One Fright Only

by Patrick Tumblety, Candace Nola (Editor)

Terrors too terrifying to let loose for long, the Badger Farms Halloween Attraction returns for one night only! Bring your family, tell your friends, and get ready for the scariest celebration of the year!

Too full of candy to make it to the farm? Buy a virtual ticket to watch the terrors unfold live, as our patrons become our latest victims! This year will be unlike any other, with plenty of surprises, ready to meet, greet, and slay!

Speaking of meetings, allow us to introduce our new staff member, David Earhart! He was searching for a fun job, but soon discovers co-workers are vanishing, and something sinister is brewing on Badger Farms. Watch the horrors unfold as David fights for his sanity, and his life, out on Badger Farms...

One Fright Only!

Genres: Horror

174 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2025

About the author

Patrick Tumblety is an author of horror, science-fiction, and poetry. He has been featured in numerous anthologies, including Tales of Jack the Ripper from Word Horde Press, The Dead Inside, from Dark Dispatch, Gothic Fantasy: Science Fiction, from Flame Tree Publishing, and Dark Moon Digest from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. He has also been published by and is an active member of the Horror Writers Association. His work has been described as being able to deliver both "genuine fear and genuine hope." (Amy H. Sturgis - Award-Winning Author and Professor of Narrative Studies)

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Halloween season at Badger Farms, and there is one week left until their big "One Fright Only" experience. This year, David has been hired to replace Gabe, who must resign on short notice. In order to try and drum up more interest, this year, they are trying something different - they will be live streaming the event on their website, and David will be in control of the tech aspect.
However, there is much more going on behind the scenes at Badger Farms than the usual coworker, friendship and relationship drama; David's best friend Dougie tells him that he feels everyone is acting strange, and he thinks there's something going on - something he thinks David is at the center of. Even more, he tells David that his crush, Kyra doesn't really like him, but rather, she has an agenda.
David doesn't know what's going on, but he does know whatever it is will surely take place on the last night of the season, which is fast approaching. Not knowing who to trust, can David manage to figure out what's going on at the farm, using only his tech skills to help?
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This was my first "Halloween" read of October, and I bought the book immediately upon seeing the cover. I loved the concept. I liked the characters. Everything was good. Literally the only reason for taking any stars off was just because personally, the writing style was a bit confusing to me at times. I don't see anyone else mention this, so it's probably just a "me" thing, but I absolutely did still enjoy the book.

[Danielle Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The dark, splattered eyes of the pumpkin’s bright, seemingly disembodied head turn towards her. She pushes onto her feet and flees as fast as her perforated body will allow, pivoting in and out of adjacent rows in hopes of confusing…

But who is attacking her?"

I LOVED this book! To be fully transparent, I was never really into books that revolved around holidays. I have no idea why. Just wasn’t my jam. That being said, over the last year or so, that has completely changed, and I am so glad; otherwise, I would have missed out on this gem.

This is quite literally the PERFECT read for spooky season/Halloween. Tumblety is a hell of a writer, and it shows in this book. The characters were great. The plot was 10/10. The vibe and overall tone were exactly what the story needed. The ending was FABULOUS.

This is really one of those books that’s just really well-rounded from cover to cover. I cannot rave about it enough. Which means that yes, I cannot recommend it enough either! To all horror readers!

[Jennia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Fright Only is equal parts coming-of-age story and teen slasher, with the inward struggles and personal introspection placing David’s character development in the spotlight. His strong sense of morals sometimes rubs against what he wants to do, and the unfairness of his situation is something he works to improve while also ensuring his younger brother still has the best childhood possible. This all leads him to working for the Halloween season at a local farm and its one-night-only attraction. He goes through the usual—crushing on the resident it girl, finding his place among the group, and going through some innocent enough teasing. But what he doesn’t expect is that someone among them might not be trustworthy and that finale night might have more in store than any of them realize.
David is a study in life under pressure, further complicated by the normal young adult emotions and wants he’s also experiencing. When he thinks about Halloweens past, his nostalgia feels like the reader’s nostalgia as he touches on just what makes this holiday and its associated media (and the horror genre) so special to so many of us. This is part of what makes David feel like the ideal “regular guy” main character, as do his very honest thoughts and feelings, all of which make him even easier to like. The reader deeply feels for him, thus creating some top-notch tension when things quickly go from bad to worse on Halloween night.
If you’re looking for something that’s just the right amount of scary to fill the time between trips to the pumpkin patch and a day at the local farm for hay rides, definitely pick this one up. Tumblety gives you endearingly flawed characters, vividly described settings, and the perfect background and premise for this spooktacular story.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every so often, I check out an indie genre offering just to keep tabs on what's going on with the current scene. It constantly fails to impress. In fact, it has led me to setting my expectations for these books so low that on that scale, this one actually wasn't the most egregious offender.
That is to say that it looks professionally published inside and out: cover and formatting. Going beyond mere looks, one might find a book that, despite having two editors, really, really needed more work. It's everywhere, from clunky repetitions like "admiring creator's creativity" to using "she shrugs" as a dialogue tag to misused adjectives and missing commas.
There are no typos, and the book is overall in readable shape, so apparently that was decided to be enough.
The plot is basically a coming-of-age story about a nineteen-year-old who takes a job at a haunted attraction where the real dead bodies begin popping up among the fake ones. So it's kind of a slasher. Nothing original, but the author appears to have taken an earnest stab at emotional authenticity.
It's a short book and goes by quickly. For what it is and for being a freebie, it was a passable end-of-October themed read, but it's nowhere near the level of quality of proper genre literature from larger presses (which you can easily get also for free at the library), and I've no idea why someone would pay for this.
Experiment conducted successfully. User mileage, as always, may vary.

[Horror Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for Halloween, this book features a haunted farm attraction, a killer on the loose, and a recent high school dude who's going to be put through the ringer on Halloween night as he works his shift.

David is learning how to "adult" after his father is convicted of manslaughter and is in prison. He wants to take care of his mom and little brother so he takes a job at a haunted hayride/farm attraction that he remembers as a child.

He's the new guy and has trouble fitting in but he's trying. After a couple other workers go inexplicably missing, everyone else acts like it's no big deal. But there's something brewing and he's going to play an important role even though he doesn't realize it yet.

This one has all those creepy Halloween vibes, a slashery type of whodunnit, and twists at the end. I highly recommend it.

[Radar DeBoard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slow burn slasher is the perfect spooky season read. It makes sure to get you invested in the characters, really fleshing them out so that the ending can have much more of an impact. This comes at the subgenre from a much more emotional angle, but still delivers in terms of blood and body count.

[Carolyn Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot twist

This is a very intricate mystery with a horror setting, and it pulls it out in an interesting and entertaining way. The ending is a fantastic twist that was totally unexpected, but deeply appreciated.

[Martin Herrmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murders in the cornfield

I really enjoyed this halloween story and the character building made the story that much better. Definitely will recommend this to anyone that enjoys Halloween!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit it - this book was much more fun than I expected.

Perfect Halloween read.

[lucky 13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Badger farm is A one night fright fest that young David has been hired to work for. But everything feeling strange and off. for me somewhat slow till ending reason for only 3 stars

[Pete · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amateurish

Either the author is an amateur or has a drinking problem. Writing one thing than changing it a few paragraphs or pages later. Glad it's over.

[Elford Alley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tumblety knows what makes a great slasher. One Fright Only wraps a murder mystery and conspiracy thriller around a masked killer, all without relying on the same tropes that have made modern slashers feel played out. His characters are multifaceted, and the story really captures that Halloween atmosphere. Highly recommended!