A review by maryehavens
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween by Robert Morrish, Richard T. Chizmar

4.0

Just about every story in this book is a good one, including the Halloween memories (although, if I had a drink every time they said "burnt cork", "hobo", or reminisced about perfect childhood Halloweens before disturbed individuals put razor blades in apples, I would be in an alcoholic coma). There were just a few times that I felt like skimming the stories, mostly the origin of Halloween or the Halloween reading list (the list contained mostly mediocre works). A few times the authors came off as too smarmy. If you ever want a work to be timeless, don't belittle your audience because they don't know or remember Rod Serling by "Rod" alone. Jerk.
My favorites include "The Whitby Experience" by Simon Clark, "Yesterday's Witch" by Gahan Wilson, "Heavy Set" by Ray Bradbury, "Pay the Ghost" by Tom Lebbon, and "Pork Pie Hat" by Peter Straub although it could have gone on a 10-15 page diet. Several writers included some epic "Favorite Halloween Memories" and my favorites included Jack Cady, Yvonne Navarro, and Owl Goingback.
If you love Halloween, check out this anthology! I'm looking forward to passing it on to my friends who enjoy taking a walk on the dark side.