Synopsis:
Hugo Award winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow presents this chilling horror anthology of 19 original short stories from a world-class line-up of the masters of horror, delving into the histories and traditions of the spookiest season of the year.
Featuring stories by Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Garth Nix and many more.
Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos—festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.
A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around.
From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world.
With stories from:
Josh Malerman
Lee Murray
Rich Larson
Clay McLeod Chapman
Livia Llewellyn
Michael Marshall Smith
Stephen Graham Jones
Linda D. Addison
Christopher Golden
Alma Katsu
Brian Evenson
Siobhan Carroll
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Theresa DeLucci
Garth Nix
Jeffrey Ford
Richard Kadrey
Nathan Ballingrud
John Langan
Review:
If there is one evening each year when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead is paper thin, it’s Halloween. Here in the United States, kids go out collecting candy from their neighbors, masking who they really are, on the evening of October 31. The roots of our holiday go back hundreds of years as the evening before All Saints Day. In other countries and cultures, there are other holidays – the Celtic celebration of Samhain, the Mexican festival of Día de los Muertos — all right around the end of October and all about the living and the dead. The latest short story anthology from award-winning editor Ellen Datlow revels in the fun, the shenanigans, and the terror of Halloween with tons of tricks and treats for readers.
Personally, I found a wide variety of stories — some that I really loved and will be thinking about for a long time, and others that didn’t really click as much for me. Some are very heavy on the horror-front, while a few others felt almost like walking the streets, going house to house looking for those full-size candy bars. One story even felt like a fever dream as I read it, unsure what was real and what wasn’t from start to finish. Overall, it’s a strong collection of stories that will work differently for different people and I would definitely recommend picking All Hallows Eve up this year.
With all anthologies, I like to highlight a few of my faves —
Treats by Clay McLeod Chapman: I’ll admit that when this story first started, I didn’t like it. There is an odd cadence to it and it is constantly leaving the reader feeling off-kilter. The more I read, though, the more I understood that’s what Chapman was going for. There was an overwhelming sadness that blankets Treats, but that sadness dissipates more and more as the story goes. Perhaps the best part of the story — and one that left me more than a little emotional — was the final word of the entire tale. But, the brilliance of the story is that the final word can be interpreted differently, depending on the reader, almost like the final scene in Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
Her Mother’s Business by Garth Nix: Nix, largely known for young adult and middle grade genre books, really flexes his horror muscles here and seems to have a blast with it. I really dug this story, which actually starts fairly innocently with Phyllis, a reluctant assistant to her mother and brothers as they run a scam on the public as fortune tellers and mediums. There’s almost a Scooby Doo-esque element to it all…until it takes a hard left turn on All Hallows Eve.
Forever Again by Michael Marshall Smith: OK…there may not have been a main character that I disliked more in this collection than the lead in Smith’s story. The tale is told in two seemingly distinct worlds — one with a man trying to have his own Halloween in spite of his wife’s and children’s plans, and another with a weary traveler trudging through a desolate landscape. It’s unclear what these storylines have to do with one another until nearly the end and the reveal is like a gutpunch. It’s a fascinating story that I didn’t always like, and that’s kind of why I wanted to add my thoughts here. It’s really gonna bounce around in my skull for a while to come.
The Kuker by Alma Katsu: I keep waffling back and forth between this story and Treats as my favorites from All Hallows Eve and there’s a good reason why — there are similar themes of loss of a loved one heading into Halloween night. With The Kuker, I found myself running to Google to look up what a kuker even was and the festivals and celebrations in Eastern Europe where one might wear a kuker, which I actually appreciated. I love learning about new things and if I’d just waited, Katsu would have taught me what I needed to know as I traveled through her story. By the time I finished her story, I felt…complete. Perhaps out of all the stories in All Hallows Eve, Alma Katsu’s The Kuker probably started and ended the best.
Overall, I definitely would recommend this collection. I didn’t vibe with each and every story, but the ones that worked…really worked. All Hallows Eve is a fine collection worth your time and attention this spooky season.
Thank you to Titan Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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