Weird Review: Halloween Tales, Edited by Kate Jones

Title: Halloween Tales

Editor: Kate Jones

Publisher: Omnium Gatherum

Number of Pages: 230

Format: Print (Paperback)

Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars aligned

Some of the best pens of the Los Angeles chapter of the Horror Writers Association have been conjured by Omnium Gatherum to summon tales of fear and fancy for this Halloween season. 19 tales from literary horror veterans and newbies to the genre that together make a wonderful coffee table read for the season. As you can see by my rating I wasn’t too impressed with the contents of this book, however there are few pieces of sweet fiction in this candy sack that outshine the other sour suckers and kept me going through the collection in hopes of finding other good pieces at the bottom of the bag.

• Lisa Morton – The Devil Came to Mamie’s on Hallowe’en *
• Michael Paul Gonzalez – Worth the Having
• Hal Bodner – Donuts
• Terry M. West – The Hairy Ones *
• Janet Joyce Holden – The Deal
• John Palisan0 – Outlaws of Hill County
• David Winnick – The Cross I Bear *
• Kate Jonez – By the Book
• R. B. Payne – Ankou, King of the Dead
• Steven W. Booth – The Lurker *
• Maria Alexander – Harvest of Flames
• Eric Miller – The Patch
• E.S. Magill – Beneath It All
• Tim Chizmar – Farkleberry Forest Cemetery
• Robin Wyatt Dunn – Halloween in East Hampton
• R.B. Payne – Hollywood Ending
• P.S. Gifford – Johnny Jackson’s School Dare
• Xach Fromson – The Old Magic
• Nancy Holder – Dead Devil in the Freezer

Unfortunately there weren’t many of these stories that left me chilled or stunned. If not for stories like Terry M. West’s “The Hairy Ones“, and bits and pieces of Steven W. Booth’s “The Lurker” I would not have felt those feelings at all. However I must give full credit and appreciation to Lisa Morton’s “The Devil Came to Mamie’s on Hallowe’en” and David Winnick’s “The Cross I Bear. ” Those two tales were two amongst a few that were narrated or seen through the eyes of a child or early teen, and I found those stories to be the most interesting. The innocence in Mr. Winnick’s story really left me in aw, though some have said it was funny, to me it was honest and dark.

Though it’s not a book I would recommend to everyone, I would say it is a nice piece in a collection of stories to have on hand for this time of year. Al 19 tales are easily digestible, and short enough to read in one sitting. True, some are better than others, but that is how a well built anthology is, unfortunately I wish the stories were a little bit more balanced. By that I mean I felt all the greats were in the front of the book and not so much in the middle or tail end. Either way it was good to dive into some suitable fiction for the month and season and am glad to have been introduced to a few of these authors fiction. I will be keeping an eye out for them.

Weirdlings who’ve enjoyed Halloween Tales, or stuff from Omnium Gatherum, have also checked out:

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