Veris is wearing her pyjamas when she’s given a quest by the conqueror of her land. She needs to find his children. Or else.
“If you do not recover my children your village will be razed to the ground and burnt, and we will roast your people alive upon it and eat them.”
So, no pressure. I suppose they don’t call him the Tyrant for nothing.
It’s not like the north woods are dangerous or anything…
“They told us no one ever gets out.”
I appreciated that Veris isn’t a spring chicken when we meet her, not that pushing 40 is old by any stretch of the imagination. She’s already done the impossible so she’s bringing knowledge hard won by experience. She’s also bringing traumatic memories she didn’t have the last time she stepped into the woods.
I’m a huge fan of body horror so that sat well with me. I encountered a number of oddities in the north woods, my favourite of which were the guardians.
I enjoyed this read but I’m left wanting more. Details about Elmever: its history, its inhabitants, why it is the way it is. The full story of Veris’ first time there. The backstory of the Tyrant, because you know he has to have a backstory to become … that. I also wanted to get to know Eleonor and Aram better.
I’m sure I’ll get some of this in the sequel. There’s absolutely going to be a sequel. It’s been set up so there’s really no other option.
I’m keen to read it but part of me is frustrated too. I wish this had been a novel instead, one that fleshed this story out some more and provided a conclusion. My need to know is trumping my frustration, though, so I’ll definitely be there for the sequel.
“I’m ready to go back to … to the woods.”
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this novella.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
At the northern edge of a valley ruled by a ruthless foreign tyrant lies a wild forest, home to otherworldly creatures and dangerous magic. The local people know never to enter — for no one who strays into the north woods is ever seen again. No one, that is, except Veris Thorn.
When the children of the Tyrant vanish into the wood, Veris is summoned to rescue them. She has only one day before the creatures of the forest claim the children for their own. If she fails, her punishment will be swift and merciless.
To stand a chance of surviving the wood, Veris must evade traps and trickery, ancient monsters and false friends, and the haunting memory of her last journey into the forest.
Time is running short. One misstep will cost everything.
Grief is a monster. A real-world monster that ravages the body and mind and spirit.
You know how you can never truly know what another person is thinking? It turns out that’s not entirely accurate. Karina’s deepest, darkest imaginings have the uncanny ability to come true.
She’s always had this ability, although it used to be much easier to put this down to correlation rather than causation. Recent events have changed that somewhat. It’s pretty safe to say you might want to stay on Karina’s good side now or you may no longer have a good side.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t want this to happen. I know … somehow … you did this.”
Grief can distort the way you see things but in Karina’s case, her desperate need to be with her loved ones will have her coming face to face with the darkness.
This book doesn’t shy away from the depths of despair that threaten to overwhelm you when you’re grieving. Looking straight into the rawness of the pain and the guilt that can accompany it, this is at times an uncomfortable read but that’s how you know it’s done its job.
I would have liked some of the characters to be more fleshed out (maybe literally). I wish I could have met Karina’s father and spent more time exploring her relationship with her husband and son.
Things get fairly splatty, much to my delight. While I absolutely loved the body horror, I was hoping for a larger body count. That says more about me than the book, though. Unless we’re in a slasher where the blood is practically dripping off the pages, I’m going to be wanting more insides to become outsides.
I finished this read in one sitting. I wish it had been longer, not because it was lacking but because I wanted to spend more time in the darkness with Karina. I’m keen to read more books by this author.
Think positive thoughts.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and DarkLit Press for the opportunity to read this novella.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
What if every terrible thing imagined came true? Every fleeting, nightmarish thought a reality? For grief-stricken Karina, her newfound ability to turn her worst daydreams into palpable truths has sent her into a downward spiral of depression and guilt. Coupled with the appearance of an enigmatic shadow figure and visions of her dead family, she grapples to maintain her sanity while desperately attempting to harness her abilities and reunite with her loved ones.
“Everything seems fine until it ain’t. And then we come to see it wasn’t never ‘fine’.”
This is one of the most harrowing books I’ve ever read. One of the best, without a doubt, but also one of the most heartbreaking.
Before I even made it to the first chapter I knew this was going to be a confronting read. Robert Stephens, a relative of the author, died in the 1930’s at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.
Robert Stephens, the book’s main character, is sent to The Gracetown School for Boys. He’s only twelve years old when he’s sentenced to six months at the Reformatory for kicking a white boy.
This is Jim Crow Florida in the 1950’s and it’s just as brutal as I feared it would be.
“Nobody stays nice”
But despite everything its characters endure, their courage, strength and resilience shine brighter than I’d dared to hope.
“This isn’t everything. There’s more than this.”
I expected this to be Robert’s story. I wasn’t anticipating the chapters voiced by Gloria, Robbie’s sister. Getting to know Gloria was a double edged sword for me. I grew to love her but that came with its own fears.
It was painful enough witnessing what Robert and the other boys at the Reformatory were subjected to. Worrying about Gloria as well, almost certain that the only ways her story could end were with the loss of her brother or her sacrifice to save him, made this book even more stressful.
“I may not be brave most times, but I can be brave for Robbie.”
The brutality of the physical and emotional abuse the children in the Reformatory experienced was bad enough. That a town full of adults who could and should have protected them but didn’t, that’s a whole other level of injustice.
Books like this are so hard to read. If they’re not, something is very wrong. Books like this are necessary, though. I loved this book. I hated this book. You need to read this book. Just make sure you have tissues in arm’s reach while you’re reading it.
“Go on,” Blue said, voice husky. “Ask me what I know about this place. Ask me.”
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Jim Crow Florida, 1950.
Twelve-year-old Robert Stephens Jr., who for a trivial scuffle with a white boy is sent to The Gracetown School for Boys. But the segregated reformatory is a chamber of horrors, haunted by the boys that have died there.
In order to survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the school’s ghosts – only they have their own motivations…
This is my first Christina Henry read and now I need to read everything she’s ever written. I loved the blurb and expected this book to be fun, but not this much fun!
Desperately trying to survive the horror stories they’ve been cast in without their consent are Celia, Allie and Maggie.
Celia has a husband and young daughter she doesn’t recognise. She owns a restaurant near her home in a town she doesn’t know. Unsure if she’s experiencing amnesia or something more nefarious, Celia suspects that this is not her life.
“You’re the number one suspect.”
Allie’s girl’s weekend was hijacked by her friends’ boyfriends. Now she’s using her horror movie knowledge to avoid being added to the body count.
“Movies are fun and all, but that kind of stuff doesn’t usually happen in real life. Usually.”
Maggie has twelve hours to successfully complete the Maze. Her daughter’s life depends on it. Although characters reference The Hunger Games while Maggie does her best to ensure her insides don’t become her outsides, I kept thinking of Squid Game.
“Let the game begin”
There was plenty of action and blood spatter, and I enjoyed the anticipation as the body count grew. I loved figuring out what was going on along with the women and watching them use their individual skills and knowledge to outwit, outplay and outlast.
“Men always underestimate women”
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books introducing me to a new favourite author.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Celia wakes up in a house that isn’t hers. She doesn’t recognise her husband or the little girl who claims to be her daughter. She tries to remember who she was before, because she is certain that this life — the little family-run restaurant she owns, the gossipy small town she lives in — is not her own.
Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip — but then her friend’s boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. The cabin looks recently assembled and there are no animals or other life anywhere in the forest. Nothing about the place seems right. Then, in the middle of the night, someone bangs on the cabin door…
Maggie, along with twelve other women, wakes up in a shipping container with the number three stamped on the back of her T-shirt. If she wants to see her daughter Paige again, Maggie must complete The Maze — a deadly high-stakes obstacle course.
I was so keen to read this anthology. I was anticipating demonic Santas, murderous reindeer and a bunch of unfortunates getting impaled on Christmas trees and strung up with lights. Basically, a not so silent night.
I was so focused on the cover image that I entirely missed where it clearly states ‘and other horrors’ and ‘winter solstice’. My initial surprise quickly turned into delight because, while I got Big Bad Santa, I also encountered an array of local legends and the darkness that lurks during the longest night of the year.
The Importance of a Tidy Home by Christopher Golden
Freddy knows all about the Schnabelperchten, who come one night a year to ensure households are prepared for the new year. Being homeless, it’s as though Freddy is invisible to them. This year will be different.
I loved the growing dread of this story. I hadn’t heard of the Schnabelperchten. I would be so dead.
“Chi chi chi.”
The Ones He Takes by Benjamin Percy
Joel’s family made it onto Santa’s naughty list last year and I am more delighted than I probably should be that Santa is the Big Bad of this story.
“You’re safe here, buddy. I’ll protect you.”
His Castle by Alma Katsu
Trevor and Cate have come to Wales for the holidays. A few of the locals are keen to introduce them to the tradition of Mari Lwyd, the grey mare. But Trevor and Cate grew up in Wales and they know a thing or two themselves.
“There’ll be revellers coming to your door one night”
The Mawkin Field by Terry Dowling
This story is set in Australia so of course there’s a fridge filled with beer in a random field. Colin Traynor stops by for a cold one.
Don’t disturb the cupboards!
The Blessing of the Waters by Nick Mamatas
Nasos has come to implore Father Gus to go ahead with the blessing of the waters. Father Gus may not believe in Christmas goblins but Nasos sure does.
“You can’t cancel it, Father. It’ll be your fault, what happens next, if you do.”
Dry and Ready by Glen Hirshberg
Aliyah’s father made his family promise to honour their Hanukkah tradition. She doesn’t know why it was so important to him but they grudgingly go through the motions every year.
I was lulled into a false sense of security for some of this story before being blindsided in the most wonderful way.
“So they know they’re remembered.”
Last Drinks at Bondi Beach by Garth Nix
Light and darkness, Bondi Beach and predators.
Then you must bring her here. Into the dark. Bring her to me.
Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due
Johnny comes face to face with the creature from his nightmares.
Always take your shot, Johnny.
The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey
Every year, the scar on Laura’s arm begins to itch and she prepares for her Christmas lockdown.
“I’m not going to end up like Reiner”
Our Recent Unpleasantness by Stephen Graham Jones
Jenner absolutely didn’t see what he saw that solstice night.
“I want my two seconds back, please”
All the Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin
It’s time for the Airing of Grievances portion of Festivus night.
Grievances should be directed toward a person you know
Löyly Sow-na by Josh Malerman
Russell has travelled to Finland with Hannele, his partner of six months. It’s time for him to meet her father.
“What are your motivations?”
Cold by Cassandra Khaw
Welcome to the apocalypse.
It had died slowly, by degrees, choking wetly on denial of its circumstances.
Gravé of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren
As the most attractive woman on the island, Jackie is sure that she will be the Beauty this year.
If they got this wrong, there could be consequences – and had been, in the past.
The Visitation by Jeffrey Ford
This Christmas Eve, there may be an angel at Jill and Owen’s door. Or maybe it’s just an elderly man who farts a lot.
From sunrise on the day of Christmas Eve to sundown on the day after Christmas, if a stranger comes to your door seeking shelter and assistance, you are compelled to help them.
The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickert
Darla is going to meet her partner’s son. Don’t let his cute teddy bear slippers fool you. This kid is in charge.
“I can send you away too if I want.”
No Light, No Light by Gemma Files
This story brings an apocalypse that’s climate change and vulcanology, with what’s quite possibly my favourite ship, the Naglfar.
Everything about me is a lie.
After Words by John Langan
Thirty years ago today, he last saw Maria Granza.
There were thirty-three days left for her to complete the Great Work we had begun. Until the winter solstice.
My favourite stories in this anthology were by Christopher Golden, Benjamin Percy and Glen Hirshberg but there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. My inner bah humbug was satisfied, my love of mythology was catered to and I found some new (to me) authors whose work I need to catch up on.
This is one of those books that you’re likely to enjoy regardless of whether you’re on Santa’s naughty or nice list.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this anthology.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world — yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together — for better and for worse.
From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbours, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.
Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry…
Featuring stories from:
Nadia Bulkin Terry Dowling Tananarive Due Jeffrey Ford Christopher Golden Stephen Graham Jones Glen Hirshberg Richard Kadrey Alma Katsu Cassandra Khaw John Langan Josh Malerman Nick Mamatas Garth Nix Benjamin Percy M. Rickert Kaaron Warren
It’s Friday the 13th and you know what that means! It’s time to visit Camp Crystal Lake! But first we need to escape from hell.
Welcome to Friday the 13th: January 2006 edition, the book where if there’s a slur you really, really don’t want to read, you’re almost destined to find it. Probably more than once.
When Wayne Sanchez, the Daytona Beach Devil Boy, is executed, he anticipates fanboying over Satan. Instead, the rapist and murderer finds himself in the thirteenth circle of hell with none other than the legendary Jason Voorhees, his other hero. The hell experience isn’t quite as advertised, though, so Devil Boy starts looking for a ticket out of hell. He thinks he’s found one because if anyone’s going to be able to find their way topside again, it’s gonna be Jason.
Wayne riles up some of the locals and pretty soon they’re out of there like bats out of hell. Or a bunch of serial killers and rapists.
Destiny had led Wayne Sanchez to Jason Voorhees, even if that destiny had meant the extinction of his earthly life.
So, this is really bad news for the hundreds of drunk and stoned party goers who conveniently ignored every single Friday the 13th slaughter up until now. Unfortunately for them but fortunately for those of us reading about them, the University of Forest Green sophomores aren’t as invincible as they’d like to think they are.
Here you’ll meet such party goers as Josh Logan, Trey Leblanc, James Fitzgerald, Lisa Applebaum, Shawna Black and Gretchen Andrews but don’t bother trying to remember their names because most of them will be casualties of the “Friday the 13th crime-wave”.
Then the first scream filled the air.
This Friday’s victims are lining up to be decapitated, garrotted, strangled and impaled.
I’d been anticipating this read since the last Friday the 13th but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book in the series. There wasn’t as much Jason as I’d hope there would be and I absolutely hated all of the slurs, so much so that I started skimming the book instead of looking forward to the carnage.
Next Friday the 13th read: Hate-Kill-Repeat, in which Jason meets a cultish serial killer couple.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Jason Voorhees. Unstoppable. Camp Crystal Lake’s most infamous son is back, and he’s doing what he does best!
When serial killer Wayne Sanchez was executed, he was looking forward to meeting his hero, Jason, in Hell. When they discover there is a way back up into the real world, Sanchez persuades Jason to go back with him, assembling an army of Hell’s worst inhabitants along the way. The world will soon be at the mercy of an army of the most terrifying and infamous killers in history brought back from the dead, with Jason at their head!
Full of thrills, spills and good old-fashioned slasher mayhem, Hell Lake proves that death is not the end … of fear.
🎵 What’s New Pussycat? 🎵 Spider people! Do you need to know more than that? I didn’t. For the sake of argument, though, let’s assume that you do. 🎵 It’s Not Unusual 🎵
University staff actively seek Cam out to be their next writer in residence. They travel to him to offer him the position and there’s not even an interview. Which, you know, has red flag written all over it.
Cam and Quinn (🎵 She’s a Lady 🎵) know horror movies so they should know better. They do know better.
“Look, I’m just sayin. If it smells creepy, it is creepy.”
They go to Edenville anyway. 🎵 I’m Coming Home 🎵
On the way, they pass a burnt garage, which you don’t need to know. I just wanted an excuse to say 🎵 Burning Down the House. 🎵
Do they get what they deserve? Does anyone deserve what they get? That’s for you to decide.
I only know that there’s no way I would get out of Edenville alive because I would’ve been sucked in by the nice old lady offering me free ice cream samples. In my defence, there’s chocolate marshmallow, caramel coffee and birthday cake on offer, which all sound to die for.
We’re all rotting ribbons in the end.
I cherish having the opportunity to read advanced copies, especially when they’re debut novels. It’s like I’m in on this wonderful secret that’s about to be shared with the world. I’m so excited to have been able to love and laugh and be grossed out by this book early and I can’t wait to watch others discover this amazing new author. I need both a reread and Sam Rebelein’s next book ASAP. 🎵 Do What You Gotta Do 🎵
“How was it?”
“Strange. You?”
“Fucking bizarre.”
This read was so much more fun than I expected, and I expected a lot. It’s culty, it’s body horror, it’s people messing with stuff they have no business messing with and expecting different outcomes. There are sunflowers, berries and a character that loves 🎵 Tom Jones 🎵. And did I mention the spider people?!
“Don’t say nobody warned you.”
Ichabod!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
When young horror writer Cam Marion is offered a teaching opportunity at a prestigious liberal arts college upstate, his long-time girlfriend Quinn is skeptical. She knows the college is located in Edenville, in infamous Renfield County. The county where people seem to go missing. The county where Quinn’s high school best friend was mysteriously killed. Quinn figures the job opportunity is a trap somehow, so she follows Cam upstate to investigate some of the county’s mysteries (including her own).
She quickly discovers that there’s an entire society dedicated to solving Renfield’s many riddles. A society that puts on plays about Renfield’s macabre, blood-soaked history. A society that meets in the library basement once a week. A society made up of people who might not be people at all… Meanwhile, Cam discovers that his newest story idea isn’t an idea so much as it is a vision of another world. A world that the faculty at Edenville College need his help to access before it accesses them.
Halloween is almost here. The pumpkins have been carved. The corn maze is ready to go. You may have noticed the streets of Pleasant Brook are quieter than usual, though.
Maybe it’s because people are working and studying remotely at the moment. Or maybe it’s because people have been masking recently, and not just because of COVID.
“It was because of the weirdos in masks.”
This is all Lisa Owen’s fault.
If you’re unfortunate enough to be written into this book, it’s more than likely you’ll wind up splattered across its pages.
I absolutely intended to remember the names and backstories of everyone I met but then abandoned this lofty idea when I realised that the average time between meeting a person and seeing their insides was about a chapter.
After getting to know a bunch of the nearly departed, I settled in and waited for the book to tell me who the main characters were going to be. Not that being a main character gives you immunity from the virus spreading through this increasingly sleepy town.
There’s blood, there’s gore and why yes, that person is spineless. It’s carnage in Pleasant Brook this October and thankfully it’s the descriptive kind.
The thing’s head exploded. Not only exploded but damn near disintegrated into an expanding geyser of gristle which splattered all over its shoulders and ruined neck, leaving nothing behind.
Maybe you shouldn’t choose a favourite character.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Crystal Lake Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
This Halloween, a malevolent, creeping horror invades a small, isolated town nestled deep in the Adirondacks. It cares nothing for this town’s secrets, prejudices, or flaws. Its only desires are to consume everything in its path and spread, until nothing else remains.
A small group of people stand in its way. They are the leftovers, the ignored, the excluded, and the dismissed. However, as the evil grows, they prove to be the only ones strong enough to stand and fight.
But how can they prevail against this power? It is ancient, pitiless, and unstoppable.
It’s Stephen Graham Jones. It’s time travel. It’s a sci-fi slasher.
Even if I wasn’t already convinced by those selling points, I would have only needed to take one look at Rafael Albuquerque’s incredible cover artwork to decide I needed this graphic novel in my life.
Welcome to 2112. It’s a good thing time travel exists so we can go back and prevent the apocalypse which, if I’m being completely honest, arrived later than I thought it would.
So, who in our group of outcasts are we going to send back in time to save the world? Humanity’s best hope is … a linguist with no fighting experience.
Go back in time. Kill Columbus. Save the world from America.
I hope Tad’s ready for a steep learning curve.
This volume includes the first six issues of the series. I love the concept and am keen to find out what the world will look like if Tad succeeds in his mission. I think I need a reread, though, to remove some lingering questions marks above my head.
While I had no trouble following what was happening in 1492, 2112 baffled me at times. I ended up borrowing the six individual issues from the library but they didn’t include the helpful summaries I was hoping would help me fill in the blanks.
I expect my experience with this graphic novel will mirror that of the first volume of Monstress. At first I didn’t really get it. A reread converted me and it became one of my favourites. I’m looking forward to saying the same about Earthdivers.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The year is 2112, and it’s the apocalypse exactly as expected: rivers receding, oceans rising, civilisation crumbling. Humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert and figured out where everything took a turn for the worst: America.
Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own — a reluctant linguist named Tad — on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn’t an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him. As the horror of the task ahead unfolds and Tad’s commitment is tested, his actions could trigger a devastating new fate for his friends and the future.
Join Stephen Graham Jones and artist Davide Gianfelice for Earthdivers, Vol. 1, the beginning of an unforgettable ongoing sci-fi slasher spanning centuries of America’s Colonial past to explore the staggering forces of history and the individual choices we make to survive it.
Welcome to Parmenter Road. For a decade now, your Halloween night tradition has included braving the jump scares of the Haunted Woods, the brainchild of Tony Barbosa and his now 17 year old daughter, Chloe. They’ve added more scares to the path this year, the Haunted Woods’ final year.
You didn’t take a glow stick into the woods with you tonight because you wanted to savour the full experience. It was worth the wait and you’re going to really miss this long standing Halloween tradition next year.
Now you’ve faced down the banshee, you wander over to the Koenigs’ block party. On your way, you think of Zack and Ruth Burgess. You’ve heard rumours about that couple so you told your kids to skip their house when they’re Trick-or-treating. You can’t be too careful these days, after all.
You usually keep to yourself but even you aren’t immune to the gossip you’re hearing at the party tonight. Sure, you feel bad for the lives that are imploding all around you but there’s also a part of you that’s relieved your marriage and your kids aren’t part of tonight’s fodder. At this distance, you can almost imagine this is all playing out on Wisteria Lane.
Hold on. Who’s that? There’s a kid approaching you, wearing a costume that looks like it’s seen better days. You thought you knew all of the kids in the neighbourhood but you’ve never seen them before. You wonder if they’re okay.
“He’ll find me. He always finds me.”
Hmm, maybe not. As you start to ask them what’s wrong, who always finds them, you notice someone getting closer. You’ve definitely never seen them before. You would have remembered someone that tall. Is that who the kid’s so terrified of?
Are those … candle flames where their eyes should be?
If you like to get to know your horror victims before they’re sliced and diced, this is the book for you. If you want to see people’s insides become their outsides, this is the book for you. If Halloween isn’t a day of the year but a state of mind for you, this is the book for you. If you desperately want to visit the place the horrors have come from, join me in hoping for a sequel.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unravelling. The Barbosas have opened their annual Haunted Woods attraction in the forest behind the house they’re about to lose. The Sweeneys are fighting about alcoholism and infidelity on their front lawn. Up the street, a high-school senior is about to have her secrets exposed, while down the street, the truth about Ruth and Zack Burgess turns out to be even more horrifying than the rumours ever were.
And all the while, four children who do not belong are walking door to door. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. Children who seem terrified, and who beg the neighbourhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. But with families falling apart and the community splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask…
Schizanthus Nerd 