Hell In Halloween: A Splatterpunk Novella

by K D Davies, Danielle Sundby (Editor), Captain Lolly Storm Sparrow (Illustrator)

Augustus has lived a life no child should ever have to endure. As he reaches adult hood he leaves his past life behind in order to chase his dreams. But with the passage of time those ideas and dreams have twisted, changed and warped into something truly sinister.
Welcome to Hell In Halloween.
Enter if you dare!

47 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2026

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

K.D. Davies apparently looked at Halloween and thought, “You know what this holiday needs? MORE TRAUMA.” LOL!! Hell in Halloween takes something that should be filled with costumes, candy, and spooky fun and drags it somewhere much darker. From the beginning, there is a sense that Augustus’s past has never really released its grip on him.

What made Augustus interesting to me was seeing how the things he endured as a child helped shape the man he eventually became. He leaves that life behind hoping to chase his dreams, but time has a nasty way of twisting things, and those dreams eventually become something far more sinister. This isn’t exactly a heartwarming story about overcoming your childhood.

I really liked the psychological darkness underneath the horror. There is something particularly disturbing about watching pain evolve rather than disappear, especially when that pain begins affecting other people. It gives the story an ugliness that goes beyond blood and gore because you can see pieces of the monster being built along the way.

K.D. Davies once again manages to pack quite a bit into a shorter horror story. It’s bleak, uncomfortable, and perfectly suited for Halloween reading, especially if your preferred version of spooky season involves considerably more screaming than pumpkin spice. Definitely check your triggers before wandering into this particular Halloween celebration.

This was a nasty little seasonal nightmare about trauma, corrupted dreams, and what can happen when the darkness someone carries finally gets an opportunity to come out and play. Apparently, “Enter if you dare” was less of an invitation and more of a legally required warning.

Thanks to KD Davies for gifting me an eARC of Hell in Halloween. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Brit Mansell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing novella for the spooky season! The Easter eggs in here made me gasp and it was truly well written! 5⭐️

[elowenreads65 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell in Halloween is definitely not a Halloween story for the faint-hearted. This is straight-up splatterpunk, packed with gore, dark humour, body horror, and some seriously messed-up situations.
What I liked most was Augustus himself. His obsession with Halloween makes sense once you get into his background, and I actually found his journey from a miserable childhood to finally creating his dream Halloween shop surprisingly interesting. He is obviously not a normal protagonist, but that's part of what makes him fun to follow.
My favourite part was probably the attraction with the giant crab. I genuinely did not expect the scene to go where it did, and the combination of horror and ridiculous dark humour made it memorable.
The book doesn't hold back on the gore, so anyone going into this should definitely pay attention to the trigger warning. But if you enjoy extreme horror, splatterpunk, outrageous kills, and a story that doesn't take itself too seriously, Hell in Halloween definitely delivers.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a HELLISH read! Perfect for a quick halloween morning read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about Augustus Hollow and his love for halloween. I too would celebrate halloween year round if I could, but definitely in a less gory way! This was my first ever splatterpunk and I cant wait to get on with reading more, especially more of this authors books. The scenescape of you're going to die here was my absolute fave! Just the right level of saw gore to keep your jaw attached to the floor as you read more! I loved the detail and felt I knew each character so well with how personal she made them feel. Depicting each of them with their own little quirks and charms. Even when they were set to meet a gruesome end.

Loved, loved, loved the little Ann Droid reference, having just watched it myself! I laughed a tad loud at it 🤣

You're sure to have a hellish time reading this book, but in the best way imaginable!

[J. Tarmac · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate Halloween-themed store---Hell In Halloween---has just opened its doors, much to the delight of its owner, Augustus, and who should be its first guests, but a cavalcade of indie horror writers, reviewers, and editors! In this spooky shorty from KD, splatter, dark comedy, and bloody good fun are never far away, coming in hot with murders by the minute and a well-crafted through-line to keep you hooked! 

Hell In Halloween is suitably seasonal, featuring oodles of imagery and description to get you in the spirit, along with a selection of brutal and nasty kills, with each one relating to the chosen victims' real-world pursuits- a brilliant touch! KD always puts a lot of heart into her stories, and despite this one's grisly nature, the tale was clearly created as almost an expression of friendship and love, forged in the most splatterpunk way possible!

Great work!

[Thebleedingspine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Augustus has had a terrible upbringing, but now that he’s an adult, he’s finally able to follow his dreams of opening up a year round Halloween shop. But he’s full of darkness and rage, and what happens when it consumes him?
I had so much fun reading this short novella! I didn’t quite know where it was going to go, but it definitely delivered. I would love for it to be a bit longer, to get into Augustus’s brain even more, but loved all the cross references and personal nods! The brutal death scenes did not disappoint. Everything I’ve read by KD Davies I’ve really enjoyed and this was no exception!

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely fun and disgusting novella that has you hooked from the get go!

I had a time and a half reading Hell in Halloween! This tale sees Davies bring some of her fellow authors and friends to life (or death...) and it was great craic trying to spot all the easter eggs throughout! The cover now makes so much sense and I'm obsessed with it!

J Tarmac's fate at the hands of a crab while wearing a PinkWet tee had me SCREAMING!!!

Fun, fast-paced, gruesome and violent, a fantastic read for this spooky season! Davies has done it again and brought us a novella that you just cannot put down!

[Bee Reads Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of this for free, given by the author. I am making this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

This is the extreme horror I love fun, camp but very gruesome. K D Davies doesn’t hold back from the grossness of this novella, instead choosing to make it absurd and funny. The descriptions are very visceral and, unfortunately for my brain, very easy to picture. I loved this!

You can read my in-depth thoughts here: Bee Reads Horror Blog

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading Hell in halloween by K.D.Davies and she has done it again. Augustus is such a great character full of rage and reminds me of jigsaw from saw. The way he has planned everything and sets everything up for each influencer is *chefs kiss*. I love that there are nods to previous reads as well (no spoilers) but i thoroughly enjoyed this book. Cant wait for its release and pre orders are up now if you go to her page you can check it out

[Jess Beedle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this as an ARC from the lovely author KD Davies!!
Loved this fast paced read! Loved the whole concept of the Halloween shop running all year! I really loved how it was about all the indie authors I read and the book influencer Claudia!!
The absolute gory kills were great! Really recommend this author! Her books are great!! Think I have read most of them now!! They are epic! Highly recommend this book!! Also love the illustrator Captain Lollys work on the front cover!!
Both so talented!

[GJO AND PUPS · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter how short and Gruesome the book, I can always rely on KD to stir my emotions before I start cringing and turning away from the gore.

"As an adult, Augustus realized that Christmas would only ever be magical if you had the luxury of affording it and the sanctity of a pure, unbidden love. To be surrounded by love, to know love, and to feel it in your soul was to be the most wealthy of all."

[Rebecca Bectoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fast paced short splatterpunk story. It has gore, dark humour, horror and loneliness. I really like Augustus he had it so rough growing up and honestly you really did feel for him. I need to know though how he pulled off the best Halloween shop ever 🤣. I thought it was very clever that the author used real life authors and social media people you felt more connected to the characters and you can envision the scenes more. This is a great read for October.

[M.P. Tera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun quick gory little read.
It follows the MMC named Augustus who has had a pretty gruesome and neglectful upbringing but has always found comfort in all things spooky. Which in turn gave him big dreams of opening a shop of his own where halloween is all year around. But sometimes years of neglect catch up to you in unexpected ways.

[Rayven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading another beautifully written short story from Kirsty and this one didnt disappoint! You know its going to be dark and gruesome and sometimes funny but mix in how relevant this story was made it so much more! Go down the rabbit hole of a new all year around halloween store opening... do you dare go in, I couldnt put this down it paints a gruesome tale and I loved every second of it!

[Tyler Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was our Halloween week book for an online book club and I'm so glad it was.

I've never read anything Splatterpunk before and this has been the best, fun entry into it. The story was easy to follow, interesting and a great quick read!

I can't wait to read more from K D Davies as well as see what they do next!

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without giving anything away, Hell in Halloween by K D Davies is a super fast-paced, fun read at only 47 pages. Don’t let this cover fool you, the inside gets gory. This is definitely a must read! I seriously enjoy anything K D Davies writes!

[Shelley Tabberner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Unexpected twist and amazing deaths with a favourite making an appearance. Author never disappoints and is fast becoming a favourite. Didn't think I would be in to horror but these books are addicting

[Alex Rio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun quick read, if you like a bit of gore with your morning coffee!

[Emma kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Splattered punk read & I was not dissapointed!
I found it to be both gorey & funny, loved everything about it!

[Rheanna Boltrukiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully gruesome tale from start to finish

[Rosie Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you love Halloween, do you love gorey splatter punk, if so this one is for you!!! Devoured it in about half an hour.

Brilliant quick read from a brilliant mind ❤️

[bookQueso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Augustus absolutely despises Christmas. And boy, is he angry about it. He was dealt a pretty shit hand from the get-go in life. His parents are hardcore drug addicts who literally only care about each other and the drugs. Augustus was basically just another piece of furniture in their nasty drug den of a house.

But there is one thing that Augustus loves, and that is Halloween.

"God forbid he ever entertain the notion of loving someone."

As an adult, Augustus has his shit together and achieves his dream of owning a year-round Halloween store, complete with attractions and photo ops for influencers to spread the word about the shop, which is called "Hell in Halloween". He invites a big group of influencers to his opening-day festivities, and things go off the rails from there. Each kill scene is worse and grosser than the last. The scenes kind of just... happen... which was a little jarring to me. I had to go back in each one and read from the beginning of the scene to make sure I understood what was happening; it all happens so fast!

I'm still not totally sure why Augustus wanted to fuck with this particular group of people; they all seemed to love Halloween as much as he did. I just chalk it up to the shitty childhood and the likelihood that he's very socially awkward all around.

Having read quite a few gnarly extreme horror/splatterpunk books this year, if I were to rate the "grossness" of this one, it would be a 2.5 out of 5. The gross times were good, had decent shock value, and got the job done for sure!

Thanks so, so much to the author KD Davies for giving me an early copy of this fun little book! I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[Claudia Rambles · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a miserable childhood to opening an all year round Halloween shop, Augustus couldn’t be happier! And neither could all the guests who showed up for the grand opening! Because Hell in Halloween isn’t just another spooky shop. It’s a shop that will scare you to death!

I might be biased, since I was one of the guests, but trust me when I say this story is not only absolutely bonkers and gory AF, it also has scenes that reminded me of Saw.

Also… expect some cameos, be ready to squirm, and prepare yourself for a bloody good time!

I know I did!!!

[Gore Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our MC has not had the greatest beginnings, but now with that out of the way he has cleaned up his past and trashed the rest. Good riddance. Now, It's his turn to do things his way. Augustus LOVES Halloween, so much so he opens his own shop and invites several viral guests from across the horror, book, author and writer communities to join him and his exhibits at the grand opening. Won't you stay?