN hell with them?
"She'd rather wake from nightmares in his arms than wake from blank pages alone."
In no way am I saying this is your typical ghost story. You won't find any wailing sheet-wearing spirits in this novel but you may find yourself double checking that you locked your door at night. It ranges from being look-behind-your-shoulder creepy to outright gruesome.
"...bugs and wasps and flies still crawled across Will, slithering in and out of his cracked skin..."
Slimy words like these glare at you from the pages you're reading but along with these, Pfeiffer leaves us with the impression that sometimes our own ghosts; the ghosts that we create, are the scariest hauntings of all.

[Nikki Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karl Pfeiffer’s Hallowtide, a beautifully composed, riveting, and haunting psychological thriller, is a story about a horrific school shooting that leaves a town shaken on an otherwise normal Halloween day. Five years after this tragedy, the event continues to instill both fear and guilt in those directly impacted by that fateful Halloween, most prominently the protagonist of the story, Will Andrews.

In his dreams, Will begins to envision a self-created Hell. As the novel progresses, Pfeiffer delves us deeper into Will's subconscious as the veil between reality and this twisted realm of despair begins to dissipate. Will’s hell is a painting of decay and the epitome of a true nightmare, a place full of hopelessness, blood, death, and eternal suffering where dreams go to die and stay buried forever. With each plunge into somnolence, Will draws himself further into disturbia, becoming unhinged with a growing thirst to discover the truth behind the events that really took place on that brutal fall day five years earlier. He will not let anything stand in the way of his conquest for the answers he is seeking, not even the love of his life, Jennifer, who also fights he­­­­r own battle in Pfeiffer’s well plotted narrative.

Hallowtide offers so much more to its readers than the telling of a small-town tragedy. Underneath the surface lies a beautiful love story, relatable characters, and the harsh reality of the open wounds we all try to keep hidden in the shadows. We all have inner demons we battle and hide from in order to create a facade of happiness. But what happens when the mask we hide behind­­ begins to decay, revealing the ugly truth underneath? Are we strong enough to rip the claws away that have been imbedded in our minds? Or do we let our demons consume us to the point where the lines blur between truth and our own perceptions? All of these are questions Pfeiffer challenges his protagonist and his readers to face.

Pfeiffer breathes life into his story with a brilliant style that is truly a unique capturing of his literary voice. He executes a melodic flow with his words, utilizing compelling imagery, repetition, and line breaks that complement and function with ease.

By the end of this novel, the narrative ties together every explored area in perfect detail to complete the masterpiece that is Hallowtide. Karl Pfeiffer has created a work of art that will not soon be forgotten. Karl is an author to keep an eye on! :)
If you love his work as much as I do, be sure to check out his compilation of short stories and poetry, Into a Sky Below, Forever.

[Meggin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read a draft of this book 5 years ago, after I found it sitting on a freshman student's dorm desk in my resident hall. His door was always open as he sat around chatting with the other new freshman, and this incredibly large document sat in the corner of the desktop next to a stack of world-class horror titles I've read a hundred times. Good taste in books is always a good sign. Dog-eared pages printed out and bound with a metal office clip, I was interested to read it simply knowing that it was written by this keen young man. Karl Pfeiffer was always a wonderful writer with a deliciously wretched story to tell- and told it he has. I've read almost every draft since the first he wrote, and I've loved it more and more with each retelling.

Karl Pfeiffer published his first novel in October of this year, I highly reccommend this to anyone who lives for the thrill and chill of a cerebral horror tale. In addition to reading an ingenious novel, you will be supporting a young author.

Much in the wake of modern literature such as House of Leaves, this story gives a gripping yet fragmented take on our own mental realities and the way in which we cope with death, afterlife, and survival. Sound abstract? Well just read the darn book, I don't want to give much away. See the description here:

"It’s October 2006. Will Andrews is in his final semester of college. At night when he sleeps, he holds his girlfriend Jennifer close and dreams about Hell. His therapist urges him to finally look into the high school shooting he survived five years earlier, suggesting that these nightmares may be one part of himself desperately trying to communicate with the other."


Pfieffer takes you deeper into the human mind and soul then you thought possible, only to reveal what awaits in the dark corners of even your brightest memories. From page one you'll be hooked and hold on for dear life, simply dying to know what happens next. Highly reccommended, thoroughly loved. Karl- I was so touched that you mentioned me in the 'thanks' section! Really, I should thank you for writing such a great story and letting me be a part of it all these years!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hallowtide is a riveting exploration of the subconscious depths of a traumatized mind. Unlike the average psychological thriller, it has lofty intellectual goals: to identify, deconstruct, and destroy the binaries of such things as good and evil, consciousness and the subconscious, and the self and the cosmos; to explore the notions of love, synchronicity, God, and free will; and to give a modern interpretation to classic modes of thought. Pfeiffer has a strong grasp of Jungian theory, mysticism, and philosophy of religion, his insight subtly weaving its way throughout the story as we follow the protagonist, Will, through his intense psychological struggle and (literally) into the flaming pit of Hell.

While the plot alone is worthy of recognition, it's the structure and stylistic choices - the flawless transitions between past and present, dreams and reality; the poetic pauses and use of white space; the meaningful repetitions of words and phrases - that make Hallowtide stand in a category of its own. Add to that the emotional depth, the sympathetic characters, and the gnarly descriptions that have you squirming in your seat and checking your deadbolts and you've got a book truly worth your while.

Although this is Pfeiffer's debut novel, he has, without a doubt, proven his ability to produce outstanding and compelling literature that encourages thinking in ways you've likely never thought before. Watch out, Mark Z. Danielewski; you've got some competition on the rise.