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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book felt like a legend being made kinda like Sleepy Hollow. The ending felt a bit flat but the book had solid creepiness and story lore. I can see it becoming a classic novella to read before Halloween and becoming a boogy monster. Also I can see this as a Tim Burton movie? (ల◕ั˘๐◕ั˘ల) Thanks for writing it!
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
enjoyable
I throughly enjoyed this book. It was short and relied mostly on atmosphere for its scares which was a nice change of pace from the gore and jump scared most books try to pull off.
I like that the ending was ambiguous and left room for the reader to imagine what happens next.
I throughly enjoyed this book. It was short and relied mostly on atmosphere for its scares which was a nice change of pace from the gore and jump scared most books try to pull off.
I like that the ending was ambiguous and left room for the reader to imagine what happens next.
This is a super fun fast read about a spooky dying town that is haunted by a creature called Halloween.
Honestly this was a really good novella! Kept me wanting to know more about this town and more about Halloween. I wish there was more background about Halloween. It was written well and very easy to follow and the characters were likeable/realistic. Just really eerie at points and just a really nice Halloween book!
Halloween is my favorite time of the year. Not just because I love spooky things, but I just love the crisp fall weather, the sense of shift in the air, the leaves, the dramatic sunsets. There is something magical and transitory about this season that just isn’t replicated anywhere else.
In this new novella, Hunt makes Halloween come to life for the slowly dying town of Strang. (That’s right, “strange” without the “e.”) Halloween is a monster who visits everyone’s house each night and if you haven’t left a treat for Halloween—things aren’t going to go so well for you. And Halloween doesn’t want candy, it wants something meatier.
The story takes a twist in the direction of Jackson’s “The Lottery,” which is not an easy plot line to get away with. Jackson did it first, best, and everyone will use that as a touchstone until the end of time, so it tends to feel tired and obvious.
This is my second Hunt novella, and similar to Ritualistic Human Sacrifice I never found myself really engaging with the characters. They didn’t feel fully realized to me, so when the events of the story start to ramp up, my lack of connection to the people made me less interested in their fate.
Hunt does know how to stick the landing though, and this one will punch you in the gut. Very, very creepy.
This was part of the June Night Worms box!
In this new novella, Hunt makes Halloween come to life for the slowly dying town of Strang. (That’s right, “strange” without the “e.”) Halloween is a monster who visits everyone’s house each night and if you haven’t left a treat for Halloween—things aren’t going to go so well for you. And Halloween doesn’t want candy, it wants something meatier.
The story takes a twist in the direction of Jackson’s “The Lottery,” which is not an easy plot line to get away with. Jackson did it first, best, and everyone will use that as a touchstone until the end of time, so it tends to feel tired and obvious.
This is my second Hunt novella, and similar to Ritualistic Human Sacrifice I never found myself really engaging with the characters. They didn’t feel fully realized to me, so when the events of the story start to ramp up, my lack of connection to the people made me less interested in their fate.
Hunt does know how to stick the landing though, and this one will punch you in the gut. Very, very creepy.
This was part of the June Night Worms box!
My third selection from Grindhouse Press, Halloween Fiend by C.V. Hunt was finished the day before Halloween, somewhat coincidentally. At just over 100 pages, I tore through this one in about three hours. It’s a doozy folks, launching us right into the plight of Barry Johnson and the odd town of Strang.
As soon as I read the first chapter, I was hooked til the conclusion. A book so short must launch us into its nuts and bolts quickly and this did not disappoint. Almost immediately, we’re faced with the grotesque and nightly sacrifice ritual the reluctant inhabitants of the town Strang must complete to preserve some peace-of-mind. Hunt is able to capture the desolate town, the hopelessness of our coward narrator, while also giving us a thing to fear: Halloween.
We’re teased as we move forward with tidbits of why the town completes this ritual, what happens to those who don’t complete it, and the other sad sacks living half-lives in the town.
There’s a limited clutch of characters that are fleshed out, but we’re kept in the limited focus of Barry for a reason. Bringing any more character development would make this open-and-shut story bloated, and any less would make the characters flat. Hunt gives us just what we need, enough to keep us hooked and wanting, without any frills. The dialect of the townspeople and later, the outsiders who come for the annual fall festival, really adds to the small-town, rural feeling of Strang.
This particular book was my third selection from Grindhouse Press and the first that wasn’t centered around a teenage kid and his pursuit of tail. It was a breath of fresh air for me. This book is almost sexless in its nature, and rightfully so as any mention of a relationship (outside of Barry’s crush on Rhonda the redhead) would slow down the roller coaster ride.
Hunt’s Halloween Fiend is a fun, speedy jaunt into a town’s unwilling participation in a sacrifice ritual, and she snags us and carries us through just a few monumental days, making you feel like you’re not even reading. Overall, 5 out of 5. I loved it. Read it.
As soon as I read the first chapter, I was hooked til the conclusion. A book so short must launch us into its nuts and bolts quickly and this did not disappoint. Almost immediately, we’re faced with the grotesque and nightly sacrifice ritual the reluctant inhabitants of the town Strang must complete to preserve some peace-of-mind. Hunt is able to capture the desolate town, the hopelessness of our coward narrator, while also giving us a thing to fear: Halloween.
We’re teased as we move forward with tidbits of why the town completes this ritual, what happens to those who don’t complete it, and the other sad sacks living half-lives in the town.
There’s a limited clutch of characters that are fleshed out, but we’re kept in the limited focus of Barry for a reason. Bringing any more character development would make this open-and-shut story bloated, and any less would make the characters flat. Hunt gives us just what we need, enough to keep us hooked and wanting, without any frills. The dialect of the townspeople and later, the outsiders who come for the annual fall festival, really adds to the small-town, rural feeling of Strang.
This particular book was my third selection from Grindhouse Press and the first that wasn’t centered around a teenage kid and his pursuit of tail. It was a breath of fresh air for me. This book is almost sexless in its nature, and rightfully so as any mention of a relationship (outside of Barry’s crush on Rhonda the redhead) would slow down the roller coaster ride.
Hunt’s Halloween Fiend is a fun, speedy jaunt into a town’s unwilling participation in a sacrifice ritual, and she snags us and carries us through just a few monumental days, making you feel like you’re not even reading. Overall, 5 out of 5. I loved it. Read it.