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The Halloween Moon
From New York Times bestselling adult author Joseph Fink comes a wickedly fun middle grade novel about a Halloween-obsessed girl named Esther Gold, who goes out trick-or-treating for one last year, only to find her town under the thrall of a mysterious presence.
Esther Gold loves Halloween more than anything in the world. So she is determined to go trick-or-treating again this year despite the fact that her parents think she is officially too old. Esther has it all planned out, from her costume to her candy-collecting strategy. But when the night rolls around, something feels . . . off.
No one is answering their door. The moon is an unnatural shade of orange. Strange children wander the streets, wearing creepy costumes that might not be costumes at all. And it seems like the only people besides Esther who are awake to see it all are her best friend, her school bully, and her grown-up next-door neighbor.
Together, this unlikely crew must find a way to lift the curse that has been placed upon their small town before it’s too late. Because someone is out to make sure Halloween never comes to an end. And even Esther doesn’t want to be trapped in this night forever.
Esther Gold loves Halloween more than anything in the world. So she is determined to go trick-or-treating again this year despite the fact that her parents think she is officially too old. Esther has it all planned out, from her costume to her candy-collecting strategy. But when the night rolls around, something feels . . . off.
No one is answering their door. The moon is an unnatural shade of orange. Strange children wander the streets, wearing creepy costumes that might not be costumes at all. And it seems like the only people besides Esther who are awake to see it all are her best friend, her school bully, and her grown-up next-door neighbor.
Together, this unlikely crew must find a way to lift the curse that has been placed upon their small town before it’s too late. Because someone is out to make sure Halloween never comes to an end. And even Esther doesn’t want to be trapped in this night forever.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 20, 2021
94 people are currently reading
5926 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Fink
21 books2,571 followersJoseph Fink is the creator of the Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead podcasts, and the author of the New York Times bestselling novels Welcome to Night Vale, It Devours!, and The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home (all written with Jeffrey Cranor) and Alice Isn’t Dead. He is also the author of the children’s novel, The Halloween Moon. He and his wife, Meg Bashwiner have written the memoir, The First Ten Years. They live together in the Hudson River Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 420 reviews
April 11, 2021
I love Halloween. I love middle-grade books. I really wanted to love this book... but I didn't. I found it a slog to get through and few of the characters caught me and made me care. The parents are simply jerks, the tropes too common, and there wasn't much to make this Halloween book stand out among the others I have read.
Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.
Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.
August 3, 2021
The spooky halloween atmosphere really got me at first but the once the plot got going it really ran out of steam. The character relationships weren't compelling for me and the lessons were really blunt.
February 22, 2021
I received a copy from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Esther Gold’s favorite holiday is Halloween. She lives for it and spends a lot of her free time planning and perfecting the perfect Halloween costume every year. When Esther’s parents tell her that she’s too old to go trick-or-treating, she is devastated. Of course, Esther wouldn’t be Esther without Halloween, so she plans to go trick-or-treating one last time. Armed with her secret costume and her best friend who hates the holiday, they sneak out together only to discover that the entire neighborhood has been put into a supernatural sleep.
I picked up this book because it sounded right up my alley since Halloween is my favorite holiday. We follow Esther Gold as she prepares to sneakily go trick-or-treating one last time. Unfortunately for her, things don’t go as planned because her neighborhood is under a sleeping spell. The only people awake are Esther, her best friend, her longtime school bully, and her dentist neighbor. Together, they try to take on the Queen of Halloween and rescue the neighborhood from sleeping their way through the rest of their lives.
One of the things that I liked about this book is that the characters are surprisingly complex. Esther is worried about growing up and holding onto trick-or-treating as the last piece of being a kid as enters her teenage years. Her best friend, Agustín, is battling with some abandonment issues as his mom spends long hours working with very little time to spend with him. Sasha, Esther’s bully, gets bullied herself and has been taking it out on Esther for years. Mr. Gabler is a former thief turned dentist trying to do good.
I thought the supernatural aspect of it was interesting as well. We’ve got the Queen of Halloween using a rare orange moon to pause time and turn an innocent neighborhood into Halloween forever. There are her cronies driving around town and the kids she collects and their fate with her. Plus, there’s the black cats that are the Queen of Halloween’s sworn enemies. I wish there was more information on the supernatural aspects of the story, but I’m not surprised that this isn’t something that’s further explored since it’s a book written for middle schoolers.
All in all, I enjoyed this story and I think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot if this is something that was published when I was in middle school myself.
Esther Gold’s favorite holiday is Halloween. She lives for it and spends a lot of her free time planning and perfecting the perfect Halloween costume every year. When Esther’s parents tell her that she’s too old to go trick-or-treating, she is devastated. Of course, Esther wouldn’t be Esther without Halloween, so she plans to go trick-or-treating one last time. Armed with her secret costume and her best friend who hates the holiday, they sneak out together only to discover that the entire neighborhood has been put into a supernatural sleep.
I picked up this book because it sounded right up my alley since Halloween is my favorite holiday. We follow Esther Gold as she prepares to sneakily go trick-or-treating one last time. Unfortunately for her, things don’t go as planned because her neighborhood is under a sleeping spell. The only people awake are Esther, her best friend, her longtime school bully, and her dentist neighbor. Together, they try to take on the Queen of Halloween and rescue the neighborhood from sleeping their way through the rest of their lives.
One of the things that I liked about this book is that the characters are surprisingly complex. Esther is worried about growing up and holding onto trick-or-treating as the last piece of being a kid as enters her teenage years. Her best friend, Agustín, is battling with some abandonment issues as his mom spends long hours working with very little time to spend with him. Sasha, Esther’s bully, gets bullied herself and has been taking it out on Esther for years. Mr. Gabler is a former thief turned dentist trying to do good.
I thought the supernatural aspect of it was interesting as well. We’ve got the Queen of Halloween using a rare orange moon to pause time and turn an innocent neighborhood into Halloween forever. There are her cronies driving around town and the kids she collects and their fate with her. Plus, there’s the black cats that are the Queen of Halloween’s sworn enemies. I wish there was more information on the supernatural aspects of the story, but I’m not surprised that this isn’t something that’s further explored since it’s a book written for middle schoolers.
All in all, I enjoyed this story and I think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot if this is something that was published when I was in middle school myself.
October 21, 2021
This was such a fun read! Definitely perfect read for Halloween! This shows the absolute amazingness of Halloween, & also shows how we wouldn’t even want something as amazing as Halloween to never end. You even deal with some issues that will be very relatable to some kids. Like becoming a teenager, on the verge of starting high school, having new feelings for someone you didn’t have before-& how scary all that can be. Scary to the point you want everything to stay as it is, & never change & get complicated. So that blended in with Halloween staying & nothing changing-brilliant. Things have to continue to move on & change though, that’s a part of life. There’s good & bad to all of it. Amazing life lessons delivered in the form of an amazing fantasy Halloween story, & the kids won’t even realize they learned some important lessons while enjoying the read! Lol Genius!
There’s also talk of antisemitism. Esther is Jewish, & I believe she says she is the only Jewish person in her school. She talks about what that is like, & also some of the awful things 1 bully in particular says to her. A bully who ironically deals with racism herself, but chooses to do the same to someone else. So you see what both sides of that are like, & see why the bully does what she does(doesn’t make it ok in ANY way, & I was SO angry reading the things she had said). So it brings up an opportunity for an important conversation with kids in my opinion, which I thought was fantastic.
So there are many important messages/lessons/themes in here. Then there are the amazing characters. Esther & Agustin have my heart. They are the best together. Plus, amazing each in their own right-Esther would so be what my kid would be like if I had one lol. ALSO, the author made a GROWN UP a favorite character! I know right?! Ugh an adult?! Lol But YES! Mr. Gabler has my heart. What an intriguing, phenomenal character! You know, he wasn’t always a dentist lol
Then there is the amazing plot, & all the vivid atmospheric details. Like the Queen, the 2 brothers, the trick-or-treaters, the Dream, & the black cat(great message about black cats in here too-really makes you think….& feel a little guilty lol). Plus, the humor is superb. The dialogue is written in such a unique, clever way, & it just really hit the mark for me. Definitely recommend this any time of year, but it’s PERFECT for Halloween of course. I read this in 1/2 a days Beautiful cover by the AMAZING Matt Saunders as well!💜
There’s also talk of antisemitism. Esther is Jewish, & I believe she says she is the only Jewish person in her school. She talks about what that is like, & also some of the awful things 1 bully in particular says to her. A bully who ironically deals with racism herself, but chooses to do the same to someone else. So you see what both sides of that are like, & see why the bully does what she does(doesn’t make it ok in ANY way, & I was SO angry reading the things she had said). So it brings up an opportunity for an important conversation with kids in my opinion, which I thought was fantastic.
So there are many important messages/lessons/themes in here. Then there are the amazing characters. Esther & Agustin have my heart. They are the best together. Plus, amazing each in their own right-Esther would so be what my kid would be like if I had one lol. ALSO, the author made a GROWN UP a favorite character! I know right?! Ugh an adult?! Lol But YES! Mr. Gabler has my heart. What an intriguing, phenomenal character! You know, he wasn’t always a dentist lol
Then there is the amazing plot, & all the vivid atmospheric details. Like the Queen, the 2 brothers, the trick-or-treaters, the Dream, & the black cat(great message about black cats in here too-really makes you think….& feel a little guilty lol). Plus, the humor is superb. The dialogue is written in such a unique, clever way, & it just really hit the mark for me. Definitely recommend this any time of year, but it’s PERFECT for Halloween of course. I read this in 1/2 a days Beautiful cover by the AMAZING Matt Saunders as well!💜
October 30, 2021
I want to preface this by saying, I love most of Fink's work. Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead are two of my favorite podcasts, and the Night Vale books are fantastic. So I find myself sad to rate The Halloween Moon so low. It's a cute story with lessons that I find mildly troubling.
Essentially this is a story about a girl falling out of love with her favorite holiday. It's almost a reverse Christmas Carol; where Scrooge went through a horrible experience that taught him to love Christmas, Esther goes through a horrible experience that makes her stop loving Halloween. One of the last lines is "Esther Gold liked Halloween. She didn't love it anymore, she just liked it a lot."
Everyone around Esther shames her for her love of Halloween, her parents tell her she's too old for trick or treating, and at one point the narrative calls her selfish for even wanting to go trick or treating. I find this kinda baffling since the only reason given for her to stop is "she's too old" at 13. The first half of the book seems to be setting up for a lesson like "love what you love regardless of what others say," but instead it goes with "hurry up and grow up." The narrative essentially validates the people that treated Esther poorly, even going so far as to have Esther befriend the bully who's been slinging antisemitic insults as Esther their entire childhood without so much as an apology for the casual racism.
The moral that change is inevitable is a great thing for young people to learn, but telling someone they have to stop loving something because they hit some arbitrary age really strikes me as a troubling lesson.
Essentially this is a story about a girl falling out of love with her favorite holiday. It's almost a reverse Christmas Carol; where Scrooge went through a horrible experience that taught him to love Christmas, Esther goes through a horrible experience that makes her stop loving Halloween. One of the last lines is "Esther Gold liked Halloween. She didn't love it anymore, she just liked it a lot."
Everyone around Esther shames her for her love of Halloween, her parents tell her she's too old for trick or treating, and at one point the narrative calls her selfish for even wanting to go trick or treating. I find this kinda baffling since the only reason given for her to stop is "she's too old" at 13. The first half of the book seems to be setting up for a lesson like "love what you love regardless of what others say," but instead it goes with "hurry up and grow up." The narrative essentially validates the people that treated Esther poorly, even going so far as to have Esther befriend the bully who's been slinging antisemitic insults as Esther their entire childhood without so much as an apology for the casual racism.
The moral that change is inevitable is a great thing for young people to learn, but telling someone they have to stop loving something because they hit some arbitrary age really strikes me as a troubling lesson.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2022
This was such a fun little spooky read! Perfect for young middle graders or adults who are young at heart like myself. I also just can’t help but love any kind of book that takes place on Halloween, those are always my favourite kind of stories. This one was a different idea than I’ve seen or read before and I always appreciate an original and unique idea! My only complaint is that none of the characters really resonated with me, I enjoyed them but I didn’t fully connect with them. It is possible it was because of the age difference but I did still thoroughly enjoy the story so that’s a very minor complaint.
October 28, 2023
Joseph Fink I love you to the Halloween Moon and back
October 28, 2021
Huge thanks to HarperKids for the review copy.
I love Joseph Fink and all the work he does with Night Vale and their books, but this one did not hit the mark for me.
The story felt very generic and there wasn't much excitement going on to keep me interested. Granted, I am an adult reading a middle-grade book, so I'd love to hear what the grade-schooler I'd gifted the copy to has to say (and I will include his review when I get it). It did not have the humor and weirdness I expect from Fink. The tropes are common, and I could not get over Esther's parents. I mean, why stop their kid from trick-or-treating if it's literally their favorite holiday in the entire world? What was the reason? She was thirteen, but to me, that is not old enough to demand they stay home. From that point, my interest began to fade.
Verdict: I read a lot of middle-grade and this is definitely not one that stands out to me.
I love Joseph Fink and all the work he does with Night Vale and their books, but this one did not hit the mark for me.
The story felt very generic and there wasn't much excitement going on to keep me interested. Granted, I am an adult reading a middle-grade book, so I'd love to hear what the grade-schooler I'd gifted the copy to has to say (and I will include his review when I get it). It did not have the humor and weirdness I expect from Fink. The tropes are common, and I could not get over Esther's parents. I mean, why stop their kid from trick-or-treating if it's literally their favorite holiday in the entire world? What was the reason? She was thirteen, but to me, that is not old enough to demand they stay home. From that point, my interest began to fade.
Verdict: I read a lot of middle-grade and this is definitely not one that stands out to me.
October 2, 2021
My son and I are both big fans of WTNV, so I picked up this book for both of us. I got to it first, though, mwahahaha. This was a delightful, quick-moving read, perfect for the season. I definitely found it more charming than frightening - on a scale of unsettling from the original Grimm fairy tales to the Disney versions, this skews more towards the Disney side. Which is fine! I didn't expect to be unsettled or disturbed by this, and the mix of whimsy and fear was just right. And just because it wasn't scary doesn't mean it wasn't emotional - I was in tears more than once. Overall, a very enjoyable coming of age story with that weirdly wonderful WTNV flavor.
October 8, 2021
DNF at 1/2 way mark
I wanted a nice little spooky children's book to set the mood for Halloween. This wasn't it. The first half was an absolute chore and I found myself more interested in reading my credit card privacy statement than continuing this story. The store is full of cliches and the moments that should have been scary were written in such a way that it took all the spook out of the moment.
I think I'll go search for a random goosebumps instead.
I wanted a nice little spooky children's book to set the mood for Halloween. This wasn't it. The first half was an absolute chore and I found myself more interested in reading my credit card privacy statement than continuing this story. The store is full of cliches and the moments that should have been scary were written in such a way that it took all the spook out of the moment.
I think I'll go search for a random goosebumps instead.
September 14, 2023
A little too silly and not enough spooky creepy vibes for me!
November 9, 2021
This one really disappointed me kids!
Some interesting ideas, and some classic Joseph Fink dreamy prose but middle grade is tough and he struggled with the characterization/dialogue a lot. It felt overworked and awkward.
Some interesting ideas, and some classic Joseph Fink dreamy prose but middle grade is tough and he struggled with the characterization/dialogue a lot. It felt overworked and awkward.
November 1, 2023
Esther Gold loved Halloween.
Reilly Zimbric loved Esther Gold.
Reilly Zimbric loved Esther Gold.
October 19, 2025
Thoughts: The Halloween Queen has frozen time in Esther’s small town and it’s up to her and a few friends to break the curse. The premise of this was really creepy and perfect for Goosebumps fans, young and old alike, but Fink tried to do a little too much within these pages. I appreciated the thought he put into the diversity of the characters and the progress of Esther’s coming-of-age story, however, it definitely detracted from reaching peak horror. Being chased through town by a guy throwing razor blade-filled apples was quite creepy but there was so much other stuff going on it was hard to determine whether or not there was actually any threat.
Verdict: I’m not actually sure if this would have just been better suited to the targeted age group, but either way, it was still a thrilling little Halloween in July sort of tale.
In a nutshell, GIF style:
I received this book free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Verdict: I’m not actually sure if this would have just been better suited to the targeted age group, but either way, it was still a thrilling little Halloween in July sort of tale.
In a nutshell, GIF style:
I received this book free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
November 6, 2021
I'm still undecided about my rating. I wanted to like this book because I, like Ester Gold, love Halloween. But I thought the message about aging out of Halloween was in poor taste. I did like the friendship growth between Ester, Sasha, and Augustín, but telling kids they can't enjoy Halloween because they're growing up is just rude and uncalled for.
January 26, 2026
The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink is a book I totally picked up based on how much I love Welcome to Night Vale. I'm glad I did because it was right up my alley. I hope Joseph Fink write more novels in the future. While this didn't quite wrap up as solidly as I would have liked, but I was still incredibly invested in the story and characters.
March 26, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children's Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. DNF at 20%, sadly.
Ester loves Halloween...until one Halloween, weird and unusual things are happening in her town.
Yeah, I love Halloween too but I couldn't get past the writing style. Ester was supposed to be a 13-year-old but sounded like a 50-year-old. Her dialogue and thoughts weren't really akin to a kid and I found it a bit unrealistic. She also felt robotic at times, just repeating what the author says with no...flair behind it, I guess?
I also thought it was stupid the parents were like "No, you're not allowed to go Trick-or-Treating this year because you're an adult at 13." What kinda dumb parents say that stuff? She has a younger sister (3 years old) she could've taken trick-or-treating, I took my younger cousins trick-or-treating even as a teen because you do it to encourage their fun. Very nitpicky and I'm sorry about that but these parents were ridiculous!
I didn't get far enough to get to the actual spooky/supernatural parts, unfortunately so I have no commentary on that.
Ester loves Halloween...until one Halloween, weird and unusual things are happening in her town.
Yeah, I love Halloween too but I couldn't get past the writing style. Ester was supposed to be a 13-year-old but sounded like a 50-year-old. Her dialogue and thoughts weren't really akin to a kid and I found it a bit unrealistic. She also felt robotic at times, just repeating what the author says with no...flair behind it, I guess?
I also thought it was stupid the parents were like "No, you're not allowed to go Trick-or-Treating this year because you're an adult at 13." What kinda dumb parents say that stuff? She has a younger sister (3 years old) she could've taken trick-or-treating, I took my younger cousins trick-or-treating even as a teen because you do it to encourage their fun. Very nitpicky and I'm sorry about that but these parents were ridiculous!
I didn't get far enough to get to the actual spooky/supernatural parts, unfortunately so I have no commentary on that.
October 24, 2021
It was OK, but I didn't love it. I'm not a middle grader, so I'm not the target audience. Some things were done very well, but most of the book was flat and bland, and dull. It could have been several tens of pages shorter as well. This book was trying to do too much. It's a horror story, a story about relationships, and a coming of age story. Some of all of these parts were good, but they didn't work well together.
I'm addicted to the "Welcome to Night Vale" podcast. I listen to one or more episodes nearly every day. I'm starting to resent the publishers who keep printing Fink and Cranor's mediocre books because they know people like me will buy them.
I'm addicted to the "Welcome to Night Vale" podcast. I listen to one or more episodes nearly every day. I'm starting to resent the publishers who keep printing Fink and Cranor's mediocre books because they know people like me will buy them.
Read
November 29, 2025My kids (4 and 8 as I write this) are Welcome to Night Vale fans. At one point, Joseph Fink gave a little spiel about this book, and the 4yo decided he wanted to read it. So I read it aloud. Here are a few of our combined thoughts:
- the writing is not complex, but at time quite beautiful
- Fink described the painful sensation of being a Jewish kids where there aren't any other Jews (i.e., the story of my childhood) so amazingly, I had flashbacks
- the 4yo said it wasn't as good as Night Vale
- the 8yo liked it better than Night Vale "except for the parts that were scary"
- I thought the ending was pretty clever
I think it's marked 10 and up. There's a bit of kissing in it, and the 8yo is very much in a "oh no, a kissing book" mood right now, but also I think the writing was a touch too simple for anyone much over 12.
Anyway, not a terrible choice if you have a little goth nibling you need a present for.
- the writing is not complex, but at time quite beautiful
- Fink described the painful sensation of being a Jewish kids where there aren't any other Jews (i.e., the story of my childhood) so amazingly, I had flashbacks
- the 4yo said it wasn't as good as Night Vale
- the 8yo liked it better than Night Vale "except for the parts that were scary"
- I thought the ending was pretty clever
I think it's marked 10 and up. There's a bit of kissing in it, and the 8yo is very much in a "oh no, a kissing book" mood right now, but also I think the writing was a touch too simple for anyone much over 12.
Anyway, not a terrible choice if you have a little goth nibling you need a present for.
May 2, 2024
i freaking love mr. gabler (which wasn't that hard to predict and also says a lot about me)
July 30, 2021
"Esther Gold loved Halloween. Maybe you love Halloween. Maybe you dress up every year and put a lot of time and care into your costume. Maybe you watch scary movies and then can't sleep but also can't resist watching more. Maybe candy corn tastes better to you than other candy not because it tastes better (it doesn't) but because it tastes like a moment in time, like a season. But you don't love Halloween the way Esther did..."
When the twisted mind behind the podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead decides to write a middle grade horror story set during Halloween, you just know it is going to be good.
This coming of age story follows Esther Gold, a young girl who is (rightly) obsessed with Halloween and all things spooky. Esther is gearing up for her favorite night of the year when her parents drop a bomb on her. They think thirteen year old Esther is too old to go trick or treating. Undeterred, Esther hatches a plan to go trick or treating with her reluctant and Halloween-adverse friend, Agustín. But this Halloween is different, because in Esther's sleepy California suburb, a sinister presence is lurking. Days before Halloween, Esther begins to notice children in her neighborhood running around wearing dirty and old Halloween costumes, their faces seemingly blurred and always out of focus. Creepy delivery men in ice cream trucks taunt her and her family when they park in her neighborhood. And when Esther and Agustín return to the Gold house, only to find Esther's parents unconscious and her little sister missing, they begin to suspect something is very wrong. Unable to find any adults besides the terrifying delivery men, unable to contact 911 for help, and left to their own devices, Esther must rely on her encyclopedic knowledge of Halloween to set things right.
'The Halloween Moon' is the perfect new Halloween tale for kids and adults alike. I'm already confident in calling it a new classic and one of those books that you will see annually on seasonal title lists. Those familiar with Fink's writing might think this story will be too scary for kiddos, but it walks a fine line of being just creepy enough for young readers and still engaging for grown-ups. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When the twisted mind behind the podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn't Dead decides to write a middle grade horror story set during Halloween, you just know it is going to be good.
This coming of age story follows Esther Gold, a young girl who is (rightly) obsessed with Halloween and all things spooky. Esther is gearing up for her favorite night of the year when her parents drop a bomb on her. They think thirteen year old Esther is too old to go trick or treating. Undeterred, Esther hatches a plan to go trick or treating with her reluctant and Halloween-adverse friend, Agustín. But this Halloween is different, because in Esther's sleepy California suburb, a sinister presence is lurking. Days before Halloween, Esther begins to notice children in her neighborhood running around wearing dirty and old Halloween costumes, their faces seemingly blurred and always out of focus. Creepy delivery men in ice cream trucks taunt her and her family when they park in her neighborhood. And when Esther and Agustín return to the Gold house, only to find Esther's parents unconscious and her little sister missing, they begin to suspect something is very wrong. Unable to find any adults besides the terrifying delivery men, unable to contact 911 for help, and left to their own devices, Esther must rely on her encyclopedic knowledge of Halloween to set things right.
'The Halloween Moon' is the perfect new Halloween tale for kids and adults alike. I'm already confident in calling it a new classic and one of those books that you will see annually on seasonal title lists. Those familiar with Fink's writing might think this story will be too scary for kiddos, but it walks a fine line of being just creepy enough for young readers and still engaging for grown-ups. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 25, 2021
Is it possible to love Halloween too much?
That’s the question plaguing protagonist Esther Gold, an 8th grader desperately clinging to childhood holiday traditions in this sweet, fun middle grade novel.
Fans of Welcome to Nightvale will recognize flashes of Joseph Fink’s signature wacky and tamely creepy humor in this one, as well as his unique breed of world building.
For those who love atmospheric creepiness, this one isn’t quite on par with Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces, which I consider the gold standard for that quality in books for this age group. But it’s close, and is sure to delight the same readers who enjoyed Arden’s book.
I didn’t love the over-sentimental climax to this book, but the lesson is a decent one and I love the found friendship aspect of the storyline.
Charming, funny, and a little bit spooky, this one is a cant miss Halloween read that’s fun for kids and adults alike.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
That’s the question plaguing protagonist Esther Gold, an 8th grader desperately clinging to childhood holiday traditions in this sweet, fun middle grade novel.
Fans of Welcome to Nightvale will recognize flashes of Joseph Fink’s signature wacky and tamely creepy humor in this one, as well as his unique breed of world building.
For those who love atmospheric creepiness, this one isn’t quite on par with Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces, which I consider the gold standard for that quality in books for this age group. But it’s close, and is sure to delight the same readers who enjoyed Arden’s book.
I didn’t love the over-sentimental climax to this book, but the lesson is a decent one and I love the found friendship aspect of the storyline.
Charming, funny, and a little bit spooky, this one is a cant miss Halloween read that’s fun for kids and adults alike.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
December 3, 2024
Normalmente no hago una review de nada de lo que leo, pero esta vez el disgusto es tan profundo que me veo obligada a escribirla.
Para Halloween me gusta leer terror juvenil que no se tome en serio a si mismo y pasar un rato divertido, pero este libro no me ha dado prácticamente nada bueno.
Los personajes son planos y sinceramente, todos imbéciles, lo que hace que me de absolutamente igual lo que pueda pasarles. Los jóvenes tienen un único rasgo como su personalidad al completo: Esther ama Halloween, Agustín odia Halloween, Sasha odia a Esther. Por otro lado los adultos solo son verdaderos idiotas, no hay uno bueno, quiero creer que es un intento de hacer el como un chaval de 13 años ve a un adulto, pero se siente vago y cliché. A excepción del adulto que les ayuda solo están los padres de Esther cuya única personalidad es querer que deje de salir a hacer truco o trato porque "ya es muy mayor", la madre de Agustín que solo pasa mucho tiempo trabajando, y la madre de Sasha, sorprendentemente la mas profunda, de la que se sobreentiende que es perfeccionista y agradable de puertas a la galeria, pero estricta con su hija.
La trama está completamente vacía y carece de sentido, la ambientación de Halloween ni siquiera es algo que se sienta. El desarrollo es un suceso aleatorio tras otro. Como la mayoría, yo he llegado a este libro gracias a ser gran fan de Night Vale, pero esto es un libro independiente, con una historia diferente, que debe poder llegar a más público, y por mucho que nosotros estemos acostumbrados a que los problemas se solucionen durante el reporte del tiempo sin mayor explicación, intentar seguir una historia en la que los sucesos ocurren porque sí y todo va avanzando y pasando como si fuese una tirada de dados aleatoria, no es lo más óptimo. La excusa es que en realidad todo es onírico y pertenece al sueño pero utilizar esa ambientación solo para no tener que explicar lo que está pasando en tu libro es vago, la verdad. Y eso sin hablar de Nathaniel. ¿Quieres saber quién es y por qué la Reina le tiene miedo? No importa, solo es el Deus Ex que los libra de la muerte y jamás te explican nada acerca de él.
Además de todo esto se siente como una lista en la que hay que tachar las cosas que tienen que ir apareciendo para que "se adapte a lo que ahora vende" (lo que ahora vende como lo que la gente de arriba entiende que es lo que vende): no puede haber enemistad, dos personas que se han odiado y enfrentado la una a la otra en múltiples ocasiones se perdonan y tienen una trama de redención empalagosa, aburrida, sin sentido y sin profundidad o desarrollo alguno. En un momento dado simplemente pasan a ser amigas. No podemos odiar a los monstruitos que nos atacan porque una vez fueron niños y ahora todo tiene que ser blando y sin rencores. También tiene que tener una trama romántica, POR SUPUESTO, por lo que acaban juntando a dos personajes que ni siquiera tienen química como amigos, menos todavía como algo más, porque al parecer no entendemos una historia sin que haya trama romántica...
Lo de emparejar a los protagonistas que no pegan ni con cola es lo que más me molesta, pero hay otra cosa a la misma altura, y es que al final todo el libro va de que "cuando te haces mayor ya no puedes andar con esas tonterías". Esther adora Halloween, es feliz en halloween y le encanta salir a hacer truco o trato, pero sus padres se lo prohíben porque es demasiado mayor (con 13 años... Serán ineptos), y aunque al principio parece que va a apoyar todo lo contrario, al final lo que se lee es básicamente que bueno, sí, le gusta Halloween pero ya es mayor así que pues le gusta de la forma aburrida que a las personas mayores les gustan las cosas. Y esto me da especial rabia porque, gente, disfrutad de vuestras aficiones, de vuestros pasatiempos y de las cosas que os encantan sin importar la edad que tengáis, madurar no es dejar de jugar a videojuegos o dejar de ver pelis de dibujos (elijo esos dos ejemplos pero es aplicable a cualquier cosa con la que te puedan decir "eres demasiado mayor para esto"), y me parece de muy mal gusto enfocar todo un libro a que al final cuando creces tienes que dejar de hacer "esas tonterías de niños". De nuevo, madurar no va de eso.
Por otro lado no solo le veo cosas malas, los niños disfrazados que están bajo el control de la Reina me parecen criaturas bien pensadas, bastante malrolleras y desde luego interesantes, tanto su forma actual como su origen (menos el gigante ¿De dónde narices sale el gigante?). Y el capítulo 34 (a excepción del beso y toda esa parafernalia moñas con una conversación que no creo que dos niños de 13 años tengan) es lo mejor del libro. La ambientación de ese capítulo es buena, los sucesos te van dejando torcido todo el rato, cada vez es más raro e incómodo ver cómo todo está mal y ellos no se dan cuenta pero comienzan a intuir que algo está pasando, que es raro. Y cuando empieza a ser escalofriante, pam, simplemente se despierta y volvemos a lo de siempre.
No es que tuviese las expectativas altísimas con este libro, es verdad que los de Night Vale me han gustado bastante, sobre todo el primero, pero entiendo que este se enfocaba a un público más joven y por ello la historia es más simplona, pero es que no hay por dónde cogerlo. Una lástima, lo compré con muchísimas ganas y por época, ambientación y autor debería haberme gustado...
Para Halloween me gusta leer terror juvenil que no se tome en serio a si mismo y pasar un rato divertido, pero este libro no me ha dado prácticamente nada bueno.
Los personajes son planos y sinceramente, todos imbéciles, lo que hace que me de absolutamente igual lo que pueda pasarles. Los jóvenes tienen un único rasgo como su personalidad al completo: Esther ama Halloween, Agustín odia Halloween, Sasha odia a Esther. Por otro lado los adultos solo son verdaderos idiotas, no hay uno bueno, quiero creer que es un intento de hacer el como un chaval de 13 años ve a un adulto, pero se siente vago y cliché. A excepción del adulto que les ayuda solo están los padres de Esther cuya única personalidad es querer que deje de salir a hacer truco o trato porque "ya es muy mayor", la madre de Agustín que solo pasa mucho tiempo trabajando, y la madre de Sasha, sorprendentemente la mas profunda, de la que se sobreentiende que es perfeccionista y agradable de puertas a la galeria, pero estricta con su hija.
La trama está completamente vacía y carece de sentido, la ambientación de Halloween ni siquiera es algo que se sienta. El desarrollo es un suceso aleatorio tras otro. Como la mayoría, yo he llegado a este libro gracias a ser gran fan de Night Vale, pero esto es un libro independiente, con una historia diferente, que debe poder llegar a más público, y por mucho que nosotros estemos acostumbrados a que los problemas se solucionen durante el reporte del tiempo sin mayor explicación, intentar seguir una historia en la que los sucesos ocurren porque sí y todo va avanzando y pasando como si fuese una tirada de dados aleatoria, no es lo más óptimo. La excusa es que en realidad todo es onírico y pertenece al sueño pero utilizar esa ambientación solo para no tener que explicar lo que está pasando en tu libro es vago, la verdad. Y eso sin hablar de Nathaniel. ¿Quieres saber quién es y por qué la Reina le tiene miedo? No importa, solo es el Deus Ex que los libra de la muerte y jamás te explican nada acerca de él.
Además de todo esto se siente como una lista en la que hay que tachar las cosas que tienen que ir apareciendo para que "se adapte a lo que ahora vende" (lo que ahora vende como lo que la gente de arriba entiende que es lo que vende): no puede haber enemistad, dos personas que se han odiado y enfrentado la una a la otra en múltiples ocasiones se perdonan y tienen una trama de redención empalagosa, aburrida, sin sentido y sin profundidad o desarrollo alguno. En un momento dado simplemente pasan a ser amigas. No podemos odiar a los monstruitos que nos atacan porque una vez fueron niños y ahora todo tiene que ser blando y sin rencores. También tiene que tener una trama romántica, POR SUPUESTO, por lo que acaban juntando a dos personajes que ni siquiera tienen química como amigos, menos todavía como algo más, porque al parecer no entendemos una historia sin que haya trama romántica...
Lo de emparejar a los protagonistas que no pegan ni con cola es lo que más me molesta, pero hay otra cosa a la misma altura, y es que al final todo el libro va de que "cuando te haces mayor ya no puedes andar con esas tonterías". Esther adora Halloween, es feliz en halloween y le encanta salir a hacer truco o trato, pero sus padres se lo prohíben porque es demasiado mayor (con 13 años... Serán ineptos), y aunque al principio parece que va a apoyar todo lo contrario, al final lo que se lee es básicamente que bueno, sí, le gusta Halloween pero ya es mayor así que pues le gusta de la forma aburrida que a las personas mayores les gustan las cosas. Y esto me da especial rabia porque, gente, disfrutad de vuestras aficiones, de vuestros pasatiempos y de las cosas que os encantan sin importar la edad que tengáis, madurar no es dejar de jugar a videojuegos o dejar de ver pelis de dibujos (elijo esos dos ejemplos pero es aplicable a cualquier cosa con la que te puedan decir "eres demasiado mayor para esto"), y me parece de muy mal gusto enfocar todo un libro a que al final cuando creces tienes que dejar de hacer "esas tonterías de niños". De nuevo, madurar no va de eso.
Por otro lado no solo le veo cosas malas, los niños disfrazados que están bajo el control de la Reina me parecen criaturas bien pensadas, bastante malrolleras y desde luego interesantes, tanto su forma actual como su origen (menos el gigante ¿De dónde narices sale el gigante?). Y el capítulo 34 (a excepción del beso y toda esa parafernalia moñas con una conversación que no creo que dos niños de 13 años tengan) es lo mejor del libro. La ambientación de ese capítulo es buena, los sucesos te van dejando torcido todo el rato, cada vez es más raro e incómodo ver cómo todo está mal y ellos no se dan cuenta pero comienzan a intuir que algo está pasando, que es raro. Y cuando empieza a ser escalofriante, pam, simplemente se despierta y volvemos a lo de siempre.
No es que tuviese las expectativas altísimas con este libro, es verdad que los de Night Vale me han gustado bastante, sobre todo el primero, pero entiendo que este se enfocaba a un público más joven y por ello la historia es más simplona, pero es que no hay por dónde cogerlo. Una lástima, lo compré con muchísimas ganas y por época, ambientación y autor debería haberme gustado...
October 19, 2021
I listened to the audiobook of this with my kids in the car on the way to work/school and after school activities. Both of my kids really enjoyed it and I liked it too. It's a fun, not overly creepy story for kids that like Halloween.
May 1, 2022
Es un libro más ligero y juvenil que el resto de novelas de Fink (&Cranor). La parte final me ha gustado bastante porque es donde más mete el terror extraño que suele proponer en el resto de libros. Se le da muy bien crear la atmósfera de terror sin que pase absolutamente nada. No hay ningún peligro, pero te mete en este caso en la mente de una niña de 13 años que tiene miedo de pasar por una zona oscura de su barrio.
Lo que me doy cuenta cada vez más es que es muy simple cada vez que entra en temas políticos o filosóficos. O me da mucha pereza o es una cosa muy sencilla sin ambiciones. En it devours! me daba más pereza porque habla de una dualidad ciencia/religión condenadas a entenderse y no me gusta como lo lleva. En este es una moraleja típica de Disney que es simplona, pero queda bien. Al fin y al cabo es una novela juvenil sencillita y ligera. Me ha gustado más que it devours! pero sí que es mucho menos ambiciosa que las tres del "universo" WtN.
Lo que me doy cuenta cada vez más es que es muy simple cada vez que entra en temas políticos o filosóficos. O me da mucha pereza o es una cosa muy sencilla sin ambiciones. En it devours! me daba más pereza porque habla de una dualidad ciencia/religión condenadas a entenderse y no me gusta como lo lleva. En este es una moraleja típica de Disney que es simplona, pero queda bien. Al fin y al cabo es una novela juvenil sencillita y ligera. Me ha gustado más que it devours! pero sí que es mucho menos ambiciosa que las tres del "universo" WtN.
October 30, 2021
this is a good book for this time of the year
February 1, 2025
Read with my son. Not bad.
October 1, 2021
Enjoyed this book, but found some parts to be slow! There were coming of age bits...and I felt like those were handled with little emotion..I wish there was more emotion!!
September 14, 2023
Let’s do this.
Esther Gold love’s Halloween. Why not, right? She goes out trick or treating despite her parents thinking she’s too old. There’s an unusually orange moon and children that are strange. Let’s go on that adventure.
This wasn’t bad. I liked the concept and it was an ok ride. Narration was good. I liked the characters….especially the dentist. He was my favorite. Ending was ok.
Esther Gold love’s Halloween. Why not, right? She goes out trick or treating despite her parents thinking she’s too old. There’s an unusually orange moon and children that are strange. Let’s go on that adventure.
This wasn’t bad. I liked the concept and it was an ok ride. Narration was good. I liked the characters….especially the dentist. He was my favorite. Ending was ok.
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