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bbehring12's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
wellwortharead's review
4.0
These stories do revolve around Halloween but they are more than just horror. They are tales of grief, of love and loss, spirits with unfinished business, all surrounding the most otherworldly night of the year. They can be savored slowly to help you get into the spirit of Halloween or devoured quickly for a rush of spooky fun any time. I read them over a particularly hot week in July while I was away from my home and my air conditioner. I was almost able to convince myself that I could hear rustling leaves and a cool October wind. All were good, but for me the most notable in the bunch were...
Strange Candy- A story about a grieving man who finds peace after consuming an odd confection brought home in his child's trick or treat bag.
#MakeHalloweenScaryAgain -in which a writer who wishes to draw some interest and attention to his work stirs up a serial killer with his simple hashtag.
The Rage Of Achilles - A priest hears a haunting confession on Halloween from a man who has suffered a tragedy.
Highly recommended to all lovers of horror and Halloween.
I received an advance copy for review.
Strange Candy- A story about a grieving man who finds peace after consuming an odd confection brought home in his child's trick or treat bag.
#MakeHalloweenScaryAgain -in which a writer who wishes to draw some interest and attention to his work stirs up a serial killer with his simple hashtag.
The Rage Of Achilles - A priest hears a haunting confession on Halloween from a man who has suffered a tragedy.
Highly recommended to all lovers of horror and Halloween.
I received an advance copy for review.
3no7's review
4.0
“Halloween Carnival” is the definitive anthology for every fan of Halloween (and who isn’t?). It is a collection of five quick yet fantastic reads, all with a Halloween theme. The stories are all different, some longer and some shorter, but there is something for every reader, and all are engrossing. This collection allows a fan to read and finish a compelling story all in one sitting. It is perfect for plane trips, car rides, or while waiting for appointments or when taking others (CHILDREN) to practice, or lessons, or games, or meetings, or after-school events – the list goes on!
I received an advance copy of “Halloween Carnival” from Penguin Random House, Hydra, and NetGalley to read and review, and I was able to finish the stories on my time schedule without interrupting my other plans or forgetting where I was in the book. I could read these Halloween stories every year and love them each time.
I received an advance copy of “Halloween Carnival” from Penguin Random House, Hydra, and NetGalley to read and review, and I was able to finish the stories on my time schedule without interrupting my other plans or forgetting where I was in the book. I could read these Halloween stories every year and love them each time.
biblio_beth's review
3.0
NetGalley provided ARC.
With the exception of McCammon's story which was excellent, these stories were just your typical Halloween tales.
With the exception of McCammon's story which was excellent, these stories were just your typical Halloween tales.
charshorrorcorner's review
4.0
Halloween Carnival Volume 1 is a tasty treat for horror lovers everywhere!
First off, I have to mention the opening story, Robert McCammon's Strange Candy . I'm a huge McCammon fan and this story was originally found in the FANTASTIC collection Blue World. Poignant and sweet this tale will always remain one of my favorites.
With that out of the way, the story that impressed me the most here was Kevin Lucia's The Rage of Achilles, or When Mockingbirds Sing. At first, what started out to be a story of the difficulties of parenting a special needs child turned into a story of such bittersweet pain and love, I thought I heard my heart crack. Beautifully written with prose that cuts straight through your chest, this was the star of Volume 1.
La Hacienda de los Muertos by Lisa Morton was a neatly wrapped up tale about shooting a movie in Mexico. And maybe a ghost?
John Little can always be counted on to deliver and that he does with Demon Air .
Lastly, Mark Allen Gunnells' #Makehalloweenscaryagain was my first read of this author's work. While I generally don't care for hashtag anything, and even though I partially guessed how this story would end, I still enjoyed the journey and I look forward to reading more from Gunnells in the future.
Other than Strange Candy, I am not sure if these other stories have been published elsewhere previously. If so, I haven't come across them. I enjoyed the fact that these tales were mostly gore free, quiet horror since that's the type I prefer these days. If quiet but powerful horror is your thing, I highly recommend this collection-especially for your Halloween reading pleasure!
You can pre-order your copy here: Halloween Carnival Volume 1
*Thanks so much to Hydra and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This is it!*
First off, I have to mention the opening story, Robert McCammon's Strange Candy . I'm a huge McCammon fan and this story was originally found in the FANTASTIC collection Blue World. Poignant and sweet this tale will always remain one of my favorites.
With that out of the way, the story that impressed me the most here was Kevin Lucia's The Rage of Achilles, or When Mockingbirds Sing. At first, what started out to be a story of the difficulties of parenting a special needs child turned into a story of such bittersweet pain and love, I thought I heard my heart crack. Beautifully written with prose that cuts straight through your chest, this was the star of Volume 1.
La Hacienda de los Muertos by Lisa Morton was a neatly wrapped up tale about shooting a movie in Mexico. And maybe a ghost?
John Little can always be counted on to deliver and that he does with Demon Air .
Lastly, Mark Allen Gunnells' #Makehalloweenscaryagain was my first read of this author's work. While I generally don't care for hashtag anything, and even though I partially guessed how this story would end, I still enjoyed the journey and I look forward to reading more from Gunnells in the future.
Other than Strange Candy, I am not sure if these other stories have been published elsewhere previously. If so, I haven't come across them. I enjoyed the fact that these tales were mostly gore free, quiet horror since that's the type I prefer these days. If quiet but powerful horror is your thing, I highly recommend this collection-especially for your Halloween reading pleasure!
You can pre-order your copy here: Halloween Carnival Volume 1
*Thanks so much to Hydra and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This is it!*
bobbiesdustypages's review
2.0
Thanks to the Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC on this book.
Halloween Carnival is a collection of short and one not so short Halloween inspired stories. None of the stories are all that long except for the last one #MAKEHALLOWEENSCARYAGAIN which takes up the entire second half of this short 123-page book. None of the stories really read as horror except for two of the stories which were La Hacienda de los Muertos. and #MAKEHALLOWEENSCARYAGAIN which were my over all favorites of the book.
The reason I couldn't give this a higher rating was I had a really hard time getting into a few of the stories because of either the writing or the plot I found really underwhelming and had to kind of power my way through both Strange Candy and Demon Air.
I would recommend this book for people that are fans of more spooky fun Halloween short stories.
Halloween Carnival is a collection of short and one not so short Halloween inspired stories. None of the stories are all that long except for the last one #MAKEHALLOWEENSCARYAGAIN which takes up the entire second half of this short 123-page book. None of the stories really read as horror except for two of the stories which were La Hacienda de los Muertos. and #MAKEHALLOWEENSCARYAGAIN which were my over all favorites of the book.
The reason I couldn't give this a higher rating was I had a really hard time getting into a few of the stories because of either the writing or the plot I found really underwhelming and had to kind of power my way through both Strange Candy and Demon Air.
I would recommend this book for people that are fans of more spooky fun Halloween short stories.
lauriereadslohf's review
3.0
Halloween Carnival is a collection of three short stories and two novellas. It would’ve been perfect reading on Halloween night but I’m a slacker and watched movies instead.
Strange Candy by Robert McCammon
A man thoughtlessly and rather stupidity (if you ask me) eats a strange looking piece of unwrapped candy out of his child's Halloween bag. Seriously, who does that?! After ingesting the gross thing, he finds himself no longer in his living room and begins to meet strangers who give him final messages to pass along to their loved ones. He writes nothing down but manages to remember it all. Ah, to have such a brain, what must that be like? Anyway, it has a twisty-twist at the end. It’s sad and I really enjoyed it all. 4 Stars
The Rage of Achilles or When Mockingbirds Sing by Kevin Lucia
Father Ward wasn't expecting a visitor on Halloween but he got one anyway. A grief stricken father begs for absolution. This is another sad story about love, grief and regret and a dedicated priest who witnesses the supernatural. It’ll haunt you with its beautiful sorrow. 4.5 Stars
Demon Air by John R. little
This story? I don’t know what it was besides a great disappointment to me. A woman is on a flight to find herself and she does a lot of navel gazing for most of the story until things finally go strangely awry. When the pilot thanks everyone for flying “Demon Air” I was entranced. Gross things begin to happen, passengers are tormented and then it abruptly ends and the fun is over nearly before it’s begun. Such a tease! This story had quite a bit of promise but in the end was a total let down. It felt rushed and unfocused and as if two stories were smashed together and neither ended up satisfying in the end. 2 Stars
La Hacienda de los Muertos Lisa Morton
Trick is a washed up actor ready to film a horror flick in the most haunted town in Mexico. Before the film can get going, Trick must deal with the supernatural. I thought this was interesting but pretty standard stuff. It wasn’t sad, or horrible or particularly scary either. I’d give it a 3.
#MakeHalloweenScaryAgain Mark Allan Gunnells
A horror writer posts a hashtag on his Facebook page hoping to drum up a little interest in his novels but he attracts a weirdo who takes it way too seriously instead. Now he’s involved in a murder investigation and spends the days leading up to Halloween hunting down the madman terrorizing his town. This was a decent, if slightly predictable, tale of mystery, murder, and Halloween that kept me turning the pages to discover if I was right about the killer and I was! I feel so smart :) 3 Stars
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.
Strange Candy by Robert McCammon
A man thoughtlessly and rather stupidity (if you ask me) eats a strange looking piece of unwrapped candy out of his child's Halloween bag. Seriously, who does that?! After ingesting the gross thing, he finds himself no longer in his living room and begins to meet strangers who give him final messages to pass along to their loved ones. He writes nothing down but manages to remember it all. Ah, to have such a brain, what must that be like? Anyway, it has a twisty-twist at the end. It’s sad and I really enjoyed it all. 4 Stars
The Rage of Achilles or When Mockingbirds Sing by Kevin Lucia
Father Ward wasn't expecting a visitor on Halloween but he got one anyway. A grief stricken father begs for absolution. This is another sad story about love, grief and regret and a dedicated priest who witnesses the supernatural. It’ll haunt you with its beautiful sorrow. 4.5 Stars
Demon Air by John R. little
This story? I don’t know what it was besides a great disappointment to me. A woman is on a flight to find herself and she does a lot of navel gazing for most of the story until things finally go strangely awry. When the pilot thanks everyone for flying “Demon Air” I was entranced. Gross things begin to happen, passengers are tormented and then it abruptly ends and the fun is over nearly before it’s begun. Such a tease! This story had quite a bit of promise but in the end was a total let down. It felt rushed and unfocused and as if two stories were smashed together and neither ended up satisfying in the end. 2 Stars
La Hacienda de los Muertos Lisa Morton
Trick is a washed up actor ready to film a horror flick in the most haunted town in Mexico. Before the film can get going, Trick must deal with the supernatural. I thought this was interesting but pretty standard stuff. It wasn’t sad, or horrible or particularly scary either. I’d give it a 3.
#MakeHalloweenScaryAgain Mark Allan Gunnells
A horror writer posts a hashtag on his Facebook page hoping to drum up a little interest in his novels but he attracts a weirdo who takes it way too seriously instead. Now he’s involved in a murder investigation and spends the days leading up to Halloween hunting down the madman terrorizing his town. This was a decent, if slightly predictable, tale of mystery, murder, and Halloween that kept me turning the pages to discover if I was right about the killer and I was! I feel so smart :) 3 Stars
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.
easyqueenie's review
4.0
The Halloween Carnival series is a set of five ebooks, each containing five short stories set on and around October 31st. One volume has been released every Tuesday beginning October 3rd, with the final volume due to be published on Halloween itself. The books all contain stories by different authors so there is a wide range of styles on display; however, I would have liked to see more female authors included (just six of the twenty-five stories are written by women).
The stories cover a range of story types, some involving supernatural forces at play while in others the evil comes from more human sources – between the two, it’s hard to decide which type was the most horrifying. There is a noticeable American bias to the collection, which is understandable, but a few stories do focus on Dia de Los Muertos as well. Oddly, for a Halloween collection, I didn’t find very many of the stories to be particularly scary. Tragedy seemed to be more present than fear, although that sadness was always laced with spooky undertones.
As with any collection, there are hits, and then there are misses. Thankfully, those real misses are few and far between here, with far more good quality stories to be found than their poorer cousins. Personally, I found volumes one and three to be the best of the bunch in terms of overall quality, and volume four the weakest, although there is little to separate them. “The Rage of Achilles” by Kevin Lucia, “La Hacienda De Los Muertos” by Lisa Morton, “Mr. Dark’s Carnival” by Glen Hirshberg, “The Way Lost” by Kelley Armstrong, “When The Leaves Fall” by Paul Melniczek, and, “Swing” by Kevin Quigley were my stand out stories of the bunch.
Each of the five volumes is available on Kindle for just $2.40, so if you’re looking for some cheap chills to read this Halloween you can’t really go wrong.
The stories cover a range of story types, some involving supernatural forces at play while in others the evil comes from more human sources – between the two, it’s hard to decide which type was the most horrifying. There is a noticeable American bias to the collection, which is understandable, but a few stories do focus on Dia de Los Muertos as well. Oddly, for a Halloween collection, I didn’t find very many of the stories to be particularly scary. Tragedy seemed to be more present than fear, although that sadness was always laced with spooky undertones.
As with any collection, there are hits, and then there are misses. Thankfully, those real misses are few and far between here, with far more good quality stories to be found than their poorer cousins. Personally, I found volumes one and three to be the best of the bunch in terms of overall quality, and volume four the weakest, although there is little to separate them. “The Rage of Achilles” by Kevin Lucia, “La Hacienda De Los Muertos” by Lisa Morton, “Mr. Dark’s Carnival” by Glen Hirshberg, “The Way Lost” by Kelley Armstrong, “When The Leaves Fall” by Paul Melniczek, and, “Swing” by Kevin Quigley were my stand out stories of the bunch.
Each of the five volumes is available on Kindle for just $2.40, so if you’re looking for some cheap chills to read this Halloween you can’t really go wrong.
ronweston's review
5.0
Good collection of Halloween tales. Robert McCammon's "Strange Candy" was eerie, effective and poignant. Kevin Lucia's "The Rage of Achilles or When Mockingbirds Sing" was a memorable ghostly story of grief, guilt and redemption. For me John R. Little's "Demon Air" was the weakest of the lot, much too short and with very lackluster demons. Lisa Morton's "La Hacienda de los Muertos" was a fine tribute to South of the Border horror flicks, highlighting her interest in both holiday and film. Mark Allan Gunnells' novella #MakeHalloweenScaryAgain was well-written, engrossing but marred by an easily guessed killer.
caidyn's review
2.0
This review can also be found on BW Book Reviews.
2.6/5
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The above rating is calculated from my individual ratings for the stories. This is how I do it since I think that I can't rate off gut feeling since my gut feeling reflects the last few stories I've read, not the collection as a whole. So, I rate and review as I go, then average the ratings to find out how much this collection deserves.
For being a supposed Halloween collection, there wasn't much of a Halloween feel to them.
Each story, I was hoping that this one would be it but I was terribly wrong the whole time.
I thought that the short stories were poorly chosen. Only the last story really got my heart racing a bit. There were two others that slightly got me to feel something. One actually was creepy, yet the impact faded to nothing so fast with a contrived ending. The other emotionally manipulated me with sadness. The other two stories just pissed me off.
Now, I've read a lot of short story collections through this publisher. I think this one was just a dud.
Strange Candy by Robert McCammon - 1.5/5:
Definitely not a strong start. I get it, strange candy. That's right there in the title. It just didn't give me a huge impact. The hit for this one was supposed to be right in the feels, but I didn't feel it one bit. It all felt really rushed and I never got a clear picture in my head. Like, meh. It didn't feel like a well-crafted short story, nor one that fit in with a Halloween theme besides it being set at Halloween.
The Rage of Achilles or When Mockingbirds Sing by Kevin Lucia - 3/5:
This one got me in the feels. No tears, but definitely a certain ache in my chest from this one. The title's weird but it makes sense about halfway through the story. For me, I guessed the twist pretty early on, but not completely. This is a story more about getting to the emotions than getting anywhere scary. Another dud, another one barely Halloween.
Demon Air by John R. Little - 3.5/5:
Finally! The creep factor was there! Well, sort of. Three stories to get there but here we are. There was such potential with the whole scene taking place in an airplane.
However, it had too much exposition and not enough time spent on ACTUALLY CREEPING ME OUT. So much potential, such a letdown.
Hacienda de los Muertos - 1/5:
I thought to myself when I opened the Kindle app on my phone at lunch today: "Could it get worse?" It did. It totally did. This story is about a racist actor working in Mexico (with Mexicans) around the Day of the Dead. It's at a legitimately haunted house/ranch and they're trying to get the haunting to quit while they film. But, it's not scary. At all. Then, the main character's racism is talked about over and over again, yet it's never followed up and, suddenly, it's resolved. Not a racist anymore! The Spanish was all wrong for me, too. Like someone just threw a few Spanish words together that sounded right but made no sense. And the ending was lame and anti-climactic.
#MakeHalloweenGreatAgain - 4/5:
Of course, the very last story in this was good. Makes complete sense, right? Right?? But, really, this was a solid one. Great use of a hashtag so it was satirical. Then you have a killer using that hashtag to follow through on seeking out this supposed past greatness. Action and suspense were there the whole time, or up until the very end for me. It was a short story I would have been happy to see developed into a full-length book.
2.6/5
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The above rating is calculated from my individual ratings for the stories. This is how I do it since I think that I can't rate off gut feeling since my gut feeling reflects the last few stories I've read, not the collection as a whole. So, I rate and review as I go, then average the ratings to find out how much this collection deserves.
For being a supposed Halloween collection, there wasn't much of a Halloween feel to them.
Each story, I was hoping that this one would be it but I was terribly wrong the whole time.
I thought that the short stories were poorly chosen. Only the last story really got my heart racing a bit. There were two others that slightly got me to feel something. One actually was creepy, yet the impact faded to nothing so fast with a contrived ending. The other emotionally manipulated me with sadness. The other two stories just pissed me off.
Now, I've read a lot of short story collections through this publisher. I think this one was just a dud.
Strange Candy by Robert McCammon - 1.5/5:
Definitely not a strong start. I get it, strange candy. That's right there in the title. It just didn't give me a huge impact. The hit for this one was supposed to be right in the feels, but I didn't feel it one bit. It all felt really rushed and I never got a clear picture in my head. Like, meh. It didn't feel like a well-crafted short story, nor one that fit in with a Halloween theme besides it being set at Halloween.
The Rage of Achilles or When Mockingbirds Sing by Kevin Lucia - 3/5:
This one got me in the feels. No tears, but definitely a certain ache in my chest from this one. The title's weird but it makes sense about halfway through the story. For me, I guessed the twist pretty early on, but not completely. This is a story more about getting to the emotions than getting anywhere scary. Another dud, another one barely Halloween.
Demon Air by John R. Little - 3.5/5:
Finally! The creep factor was there! Well, sort of. Three stories to get there but here we are. There was such potential with the whole scene taking place in an airplane.
However, it had too much exposition and not enough time spent on ACTUALLY CREEPING ME OUT. So much potential, such a letdown.
Hacienda de los Muertos - 1/5:
I thought to myself when I opened the Kindle app on my phone at lunch today: "Could it get worse?" It did. It totally did. This story is about a racist actor working in Mexico (with Mexicans) around the Day of the Dead. It's at a legitimately haunted house/ranch and they're trying to get the haunting to quit while they film. But, it's not scary. At all. Then, the main character's racism is talked about over and over again, yet it's never followed up and, suddenly, it's resolved. Not a racist anymore! The Spanish was all wrong for me, too. Like someone just threw a few Spanish words together that sounded right but made no sense. And the ending was lame and anti-climactic.
#MakeHalloweenGreatAgain - 4/5:
Of course, the very last story in this was good. Makes complete sense, right? Right?? But, really, this was a solid one. Great use of a hashtag so it was satirical. Then you have a killer using that hashtag to follow through on seeking out this supposed past greatness. Action and suspense were there the whole time, or up until the very end for me. It was a short story I would have been happy to see developed into a full-length book.