We’re on hiatus from the #LOHFReadathon ONE more time – and then we’re back to it. I promise. Don’t worry, Halloween Season is worth it.
Disclosure:
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for review consideration. They give me no money, nor do they in any way influence my thoughts – those are 100% my own for better or worse.
Edition:
Paperback
Synopsis:
Halloween is the most wonderful part of the year for many of us. For dedicated fans, the season begins when the leaves start turning autumn colors and doesn’t finish until Hallowtide ends in November. With it comes a whole lot of fun: scary movies and stories, haunted houses, seasonal sweets, spooky decorations, costume parties, and of course trick or treat. But Halloween is also a deeply spiritual time for some; it’s an opportunity to remember and honor loved ones who have passed on.
Master storyteller Lucy A. Snyder has filled her cauldron with everything that Halloween means to her and distilled it into a spell-binding volume of stories. Within these pages you’ll find thrills and chills, hilarity and horrors, the sweet and the naughty.
One of the best things about Halloween is you don’t have to be yourself. So go ahead and try on a new mask or two… you may discover hidden talents as a witch, a pirate, a space voyager, a zombie fighter, or even an elf. This is the perfect collection to celebrate the season of the dead or to summon those heady autumn vibes whenever you like. You may even find a couple of tales that evoke a certain winter holiday that keeps trying to crowd in on the fun.
In the worlds within this book, every day is Halloween!
My Thoughts:
Before we get too deeply into this, I just want to say that this was my first time reading Lucy A. Snyder, and this was a total impulse request on my part because I’m bonkerballs in love with that cover, and RDS Press has never done me wrong.
She writes stuff that is tonally very different from a lot of what I read, and it was honestly very refreshing.
The Stories:
Beggar’s Night
An adorable poem about the magic of Halloween.
Hazelnuts and Yummy Mummies
A writer at a Halloween convention ends up accidentally ingesting hallucinogens via a laced cookie.
Cosmic Cola
A highly exclusive Halloween Party turns into a Lovecraftian nightmare for new girl in town Millie.
Visions of the Dream Witch
A woman and her cousin cross paths with a very bad witch and her minions, causing them to seek healing from an old woman in the swamps. This is one very cool creature feature.
What Dwells Within
This bit of urban dark fantasy deals with necromancy and demonic possession.
The Porcupine Boy
A patient advocate decides to provide extra assistance to one patient in particular.
This one is really fun and socially relevant.
“One cannot regret killing a Nazi.”
Fact.
In the Family
INTENSE sibling rivalry and allergies are at play here. I particularly liked that this one was narrated in a way that made it seems as though the reader is being spoken to directly (but not in a fourth wall way – more like you are playing the role of the character the narrator is speaking at). I’m sure there’s a name for this, but I’m an English major, so how the hell would I know what it is?
The Kind Detective
A cosmic terror causes a detective to find a new calling.
A Preference for Silence
A space crew on a very long journey selects the two most likely candidates to stay awake while the rest cryo-sleep in order to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Wake Up Naked Monkey You’re Going to Die
A mind-breaking Santa experience!
Why is Christmas always trying to butt in on Halloween’s time?!
The Great VüDü Teen Linux Zombie Massacre
A techy sort of ZomCom.
The House That Couldn’t Clean Itself
An experimental cleaning bot is just a little too good at its job.
After Hours
A little warning poem that the last two stories are going to be a little less family-friendly than what came before. This is such a cute idea!
The Toymaker’s Joy
This is another Christmas one, but is still seasonally appropriate as it takes place in October before the pre-Christmas toy-making rush.
An elf creates a very fancy new toy.
The Tingling Madness
Cthulu cultists and Chuck Tingle. Sound like a bizarre combination? It is.
Overall Rating:
While as I mentioned, these are tonally very different from my standard fare of bleak and depressing, Snyder’s focus on cosmic horror and snark were more than enough to keep me interested.
I think that this would be a great choice for just about anyone, honestly. And be prepared to see this one come up again in some future Reading Lists that I’m not going to tell you about yet so that we can all be surprised if I actually finish them, and nobody will be terribly bummed if I don’t.
About the Author:
(from Goodreads)
Lucy A. Snyder is a five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning writer and the author of the novels Spellbent, Shotgun Sorceress, and Switchblade Goddess. She also authored the nonfiction book Shooting Yourself in the Head For Fun and Profit: A Writer’s Survival Guide and the story collections While the Black Stars Burn, Soft Apocalypses, Orchid Carousals, Sparks and Shadows, and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger.
Her writing has been translated into French, Italian, Russian, Czech and Japanese editions and has appeared in publications such as Apex Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, Steampunk World, In the Court of the Yellow King, Shadows Over Main Street, Qualia Nous, Seize The Night, Scary Out There, and Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 5.
She writes a column for Horror World and has written materials for the D6xD6 role-playing game system. In her day job, she edits online college courses for universities worldwide and occasionally helps write educational games.
Lucy lives in Columbus, Ohio and is a mentor in Seton Hill University’s MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction. You can learn more about her at www.lucysnyder.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @LucyASnyder.
Halloween Season By Lucy A. Snyder Raw Dog Screaming Press ISBN: 9781947879218 Expected Publication: October 5, 2020 Paperback, E-book 168 Pages Author's Website Publisher's Website
Fab review, I definitely am interested in this one. It sounds spooky and creepy. And I just need some more horror anthologies in my life in this season, though not sure how my Halloween TBR feels about more books. 😛
Yay! I think you’re gonna love it!!!
I just bought this one, I can’t wait to dive in!