It’s enough Halloween nostalgia to brain you with a rock, drag you through the woods, and sacrifice you to a witch in another dimension, but in a nice way.

80. All Hallows – Christopher Golden

This neighborhood is seriously falling apart even without the intrusion of creepy little possibly ghost children that may or may not truly need help and some super scary dude with flames for eyes. There’s the family that sets up the local haunted attraction in their woods who won’t be able to do it anymore because they’re losing their house. There’s the family with the drunk cheater husband whose wife finally draws a line in the sand after he disappears and shows back up like he didn’t inconvenience every member of the family for the umpteenth time. There are the best friends who are in their last Halloween together because school’s going to be over and then they have to live their own lives, but first one’s family’s annual party. And that couple who moved there under weird pretenses and everyone isn’t sure if they’re actually child molesters or not. Plus the other gossips and assorted elderly who don’t want whippersnappers on their lawn. It’s 1984 in the suburbs, a perfect time for Halloween frivolity, like, really perfect.

When the weird little ghosty seeming children show up, everyone wants to help them, which is clearly a mistake. If I’ve learned anything from all those evil child movies and books, it’s to avoid children, especially on Halloween and especially if they look old timey (even on Halloween), because they probably have some agenda beyond getting sick on candy that involves sacrificing people who don’t avoid them. That’s not exactly what’s happening in this story, but, it does back me up to some extent. They’re running from the “Cunning Man,” who has flames for eyes and then takes over the absolute worst dude in the neighborhood who isn’t part of the child molesting and killing couple. It’s not a good look, but even this ancient style folklore dude isn’t keen on that couple.

All Hallows is told through many perspectives of different ages, which is different and gives you more inner life of the neighborhood. Although speaking of that, I would have liked a bitter cynical recluse perspective, someone who knew what was happening and mumbled about it, just for fun. Overall though, All Hallows has an ensemble worth spending a Halloween with for certain.

 

Horace can see all the Halloween action and watch out for kidnapping folkloric creatures.

 

Wisting, however, being new, takes phone calls from the folkloric creatures and ghosts too. Happy Hallow-Wisting!