Hallows Eve

Rating:
Summary: Worth a look
Review: "Hallows Eve" is Al Sarrantonio's second novel in the Orangefield series (although I don't know why Leisure decided to release the second book first). The story starts off stronger than the predictable finish, but I found it solid nonetheless. As a writer, Sarrantonio has flavors reminiscent of T.M. Wright and Tom Piccirilli. The book is a very quick read, but I wanted Sarrantonio to push the envelope a little more.

Rating:
Summary: Echoes of Bradbury
Review: Al Sarrantonio writes the best halloween books of this generation. His Orangefield stories are a refreshing take on what could be a boring, seen it before tale in the horror genre. Sarrantonio never fails to entertain, and Hallows Eve is another winner. If you enjoy stories about people trying to go home again, which we all know you can't do, and if you like stories about mysteries surrounding Halloween, this is the book for you!

Rating:
Summary: more trick than treat
Review: Al Sarrantonio's "Hallows Eve" is about young Corrie who returns to his home in Orangefeild, NY after being exiled for many years because people beleive he murdered his mother. He quickly befriends 9-year-old Reggie, who, like him, has wierd dreams. Then a scarecrow comes to life and tells him that he and Reggie has a role top play in a upcoming apocolypse involving Samhain. This book actually starts off strong, but by page 130 it starts to lose steam; and by page 250 I completly stopped caring how everything would turn out. Orangefeild itself seemed too ignorant of it's own strange history to be realistic. Corrie is a very weak character, hated him. Reggie Bright, the young girl, is a very love her or hate her kind of character; I hated her. The only character I liked was the police officer Grant, but he really didn't get a great, in-depth look that I would have liked. To be certain the book is a fast read, but it just isn't that interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing new to the halloween tradition
Review: All Hallow's Eve isn't anything new -- it's a twist on an old theme, concentrating too much on the practices of Halloween (which has been beaten to death already), while showing all it's cards up front. The villians are introduced way too fast, there's not enough mystery remaining, the characters aren't really latched on to, and the ending wasn't anything overly powerful. Still, All Hallow's Eve isn't too bad...it kept me reading, and that's saying something. If a novel is genuinely bad, I usually won't finish it. I finished this one, because it DID have some saving grace. One being the well written detective, another being morbid curiosity for the show down (although my expectations weren't that high), and another being that while the plot was disorganized and jumbled, it wasn't exactly dull.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth of Halloween
Review: Corrie is returning to his home town of Orangefield, the Pumpkin Capital of the World. He always thought he would never return but for some reason he feels he must.

Life is not normal for Corrie. He only experiences the normal world through dreams. When he is awake, reality can twist and turn. This has almost driven him mad but he has held on to his sanity. Even before he arrives in the town, he spots a pumpkin-headed scarecrow that gestures to him.

Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, is making incursions into Orangefield. But Samhain is actually working for a more terrifying power. One that would like to see all life destroyed. Corrie and his abilities will be needed in some sort of battle to save the world come Halloween.

Nicely plotted with interesting imagery and intelligent twists on Halloween and its symbols. A good read even if it isn't Halloween.

Rating:
Summary: pretty good atmospheric
Review: I thought I'd say a few words since no one has reviewed this book yet.

This is not a great book, but still it does a really good job of invoking the spirit of Halloween. If you are looking for a horror novel specifically set in the bewitching time of year, this is a fine way to go.

The story itself is decent enough, nothing super great. It is so hard to find horror books (not for kids) set around Halloween and from an author who does the holiday right.

I took off a star since it turns into Fantasy the last 100 pages or so and leaves the path of horror.