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Trick or Treat
Cemetery Dance Publications is very proud to announce the debut volume of a brand new series: Trick or Treat. A collection of five terrifying full-length novellas, Trick or Treat is a celebration of all things Halloween!
Hornets by Al Sarrantonio:
During the hottest October ever, something evil is about to happen. Peter Kerlan, famous children's horror author, finds that not all horrors are mere fiction. For in the midst of a late autumn heat wave, a force of terror is unleashed, along with the true meaning of Halloween — all in the guise of an orange and black insect...
Tessellations by Gary A. Braunbeck:
A haunted, young actress returns home after the death of her father to discover that her brother has seemingly gone insane. Over the course of one unnerving night she first witnesses — and then becomes a part of — a Halloween nightmare that, piece by piece, physically brings back the past, rips a hole in her consensual reality, and allows demons, monsters, and even a miracle or two to shamble into this world and transform it into the darkest of fairy tales...
The Eighth Devil by Nancy A. Collins:
In the sleepy little farming town of Seven Devils it is said that on Halloween night the Eighth Devil wanders the countryside, hunting down naughty children and dragging them down to Hell. While trapped inside a house of horrors, four young boys discover the terrible truth behind this terrifying legend...
Miss Henry's Bottles by Rick Hautala:
As far as Andy Draper and his friends are concerned, Miss Henry is the strangest — and scariest — person in the small coastal town of Stonepoint. Then one October night, a harmless prank goes wrong, and Mark is forced to deal with "Old Lady Henry" face to face. When he begins to delve into the secret she's been harboring all these years, what he learns has surprising and tragic consequences
Scramburg, U.S.A. by Thomas Tessier:
Who says you can't go home again? In the summer of 1962 some people decided that they'd had enough of teenage punk Howie Hackett, so they threw him out of town. Howie came back and made them pay... but it didn't turn out the way he'd hoped. Now Halloween is coming, and so is Howie — one more time...
Hornets by Al Sarrantonio:
During the hottest October ever, something evil is about to happen. Peter Kerlan, famous children's horror author, finds that not all horrors are mere fiction. For in the midst of a late autumn heat wave, a force of terror is unleashed, along with the true meaning of Halloween — all in the guise of an orange and black insect...
Tessellations by Gary A. Braunbeck:
A haunted, young actress returns home after the death of her father to discover that her brother has seemingly gone insane. Over the course of one unnerving night she first witnesses — and then becomes a part of — a Halloween nightmare that, piece by piece, physically brings back the past, rips a hole in her consensual reality, and allows demons, monsters, and even a miracle or two to shamble into this world and transform it into the darkest of fairy tales...
The Eighth Devil by Nancy A. Collins:
In the sleepy little farming town of Seven Devils it is said that on Halloween night the Eighth Devil wanders the countryside, hunting down naughty children and dragging them down to Hell. While trapped inside a house of horrors, four young boys discover the terrible truth behind this terrifying legend...
Miss Henry's Bottles by Rick Hautala:
As far as Andy Draper and his friends are concerned, Miss Henry is the strangest — and scariest — person in the small coastal town of Stonepoint. Then one October night, a harmless prank goes wrong, and Mark is forced to deal with "Old Lady Henry" face to face. When he begins to delve into the secret she's been harboring all these years, what he learns has surprising and tragic consequences
Scramburg, U.S.A. by Thomas Tessier:
Who says you can't go home again? In the summer of 1962 some people decided that they'd had enough of teenage punk Howie Hackett, so they threw him out of town. Howie came back and made them pay... but it didn't turn out the way he'd hoped. Now Halloween is coming, and so is Howie — one more time...
380 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Richard Chizmar
252 books3,519 followersRichard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 1, 2024
Hefty book that I enjoyed overall--would give a 3.5 stars if allowed. Some of the stories aren't super-Halloween centric like all the stories in my October Screams anthology(shameless plug baby!) but that didn't bother me too much. The Braunbeck story was the only one I didn't finish--The Sarrantonio story I'd read before, a loooooong time ago, still good. The Tessier story was the standout for me, though the ending was a bit anticlimactic. All in all, still a fun book if you can find it for a decent price.
October 13, 2023
not terrible, but did not live up to the reviews that spiked my interest in this book. Contains 5 Novellas the first 2 being very mediocre, second 2 fairly good and the last being the best though not really Halloween themed. If you can find a copy cheap it's a fairly good book but not worth the $80 I paid for it.
November 30, 2012
This was a pretty good set of five novellas by different authors using Halloween as a theme. So we get five meaty stories that are long enough for you to get immersed in each one. The first thing I took away from this reading is that this is an eclectic set. Some stories were not horror at all, some were quiet horror, and some were more classic heavy horror. Of note, none of these are extreme horror (which is good, imo). The second thing I took away was the fact that not all of these are necessarily Halloween stories, a couple here it felt like the story was already written but the author threw in the fact that something is happening on the day of Halloween to make it a Halloween themed book. Nevertheless, the strength of the stories overpowers my gripes that I mentioned.
*very slight spoilers*
The first story is by Al Sarrantonio called "Hornets", who likes to do a lot of Halloween stories, but this is not a strong one, it’s a loose one. It is a story about a writer who has writers block and a problem with Hornets invading his home. But at this same time his wife disappears and he suddenly becomes a very prolific writer churning out Children Halloween themed books almost daily, which obviously means something is not right. The second story is by Gary Braunbeck called "Tessellations", and is a strong Halloween story telling of a sister who finally returns home because her aunt calls her and says her brother is acting strange. She arrives home to a strange nightmare that is happening on Halloween night perpetrated by her brother and a Mr. Jack Pumpkinhead from The Wizard of Oz world. Nancy Collins's "The Eighth Devil" is next and follows a bunch of teenage hoodlums looking to make trouble on Halloween night and decide to trash the home of a man who owns the local market who yelled at them earlier in the night. This idea does not turn out well. Rick Hautala's "Miss Henry's Bottles" is not a horror story, nor is it a Halloween story, it just happens to take place on Halloween night; and it felt like it was a story molded to fit the Halloween theme. Regardless this was the best story of the bunch, and tells the story of a young boy named Andy who, along with all the young kids, is scared of the local crazy old lady Miss Henry, but Andy will soon find the truth about Miss Henry. And lastly is Thomas Tessier's "Scramburg, U.S.A" which is a kind of Quentin Tarantino tale of a loser 18 year-old who has preyed on his foster parents for years and the local police officer decides it’s time to run him out of town by beating him up and telling him to never set foot back in the town, but that’s not what happens as the youth decides to get even. This story again has not much to do with Halloween.
*end very slight spoilers*
I can honestly say I enjoyed each story in this anthology. All the stories may not conform to Halloween and Horror, but they are good stories. My favorite was Rick Hautala's story, but Nancy Collin's and Thomas Tessier's stories were good too. My least favorite story was the first one, even though it was still enjoyable. I recommend this anthology, but be forewarned as Halloween is not a strong theme in all the stories and not all of the stories are really horror. Regardless it’s still a good solid collection of stories.
*very slight spoilers*
The first story is by Al Sarrantonio called "Hornets", who likes to do a lot of Halloween stories, but this is not a strong one, it’s a loose one. It is a story about a writer who has writers block and a problem with Hornets invading his home. But at this same time his wife disappears and he suddenly becomes a very prolific writer churning out Children Halloween themed books almost daily, which obviously means something is not right. The second story is by Gary Braunbeck called "Tessellations", and is a strong Halloween story telling of a sister who finally returns home because her aunt calls her and says her brother is acting strange. She arrives home to a strange nightmare that is happening on Halloween night perpetrated by her brother and a Mr. Jack Pumpkinhead from The Wizard of Oz world. Nancy Collins's "The Eighth Devil" is next and follows a bunch of teenage hoodlums looking to make trouble on Halloween night and decide to trash the home of a man who owns the local market who yelled at them earlier in the night. This idea does not turn out well. Rick Hautala's "Miss Henry's Bottles" is not a horror story, nor is it a Halloween story, it just happens to take place on Halloween night; and it felt like it was a story molded to fit the Halloween theme. Regardless this was the best story of the bunch, and tells the story of a young boy named Andy who, along with all the young kids, is scared of the local crazy old lady Miss Henry, but Andy will soon find the truth about Miss Henry. And lastly is Thomas Tessier's "Scramburg, U.S.A" which is a kind of Quentin Tarantino tale of a loser 18 year-old who has preyed on his foster parents for years and the local police officer decides it’s time to run him out of town by beating him up and telling him to never set foot back in the town, but that’s not what happens as the youth decides to get even. This story again has not much to do with Halloween.
*end very slight spoilers*
I can honestly say I enjoyed each story in this anthology. All the stories may not conform to Halloween and Horror, but they are good stories. My favorite was Rick Hautala's story, but Nancy Collin's and Thomas Tessier's stories were good too. My least favorite story was the first one, even though it was still enjoyable. I recommend this anthology, but be forewarned as Halloween is not a strong theme in all the stories and not all of the stories are really horror. Regardless it’s still a good solid collection of stories.
September 8, 2023
Enjoyable as a whole, but not AT ALL sufficient as a "Halloween" anthology, considering the stories are as follows:
HORNETS: Well-written, but repetitive, and has minimal references to Halloween. 3/5
TESSELLATIONS: Takes place on Halloween--but it's nonsensical, interminable garbage. 1/5
THE EIGHTH DEVIL: Starts as an excellent, nostalgic story, then becomes suddenly, shockingly perverse, to the point that it no longer has any place in a book like this. 2/5
MISS HENRY'S BOTTLE: Generally sweet and nostalgic, but achingly repetitive. 2.5/5
SCRAMBURG, U.S.A.: The best-written by far--but Halloween doesn't play a part until literally the last 9 pages. 4/5
HORNETS: Well-written, but repetitive, and has minimal references to Halloween. 3/5
TESSELLATIONS: Takes place on Halloween--but it's nonsensical, interminable garbage. 1/5
THE EIGHTH DEVIL: Starts as an excellent, nostalgic story, then becomes suddenly, shockingly perverse, to the point that it no longer has any place in a book like this. 2/5
MISS HENRY'S BOTTLE: Generally sweet and nostalgic, but achingly repetitive. 2.5/5
SCRAMBURG, U.S.A.: The best-written by far--but Halloween doesn't play a part until literally the last 9 pages. 4/5
October 7, 2011
Not horrory enough.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews