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October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween
Classic novellas, never-before-published stories, essays on the history, literature, and films of Halloween, and real-life memories of October 31st-from today's best practitioners of Dean Koontz * Peter Straub * Poppy Z. Brite * Rick Hautala * Steve Rasnic Tem * Elizabeth Engstrom * Thomas Ligotti * Gary A. Braunbeck * Jack Ketchum * Thomas F. Monteleone * Hugh B. Cave * Simon Clark * Christopher Golden * Ray Bradbury * Jack Ketchum * Alan M. Clark * Gahan Wilson * Paula Guran * John Shirley * Tom Piccirilli * Jack Cady * David B. Silva * Robert Morrish * William F. Nolan * Michael Cadnum * Richard Laymon * Douglas Clegg * Douglas E. Winter * Stanley Wiater * Caitlín R. Kiernan * Lewis Shiner * Yvonne Navarro * Tim Lebbon * Kim Newman * F. Paul Wilson * Owl Goingback * Dennis Etchison * Stephen Mark Rainey * Charles L. Grant * Kelly Laymon * Dominick Cancilla * Kristine Kathryn Rusch * Michael Marshall Smith * Wayne Allen Sallee * Ramsey Campbell * Ed Gorman * Stefan Dziemianowicz * Peter Crowther
648 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2000
59 people are currently reading
5006 people want to read
About the author
Richard Chizmar
252 books3,445 followersRichard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
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October 2, 2025
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
—L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
*Update: Resurrecting this review a decade in the making in order to revisit the material and finish the full run of stories this Halloween*
In some manner my literary, musical, and aesthetic sensibilities transmogrify with the season. Once the autumnal gods blow forth the cool air, carrying with it their fragrances of dry leaves, patchouli, apple spice, and the harvest, and pumpkins begin to grace doorsteps, the numinous in me is sustained by clichéd images of chilling awe; graveyards (with or without decayed hands rising therefrom), howling wolves silhouetted by full moons, implied malevolent cackling of jack-O’-lanterns, as well as expectedly evocative music like Toccata and Fugue, Swan Lake Op. 20, even The Monster Mash, or the Misfits, my life is unabashedly enraptured by the nostalgia of manufactured fright. I eat candy corn. I watch horror movies (and Hocus Pocus), and of course, I read material that will ensure the fond memories persist until a headstone of my own may contribute to the moon-lit October backdrop of someone else's dreadful delights.
This will be an intermittently written review throughout the season. I will try to review the stories and celebratory Halloween recollections of this collection as I read them. Until then, I would like to wish you a wonderfully macabre season and October:
The Black Pumpkin by Dean Koontz:
It's not difficult to revel in the hokey nature of a story about an accursed jack-O'-lantern, purchased from a creepy old pumpkin carver, that wreaks havoc on a family, apparently in the name of justice, because as we all know, "you get what you give", which was reiterated I think one-hundred-and-forty-two times in its 29 pages. The story of course is by the poor-man's Stephen King, and it is not the least bit genuinely frightening, but tell it to your children as an October bedtime story, and you'll probably awaken to their screams at midnight more than once.
A Moonlit Night with Rats by Elizabeth Engstrom:
I can't recall the precise year I decided I was too old for Trick or Treating, and I don't know why I can't remember. I don't know if I thought it was stupid, or I was too cool for it, or if I abandoned it with some melancholy. Whatever the case, I miss it now. I retrospectively regret the hanging-out aspect of Halloween in the teenage years, because I was miserable trying to behave as if it were no big deal. But like Elizabeth here, who tells of her 13-year-old-and-thus-too-old-for-kiddy-Halloween-fun story of getting abandoned in a dump by her brothers as a prank, I managed, or learned how to, add to the array of Halloween memories as I was living each year's experiences, perhaps with some imagined magic, as Elizabeth fondly summons, "The dump had a certain majesty in the Halloween moonlight."
Lantern Marsh by Poppy Z. Brite:
I can relate to this one, albeit on a significantly lesser scale, and with no intentions of retaliation or vengeance on my part. There is this house a couple blocks away from mine, and ever since I moved in, I would walk by it when I took my dogs for walks because there was a tree right in front of the house that obstructed a view of the front door, as well as most of the porch. The tree was dark like a Goya. It begged to be garnished with creepy and horrible things, and ideally, would be home to an unsettlingly glowing-eyed owl when all but a few leaves had fallen. The owl would glare at me, eyes impossibly luminescent, everything silent save for the clanging of my dogs’ leashes and a sputtering hoo-hoo to give me additional-to-the-weather chills. I would be unable to discern if it served as a threat or a warning. I would continue walking, the owl’s eyes transfixed on me until I attained a distance outside of its field of vision, which may have been a distance that didn’t exist. I would stand across the street, staring at this magnificent, natural inspiration of terror, as if the thing existed for me. The gentleman who dwelled inside the house merely a maintenance man for what had been mine to discover. But, as if it were all a ploy, a conspiracy to uproot my wonder, the tree has since been subjected to the same. It is no longer there to send me along my autumnal moonlit strolls with frights of fancy. Like Noel in this tale, who watched the lanterns glow over the marsh “as if they were his own personal light show”, it seemed particularly significant on Halloween. However, unlike Noel, the obsession that consumed him, understandably, was going to be taken away by corporate sprawl. The marsh was purchased and now bore a sign declaring it to be the future sight of Marshwood Mall, in that typically ironic tradition of naming developments in faux-honor of what was destroyed to make it. Noel did not stand for this, nor did the lanterns. There is no comparison in egregiousness between the story and my own example, but I miss that tree.
Nicknames: A Hallowe’en Reminiscence by Rick Hautala:
Coming off, at first, more like an old curmudgeon, which I am fast becoming, it was interesting to hear a true account of an incident of unstable town drunks threatening kids for causing some mischief on mischief night. It sounds scary. I’ve been physically threatened by cadres of belligerents before. Rick says that such memories as these (of the very few that he remembers, ostensibly) propels him to write the stories he writes as an attempt to ‘bring it all back.
A Condemned Man by Steve Rasnic Tem:
Imagine with me, if you will, after all these store-bought, lower-than-pajama quality, with food-container quality plastic half-masks, and just a shoe-lace quality string keeping them loosely strapped to their heads; after several of the same consumerist, corporation-dictated costumes of (to be culturally relevant), Avengers, Angry Birds, Cheerleaders and Disney Princesses, something shows up on your doorstep wearing a pillowcase over his head, and twined rope tied in a noose around his neck. You ask him what he is supposed to be, and he responds, ‘a condemned man’. I love the outsider kids.
Conversations in Dead Language by Thomas Ligotti:
Some stories in anthologies are doomed to be forgotten, going unnoticed if the pages were cleanly ripped out (page numbers notwithstanding); it’s to be expected. What is not to be expected is for one of said forgettable stories to be written by such a highly regarded terrorizing artist. Ligotti is an underground horror titan, but if the best he can do to honor Halloween is a vaguely supernatural murder mystery after vaguely supernatural things occur every Halloween, count me not among the aficionados. Some terror tellers are more prosperous with novels than short tales. I hope this is the case for Ligotti, otherwise I may not fit in with my underground cretins.
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Gary A. Braunbeck:
Being chastised and cast out of class by nuns for having an Alice Cooper varnish stained on my face only for it to be vindicated by a hip (note that this is 1974) priest who would provide a cool-guy thumbs up and mutter "Under My Wheels kicks ass" would probably lead me to the conclusion, at 17, that "God dug Halloween" as well.
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Jack Ketchum:
Another two pager which hardly merits a synopsis of any kind, but the idea of coupling treats with philosophical quotes is pretty damn good. Kudos, Mr. hippy Ketchum of the early 70’s.
Yesterday’s Child by Thomas F. Monteleone:
Despite the fact that memories are mostly false, they are a large part of what makes us, us. They manifest later as regrets often, as dreams of the past self (one of many, all different from the many of which we are composed now) linger on a synapse in a desperate attempt to grasp onto a formative apparition, which by definition will be elusive forevermore. Mistakes are not so much mistakes as a different self disagreeing with a former self about a decision, course, or commitment which that particular former self engaged in. Occasionally I see myself, when I wasn’t me, in my homemade dragon costume on an impossible night of purplish autumn idealism , marching and breathing fire on events that will not have occurred until I have the capacity to realize that I didn’t want to set that fire after all. At least not the dominant me now.
Zombies by Hugh B. Cave:
Cave lived in Haiti for a few years and was taken to a ‘zombie farm’. There is a poison powder that can be administered to people which causes them to exhibit all the symptoms of death. That person is then buried, dug up again and provided with a restorative drug, but can then be commanded, like a slave. Similar to the exposition of the book The Serpent and the Rainbow by the ethnobotanist(?) Wade Davis, these mind-altering, or perhaps more appropriately labeled, mind-deadening drugs are ostensibly real, and used for rather sinister purposes. How much of it is Haitian legend, I cannot say, nor could Cave, but it lead him to write a story, which he plugged, and for which he provided a synopsis and conclusion. I suppose I don’t need to read it now. Oh, and his visit took place on Halloween, so it’s not just because of the zombies that it is contained in this anthology.
The Whitby Experience by Simon Clark:
Impressive tale of oceanic terror; one of my favorite brands of terror. I will merely issue a recommendation of this story along with my favorite, somewhat Bradburian paragraph:
Halloween Memories by Christopher Golden:
Won’t be the last reminiscence in this collection to feature an enviable neighborhood house with its own haunted lore.
In-Between: A Halloween Poem by Ray Bradbury:
Attic or basement
For Hallowed placement,
No substitutes
For Bradburian youth.
No family smiles
Which October reviles.
No warm meals,
Only darkness reveals
The wonderful terror
That we can all share.
I know what you mean,
Mr. Bradbury.
Gone by Jack Ketchum:
(Spillover review HERE)
That Smell in the Air by Alan M. Clark:
This title is probably the most important part of the story. There’s nothing like closing your eyes on an October evening and letting the scent enter you like a possessive spirit. Clark is the kind of dreamer who lives in Halloween land all year round; the type of guy who becomes a special effects guy for monster movies. When you can’t let go of the Halloween spirit; if it has its blissful barbs embedded in you even after that smell in the air dissipates; why not cook St. Patrick’s Day dinner painted up as the wolfman?
Yesterday’s Witch by Gahan Wilson:
Why couldn’t I have grown up on a street where a witch was alleged to have lived? I needn’t fret about such things now, not only because I am well past childhood, but also because witches are nonsense, and I shouldn’t waste any mental capacity wishing they were real. I can’t even bring myself to sputter out some lame pronouncement such as, I believe in witches one day out of the year. It doesn’t make any sense, but I used to be impressed by magic tricks involving coins. I know better now, but if a good-intentioned curmudgeon who lived in a moldy, grimed-over-windowed house could have pulled something over on me, such as turn my treat sack into a breathing creature that caused me to drop it and run screaming, I would be grateful still, especially grateful, in fact, knowing it couldn’t have been real. I would love that witch forever.
A Short History of Halloween by Paula Guran:
Here is a concise piece of which I am sure plenty of books share the same subject, in addition to some History Channel specials. We all know the key vocabulary to utilize in a discussion about the origins and evolution of Halloween: All Hallows’ Eve, saints’ day, Samhain, Druidic, Celtic, primal fears of death but there are some cool facts about the history that I wasn’t aware of, or that I forget year after year. For instance, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on Wittenberg Castle Church on the 31st of October in 1517, and the subsequent reformation saw that the observance of saints’ day was expunged, and mostly lead to the destruction of celebrations in Europe. As for me, there are no superstitions interspersed with my love for the season, or that ‘hallowed’ night, at least not anymore, and am content with the opportunity to confront and mock death. It’s false power, but the absurdity of life only enhances the sensation.
The Last Halloween by Poppy Z. Brite:
“If you’re reading this book, odds are you’ve also read Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, and I certainly can’t top his descriptions so I won’t even try –but that’s how it was.” There is much pride to be felt in being a, what I will deem, Halloween geek, which often goes hand-in-hand with being a horror geek, and we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the late Halloween prophet, Bradbury.
Mask Game by John Shirley:
A family is forced to relive brutal secrets from their past as a mysteriously familiar stranger shows up on Halloween night to play a game involving wearing masks of their younger selves. Do you ever conjure the setting of a story you’re reading from some arbitrary place from your past? This story, for me, took place in the living room of my former babysitter’s/neighbor’s house, and I somehow felt like I was watching it all, first person, through the window, from outside, in my costume, just wanting some candy. It was spooky that this was happening right next door to me, and that I was so young while reading this tale.
Criswell Conquers the Alien Elvis-‘Nappers by Tom Piccirilli:
Sometimes I think I’d like to be a paranormal investigator. Not like those ubiquitous mooks on those faux-reality shows, who go in with advanced equipment and instruments (none of which are made for detecting supernatural entities), and an already affixed mindset of ‘ghosts are here, and we need to find them’. No, I mean real investigators who seek real answers for strange goings-on, like Joe Nickel. Then, I could get my frightful kicks and simultaneously work at debunking nonsense. Joe Nickel debunked the alleged Mackenzie House haunting, and revealed The Amityville hoax. Tom Piccirilli went to the Overlook Hotel in Estes Park, which is of course the setting for The Shining, and which ostensibly has some actual haunted legends attached to it. I think we have a responsibility to seek the truth, in any situation, and the whiners who claim that real investigators and debunkers are merely ruining the fun, and destroying mystery and wonder, it seems to me, can’t see what Richard Dawkins has called The Magic of Reality. This is how my rationalism and my sense of wonder come together in this splendid way.
1942 by Jack Cady:
Another local witch legend of which to be envious.
Out of the Dark by David B. Silva:
Death being integral to Halloween, it is the optimal night to confront it, restrain it, to protect those you love who are on the threshold. You may be able to delay it, but Death always gets its way in the end. Manny lost his mother as a child, after capturing Death and releasing it under a manipulative deal. Now his wife is in its grasp, and Manny plans to do the same thing. He succeeds again, but reluctantly releases at the plea of his pneumonic wife. Death must be allowed to take its natural course, and people must be allowed to die with dignity. Isn’t that, in part, what our allegedly macabre ‘celebration of death’ on Halloween is about?
Pumpkins and Circumstance Robert Morrish:
After recounting prominent Halloween memories, Morrish finally experiences his longed-for magic of the holiday, he recounts his Halloween wedding.
Heavy Set by Ray Bradbury:
(Spillover review HERE)
Year of the Witch by William F. Nolan:
Bad things come in threes, at least if you disturb an old witch’s ghost in her house on Halloween night. The connections Nolan makes to his coming-of-age mischief night are tenuous, but it does strike some effective notes of the pain of growing up and growing apart.
Where Juliet Went: A Halloween Memory by Michael Cadnum:
Spending Halloween in the Mojave desert sounds miserable and depressing to me, and discovering a dead body is an odd if fitting criteria to form a favorite Halloween memory (at least I think that’s what happened). A good deed bookended by mischief makers terrorizing his home makes me wonder how much artistic liberties are taken in these memory entries, but I suppose stranger things have happened.
Boo by Richard Laymon:
Beginning like it could be a My Favorite Halloween Memory segment with a normal first-person narrative of a boy’s last year truck-or-treating, a potentially connected series of events, from visiting the classic creepy house in the neighborhood—”it doesn’t get any better than this,” to inviting a mysterious stranger boy to go along candy hunting, culminating in a ‘trick’ that nobody present will ever forget.
A Halloween Memory, Age Four, Hawaii, 1961 by Douglas Clegg:
A rather precious, but beautiful exultation of holding on to a hope of reliving a witch flying past the moon sighting as a four-year-old on Halloween night.
Fellini and Halloween by Ray Bradbury:
The shortest, and saddest, Halloween memory interlude in the collection, all the more melancholy coming from Ray Bradbury who, mourning his friend Federico Fellini’s death on Halloween night of 1993, says the magic of the holiday has been tarnished ever since. Very dispiriting, but calling attention to the contradiction of the notion of a ‘Happy Halloween,’ a day inextricably linked with death and loss.
TO BE CONTINUED...
—L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
*Update: Resurrecting this review a decade in the making in order to revisit the material and finish the full run of stories this Halloween*
In some manner my literary, musical, and aesthetic sensibilities transmogrify with the season. Once the autumnal gods blow forth the cool air, carrying with it their fragrances of dry leaves, patchouli, apple spice, and the harvest, and pumpkins begin to grace doorsteps, the numinous in me is sustained by clichéd images of chilling awe; graveyards (with or without decayed hands rising therefrom), howling wolves silhouetted by full moons, implied malevolent cackling of jack-O’-lanterns, as well as expectedly evocative music like Toccata and Fugue, Swan Lake Op. 20, even The Monster Mash, or the Misfits, my life is unabashedly enraptured by the nostalgia of manufactured fright. I eat candy corn. I watch horror movies (and Hocus Pocus), and of course, I read material that will ensure the fond memories persist until a headstone of my own may contribute to the moon-lit October backdrop of someone else's dreadful delights.
This will be an intermittently written review throughout the season. I will try to review the stories and celebratory Halloween recollections of this collection as I read them. Until then, I would like to wish you a wonderfully macabre season and October:
The Black Pumpkin by Dean Koontz:
It's not difficult to revel in the hokey nature of a story about an accursed jack-O'-lantern, purchased from a creepy old pumpkin carver, that wreaks havoc on a family, apparently in the name of justice, because as we all know, "you get what you give", which was reiterated I think one-hundred-and-forty-two times in its 29 pages. The story of course is by the poor-man's Stephen King, and it is not the least bit genuinely frightening, but tell it to your children as an October bedtime story, and you'll probably awaken to their screams at midnight more than once.
A Moonlit Night with Rats by Elizabeth Engstrom:
I can't recall the precise year I decided I was too old for Trick or Treating, and I don't know why I can't remember. I don't know if I thought it was stupid, or I was too cool for it, or if I abandoned it with some melancholy. Whatever the case, I miss it now. I retrospectively regret the hanging-out aspect of Halloween in the teenage years, because I was miserable trying to behave as if it were no big deal. But like Elizabeth here, who tells of her 13-year-old-and-thus-too-old-for-kiddy-Halloween-fun story of getting abandoned in a dump by her brothers as a prank, I managed, or learned how to, add to the array of Halloween memories as I was living each year's experiences, perhaps with some imagined magic, as Elizabeth fondly summons, "The dump had a certain majesty in the Halloween moonlight."
Lantern Marsh by Poppy Z. Brite:
I can relate to this one, albeit on a significantly lesser scale, and with no intentions of retaliation or vengeance on my part. There is this house a couple blocks away from mine, and ever since I moved in, I would walk by it when I took my dogs for walks because there was a tree right in front of the house that obstructed a view of the front door, as well as most of the porch. The tree was dark like a Goya. It begged to be garnished with creepy and horrible things, and ideally, would be home to an unsettlingly glowing-eyed owl when all but a few leaves had fallen. The owl would glare at me, eyes impossibly luminescent, everything silent save for the clanging of my dogs’ leashes and a sputtering hoo-hoo to give me additional-to-the-weather chills. I would be unable to discern if it served as a threat or a warning. I would continue walking, the owl’s eyes transfixed on me until I attained a distance outside of its field of vision, which may have been a distance that didn’t exist. I would stand across the street, staring at this magnificent, natural inspiration of terror, as if the thing existed for me. The gentleman who dwelled inside the house merely a maintenance man for what had been mine to discover. But, as if it were all a ploy, a conspiracy to uproot my wonder, the tree has since been subjected to the same. It is no longer there to send me along my autumnal moonlit strolls with frights of fancy. Like Noel in this tale, who watched the lanterns glow over the marsh “as if they were his own personal light show”, it seemed particularly significant on Halloween. However, unlike Noel, the obsession that consumed him, understandably, was going to be taken away by corporate sprawl. The marsh was purchased and now bore a sign declaring it to be the future sight of Marshwood Mall, in that typically ironic tradition of naming developments in faux-honor of what was destroyed to make it. Noel did not stand for this, nor did the lanterns. There is no comparison in egregiousness between the story and my own example, but I miss that tree.
Nicknames: A Hallowe’en Reminiscence by Rick Hautala:
Coming off, at first, more like an old curmudgeon, which I am fast becoming, it was interesting to hear a true account of an incident of unstable town drunks threatening kids for causing some mischief on mischief night. It sounds scary. I’ve been physically threatened by cadres of belligerents before. Rick says that such memories as these (of the very few that he remembers, ostensibly) propels him to write the stories he writes as an attempt to ‘bring it all back.
A Condemned Man by Steve Rasnic Tem:
Imagine with me, if you will, after all these store-bought, lower-than-pajama quality, with food-container quality plastic half-masks, and just a shoe-lace quality string keeping them loosely strapped to their heads; after several of the same consumerist, corporation-dictated costumes of (to be culturally relevant), Avengers, Angry Birds, Cheerleaders and Disney Princesses, something shows up on your doorstep wearing a pillowcase over his head, and twined rope tied in a noose around his neck. You ask him what he is supposed to be, and he responds, ‘a condemned man’. I love the outsider kids.
Conversations in Dead Language by Thomas Ligotti:
Some stories in anthologies are doomed to be forgotten, going unnoticed if the pages were cleanly ripped out (page numbers notwithstanding); it’s to be expected. What is not to be expected is for one of said forgettable stories to be written by such a highly regarded terrorizing artist. Ligotti is an underground horror titan, but if the best he can do to honor Halloween is a vaguely supernatural murder mystery after vaguely supernatural things occur every Halloween, count me not among the aficionados. Some terror tellers are more prosperous with novels than short tales. I hope this is the case for Ligotti, otherwise I may not fit in with my underground cretins.
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Gary A. Braunbeck:
Being chastised and cast out of class by nuns for having an Alice Cooper varnish stained on my face only for it to be vindicated by a hip (note that this is 1974) priest who would provide a cool-guy thumbs up and mutter "Under My Wheels kicks ass" would probably lead me to the conclusion, at 17, that "God dug Halloween" as well.
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Jack Ketchum:
Another two pager which hardly merits a synopsis of any kind, but the idea of coupling treats with philosophical quotes is pretty damn good. Kudos, Mr. hippy Ketchum of the early 70’s.
Yesterday’s Child by Thomas F. Monteleone:
Despite the fact that memories are mostly false, they are a large part of what makes us, us. They manifest later as regrets often, as dreams of the past self (one of many, all different from the many of which we are composed now) linger on a synapse in a desperate attempt to grasp onto a formative apparition, which by definition will be elusive forevermore. Mistakes are not so much mistakes as a different self disagreeing with a former self about a decision, course, or commitment which that particular former self engaged in. Occasionally I see myself, when I wasn’t me, in my homemade dragon costume on an impossible night of purplish autumn idealism , marching and breathing fire on events that will not have occurred until I have the capacity to realize that I didn’t want to set that fire after all. At least not the dominant me now.
Zombies by Hugh B. Cave:
Cave lived in Haiti for a few years and was taken to a ‘zombie farm’. There is a poison powder that can be administered to people which causes them to exhibit all the symptoms of death. That person is then buried, dug up again and provided with a restorative drug, but can then be commanded, like a slave. Similar to the exposition of the book The Serpent and the Rainbow by the ethnobotanist(?) Wade Davis, these mind-altering, or perhaps more appropriately labeled, mind-deadening drugs are ostensibly real, and used for rather sinister purposes. How much of it is Haitian legend, I cannot say, nor could Cave, but it lead him to write a story, which he plugged, and for which he provided a synopsis and conclusion. I suppose I don’t need to read it now. Oh, and his visit took place on Halloween, so it’s not just because of the zombies that it is contained in this anthology.
The Whitby Experience by Simon Clark:
Impressive tale of oceanic terror; one of my favorite brands of terror. I will merely issue a recommendation of this story along with my favorite, somewhat Bradburian paragraph:
‘Through the glass she heard the soulful call of the foghorn. Being a city dweller the sound was alien to her; gravely mournful, too. She couldn’t escape the notion that she heard some primeval creature that lay dying on the shore as it called to its long lost mate.This perfectly describes how I feel sitting on the shore of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota (not quite oceanic, but still), and hearing the horns bellow as I stare out into that other world, the sea, and imagine the ancient, undiscovered creatures that dwell beneath, surfacing for a moment to issue a resounding, somber call, with my personal wonderment being the sole beneficiary.
Halloween Memories by Christopher Golden:
Won’t be the last reminiscence in this collection to feature an enviable neighborhood house with its own haunted lore.
In-Between: A Halloween Poem by Ray Bradbury:
Attic or basement
For Hallowed placement,
No substitutes
For Bradburian youth.
No family smiles
Which October reviles.
No warm meals,
Only darkness reveals
The wonderful terror
That we can all share.
I know what you mean,
Mr. Bradbury.
Gone by Jack Ketchum:
(Spillover review HERE)
That Smell in the Air by Alan M. Clark:
This title is probably the most important part of the story. There’s nothing like closing your eyes on an October evening and letting the scent enter you like a possessive spirit. Clark is the kind of dreamer who lives in Halloween land all year round; the type of guy who becomes a special effects guy for monster movies. When you can’t let go of the Halloween spirit; if it has its blissful barbs embedded in you even after that smell in the air dissipates; why not cook St. Patrick’s Day dinner painted up as the wolfman?
Yesterday’s Witch by Gahan Wilson:
Why couldn’t I have grown up on a street where a witch was alleged to have lived? I needn’t fret about such things now, not only because I am well past childhood, but also because witches are nonsense, and I shouldn’t waste any mental capacity wishing they were real. I can’t even bring myself to sputter out some lame pronouncement such as, I believe in witches one day out of the year. It doesn’t make any sense, but I used to be impressed by magic tricks involving coins. I know better now, but if a good-intentioned curmudgeon who lived in a moldy, grimed-over-windowed house could have pulled something over on me, such as turn my treat sack into a breathing creature that caused me to drop it and run screaming, I would be grateful still, especially grateful, in fact, knowing it couldn’t have been real. I would love that witch forever.
A Short History of Halloween by Paula Guran:
Here is a concise piece of which I am sure plenty of books share the same subject, in addition to some History Channel specials. We all know the key vocabulary to utilize in a discussion about the origins and evolution of Halloween: All Hallows’ Eve, saints’ day, Samhain, Druidic, Celtic, primal fears of death but there are some cool facts about the history that I wasn’t aware of, or that I forget year after year. For instance, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on Wittenberg Castle Church on the 31st of October in 1517, and the subsequent reformation saw that the observance of saints’ day was expunged, and mostly lead to the destruction of celebrations in Europe. As for me, there are no superstitions interspersed with my love for the season, or that ‘hallowed’ night, at least not anymore, and am content with the opportunity to confront and mock death. It’s false power, but the absurdity of life only enhances the sensation.
The Last Halloween by Poppy Z. Brite:
“If you’re reading this book, odds are you’ve also read Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, and I certainly can’t top his descriptions so I won’t even try –but that’s how it was.” There is much pride to be felt in being a, what I will deem, Halloween geek, which often goes hand-in-hand with being a horror geek, and we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the late Halloween prophet, Bradbury.
Mask Game by John Shirley:
A family is forced to relive brutal secrets from their past as a mysteriously familiar stranger shows up on Halloween night to play a game involving wearing masks of their younger selves. Do you ever conjure the setting of a story you’re reading from some arbitrary place from your past? This story, for me, took place in the living room of my former babysitter’s/neighbor’s house, and I somehow felt like I was watching it all, first person, through the window, from outside, in my costume, just wanting some candy. It was spooky that this was happening right next door to me, and that I was so young while reading this tale.
Criswell Conquers the Alien Elvis-‘Nappers by Tom Piccirilli:
Sometimes I think I’d like to be a paranormal investigator. Not like those ubiquitous mooks on those faux-reality shows, who go in with advanced equipment and instruments (none of which are made for detecting supernatural entities), and an already affixed mindset of ‘ghosts are here, and we need to find them’. No, I mean real investigators who seek real answers for strange goings-on, like Joe Nickel. Then, I could get my frightful kicks and simultaneously work at debunking nonsense. Joe Nickel debunked the alleged Mackenzie House haunting, and revealed The Amityville hoax. Tom Piccirilli went to the Overlook Hotel in Estes Park, which is of course the setting for The Shining, and which ostensibly has some actual haunted legends attached to it. I think we have a responsibility to seek the truth, in any situation, and the whiners who claim that real investigators and debunkers are merely ruining the fun, and destroying mystery and wonder, it seems to me, can’t see what Richard Dawkins has called The Magic of Reality. This is how my rationalism and my sense of wonder come together in this splendid way.
1942 by Jack Cady:
Another local witch legend of which to be envious.
Out of the Dark by David B. Silva:
Death being integral to Halloween, it is the optimal night to confront it, restrain it, to protect those you love who are on the threshold. You may be able to delay it, but Death always gets its way in the end. Manny lost his mother as a child, after capturing Death and releasing it under a manipulative deal. Now his wife is in its grasp, and Manny plans to do the same thing. He succeeds again, but reluctantly releases at the plea of his pneumonic wife. Death must be allowed to take its natural course, and people must be allowed to die with dignity. Isn’t that, in part, what our allegedly macabre ‘celebration of death’ on Halloween is about?
Pumpkins and Circumstance Robert Morrish:
After recounting prominent Halloween memories, Morrish finally experiences his longed-for magic of the holiday, he recounts his Halloween wedding.
Heavy Set by Ray Bradbury:
(Spillover review HERE)
Year of the Witch by William F. Nolan:
Bad things come in threes, at least if you disturb an old witch’s ghost in her house on Halloween night. The connections Nolan makes to his coming-of-age mischief night are tenuous, but it does strike some effective notes of the pain of growing up and growing apart.
Where Juliet Went: A Halloween Memory by Michael Cadnum:
Spending Halloween in the Mojave desert sounds miserable and depressing to me, and discovering a dead body is an odd if fitting criteria to form a favorite Halloween memory (at least I think that’s what happened). A good deed bookended by mischief makers terrorizing his home makes me wonder how much artistic liberties are taken in these memory entries, but I suppose stranger things have happened.
Boo by Richard Laymon:
Beginning like it could be a My Favorite Halloween Memory segment with a normal first-person narrative of a boy’s last year truck-or-treating, a potentially connected series of events, from visiting the classic creepy house in the neighborhood—”it doesn’t get any better than this,” to inviting a mysterious stranger boy to go along candy hunting, culminating in a ‘trick’ that nobody present will ever forget.
A Halloween Memory, Age Four, Hawaii, 1961 by Douglas Clegg:
A rather precious, but beautiful exultation of holding on to a hope of reliving a witch flying past the moon sighting as a four-year-old on Halloween night.
Fellini and Halloween by Ray Bradbury:
The shortest, and saddest, Halloween memory interlude in the collection, all the more melancholy coming from Ray Bradbury who, mourning his friend Federico Fellini’s death on Halloween night of 1993, says the magic of the holiday has been tarnished ever since. Very dispiriting, but calling attention to the contradiction of the notion of a ‘Happy Halloween,’ a day inextricably linked with death and loss.
TO BE CONTINUED...
October 12, 2011
A Celebration of Halloween edited by Richard Chizmar & Robert Morrish is a collection of new and previously published short stories, novellas and true-life memories taking place on Halloween. Included is a brief (and interesting) history of Halloween and guides to Halloween film and fiction all written by some of my favorite horror and dark fantasy writers.
I’ve been working at this one for over a month and not due to disinterest either. This sucker is HUGE and its anthology format makes it the perfect book to pick up and put down whenever the mood strikes. I feared I’d overdose on Halloween stories if I read a big chunk of it in one sitting so I’ve been savoring it. Fortunately the stories were, for the most part, strikingly different. Since the list of stories alone is three pages long a blow by blow synopsis of them by me simply isn’t going to happen. Instead I’ll do my best to highlight the stories that lingered in my memory for one reason or another. Most of the stories range from good to excellent but there were a small handful that bored me enough to give up halfway through. The tone of the stories runs the gamut from mournfully sad to laugh out loud funny but the thing that the majority of these stories have in common is the lack of gore and sex and the reliance on atmosphere and good old fashioned storytelling to chill the bones. Here goes:
Dean Koontz story “The Black Pumpkin” begins this tome and is a creepy little tale about a decent and good little boy and his Eeeevil big bully of a brother. The two come across a spooky old man who has a talent for carving pumpkins into malevolent creations. Big brother picks out the ugliest scariest pumpkin in the bunch and brings home much more than a spooky pumpkin. This story is a spooky-ooky but not terribly original tale about bad folks getting their comeuppance.
“Mask Game” by John Shirley is about people and their nasty little secrets and it had me reading way past the point of exhaustion the other night. Unfortunately it got a bit cluttered and more than a bit confusing towards the end and, well, I fell asleep.
“Gone” by Jack Ketchum takes a look inside the life of the weird woman who lives down the road, the lady all of the neighbors whisper about. It’s an affecting and sad tale about a woman’s attempt to celebrate Halloween after a long stint of hiding away from the world and anything involving children.
Two other standouts for me were Richard Laymon’s “Boo” and Douglas E. Winter’s “Masks”. “Boo” tells the tale of a young group of trick or treaters in the mood for a little fright. They end up getting a bit more when a stranger joins their merry little group. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of and reminded me a bit of a warped Twilight Zone episode. Delightfully dark.
“Masks” is both an emotionally gripping and terrifying glimpse into the life of a young boy struggling with personal loss and a step-mother from hell. Written with a relentless sense of impending dread this story shook me up.
Sandwiched between the works of fiction are true life stories of the author’s Halloween memories. Most of these I enjoyed even more than the fictional tales. Might it be because I’m nosy and enjoy indulging in a bit of literary rubbernecking? Probably. But knowing that all of this creepy, odd and sometimes very funny (or very sad) stuff really happened made these pages fly. Growing up shy and traipsing from house to house in my cheesy store bought costume with my dad and (also shy) younger sister made my Halloween outings a relatively boring affair. These true life walks back in time about tricks gone awry or funky handmade costumes fascinated me and have inspired me to be a bit more creative this year.
Also included is an informative short history of Halloween and its origins, a handy list of must see Halloween movies with interesting synopsis for each that had me rushing to Blockbuster to find the gems I’ve missed and then there’s a guide to Halloween reading for those who feel the need for more after gobbling up this book.
Overall this is one of the best collections I’ve come across and it comes highly recommended to those looking for the ultimate in Halloween reading.
I’ve been working at this one for over a month and not due to disinterest either. This sucker is HUGE and its anthology format makes it the perfect book to pick up and put down whenever the mood strikes. I feared I’d overdose on Halloween stories if I read a big chunk of it in one sitting so I’ve been savoring it. Fortunately the stories were, for the most part, strikingly different. Since the list of stories alone is three pages long a blow by blow synopsis of them by me simply isn’t going to happen. Instead I’ll do my best to highlight the stories that lingered in my memory for one reason or another. Most of the stories range from good to excellent but there were a small handful that bored me enough to give up halfway through. The tone of the stories runs the gamut from mournfully sad to laugh out loud funny but the thing that the majority of these stories have in common is the lack of gore and sex and the reliance on atmosphere and good old fashioned storytelling to chill the bones. Here goes:
Dean Koontz story “The Black Pumpkin” begins this tome and is a creepy little tale about a decent and good little boy and his Eeeevil big bully of a brother. The two come across a spooky old man who has a talent for carving pumpkins into malevolent creations. Big brother picks out the ugliest scariest pumpkin in the bunch and brings home much more than a spooky pumpkin. This story is a spooky-ooky but not terribly original tale about bad folks getting their comeuppance.
“Mask Game” by John Shirley is about people and their nasty little secrets and it had me reading way past the point of exhaustion the other night. Unfortunately it got a bit cluttered and more than a bit confusing towards the end and, well, I fell asleep.
“Gone” by Jack Ketchum takes a look inside the life of the weird woman who lives down the road, the lady all of the neighbors whisper about. It’s an affecting and sad tale about a woman’s attempt to celebrate Halloween after a long stint of hiding away from the world and anything involving children.
Two other standouts for me were Richard Laymon’s “Boo” and Douglas E. Winter’s “Masks”. “Boo” tells the tale of a young group of trick or treaters in the mood for a little fright. They end up getting a bit more when a stranger joins their merry little group. It’s the stuff nightmares are made of and reminded me a bit of a warped Twilight Zone episode. Delightfully dark.
“Masks” is both an emotionally gripping and terrifying glimpse into the life of a young boy struggling with personal loss and a step-mother from hell. Written with a relentless sense of impending dread this story shook me up.
Sandwiched between the works of fiction are true life stories of the author’s Halloween memories. Most of these I enjoyed even more than the fictional tales. Might it be because I’m nosy and enjoy indulging in a bit of literary rubbernecking? Probably. But knowing that all of this creepy, odd and sometimes very funny (or very sad) stuff really happened made these pages fly. Growing up shy and traipsing from house to house in my cheesy store bought costume with my dad and (also shy) younger sister made my Halloween outings a relatively boring affair. These true life walks back in time about tricks gone awry or funky handmade costumes fascinated me and have inspired me to be a bit more creative this year.
Also included is an informative short history of Halloween and its origins, a handy list of must see Halloween movies with interesting synopsis for each that had me rushing to Blockbuster to find the gems I’ve missed and then there’s a guide to Halloween reading for those who feel the need for more after gobbling up this book.
Overall this is one of the best collections I’ve come across and it comes highly recommended to those looking for the ultimate in Halloween reading.
October 14, 2024
People all over the world greet Autumn with uggs, sweaters, scarves, and pumpkin-spiced everything. Now I have my own irresistible mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream; this awesome anthology of Halloween-centric short stories and vignettes from various authors about their favorite (or most dreaded) Halloween memories. There are way too many entries to go through all of them, but a few things that stuck out for me:
This book has what I think is the only Dean Koontz short story I’ve ever read. I’ve never tried to keep up with his prodigious output so maybe it isn’t unusual, but it was a first for me. Something about this book I really appreciated; the editors seem to have encouraged the authors to play around. Many of the personal recollections have writer-centric asides and musings about the art and mechanics of writing. Thomas Monteleone’s short story “Yesterday’s Child” has a post-script from sixteen years after he wrote it. For us wannabe writers, this type of insight is valuable and engrossing. Two of the stories in this book, Ray Bradbury’s “Heavy Set” and “Gone” by Jack Ketchum, were stories that did something rare; they made me go back to re-read them as I just didn’t get it the first time. “Gone” is apparently a widely discussed short story that flew under my radar until now. Give it a spin and check out how unsettling and subversive a few pages can be in the hands of a good writer. I ended up ordering Ketchum’s debut novel “Off Season” as a result; I’m looking forward to it.
Finally…about halfway through the book a post-it note, ancient well past the point of retaining any of its adhesive properties, fell into my lap. It had the shape of a Hawaiian beach shirt, patterned with palm trees and mid-century jalopies with surf boards hanging out the rear windows. In a somewhat childish scrawl, it said “Alan & I both consider Halloween our fav holliday (sic)”. There’s a creepy story in there somewhere.
This book has what I think is the only Dean Koontz short story I’ve ever read. I’ve never tried to keep up with his prodigious output so maybe it isn’t unusual, but it was a first for me. Something about this book I really appreciated; the editors seem to have encouraged the authors to play around. Many of the personal recollections have writer-centric asides and musings about the art and mechanics of writing. Thomas Monteleone’s short story “Yesterday’s Child” has a post-script from sixteen years after he wrote it. For us wannabe writers, this type of insight is valuable and engrossing. Two of the stories in this book, Ray Bradbury’s “Heavy Set” and “Gone” by Jack Ketchum, were stories that did something rare; they made me go back to re-read them as I just didn’t get it the first time. “Gone” is apparently a widely discussed short story that flew under my radar until now. Give it a spin and check out how unsettling and subversive a few pages can be in the hands of a good writer. I ended up ordering Ketchum’s debut novel “Off Season” as a result; I’m looking forward to it.
Finally…about halfway through the book a post-it note, ancient well past the point of retaining any of its adhesive properties, fell into my lap. It had the shape of a Hawaiian beach shirt, patterned with palm trees and mid-century jalopies with surf boards hanging out the rear windows. In a somewhat childish scrawl, it said “Alan & I both consider Halloween our fav holliday (sic)”. There’s a creepy story in there somewhere.
September 16, 2018
This would've been a solid 3-star book: some good stories, some so-so stories, and it even includes the phenomenal Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub. But a lot of the "favorite Halloween memory" chapters feel like filler, as do the movie reviews and overview of other stories that aren't in the collection. I'm also taking one star off for the transparent and unsubtle anti-abortion propaganda that is F. Paul Wilson's shitty story.
November 15, 2020
4.5 stars
The perfect anthology for reading during the run-up to Halloween! As well as the short stories by a huge variety of authors there are also 'Halloween Memories' from some of the authors sprinkled throughout which I think is a really great idea and adds to the Halloween atmosphere as you read through. There are also a couple of segments that recommend Halloween themed stories, novels and movies so it's great to refer back to for inspiration when Halloween comes round again. While there were a few stories that didn't do much for me overall this is an absolutely wonderful book. My favourite stories were:
A Redress for Andromeda by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Eyes by Charles L. Grant
The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub
The perfect anthology for reading during the run-up to Halloween! As well as the short stories by a huge variety of authors there are also 'Halloween Memories' from some of the authors sprinkled throughout which I think is a really great idea and adds to the Halloween atmosphere as you read through. There are also a couple of segments that recommend Halloween themed stories, novels and movies so it's great to refer back to for inspiration when Halloween comes round again. While there were a few stories that didn't do much for me overall this is an absolutely wonderful book. My favourite stories were:
A Redress for Andromeda by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Eyes by Charles L. Grant
The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub
November 1, 2023
Perfect reading for Halloween night - it just can’t be awarded less than 5 stars ✨
October 30, 2019
UPDATE: (Stefan, SNL) If you're looking for some Halloweenie fun, this one has EVERYTHING>>>
PREVIOUS:
I don't celebrate this "holiday" but was most curious to read the stories entitled "My Favorite Halloween Memory" in which a number of authors share memories from childhood, and tell us how that impacted, in some cases, their careers as writers. (As an aspiring screenwriter-along with millions of others I think-discussions of this sort are fascinating to me.) But also here one can read a history of Halloween, find a list of Halloween-themed films (yes, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken", with a sensational performance by Don Knotts, is listed), and review an extensive list of suggested, similarly-themed novels. The short stories surely have something for everyone. I liked best "Yesterday's Child" in which an adult who has lost his way in life regains his early self-confidence, his early dreams. And "The Circle" by Lewis Shiner is fun/creepy with a great twixt ending. But many of these stories are relatively gory, especially Dean Koontz's opener, "The Black Pumpkin". I'm shying away, more and more, from violence and horror in reading material: there is enough of that in the real world. So, 1 star to the numerous stories which simply rely on gore, and 5 stars to those authors who share stories from their past, for a 3-star average.
PREVIOUS:
I don't celebrate this "holiday" but was most curious to read the stories entitled "My Favorite Halloween Memory" in which a number of authors share memories from childhood, and tell us how that impacted, in some cases, their careers as writers. (As an aspiring screenwriter-along with millions of others I think-discussions of this sort are fascinating to me.) But also here one can read a history of Halloween, find a list of Halloween-themed films (yes, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken", with a sensational performance by Don Knotts, is listed), and review an extensive list of suggested, similarly-themed novels. The short stories surely have something for everyone. I liked best "Yesterday's Child" in which an adult who has lost his way in life regains his early self-confidence, his early dreams. And "The Circle" by Lewis Shiner is fun/creepy with a great twixt ending. But many of these stories are relatively gory, especially Dean Koontz's opener, "The Black Pumpkin". I'm shying away, more and more, from violence and horror in reading material: there is enough of that in the real world. So, 1 star to the numerous stories which simply rely on gore, and 5 stars to those authors who share stories from their past, for a 3-star average.
October 29, 2011
So-so collection of mostly forgettable horror tales. The best stories - Dean Koontz's "The Black Pumpkin", "Masks" by Douglas E. Winter - I had already read in other anthologies. Sprinkled throughout the book are favorite Halloween memories by various authors. Meh!
July 25, 2010
"Ahhh, Halloween...The air is crisp, the leaves are turning, the bonfires are lit and everyone anticipates the one day where they can be whatever they want and go begging for treats, and more importantly, and if you're lucky, be on the receiving end of a really good scare! To start your season off right, pick-up a copy of this fantastic book, brimming with stories that will have you up late into the night turning the pages of one of the best Horror Anthologies to date. There is something for everyone in this book, and you won't be dissappointed. The extra added treats that accompany this book are true-life stories of the writer's themselves re-living their favorite Halloween moments, which will likely have you waxing nostalgia of your own past Halloween experiences. If you're looking for a wonderful way to spend your All-Hallows-Eve, then don't miss this extraordinary compilation of unforgettable Tricks-and-Treats!"
October 21, 2010
Rereading snippets of this book for the season reminded me how solid and informative an anthology collection can be. The jewels in this book are various authors' recollections of their personal Halloween stories, in addition to many great horror tales. Highly recommended, whether this edition or the later reprint editions not put out by Cemetery Dance.
February 8, 2012
A must-read for fans of horror or Halloween! A thrilling collection of short fiction and Halloween memories from top writers in the field! LOVE!!!
May 27, 2012
I love Halloween. I love short stories. And yes, I love this book.
October 14, 2016
I enjoyed the favorite Halloween memories better than most of the shorts.. a great book to read this time of year
October 13, 2023
Great, good, and bad stories that are all dragged down by random My Favorite Halloween Memory essays by authors.
October 7, 2018
One of the absolute best Halloween anthologies out there! Volume II is very good as well, if you can find it. It's horrifically rare and expensive. 🎃
December 16, 2015
“I never forget Halloween,” Hat said. “If I can, I stay home on Halloween. Don’t want to be out on the street that night.” “You’d feel in danger?” I asked. “No,” he finally said. “Not exactly. But I wouldn’t feel safe either.”
October Dreams is a well-above average anthology of Halloween-themed horror stories that like a bag of the holiday candy is full of savory treats, with nary a stinker to be found. In addition to some really great short stories (and one poem!), the book includes the ‘Favorite Halloween Memories’ of some of horror’s greatest writers and editors as a bit of a palate cleanser between delicacies and, as an added bonus, three really nice, non-fiction pieces on the history, best movies, and best horror stories of Halloween.
While all the content in this book is pretty good, there are always a couple tales that stick with you more than others. For me, Koontz’s “The Black Pumpkin” was a perfect Halloween confection connecting the rottenness of misshapen vegetables to the rotten in people’s souls; Clark’s “The Whitby Experience” fashioned a wonderfully Lovecraftian atmosphere with terrible things lying just below the waves; the ending of Ketchum’s “Gone” was sad enough to bring tears to my eyes; Bradbury (the only author offering two contributions in the book) is a lyrical genius and maestro of the English language; and Straub’s novella “Pork Pie Hat” takes us to the worst parts of town, shadowed places, darkened by men, rather than monsters.
But my favorite story had to be Louis Shiner’s “The Circle." Like the characters in the tale, this is a short story I will return to many, many times. Probably one of the most politically incorrect stories ever written is F. Paul Wilson’s “Buckets; I found it well-crafted, impossible to forget, but uncomfortably misogynist. In the favorite holiday memory category, Peter Crowther’s reminiscence of pranking his kids will make any parent smirk, while offering sound advice on how to create an ever-lasting memory, and nothing was darker (or hit me harder) than Ed Gorman’s Halloween recollection, which was depressingly harsh and terribly tragic.
Which brings me to the bittersweet part of this anthology. October Dreams may be subtitled “A Celebration of Halloween,” but it also can’t help but feel just as much a eulogy. Like many of these authors, I remember roaming the streets as young kid on Halloween, tromping up driveways as Chewbacca the Wookie and filling pillow-cases full of candy with my friends. The autumn winds blew the musky scent fallen leaves to my nose and on our taste buds was the sweet, sweet freedom of being out at night, well past our typical curfew (and even bedtime).
Poisoned candy and child predators were an obscure threat – something that didn’t happen in suburban New Jersey – and we were safe to bang on doors ‘til well after dark and until our feet hurt too badly to go one.
Unfortunately, that innocence is gone, and October Dreams captures that sad wistfulness for a still unspoiled holiday -- a Halloween where the only monsters are make-believe ghosts, witches and zombies. That sense of melancholy permeates October Dreams from story to story, cover to cover.
October 22, 2013
I'm completely obsessed with this book and I think everyone who has the slightest interest in Halloween should read it, though I may be a bit partial because this magical holiday happens to be my birthday. This anthology is brimming with personality and American tradition, not to mention legitimate creepiness. Most of the stories/anecdotes made me want to call up the author and rave about their work and pick their brain about their conception of Halloween. I raced through the 650 pages in less than a month and I am having the best October ever, largely due to this book.
October 31, 2021
It might be the season of the witch!
October Dreams are special. It might be a ghost, a monster, a witch, a spirit from the past; it might be pain, tears; it might be something terrifying and mysterious, coldblood fear, desperation. These dreams saturated with crispy autumn air, falling rotten sweetness, with a painful squeeze of soul, bittersweet feeling of long gone childhood. These dreams go through the dark golden trees, wait at the lightspot of the streetlights, rustle among the dry brown leaves, and sometimes, if you're lucky, they might knock at your door.
Happy Halloween!
October Dreams are special. It might be a ghost, a monster, a witch, a spirit from the past; it might be pain, tears; it might be something terrifying and mysterious, coldblood fear, desperation. These dreams saturated with crispy autumn air, falling rotten sweetness, with a painful squeeze of soul, bittersweet feeling of long gone childhood. These dreams go through the dark golden trees, wait at the lightspot of the streetlights, rustle among the dry brown leaves, and sometimes, if you're lucky, they might knock at your door.
Happy Halloween!
October 2, 2017
There are some great stories here but also some awful crap. A pro-life horror = a big no from me thank you. A rubbish chapter on movies for Halloween and what I can only describe as complete pretentious crap from Kim Newman.
Pork Pie Hat was a brilliant story though and the last 'memory' was Halloween perfection.
Pork Pie Hat was a brilliant story though and the last 'memory' was Halloween perfection.
October 5, 2012
Pretty decent. The repeated "favorite" Halloween memories did get a little old, after awhile.
October 30, 2022
Not the anthology I thought it would be. Lot of it isn't even short stories, but memories of Halloween night by author, so are written with more tension than others, but most of them aren't worth it. But even worst, the same could be said for the actual short stories, very few were worth reading, maybe five or six and in such a big anthology this is just not enough. Another fail for me this month...
December 1, 2025
I began the collection around Halloween and found some of its stories to be excellent. But they were crowded at times with non fiction pieces and it dragged a little. This is a personal preference of course, and to some other reader these scattered breaks could have been all the more charming for being that: breaks. Generally speaking, it's a solid collection with some hidden gems here and there.
September 13, 2025
A few decent stories, surrounded by a graveyard of random Halloween memories. Hard pass.
tbr-horror-and-thriller
October 29, 2019Adding thoughts on stories and essays as I get through them.
The book opens with a fictional story from Dean Koontz focusing on getting a creepy pumpkin from a mysterious carver. Called "The Black Pumpkin", it worked well to open the anthology on a menacing note. It fit in well with the childlike wonder of the season when innocence meets sinister paranormal. Clever story rated 4/5
"In the night, your brother's jack-o'-lantern will grow into something other than what it is now. Its jaws will work. Its teeth will sharpen. When everyone is asleep, it'll creepy through your house...and give what's deserved. It'll come for you last of all. What do you think you deserve, Tommy?"
"What are you?" Tommy asked.
The carver smiled. "Dangerous."
The second story is....not sure if it's a true-life essay or actual story. A Moonlit Night with Rats by Elizabeth Engstrom is very brief, and not really related to Halloween. It was related to a girl tormented by trying to fit in with older brothers until she finds herself suddenly. 2/5
Lantern Marsh by Poppy Z. Brite does the anthology justice by focusing on mysterious lanterns lining a marsh, drawing the attention of a mournful and unique kid on Halloween nights every year. It's a blend of ghost stories, small towns, magic of memories, music and growing of age stuff, and the suitable revenge endings. 4/5
NICKNAMES by Rick Hautala is an essay subtitled "A Hallowe'en Reminiscence'. Focusing on the fun of nicknames as a kid - toward other kids and adults - it ends with a childhood prank on Halloween that almost went severely wrong.
Likewise, A Condemned Man by Steve Rasnic Tem is an essay about remembering masks on Halloween. The author tells of the last time he went trick or treating and a creepy moment that has unsettled him since.
----- stopping point
The book opens with a fictional story from Dean Koontz focusing on getting a creepy pumpkin from a mysterious carver. Called "The Black Pumpkin", it worked well to open the anthology on a menacing note. It fit in well with the childlike wonder of the season when innocence meets sinister paranormal. Clever story rated 4/5
"In the night, your brother's jack-o'-lantern will grow into something other than what it is now. Its jaws will work. Its teeth will sharpen. When everyone is asleep, it'll creepy through your house...and give what's deserved. It'll come for you last of all. What do you think you deserve, Tommy?"
"What are you?" Tommy asked.
The carver smiled. "Dangerous."
The second story is....not sure if it's a true-life essay or actual story. A Moonlit Night with Rats by Elizabeth Engstrom is very brief, and not really related to Halloween. It was related to a girl tormented by trying to fit in with older brothers until she finds herself suddenly. 2/5
Lantern Marsh by Poppy Z. Brite does the anthology justice by focusing on mysterious lanterns lining a marsh, drawing the attention of a mournful and unique kid on Halloween nights every year. It's a blend of ghost stories, small towns, magic of memories, music and growing of age stuff, and the suitable revenge endings. 4/5
NICKNAMES by Rick Hautala is an essay subtitled "A Hallowe'en Reminiscence'. Focusing on the fun of nicknames as a kid - toward other kids and adults - it ends with a childhood prank on Halloween that almost went severely wrong.
Likewise, A Condemned Man by Steve Rasnic Tem is an essay about remembering masks on Halloween. The author tells of the last time he went trick or treating and a creepy moment that has unsettled him since.
----- stopping point
October 29, 2016
Just about every story in this book is a good one, including the Halloween memories (although, if I had a drink every time they said "burnt cork", "hobo", or reminisced about perfect childhood Halloweens before disturbed individuals put razor blades in apples, I would be in an alcoholic coma). There were just a few times that I felt like skimming the stories, mostly the origin of Halloween or the Halloween reading list (the list contained mostly mediocre works). A few times the authors came off as too smarmy. If you ever want a work to be timeless, don't belittle your audience because they don't know or remember Rod Serling by "Rod" alone. Jerk.
My favorites include "The Whitby Experience" by Simon Clark, "Yesterday's Witch" by Gahan Wilson, "Heavy Set" by Ray Bradbury, "Pay the Ghost" by Tom Lebbon, and "Pork Pie Hat" by Peter Straub although it could have gone on a 10-15 page diet. Several writers included some epic "Favorite Halloween Memories" and my favorites included Jack Cady, Yvonne Navarro, and Owl Goingback.
If you love Halloween, check out this anthology! I'm looking forward to passing it on to my friends who enjoy taking a walk on the dark side.
My favorites include "The Whitby Experience" by Simon Clark, "Yesterday's Witch" by Gahan Wilson, "Heavy Set" by Ray Bradbury, "Pay the Ghost" by Tom Lebbon, and "Pork Pie Hat" by Peter Straub although it could have gone on a 10-15 page diet. Several writers included some epic "Favorite Halloween Memories" and my favorites included Jack Cady, Yvonne Navarro, and Owl Goingback.
If you love Halloween, check out this anthology! I'm looking forward to passing it on to my friends who enjoy taking a walk on the dark side.
October 28, 2025
This book is a lovely holiday companion piece.
I am a seasonal reader. When the days become noticeably shorter, usually August here in my hometown, I start reading material of a supernatural, horrific type. This goes on until after Halloween, through the dark days of the winter solstice. After the solstice my head turns towards all those lovely floor plans, both the Victorian kind published by Downing, Sloan and Bicknell as well as all the more recent floor plans available online.
This is an essential volume in the library of everyone whose favorite holiday theme is black and orange. At times it is as nostalgic and sticky sweet as candy corn, at other times as bleak and atmospheric as a harvested cornfield guarded by one lone eerie scarecrow.
If only this book would emanate the aromas of candle wax, dead leaves and scorched pumpkin when the pages are opened.............it would be a perfect world.
I am a seasonal reader. When the days become noticeably shorter, usually August here in my hometown, I start reading material of a supernatural, horrific type. This goes on until after Halloween, through the dark days of the winter solstice. After the solstice my head turns towards all those lovely floor plans, both the Victorian kind published by Downing, Sloan and Bicknell as well as all the more recent floor plans available online.
This is an essential volume in the library of everyone whose favorite holiday theme is black and orange. At times it is as nostalgic and sticky sweet as candy corn, at other times as bleak and atmospheric as a harvested cornfield guarded by one lone eerie scarecrow.
If only this book would emanate the aromas of candle wax, dead leaves and scorched pumpkin when the pages are opened.............it would be a perfect world.
October 24, 2014
Only managed to make it through 185 pages before the book was due back at the library, and being that Halloween will soon be here and gone, I decided it wasn't worth renewing. Next year I may pick up where I left off, though.
On the whole, the stories weren't all that great. I was looking for something that would make me get nostalgic about childhood Halloweens (in the tradition of Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree ), but didn't find much that could fulfill that request--not even in the non-fiction "My Favorite Halloween Memory" pieces that are found throughout the collection. (And, on the Bradbury note, I should point out that I skipped ahead to read his "Heavy Set," which hit oddly close to home at this point in my life.)
Of the stories I read, my favorite was probably Gahan Wilson's "Yesterday's Witch." Nothing else left much of an impression.
On the whole, the stories weren't all that great. I was looking for something that would make me get nostalgic about childhood Halloweens (in the tradition of Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree ), but didn't find much that could fulfill that request--not even in the non-fiction "My Favorite Halloween Memory" pieces that are found throughout the collection. (And, on the Bradbury note, I should point out that I skipped ahead to read his "Heavy Set," which hit oddly close to home at this point in my life.)
Of the stories I read, my favorite was probably Gahan Wilson's "Yesterday's Witch." Nothing else left much of an impression.
October 2, 2015
I think of Halloween as a season which begins as soon as fall is in the air and ends when the leaves are gone from the trees, or after October 31st.
What a deliciously nostalgic, fun Halloween anthology! I enjoyed the memories, history, literature & film essays interspersed with the short stories. It was a nice touch! There were some surprisingly somber moments within (Ed Gorman's "October!" immediately comes to mind), as well as your typical, enjoyable scary story (Lewis Shiner's "The Circle"). This was definitely a celebration of all things Halloween!
Favorites: The Black Pumpkin -- Dean Koontz, Lantern Marsh -- Poppy Z. Brite, Heavy Set -- Ray Bradbury, Gone -- Jack Ketchum, Criswell Conquers the Alien Elvis-'Nappers -- Tom Piccirilli, Boo -- Richard Laymon, The Circle -- Lewis Shiner, October! -- Ed Gorman.
His amber eyes were aglow with promises of pain and terror.
What a deliciously nostalgic, fun Halloween anthology! I enjoyed the memories, history, literature & film essays interspersed with the short stories. It was a nice touch! There were some surprisingly somber moments within (Ed Gorman's "October!" immediately comes to mind), as well as your typical, enjoyable scary story (Lewis Shiner's "The Circle"). This was definitely a celebration of all things Halloween!
Favorites: The Black Pumpkin -- Dean Koontz, Lantern Marsh -- Poppy Z. Brite, Heavy Set -- Ray Bradbury, Gone -- Jack Ketchum, Criswell Conquers the Alien Elvis-'Nappers -- Tom Piccirilli, Boo -- Richard Laymon, The Circle -- Lewis Shiner, October! -- Ed Gorman.
His amber eyes were aglow with promises of pain and terror.
December 1, 2016
I really enjoyed this books story. A nice read for a hollowed book to pass the time.some good stories for camp fire times.
May 10, 2020
Now this book was an excellent homage of Halloween. Full of terrific tales of all time favorite classic horror stories, monsters & awesome nightmare fictions. It was truly entertaining, spooky and so thrilling. All the stories, short tales & essays were done by top horror authors from Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub and many more.
October Dreams is definitely worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone. Especially if your favorite holiday is Halloween(like it is for me). The book is a fast read since not all the tales are too long. It never dulls or linger. Its a real page turner. I give it two thumbs up and top ten stars. Very well deserve indeed.
October Dreams is definitely worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone. Especially if your favorite holiday is Halloween(like it is for me). The book is a fast read since not all the tales are too long. It never dulls or linger. Its a real page turner. I give it two thumbs up and top ten stars. Very well deserve indeed.
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