Halloween is a time for spooks, eerie atmosphere, and fearful tension. While I am not one who lives without fear, I do enjoy a good spooky story. You might not find me at amusement park themed horror nights. However, you will find me curled up in bed with a horror book in my hand.
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I was taking myself on a solo Barnes & Noble date a few weeks ago and I took my usual stroll through the Mystery/ Horror section with no real intention of buying anything. That was until I saw the cover for All Hallows by Christopher Golden. The creepy face made out of the negative space in the red branches immediately grabbed my attention. Once I read the synopsis, it was an immediate yes for me. If you are starting to get into those spooky Halloween vibes and you’re wanting a horror book to scare the child inside you, stick around for my thoughts.
Synopsis
Like many Halloween stories, this story takes place on Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts. Within the neighborhood on Parmenter Road, each family has their own versions of a living hell. Between the infidelity, homophobic parents, financial struggles, or gossipy lips, each household believes they are the talk of the town. Amongst the drama, nightfall is approaching and children are beginning to go door-to-door trick or treating. To add to this, two neighbors are competing for the best Halloween gathering. The Barbosa’s annual Haunted Woods attraction they have spent years perfecting, and the Koenig’s big neighborhood block party.
As we follow each family, we begin to see four strange children intermixing with the neighborhood kids as they head out on the block for the night. These children do not behave like the others. These children wear tattered, old, vintage-looking Halloween costumes with crusty and eerie makeup. Another strange aspect about them is that they are absolutely terrified of something… or someone. Not your average “Halloween night fear”, but real, honest fear.
Each of the four strange children join the different neighborhood children and their friend groups. A young girl dressed in a Raggedy-Ann costume keeps lurking in the shadows of the Haunted Woods attraction. Rick Barbosa, is out trick-or-treating with his best friend Billie when they rescue a 9 year old boy, Leonard, from potential predators. Charlie Sweeney runs away after his parents had a blow out fight on the front lawn. Hiding in his neighbors bushes he realizes he isn’t alone. A little girl named Sarah Jane also ran away from home and needs Charlie’s help.
Rick Barbosa is first to have an interaction with a quiet kid in a scarecrow outfit who started following his friends while trick-or-treating. He later disappears only to be found standing in the woods, watching Vanessa Montez and Julia Sweeney share a sweet moment. Despite each of these strange children being separate throughout the night, they all have the same story. They are on the run from “The Cunning Man” who is out to get them. They are just looking to be hidden and kept safe until midnight when they will finally be able to return home without him following.
Now each friend group knows these children are more than a little odd. They are convinced to look out for these kids due to their own fears. Additionally the children promise they only need safety for a few more hours. However, none of them want the older kids to tell their parents, or call the cops. They are willing to fight anyone who tries. While so much is happening on Parmenter Road, no one notices that deep in the woods there is now a clearing with a blackthorn tree that was never there before. These strange children keep trying to lead their protectors to this clearing. Throughout the night, we see The Cunning Man hunting through the neighborhood with a horrifying appearance.
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Throughout this Halloween night, every family’s drama quickly takes a backseat when more terrifying and pressing matters take precedent. It quickly becomes clear that these children might not be so innocent as they first claim to be. During this night there is one thing to remember: Everyone and everything could be wearing a mask. It’s hard to know what could be true, and what might be just a Halloween spook.
Likes
I really liked that this book kept up the eerie feelings and creepy elements right from the first chapter and through to the end. Since we start out on the first page with the Barbosa family setting up their Halloween decorations, we get that immediate Halloween vibe. I also really liked that as the events reach their climax, the chapters get shorter, propelling you to keep reading. It keeps driving the feeling of suspense and thrills as the events feel shorter. It was after midnight and I only had the plan to read a couple chapters before bed, but ended up staying up until 2am finishing the book because I had to keep going and since the chapters were shorter, it didn’t feel like I had too much more to go.
Also, I liked that there was some LGBTQIA+ representation in this story! It was a little unexpected as I did not see it happening within the context of the story, but it helped sprinkle a little warm and fuzzy moments into the horror happening around them.
Now one major aspect I loved about this book was the big twist. I will warn readers now, THIS IS A SPOILER ALERT. IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK, DO NOT READ THIS FINAL POINT:
Something I never saw coming was “The Cunning Man’s” redemption twist. The first half of the book Golden sets us up to think “The Cunning Man” is the true villain/monster/boogey-man of Parmenter Road. However, we discover he is actually out to kill those who deserve to be killed and to save Parmenter Road from these strange monster children. I never expected this and my jaw literally hit the floor.
Dislikes
Now there were a couple dislikes for this story. Quite honestly, I think there were too many character viewpoints happening. While I understand the point of this story was to talk about the entire neighborhood, we had over 15 different viewpoints! While it helped show us how much was happening throughout the neighborhood, there were just so many characters to get to know. Not including the many random neighborhood names Golden includes. Along the same lines, I also felt there was too much neighborhood drama. It definitely helped explain and add to the tension but made it a little overwhelming if you are not paying close attention.
Lastly, I feel that Golden rushed the ending. While containing many viewpoint, we did not really see viewpoints from the other families affected by the events except for the Barbosa family. However, this does create a full circle moment. We begin and end with the Barbosa family looking at the woods behind their house where the Haunted Woods attraction is set up. But considering how many viewpoints we had throughout the story, we don’t see how each viewpoint moves on.
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Recommendations and Review
This book is a horror book. That means it has some pretty gruesome topics, including but not limited to: horrific deaths, nightmarish characters, and violent encounters. It is also an adult book that talks about frequent infidelity amongst neighbors with the mention of sexual encounters. There is also a homophobic character as well with a violent encounter towards the end. Additionally, there are two characters who are generally theorized to be child predators. Therefore, I would recommend this book to anyone over 18, but as young as 16 if properly assessed for appropriateness first. Otherwise, if you are looking for a creepy, grotesque, unique Halloween story and you don’t mind a lot of drama, this book is definitely for you. It sets the perfect atmosphere for a dark, autumnal, Halloween night. I could definitely see this being a horror movie someday.
8.5/10 Creepy as Hell, but genius!
As always, happy (creepy) reading!