A haunted, atmospheric tale, Hallows Eve, is set in a town dominated by pumpkins. The high-growth industry that turns the landscape orange each year... and supplies the obvious name of Orangefield...allowing local businesses to thrive on all things Halloween.That makes Orangefield a nexus for Samhain, Lord of the Dead, who draws his identity from the Celtic festival of the dead coinciding with Halloween. Samhain plans to expand his domain into the living world, ceasing all life as we know it. Later it is revealed that Samhain is actually working on orders by his master, The Dark Lord.
The story takes place during the Annual Pumpkin Days Festival, a week-long carnival, leading to the ultimate celebration: Halloween!
>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Characters:
Corrie Phaeder: DEAD: Returns to his hometown of Orangefield after fleeing it suddenly a dozen years ago , following the murder of his mother; still believed by local authorities to be the killer, Corrie left to escape demons...literal ones...who make his life waking nightmares and shifting realities. Sure enough, upon his return, his "friends" show up again, most notably in the form of a pumpkin-headed scarecrow. But John, as the scarecrow calls himself, is not what he seems. Thus the plot shifts wildly toward the realm of fantasy as Corrie confronts these dark forces for the final showdown on October 31st-Halloween; 30 y/o LA photographer; sacrifices himself in order to close the rip between worlds that would have destroyed earth
Bill Grant: Detective; does not understand the "weird shit" that keeps happening around Orangefield; initially believes Corrie to have murdered his mother; eventually is convinced by John to protect Corrie & Reggie from Samhain, who is determined to kill them; Bill fights off trick-r-treat goblins, possessed town-folks, swarms of hornets and an army of pumpkin men to ensure that Corrie & Regina live through Halloween
Rose Grant: DEAD: Bill's wife with severe psychological problems; refuses to take her medications; after being committed, she died accidentally while receiving electroshock treatments; revealed that Samhain had a hand in her death
Jeff Luney: Cabdriver; gossip hound
Lucy Williams: Bitchy real estate agent
Pell "Farmer" Simpson:DEAD: Detective; keeps to himself; serial killer; when he was 12 years old, he killed his mother and a neighborhood girl by bashing their heads in with a rock; Pell then kills his stepfather by making it appear that he shot himself in the head with a gun after he killed his wife and a young girl; Samhain has him kill Marvin Soames and Kathy Marks; Pell attempts to kill Bill, Corrie & Regina, but is killed when he is trapped in Riley Gates house that gets blown-up
Chip Prohman: Desk sergeant; loud, fat & lazy
Fred Williams: DEAD: Bee Keeper; hangs himself following the deaths of The Kerlans
Peter Kerlan: DEAD: Children's book writer; stung to death by hornets
Mrs. Kerlan: DEAD: Peter's wife; trapped in a shed with a huge hornet's nest; Samhain brings back her dead skeleton to life, covered in hornets, to terrify her husband
Charley Morton:DEAD: DA who died from anaphylactic shock due to a hornet sting
Riley Gates: DEAD: Bill's mentor; ex-partner; now retired from Orangefield's police force; killed by Marvin Soames, who gutted him with a hunting knife
Jerry Farrow: Police Captain; mean-spirited; makes a deal with Bill that he and the governor will not charge him if he keeps his mouth shut about how a serial killer was on the force and all the paranormal events that occurred on Halloween
Kathy Marks: DEAD: Librarian; ex-girlfriend of Corrie; mentally unstable; haunted by her suicide attempt when she was younger when she tried to hang herself; clinically depressed; never got over Corrie when he left town without her; killed by Pell when he drugged her and convinced her to hang herself
Corrie's Mother: DEAD: Stabbed 23 times; found at the bottom of the stairs while Corrie was confined to his wheelchair at the top of the landing; revealed that Pell had murdered her on orders by Samhain
Regina "Reggie" Bright: 7 y/o neighbor to Corrie; speaks whole paragraphs in one sentence; makes it back from the void, however her hair has turned white
Marcia & Ted Bright: Reggie's parents
Aaron "The Pumpkin Tender" Peters: DEAD: Blew his brains out
Annabeth Turner: 11 y/o; saved Kathy from hanging herself when she was younger
Marvin Soames: DEAD:Town drunk; Samhain orders Soames to kill Riley Gates; after he is jailed for murder, Samhain has Pell visit and guts him in his cell
Thomas Jr. Reynolds: 13 y/o; helps Bill Grant with the sordid history of Orangefield; plans to continue in his father's footsteps in recording Orangefield's history; left town after Samhain told her to do such
Thomas Reynolds: DEAD: Historian, who wrote "Occult Practices in Orangefield and Chicawa County, New York 1668-1940" Volumes I & II; Samhain had threatened him not to publish his works, but he did at the last moment and Samhain killed him
Anja Reynolds: Russian; Thomas Jr.'s mother; left town after Samhain told her to do such
My Review:
I would not consider this Horror, but more of a Dark Fantasy. The story does grow tangled and a little hard to follow at times; the depiction of souls on Samhain's side...cardboard cutouts, balloons and spongy geometrical shapes...are pretty fucking silly, adding a Candyland air to an otherwise menacing scene.
Still, despite some minor hitches, Hallows Eve succeeds by providing a creepy location, sinister forces at work and a population of innocent and not-so-innocent residents to weave into the story. While Samhain remains somewhat two-dimensional and ultimately not scary by book's end, it's a concept worth further development in novels to come. I would pick up the next installment.
Book Score: 7.5/10
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