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A review by ladyofways
Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre by Paula Guran
3.0
After three years in a row trying to read through this anthology before Halloween came and went, I finally finished it! Huzzah!
It’s a pretty standard anthology, cashing in on the holiday. The editing was fine overall; decent spread of stories, fairly well-ordered. (Although a TON of distracting typos, like several per story. More than I would expect in a professionally published work.)
Most of the stories were pretty good! I especially liked the straightforward, spooky ones. Some of my favorites:
Conversations in a Dead Language - From the POV of an evil, pedophile postman and his interactions with two trick-or-treating siblings over a series of years. He of course gets his just desserts by the end.
Monsters - Nothing supernatural, just a gentle examination of childhood, accidents, and what makes a monster.
The Halloween Man - Maybe my favorite; an urban legend ghost story and the girl who believes it. Felt the most realistic, and it’s kept unclear whether the monster is actually after Katie or just in her head.
On the Reef - Lovecraft riff, with a fish cult and horrible rituals enacted by secret masked cultists.
Memories - The creature stealing peoples’ existence was awesome! And the idea of a story where the main horrific action is two old ladies, best friends, chatting on the phone and spying on the neighborhood.
Mask Game - The reveal of everyone’s hidden secrets, leading to the biggest reveal, was very well done. Plus the indication that Neva is some kind of entity outside reality?
Man-Size in Marble - Nesbit writes this character so well; hyper-male, condescending, aristocratic, but also well-meaning, gentle, and artistic. It’s a very British story, and I loved the description and the voice.
The Great Pumpkin Arrives at Last - More murderers as main characters, which seems par for the course in this book!
On A Dark October - Pretty blatant parable for white people (men) sacrificing Black people (the “other”) to ensure their own success and stability. I loved the small details, like “their young, attractive wives and ... their prosperous businesses”. Seemed particularly timely, for all that it was written in the 80s, and I completely get why people would think it “too dark” for a horror story.
The Vow on Halloween - Interesting editorial point, that the authorship of this one was a little muddy. I liked the simplicity; woman can’t escape her fiancé, even in death!, and the older, antique feel of the writing.
I noticed the repetition of public domain ones, probably added in to fill gaps: The Young Tamlane (Sir Walter Scott), Hallowe’en in a Suburb (Lovecraft), Ulalume (Poe). Then of course the book seemed to be hinged around the Bradbury story, The October Game, which is suitably creepy. I maybe could’ve done without The November Game, but it’s just fine for a follow-up.
There was an odd vein of “masculine” versus “feminine” stories throughout. The masculine ones (Three Doors, Riding Bitch, Hornets, Pumpkin Night) are all written by men so far as I could tell and all about men who lose their wife/girlfriend and are angsty about it. The two “feminine” ones (By the Book, Night Out), both written by women, feature wives who are more than their unappreciative, oblivious husbands and children realize and who seize opportunities to escape the drudgery of housewifery. I’m tempted to add Auntie Elspeth’s Halloween Story to the “feminine” list, for a uniquely spinstery main character.
There were also several stories that got so caught up in their own ~drama~ and ~imagery~ that it was hard to tell what they were even about or why I should care. Riding Bitch and Three Doors fall into this category, as did the two (or eleven, since one was ten snippets) Steve Rasnic Tem ones. With several, I liked the main image or character, but the plot was dumb or nonexistent (One Thin Dime, Pranks, Memories of El Dia De Los Muertos, Sugar Skulls). A couple others were novellas (Pork Pie Hat, Tesselations), and it took so freaking long to get through them that their spookiness was kind of cancelled out by the end.
Anyway, there are a *lot* of stories in this book (33!), so I feel it was worth my time and got me in the seasonal mood. 🎃
It’s a pretty standard anthology, cashing in on the holiday. The editing was fine overall; decent spread of stories, fairly well-ordered. (Although a TON of distracting typos, like several per story. More than I would expect in a professionally published work.)
Most of the stories were pretty good! I especially liked the straightforward, spooky ones. Some of my favorites:
Conversations in a Dead Language - From the POV of an evil, pedophile postman and his interactions with two trick-or-treating siblings over a series of years. He of course gets his just desserts by the end.
Monsters - Nothing supernatural, just a gentle examination of childhood, accidents, and what makes a monster.
The Halloween Man - Maybe my favorite; an urban legend ghost story and the girl who believes it. Felt the most realistic, and it’s kept unclear whether the monster is actually after Katie or just in her head.
On the Reef - Lovecraft riff, with a fish cult and horrible rituals enacted by secret masked cultists.
Memories - The creature stealing peoples’ existence was awesome! And the idea of a story where the main horrific action is two old ladies, best friends, chatting on the phone and spying on the neighborhood.
Mask Game - The reveal of everyone’s hidden secrets, leading to the biggest reveal, was very well done. Plus the indication that Neva is some kind of entity outside reality?
Man-Size in Marble - Nesbit writes this character so well; hyper-male, condescending, aristocratic, but also well-meaning, gentle, and artistic. It’s a very British story, and I loved the description and the voice.
The Great Pumpkin Arrives at Last - More murderers as main characters, which seems par for the course in this book!
On A Dark October - Pretty blatant parable for white people (men) sacrificing Black people (the “other”) to ensure their own success and stability. I loved the small details, like “their young, attractive wives and ... their prosperous businesses”. Seemed particularly timely, for all that it was written in the 80s, and I completely get why people would think it “too dark” for a horror story.
The Vow on Halloween - Interesting editorial point, that the authorship of this one was a little muddy. I liked the simplicity; woman can’t escape her fiancé, even in death!, and the older, antique feel of the writing.
I noticed the repetition of public domain ones, probably added in to fill gaps: The Young Tamlane (Sir Walter Scott), Hallowe’en in a Suburb (Lovecraft), Ulalume (Poe). Then of course the book seemed to be hinged around the Bradbury story, The October Game, which is suitably creepy. I maybe could’ve done without The November Game, but it’s just fine for a follow-up.
There was an odd vein of “masculine” versus “feminine” stories throughout. The masculine ones (Three Doors, Riding Bitch, Hornets, Pumpkin Night) are all written by men so far as I could tell and all about men who lose their wife/girlfriend and are angsty about it. The two “feminine” ones (By the Book, Night Out), both written by women, feature wives who are more than their unappreciative, oblivious husbands and children realize and who seize opportunities to escape the drudgery of housewifery. I’m tempted to add Auntie Elspeth’s Halloween Story to the “feminine” list, for a uniquely spinstery main character.
There were also several stories that got so caught up in their own ~drama~ and ~imagery~ that it was hard to tell what they were even about or why I should care. Riding Bitch and Three Doors fall into this category, as did the two (or eleven, since one was ten snippets) Steve Rasnic Tem ones. With several, I liked the main image or character, but the plot was dumb or nonexistent (One Thin Dime, Pranks, Memories of El Dia De Los Muertos, Sugar Skulls). A couple others were novellas (Pork Pie Hat, Tesselations), and it took so freaking long to get through them that their spookiness was kind of cancelled out by the end.
Anyway, there are a *lot* of stories in this book (33!), so I feel it was worth my time and got me in the seasonal mood. 🎃