All Hallows
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Stephen King and the 1980s nostalgia of Stranger Things. A gripping suburban nightmare from the New York Times-bestselling, Bram-Stoker Award-winning master of horror fiction.
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 their house—the house they're about to lose. The Sweeneys are fighting about alcoholism and infidelity on their front lawn. Up the street, high-school senior Vanessa Montez is about to have her secrets exposed during the violent end to the neighbourhood's block party, 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, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. 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. There's a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn't belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the community splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Golden (Road of Bones) disappoints with this derivative and decidedly unscary outing set in 1984 Coventry, Mass., on Halloween Eve. The holiday is a big occasion in the small town, headlined by the Haunted Woods, an elaborate display complete with special effects and cosplayers, staged by local Tony Barbosa as a charity fund-raiser. This year, however, will see the last such event, due to the Barbosas' strained finances. Instead of a glorious finale, however, the Barbosas and their neighbors are subjected to supernatural manifestations, including a mysterious and scared young girl dressed as Raggedy Ann who claims she's being pursued by the Cunning Man. The predictable terror that ensues afflicts the entire community, as a killer with small flames in place of eyes attacks, eviscerating young and old alike. Meanwhile, domestic secrets—including marital infidelities, sexual orientation, and criminality—are revealed. Hopping between the perspectives of various one-dimensional characters does nothing to make the night's horrors feel any more surprising or suspenseful. If this bit of '80s nostalgia is intended to capitalize on the success of Stranger Things, it falls far short.
Customer Reviews
Gripping Story
I was hooked on this book from the minute I read the first page.
Really captures the 1980s halloween feeling.