Halloween Season - Something You Can Enjoy All Year-Round!
This was a wonderful book to read during the month of October!
There were a few stories here that I enjoyed more than others, but all of them were worth the read and certainly well-written. The tagline, "Not your kids' Halloween" sums it up perfectly and by the last two 'rated R' stories, you can see why it does.
I was pulled in with the poem that started the whole thing, Beggars' Night. It set the tone and made me feel the Halloween Season in my mind and heart, like a primer for the rest of the book.
Below are some comments on my favorite stories:
Hazelnuts and Yummy Mummies - A story that has it all. It was funny (getting slipped a hallucinogen), sad (the memories that were brought up by that hallucinogen), and heartwarming (the healing result of the whole ordeal). I really liked this one.
Cosmic Cola - A Lovecraftian tale with cult-like undertones. Creepy and adventuresome.
What Dwells Within - I describe this one as a magical detective story. I really got into this and would love to read more stories based on this character and her magical familiar that happens to be a ferret.
The Porcupine Boy - A wicked little yarn about a guy named Eddie who works in patient services and has one very special patient he visits regularly. Little does he know that his past choices will coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally) aid him in his future with the mystifying Miss Dorotka.
A Preference for Silence - A very short story that will stick with me for years to come. It's so simple, but so effective. It's about a couple who are in space alone together, stuck together, bound to listen to one another's bodily functions for a long time. I'll leave it at that.
The House that Couldn't Clean Itself - When I read this title, I burst out laughing. It seems to me that Lucy Snyder has probably spoken aloud the words 'this house won't clean itself' before and I'm imagining, came up with this story along the way. It's actually quite hilarious, but it also has a dark note to it that lets it keep its place in this book. You will appreciate this one and most likely relate to it, as well.
The Toymaker's Joy - I just had no idea where this story was going to lead me until the end. I nearly cried laughing when I came to its conclusion and absolutely loved the buildup to it. It's filthy and perfect.
The Tingling Madness - I could relate to this story because it involves a character who I found all-too-much like myself. Suffice it to say that she ends up ditching cable because it's so expensive and discovers that getting an antenna actually gets her quite a few channels! Not all of them are what she bargained for, though, and a fun dive into some more Lovecraftian themes presents itself in an interesting and new way.
I will cherish this book. It starts out mostly spooky, but ends up showing Lucy Snyder's comical and domestic traits, which made me feel at home and very amused. Despite the book being called Halloween Season, this is a book you could roister in at any time of year.
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