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I liked the final image the reader is left with. But the story was all over the place. 2.4

Dad's Way: A Hilarious '90s Sitcom is about a sitcom that ran for 10 years and the creator has just passed away and wants to do a reunion special that the creator wrote. The cast peaked with the show and haven't done anything of note sense. Mike, the lead, is slowly losing it as he needs to get revenge on a coyote for killing his dog. I loved Jason's story line. This felt like pieces of an ideas.

Fun Run is about an unhinged guy that has a horrible sense of humor, wants a friend? This story was my least favorite. It the wildcard story. I thought it was going to be revealed that this guy is the guy behind the self help class they ditched, but it is just a crazy person. I did have a laugh at the bad taste of the self help being all about slavery. 1.5

Mr. Liptapp's Sword is a story about a history teacher finding an ancient sword that consumes him. The story keeps flipping back and forth from the past to the present. In past we see him find the sword and become crazed by it. He talks to it and the sword wants blood. In the present he is chased by men trying to take the sword. The story is quick and fun. But you have to suspend disbelief a little. 3.5 for fun

Gideon's Wife is about Tracy who loves putting down other people, and look like she is rising above it. She is surprised when people actually like her husband. Her husband is a bit of a doof but a nice one. The book does end before she gets the comeuppance but it is coming. I think this story was okay it is the shortest story in the collection. 2.5

Last Night of the Runaway Adventure is a coming of age story about to runaways. One goes home but the other stays away. The most serious of the stories so far. The brother Wayne is the worst. It took me a while to differentiate who was who with the names Burt and Ben. I felt this was the most personal story. 4

The Institute of Man is a crazy story that dips into Science Fiction. About a man goes to a place called the Institute of Man to cure his balding, they do but that is when the trouble starts his hair will not stop growing. I felt this story was the most zany and had the Coen Brothers tone. I enjoyed this story and how crazy it gets. The ending was great and on theme. 4.4

The ending had a good surprise scenario, but I felt it lacked a good wrap up with a lot of unanswered questions. I wanted more from the narrative. 2.8

The Book Burner had one of the best opening scenes. The story fizzles a little after that. The story stars off with a book burning inside a bookstore. We learn about both the writer and the book burner. Tye story has good ideas about who owns a story, and literary theft. The story felt like an Elmore Leonard story with some quirky characters.

This story took a little way to find itself. I loved the end, things escalate to a crazy level. The end monologue was great, I was bummed we went to the son's reaction, and broke the rant up. 3.4

The Vicious Kind is about a father who feels like he has lost his power. He was once the bread winner, now works a low skill job. He gets angry at a boat that is parked on public land and an eye sore to his morning view. The story reminded me of the TV show beef. Where little things are taken to the extreme.

Stubborn v. Needed help, the story is all about that balance, and I think it handles it well. The old man is harsh, and it is funny how he reasons with himself through monologue. The audiobook is preformed by John Goodman. 3.8

Robocare is about a very ornery old man whose children get him a new experimental robot to take care of him. The father did not ask for this and just wants to me left alone. I thought this story was going to be like the film Robot and Frank, but it is not like that, it plays out like most belittled robot stories, but the story shines on the difficult decision to get help for an elderly person.

It is funny, in that Danny McBride way, that he can never show disbelief in this idea but is really cracking at the seems. I do love a subplot involving a mall vandal, and how it ties to the main plot. The ending was great I loved how everything came together. The writing is very readable and has a great pace. 4.4

The Illusionist is about a guy who's life is crumbling after his wife divorced him, and he revives a life long dream to be an illusionist. He does want to train for it and decides for a stunt to live in a glass box at the mall for 30 days. But unlike other performers it is not a strength of will he gets food and water, and has a bucket for the replaced everyday. The premise is one of disillusionment.

THE THIRTEEN THINGS YOU FOUND IN YOUR TRICK OR TREAT BAG by Gwendolyn Kiste is a very interesting way to tell a story. Items work as event on Halloween to tell the story of the night. The story has a couple good turns. You can feel Kiste writing confidence. The ending was a quiet emotion one which worked for the story but I wanted a little more, but a very good story. 4.3

MALLRAT by RIKKI GOODWIN is a good story very atmospheric. The theme and vide is death of the mall. It makes you remember the busy malls of the past and how they are barely surviving now. Mallrat isn't scary but it gave me the creeps and made me feel and remember. The story has beautiful prose and descriptions. 3.6

SPECTER HALLOWEEN by BRIANA MORGAN was a very heartfelt story. The horror element was just okay. The horror element came out of nowhere with no attempt at an explanation. The character reveals were great, and I empathised with the sibling relationship. 2.7

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE DEATH by GREG PATRICK is a good idea, but poorly executed. Horrible dialogue way too many adverbs used which made the story hard to read at times. The final image was great with just the right description. The story is about a serial killer on Halloween who gets tricked. 2.5

NIGHTMARE REALM by Leigh Kenny was just an okay story with an decent ending. The plot is a group of friends go to a place called the Nightmare Realm which is a warehouse turned into a haunted attraction. He is warned before, but it does work on him. This reminded me of Dean Koontz's The Funhouse. The story took me a while a to get into it for me. 2.7

BACK HOME AGAIN by Alan Dellascio is a creepy atmospheric horror with a great ending. This is a horror with heart delivered by a rotting corpse. A father goes trick-or-treating in his old neighborhood, he has just returned to and is followed by a rotting corpse. What does it want? The pace was a little slow at the beginning but great ending. 4.6

TRICK OR TrEATment by Haley Newlin is about a woman who is out of it due to a treatment she receives, I was thinking chemo or something it is not. It is pretty sinister. The story is dreamy it reminded me of The Yellow Wallpaper. The story has that domestic power imbalance where the husband wants a better wife. This story took a turn and is pretty gory. I liked the female empowerment. 4.3

NO STRINGS ATTACHED by V Castro is a great haunted puppet story. The story starts off like a typical run of the mill haunted puppet, but Castro twists it like the stings in the story. The story nailed the themes of no string relationship with the puppet. Good character work and writing. 5

WHEN LEAVES BURN by Donna Taylor is a great atmospheric horror about the autumn woods. This story creeped me out very good visuals. The title works great with the story. The creepy dread was well told for such a short story . My favorite story so far. 5

THE HAUNTING OF THORNWOOD CEMETERY by Maria Giakoumatos is a good set up, but lacked a finish. In the cemetery there's a rumored staircase that leads to nowhere, but the legend is it leads to hell. The goth kids try it out, to crazy results. I liked the premise and the legend a lot. But the ending was okay. I liked a third of it. 3.5

IT LURKS by Zelda Zito is a story about two kids that are trick-or-treating when one sees something in the distance. This story was short had a confusing metaphor right at the start. Too many words used to convey simple things, made the story hard to read. The end just okay, the set up for it was weak. 1

SCARE OF A LIFETIME by Joseph Buckley is a solid horror that works on a couple of levels. I loved the writing it had great descriptions. This story is about a man that throws himself into Halloween as a way to remember his spouse who passed. He's looking for something scary and he finds it. The story, the scary part and the humor work all work great together. 4.5

THE TRAP DOOR by Skylar Crowter is a story about two girls celebrating their last Halloween. This is a well told story, creepy vibes. Good tension throughout, and good descriptions as the terror is slowly revealed. The last line is perfect as it connects the last Halloween to others. I wanted a little more originality but still good told story. 4

THE TRAP DOOR Skylar Crowter is all about two girls celebrating their last socially acceptable Halloween. The girls have a tradition where they start at a scary looking home at the end of the street. This story is creep with a haunting dread. There's a tension you can feel that made