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Halloween Horrors: Spine-tingling Stories for the Scariest Night of the Year
Halloween Spine-Tingling Stories for the Scariest Night of the Year
648 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2010
7 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
About the author
Richard Chizmar
252 books3,462 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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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 31, 2024
Happy Halloween, my dear souls! A few friendly reminders as the barrier between the living and the dead thins; keep your lanterns lit, check the candy, and do not attempt to transfer Michael Myers to another facility.
This being the same collection under a different name, an epiphany occurred that I should use this space as my review continuation of October Dreams. I will pick up where I left off and round out my thoughts for one of the ultimate Halloween collections:
Masks by Douglas E. Winter:
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Stanley Wiater:
A Redress for Andromeda by Caitlin R. Kiernan:
The Santa of Halloween by Richard Laymon:
The Circle by Lewis Shiner:
“First of All, It was October…” An Overview of Halloween Films by Gary A. Braunbeck:
My man is taking the wrong tone with Hocus Pocus.
Halloween Dreams by Yvonne Navarro:
Pay the Ghost by Tim Lebbon:
Halloween 25 by Kim Newman:
Buckets by F. Paul Wilson:
My favorite Halloween memory by Owl Goingback:
Needles and Razor Blades by Dennis Etchison:
Orchestra by Stephen Mark Rainey:
Halloween Companion Piece by David B. Silva:
Eyes by Charles L. Grant:
Atmospheric and sublime imagery give way to a harrowing tragedy. Understandable frustration leading to an act with which I cannot fathom myself living.
Ugh! Good Grief! R.I.P Pepe, Charlie Brown! By Kelly Laymon:
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Simon Clark:
Deathmask by Dominick Cancilla:
Halloween Frights by Kristine Kathryn Rusch:
Some Witch's Bed by Michael Marshall Smith:
Cyanide and Pixie Stix by Wayne Allen Sallee:
The Trick by Ramsey Campbell:
October! by Ed Gorman:
Porkpie Hat by Peter Straub:
Trick-Or-Read: A Reader's Guide to Halloween Fiction by Stefan Dziemianowicz
A Halloween Memory by Peter Crowther:
This being the same collection under a different name, an epiphany occurred that I should use this space as my review continuation of October Dreams. I will pick up where I left off and round out my thoughts for one of the ultimate Halloween collections:
Masks by Douglas E. Winter:
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Stanley Wiater:
A Redress for Andromeda by Caitlin R. Kiernan:
The Santa of Halloween by Richard Laymon:
The Circle by Lewis Shiner:
“First of All, It was October…” An Overview of Halloween Films by Gary A. Braunbeck:
My man is taking the wrong tone with Hocus Pocus.
Halloween Dreams by Yvonne Navarro:
Pay the Ghost by Tim Lebbon:
Halloween 25 by Kim Newman:
Buckets by F. Paul Wilson:
My favorite Halloween memory by Owl Goingback:
Needles and Razor Blades by Dennis Etchison:
Orchestra by Stephen Mark Rainey:
Halloween Companion Piece by David B. Silva:
Eyes by Charles L. Grant:
Atmospheric and sublime imagery give way to a harrowing tragedy. Understandable frustration leading to an act with which I cannot fathom myself living.
Ugh! Good Grief! R.I.P Pepe, Charlie Brown! By Kelly Laymon:
My Favorite Halloween Memory by Simon Clark:
Deathmask by Dominick Cancilla:
Halloween Frights by Kristine Kathryn Rusch:
Some Witch's Bed by Michael Marshall Smith:
Cyanide and Pixie Stix by Wayne Allen Sallee:
The Trick by Ramsey Campbell:
October! by Ed Gorman:
Porkpie Hat by Peter Straub:
Trick-Or-Read: A Reader's Guide to Halloween Fiction by Stefan Dziemianowicz
A Halloween Memory by Peter Crowther:
October 7, 2025
This is a republished edition of the well know and beloved horror anthology October Dreams.
It seems to be a generally highly-regarded book, but I found most of the content to be lacking.
Sure - the Halloween vibes and devotion is really strong in here - but that doesn't make the actual stories good. Or even most of them. In fact, many were in-one-ear-out-the-other type of reads for me. There were a few I enjoyed, such as,
Pay the Ghost by Tim Lebbon, Porkpie Hat by Peter Straub, and... well, those are really the only two that come to mind.
Interspersed throughout are short non-fiction pieces by various authors in which they share their favorite Halloween memories. There are also a few essay and history pieces regarding the holiday. Some of this content was mildly interesting - I guess how I would sum up this book as a whole.
Sadly, I just did not see the hype for this one. I don't get its overwhelmingly positive reviews. Yes, I love horror, and naturally, Halloween, so this should have been perfect, but it was sooo very far from it. I wouldn't go as far to say it's bad - there weren't any stories in here I truly hated - just so much mediocrity.
Halloween Horrors / October Dreams gets a 2.5⭐ overall.
It seems to be a generally highly-regarded book, but I found most of the content to be lacking.
Sure - the Halloween vibes and devotion is really strong in here - but that doesn't make the actual stories good. Or even most of them. In fact, many were in-one-ear-out-the-other type of reads for me. There were a few I enjoyed, such as,
Pay the Ghost by Tim Lebbon, Porkpie Hat by Peter Straub, and... well, those are really the only two that come to mind.
Interspersed throughout are short non-fiction pieces by various authors in which they share their favorite Halloween memories. There are also a few essay and history pieces regarding the holiday. Some of this content was mildly interesting - I guess how I would sum up this book as a whole.
Sadly, I just did not see the hype for this one. I don't get its overwhelmingly positive reviews. Yes, I love horror, and naturally, Halloween, so this should have been perfect, but it was sooo very far from it. I wouldn't go as far to say it's bad - there weren't any stories in here I truly hated - just so much mediocrity.
Halloween Horrors / October Dreams gets a 2.5⭐ overall.
October 8, 2018
I did it, I finished this book this year! It's a perfect companion to the month of October. My favorite story in here was "The Black Pumpkin" by Dean Koontz. "Buckets" by F. Paul Wilson was extremely disturbing.
If you're not a speed-reader (as I am definitely not), I recommend you start reading this book in mid-September cause the sucker is LONG!
Perhaps I'll revisit this book next October. I love Halloween.
If you're not a speed-reader (as I am definitely not), I recommend you start reading this book in mid-September cause the sucker is LONG!
Perhaps I'll revisit this book next October. I love Halloween.
Read
January 5, 2015My review as of 01/18/14 (167 of 648 pages):
I started reading this mid-October 2013 with the hopes of having it finished by Halloween. I expected it to help me "pre-game," if you will, for the spooky holiday season. I had purchased it almost a year beforehand and it gathered dust until the time was ripe, the air was cold, and the holiday section at Target was almost completely depleted of all decorations and candy (well, the good stuff at least). It seemed like perfect timing, yet here I am writing a status-update-crossover-book-review in mid-January and placing it in my "unfinished" bookshelf. What happened?
I'll tell you.
The stories are a little bland. Some of them are cuter than others, some are a little creepy in the same way an episode of Are You Afraid Of the Dark circa 1995 is creepy, and some are just boring. I purchased this book under the pretense that I was purchasing something that would "chill me to the bone" (as is advertised) and it just fell short. I probably should have taken into account the fact that it was in a discount bin at Barnes & Noble, however all I processed was "Halloween," "scary," "big," and "30% off." So I bought it. I took the red pill. I put on the ring. I regret it a little. Not completely, but a little.
Bear in mind while reading this "update" that I can't give my full, educated opinion until I've read the last word on the last page. When the time is ripe once again I'll pick it up where I left off and give it another go, but until then I'm leaving this little ditty in the unfinished shelf and I feel a ton of relief for it. Onward to something that can keep my attention.
I started reading this mid-October 2013 with the hopes of having it finished by Halloween. I expected it to help me "pre-game," if you will, for the spooky holiday season. I had purchased it almost a year beforehand and it gathered dust until the time was ripe, the air was cold, and the holiday section at Target was almost completely depleted of all decorations and candy (well, the good stuff at least). It seemed like perfect timing, yet here I am writing a status-update-crossover-book-review in mid-January and placing it in my "unfinished" bookshelf. What happened?
I'll tell you.
The stories are a little bland. Some of them are cuter than others, some are a little creepy in the same way an episode of Are You Afraid Of the Dark circa 1995 is creepy, and some are just boring. I purchased this book under the pretense that I was purchasing something that would "chill me to the bone" (as is advertised) and it just fell short. I probably should have taken into account the fact that it was in a discount bin at Barnes & Noble, however all I processed was "Halloween," "scary," "big," and "30% off." So I bought it. I took the red pill. I put on the ring. I regret it a little. Not completely, but a little.
Bear in mind while reading this "update" that I can't give my full, educated opinion until I've read the last word on the last page. When the time is ripe once again I'll pick it up where I left off and give it another go, but until then I'm leaving this little ditty in the unfinished shelf and I feel a ton of relief for it. Onward to something that can keep my attention.
October 22, 2018
I had such higher hopes for this one. I was so not worth the time.
October 11, 2024
The concept for this book is actually amazing: a 630 page anthology that mixes together fictional stories that take place on Halloween, essays about Halloween, and author’s reminiscences about childhood Halloween. This is a really good idea!
Some of the stories are extremely good. Honestly, most of them are. Of the fictional stories, there were only a handful i didn’t like (and I only didn’t like Peter Straub’s ‘Pork Pie’ because jesus christ, PLEASE hire an editor, that story did not need to be as long as it was).
The problem arises in how many times i thought “ok boomer” while reading. The r-word is used in multiple of the childhood reminiscences. One story had the author bemoan the fact that he can’t describe people using the r-word anymore. Some of the childhood memories were really fun to read and felt as magical and intriguing as the short stories, but most were just “i hate how kids choose to celebrate Halloween now”… there’s that extremely typical mindset of people who grew up in the 50s and 60s to romanticize child endangerment present in a lot of the book. One of the (fictional) short stories has the protagonist slut-shame her daughter while also making fun of the daughter for trick-or-treating at 16. Pick a lane. I know the book is from 2002 (this edition is from 2010) but come on
Anyway it sucks because there’s a lot to love about this anthology but there is SO much to hate, as well
Some of the stories are extremely good. Honestly, most of them are. Of the fictional stories, there were only a handful i didn’t like (and I only didn’t like Peter Straub’s ‘Pork Pie’ because jesus christ, PLEASE hire an editor, that story did not need to be as long as it was).
The problem arises in how many times i thought “ok boomer” while reading. The r-word is used in multiple of the childhood reminiscences. One story had the author bemoan the fact that he can’t describe people using the r-word anymore. Some of the childhood memories were really fun to read and felt as magical and intriguing as the short stories, but most were just “i hate how kids choose to celebrate Halloween now”… there’s that extremely typical mindset of people who grew up in the 50s and 60s to romanticize child endangerment present in a lot of the book. One of the (fictional) short stories has the protagonist slut-shame her daughter while also making fun of the daughter for trick-or-treating at 16. Pick a lane. I know the book is from 2002 (this edition is from 2010) but come on
Anyway it sucks because there’s a lot to love about this anthology but there is SO much to hate, as well
October 25, 2023
This monster of a book literally is over 600 pgs with multiple authors. I've had this book for years and never read it until now. This anthology was written over 20 years ago. Some of the authors has since passed. There were Halloween memories and stories. Some I liked and some that were boring because it gave the history of Halloween and made it sound like I was back in high school and I needed to learn this for the upcoming final exam. I didn't want to learn I want to get spooked and have fun. Is that too much?
August 10, 2011
I am certain that there are many excellent collections of Halloween stories in print.
This was not one of them.
Despite the title of this book there wasn't any tingle in my spine as I slogged through it. One reason is that over half of the contributions were not stories at all-instead we got 29 pieces that were put under the category of "My Favorite Halloween Memory". 29 mostly not very interesting recollections by authors as compared to 21 short mostly forgettable stories and one tedious novella. Rounding off the book are three essays about Halloween history, movies and fiction-which were good. The book also included a poem by Ray Bradbury. As a matter of fact, Bradbury allowed three contributions to be included in this book-all three were disappointments. The most blatant was his favorite Halloween memory.
Sad to say this book is a reprint under a different title-I feel bad for those of us who bought it. I feel worse for those who unknowingly bought it a second time-that's a really nasty Halloween trick.
This was not one of them.
Despite the title of this book there wasn't any tingle in my spine as I slogged through it. One reason is that over half of the contributions were not stories at all-instead we got 29 pieces that were put under the category of "My Favorite Halloween Memory". 29 mostly not very interesting recollections by authors as compared to 21 short mostly forgettable stories and one tedious novella. Rounding off the book are three essays about Halloween history, movies and fiction-which were good. The book also included a poem by Ray Bradbury. As a matter of fact, Bradbury allowed three contributions to be included in this book-all three were disappointments. The most blatant was his favorite Halloween memory.
Sad to say this book is a reprint under a different title-I feel bad for those of us who bought it. I feel worse for those who unknowingly bought it a second time-that's a really nasty Halloween trick.
October 22, 2012
Snagged this at the Strand for about half retail price, and so far I'm not sure if it'd have been worth paying twice as much. I haven't done more than dip in and out out of the work and the results have been quite mixed.
The Halloween anecdotes are wonderful and engaging, as is Gary Braunbeck's discussion of Halloween films (it's fun to see somebody sticking up for the oddball Halloween III). Jack Ketchum's "Gone" is the emotional equivalent of a razor-blade in an apple--it sneaks into you, then won't stop cutting and hurting from within.
The other two stories I've read aren't as good: Wilson's story is meh but good for kids; Monteleone's is a retread of the much better Bradbury/Serling material covered by his story in 999.
The Halloween anecdotes are wonderful and engaging, as is Gary Braunbeck's discussion of Halloween films (it's fun to see somebody sticking up for the oddball Halloween III). Jack Ketchum's "Gone" is the emotional equivalent of a razor-blade in an apple--it sneaks into you, then won't stop cutting and hurting from within.
The other two stories I've read aren't as good: Wilson's story is meh but good for kids; Monteleone's is a retread of the much better Bradbury/Serling material covered by his story in 999.
October 13, 2013
Was rather disappointed by this. A few of the stories I had read in other anthologies and weren't anything I had enjoyed so much I was pleased to have a chance to read them again. The Favourite Halloween Memory pages I ended up skipping, after reading the fist few. The rest of the stories were alright, but, there just wasn't anything in here that made me glad to have spent the time finishing it.
June 6, 2013
Great collection and interesting mix of Halloween stories, essays, and reminiscences by some of the biggest names in the Horror field. Especially enjoyed Peter Straub's "Pork Pie Hat".
October 30, 2024
This book is exactly what it states - Halloween short stories and reminiscences ....I identified with a lot of the experiences the authors wrote about, many bringing me back to the early 60's.
My absolute favorite stories were Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub, a story within a story...
Buckets, The Circle, Pay the Ghost, The Black Pumpkin and Eyes. So many eerie feelings-perfect for the season. Having the reminiscences broke all the chills.
My absolute favorite stories were Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub, a story within a story...
Buckets, The Circle, Pay the Ghost, The Black Pumpkin and Eyes. So many eerie feelings-perfect for the season. Having the reminiscences broke all the chills.
October 27, 2022
Well that was disappointing. The best part was the cover. For some reason a bunch of people thought we’d want to read their dry memories from favorite Halloweens. They’re so boring and Boomer-ish. I read the first several then decided to just stick to the stories. The best stories were by Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon, and F Paul Wilson.
November 16, 2020
Sorry for the delay, but at last I have finished reviewing all of the Halloween books that I read this year.
This video is a little choppy, mainly because I was having meds swapped during the filming and I had a lot of brain fog.
https://youtu.be/PB1lIWTr8GY
This video is a little choppy, mainly because I was having meds swapped during the filming and I had a lot of brain fog.
https://youtu.be/PB1lIWTr8GY
September 17, 2023
In my opinion, Halloween stories are some of the best horror stories that you can read. But when it's just an anthology of supposed horror stories , and not about Halloween, it's a major mixed bag. Every Story in this anthology is / was some of the best horror I have ever read.
March 24, 2020
Very boring not scary or creepy at all. Don’t waste your time with this.
April 25, 2013
Some of the stories were fantastic, some were sub-par.
February 16, 2014
Great bunch of Halloween stories to get you in the mood. It wasn't my favorite that I have ever read but I still liked it very much. Beautiful cover!
December 4, 2015
This is very interesting and for many their favorite of those who enjoy horror stories is a very good book recommend
December 4, 2015
Great collection and interesting mix of Halloween stories, i like it very much.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews