October Moon

by Michael Scott

A typical American teen visits a four-hundred-year-old house in Ireland on a moonlit Halloween night, and when he learns that the town is reputed to be overrun with werewolves, strange events occur. Reprint.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Werewolves, Paranormal, Thriller, Mystery, Ireland

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Irish-born Michael Scott began writing over thirty years ago, and is one of Ireland's most successful and prolific authors, with over one hundred titles to his credit, spanning a
variety of genres, including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Folklore.

He writes for both adults and young adults and is published in thirty-seven countries, in over twenty languages.

Praised for his “unparalleled contribution to children’s literature,” by the Guide to Children’s
Books, Michael Scott was the Writer in Residence during Dublin’s tenure as European City of Culture in 1991, and was featured in the 2006 edition of Who’s Who in Ireland as one of the 1000
most “significant Irish.”

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Ireland this tells of a teenaged girl who finds herself gradually turning into a strange version of herself... the reader guesses before she does that she is becoming a werewolf. Followed by Wolf Moon.

I borrowed this book from a cousin who loved it, and I enjoyed it although I was older than the YA age group. Then I took it to an SF convention and got the book autographed by the author, to my cousin. She was thrilled, and Michael Scott made a lifelong fan.

[Sarah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a new twist on the werewolf story; it's certainly not the usual plot of people being chased by bloodthirsty furry beasts with sharp teeth. In fact as you read this you may even start to wonder where the werewolves are but I guarantee they are indeed in here. And the book is more along the lines of crime - mystery while exploring the birth of werewolves. That is, it explores the idea of how werewolves came to be.

As the title suggests, this story is set in the month of October and even on Halloween. As the days go by and Halloween approaches the threats to Rachel and her family grow more severe. They had gone to Ireland because Rachel's parents had bought an expensive horse ranch. And her father is a well known horse breeder. But things quickly grow bad as a fire breaks out in a barn. Things just grow worse.

So I had read this book decades ago when it had first came out. I most certainly remember the cover. I admit I didn't remember anything about the plot at all - so I was pleasantly surprised to find the horses in here. That was just a lucky accident! I was reading this because it was creepy for Halloween.

The story kept me entertained but it's more a mystery / thriller that has a supernatural element. I think it tries to be suspense - there are many incidents in here with Rachel in scary situations - but I never actually felt she was at risk. I'm not sure why. But if you decide to read this, realize this is set in a world before smartphones and computers. It was impossible to call for help if you were away from a landline phone.

I am unsure how well Ireland comes through in here.

Rachel herself seems to be a contradiction. At times she seems very terrified and at other times she decides to go snoop. I am unsure if the two match up. Perhaps she just had to dig deep inside of herself to find bravery?

One thing I do admit is that while you are reading this, you the reader, are very aware of the werewolves. While Rachel isn't. That gives the story some extra ooomph, some dread. And somehow it makes it a tad worse. There is just much uncertainty as to who the werewolf actually is. Because we all know they turn into people.

The author has created a nice backstory here too. I mean thought went into this book; it's not just some mindless monster running around biting people!

There is a section in here way near the end that mentions other beasts too. Now I am very curious the pooka that was shaped like a horse. I will have to look into that.

[Barry Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god that cover does not do the book justice in the slightest! The original is far better.
I went to a reading by the Author in Dublin Ireland when I was 12, and was blown away by the excerpt he chose. For a YA book, I have since come across few authors who can capture fear and suspense in so few pages.
However... treat this as a stand-alone, as the sequel isn’t quite as good 😬

PS, can’t get over how horribly misjudged that cover art is

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gothic vibes on an Irish moor with a werewolf curse. Reminded me a tad of An American Werewolf in London and that Sweet Valley High trilogy about the werewolf in London. Just a straight mystery. I would’ve added a romance with a stable hand to the book which is only about 150 pages.

[Amye Quigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written, well paced horror for younger teens.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the title, I could have waited until Halloween to read this one but I'm really glad that I didn't!

If a book I am interested in on my wish list pops up for a reasonable price, with or without free shipping, I won't hesitate to buy it. Also it was my birthday recently so...

A book from 1992 but published by Scholastic in 1995 during the YA Horror boom, it goes to prove that some of these writers weren't just turning out tween pleasers. You can put this Michael Scott book alongside something like Blood And Chocolate but it will sit well next to The Howling or Wolfen just as nicely.

Sort of a stepping stone on expanding your tastes in werewolf fiction...

Scott lives in Dublin, Ireland so we set the action there but our main character Rachel Stone is a blonde and tan California girl. Her father has always wanted to have a horse ranch, a stud farm, in Ireland as he has others in Australia and Argentina. Robert and Elizabeth Stone are knowledgeable about horses, rode in Olympic dressage so Rachel has been around horses all her life and knows this is her dad's dream.

He knows many people of money but also a lot of jockeys in the sport of horse racing so when Seasontown House by a retired jockey/horse trainer named Tommy Allen comes up for sale a year after the man's death, Robert Stone snatches it up.

It is the first time that the Stones have been able to see it in person and it couldn't come...at a worse time.

A barn has been burned down on the property, not the one with the horses, yet it is the third fire to finally bring damage. Also, a client's horse that the Stone family helped to breed and was brought to Ireland had its throat slashed. It would be the last straw for most people but Rachel knows her dad will not give up easily or give in to what he believes are shakedowns for money.

The staff of the house is small but the stables have their own set of employees underneath the estate manager, Sean Summers, who look after the horses. Rachel lays her eyes on a girl close to her age with fiery, red hair and green eyes to find them completely...venomous. Rachel tries to put her look out of her mind as she takes one of the horses out for a ride over the Irish countryside but she feels like she is being...watched.

Out near the woods, Rachel spys a young man running and she goes after him. He turns around and lets out an unnatural scream that spooks the horse but Rachel is able to glimpse his face just enough before riding back. Redheads are not uncommon in Ireland but Rachel notes there is a resemblance between him and the red-haired stable girl.

One of the house servants, teenage Agnes, when asked by Rachel says that Maeve Alton is not a very nice person and has a brother with a similar "temper". His name is Madoc, nicknamed "Mad Dog", and he is built like a wall yet reclusive if not mentally impaired.

Later that night, another fire is set but Rachel, her father, Summers and the stable workers are able to put it out without any horses getting spooked by the smoke. Mr. Stone is angry and Rachel heads up to her room to get cleaned up when things settle down but her comfortable bath is disturbed by floorboards creaking in her room...

Rachel comes out to find her waterbed has been slashed open, water everywhere, and her window open. The leaking brings her parents upstairs but they didn't notice anyone coming down the stairs and it would take someone very strong to rip through the thick rubber.

Having had a waterbed myself...they are very strong and heavy even without water. Fifteen year old me had to help my mom and dad fill it so there is no way fifteen year old Rachel could have done that to her own bed..

The inspector isn't very helpful and later that night he is back at Seasontown House when bricks are heaved through most of the windows in the east wing, Rachel's new bedroom one of them. All of the bricks are bagged up in plastic as evidence and Robert Stone makes it clear to mention to Inspector Lanigan that Rachel couldn't have been the one to do so...Lanigan blaming his own daughter for the latest fire and her slashed bed.

There is more than meets the eye to just why a policeman would be so ready to blame a victim...especially a foreigner. It isn't the only mystery as there is 400 years worth of history about the house that most would dare not speak about.

Those that would know best have plans for the Stone family and it will all take place on Halloween night, All Hallows' Eve, underneath the October moon...

Old World charm brought to the Modern Day but filled with plenty of thrills to make up for gore you would assume to receive but this isn't completely An American Werewolf In London sort of horror story...yet better than An American Werewolf in Paris.

The climatic third act with the werewolf lore and the ending should please anyone...October Moon is not exactly a Point Horror but it is worthy enough to earn a spot in your collection.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Stone and her family go to Ireland cuz her dad buys horse ranches (or whatever the Irish term would be) and flips them. I think. I was kinda skimming. The important thing is that there's an American family in Ireland and they're being menaced by a werewolf or fifteen. Barns burn down, libraries get ransacked, waterbeds get sliced. It's almost like some Scooby Doo villain is trying to scare them away...

October Moon is meant, ostensibly, for the same audience that would have been reading Fear Street in 1993, but--sexy cover werewolf notwithstanding--it's pretty tame even by those standards. No gore, no naughty language, no real sexuality to speak of. Teenage Rachel is, as protagonist, generally appealing, if a tad bland. Probably the only thing I could tell you about her is that she likes horses. She's inquisitive and not-dumb enough to fulfill the Girl Detective role adequately and exhibits the vulnerability that gets the reader feeling protective of her.

The biggest problem is the ending, which feels anticlimactic. You get introduced to the villains with only 50 pages left in the story and they're pretty boring overall. Any time a villain can say, "It's nothing personal!" they're probably not very exciting because you WANT it to be personal in a pulpy book like this. They should come screaming onto the page like "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, RACHEL!" Or...howling onto the page, I guess.

The last-page twist is easy to spot from a mile away, but the twists in these books are almost never good, so that didn't bother me too much.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5

[Nader Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Alfredo Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's just not a good book.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

"It is not easy to watch the world change around you. To see an entire way of life change and change and change again. It isn't easy to watch friends grown old and die, nor is it easy to be constantly moving on from place to place before people begin to wonder why you never age."

—October Moon, P. 133

Before the world became interested in knowing The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Michael Scott had already been writing paranormal stories of ancient magic and mysticism for quite some time. October Moon was one of his early efforts, paving the way in provocative and thoughtful fashion for the series that would make him famous years later.

Fifteen-year-old Rachel and her parents have just moved from the United States to their new home in rural Ireland, where they plan to operate the horse stables on an old and very valuable piece of property. The place promises all of the gothic intrigue that any new Irish resident could ever want; the main house even looks like a medieval castle from the outside, though the living quarters are significantly more modernized than the exterior would indicate. Rachel and her parents seem to have it made here...until, that is, the first disturbing incident takes place.

From page one of October Moon it's clear that there's some malevolent magical power out to get Rachel's family, and especially Rachel, and this reality becomes increasingly evident to the American expatriates as a series of unpredictable and dangerous accidents begin on their property. Rachel thinks that these accidents may be the work of two teenage employees in the stables, neither of whom seems to be very friendly or straightforward in their dealings. Rachel's parents have their own theory about who could be responsible for the disasters, and so does the local police inspector, but it's obvious to all that the guilty party is serious about trying to force Rachel's family to leave, and may resort to violence if that goal is not met.

The secret of the estate, it turns out, goes back hundreds of years, and Rachel and her parents have unknowingly stepped right into a trap that could destroy their future. There's a lot of ancient magic at work behind the scenes, but Rachel will have to rely on her modern American tenacity and determination if her story is going to have a happy ending.

At the time of this review, October Moon is the only one of Michael Scott's novels that I've read. It's easy to see that he does descriptive writing well, though, and that he's not afraid to throw in a late twist or two if it makes the story better. On the whole, I'd have to say that my favorite part of this book is the quote with which I began this review; it was actually nearly enough to convince me to round my one-and-a-half star rating of October Moon up instead of down. Fans of the author's later work will probably find this to be an enjoyable story, well worth the time taken to read it.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one title and author I remembered from elementary school. This is werewolves before werewolves were cool. I recently got a copy and re read it. Not as "amazing" as I remembered but I enjoyed it and it remains a good memory for me!

[Aprendiz de la Información]

Es un libro que te tiene en la punta del asiento y es muy ligero de leer. La verdad me pareció una buena lectura para sacudir un poco el día y para terminar rápido.

Rachel Stone llega a Irlanda a una granja de cría de caballos y sus padres Elizabeth y Robert están muy emocionados por comenzar a trabajar en este lugar. Pero diferentes accidentes y situaciones oscuras obligan a Rachel a vivir en constante miedo de los peligros de fantasía que representa Seasonstown House.