I first read THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN exactly two years ago when it was reissued by iBooks, and I loved it. If only I had more time, I would re-read it every Halloween season.
For this anthology, editor Marvin Kaye (DON’T OPEN THIS BOOK!) has rounded up a host of short stories (and one novella) old and new, all more or less taking place on Halloween. The old guard finds representation with Edith Wharton’s “All Souls” and H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Unnameable,” but it’s the more current works which make this book a must-have.
Specifically, Al Sarrantonio and William F. Nolan turn in two similar but ultimately distinct tales (“Pumpkin Head” and “The Halloween Man,” respectively) involving children, cruelty and wicked endings that will throw your head for a loop. R.J. Lewis also impresses with “Into the Abyss,” in which a struggling makeup artist is hired for a nightclub gig that he will never forget, should he live through it.
But it’s not all horror. In fact, perhaps the best of the bunch is Edward D. Hoch’s “The Theft of the Halloween Pumpkin,” a smart little mystery in which a detective is hired by an obscenely wealthy publisher to determine who’s made off with his porch-dwelling jack-o’-lanterns (and perhaps more importantly, how). I couldn’t figure it out, which is but one reason why Hoch is considered a master of the short-form whodunit.
Only the novella – “The Banshee’s Comb” by DARBY O’GILL author Herminie T. Kavanagh – isn’t truly worthy of your time, frustratingly steeped in authentic Irish dialect as it is. However, the remains (if you’ll pardon the pun) make for an exceptional celebration of the season.
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