Halloween (Book Review)

Halloween, Edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, 2011)

This new anthology is stocked strictly with reprints, but offers some lesser-known modern masterpieces (e.g., Charlee Jacobs's "The Sticks," Gary McMahon's "Pumpkin Night") alongside the familiar classics (such as Thomas Ligotti's "Conversations in a Dead Language," William F. Nolan's "The Halloween Man," and Al Sarrantonio's "Hornets").  When making her selections, editor Paula Guran ranges across historical eras and presents tales that work in a variety of modes, from the humorous (Esther M. Friesner's "Auntie Elspeth's Halloween story") and the harrowing (Joe R. Lansdale's
"On a Dark October") to the sentimental (Charles de Lint's "The Universal Soldier") and the eerie (Steve Rasnic Tem's "Tricks & Treats: One Night on Halloween Street").

Guran herself contributes a fine introductory essay tracing the origins and cultural history of Halloween.  Her editorial expertise also manifests in the (context-sketching, stage-setting) headnotes she provides for the individual pieces.  (It must be pointed out, though, that Halloween suffers from some atrocious copy editing.  The book is rife with errors--typos, superfluous and omitted words--that prove terribly distracting and ultimately disappointing in a tome aspiring to be a holiday treasury.)

Admittedly, some of the selections in the anthology fall flat.  The poems by Lovecraft and Poe seem tangential to the book's theme, included here mostly for the writer's name value.  But Halloween also has the distinction of being the first volume to include both Ray Bradbury's "The October Game" and F. Paul Wilson's "The November Game."  Wilson's immediate sequel to the legendary Bradbury tale is a loving homage that simultaneously takes the storyline in a startling new direction (as the incarcerated child-killer Mich finds some gruesome additions to his prison meals).  Anyone who has ever reveled in "The October Game" will not want to miss this utterly frightful follow-up.

Halloween is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of overall quality, but contains more than enough treats to keep readers sated all month long.  There are several delectable tales that I deliberately have not cited in this review (because what would Halloween be without some surprises?).  But just so you have an idea of what you will be sifting through, here's a listing of the anthology's contents:

INTRODUCTION, Paula Guran
CONVERSATIONS IN A DEAD LANGUAGE, Thomas Ligotti
MONSTERS, Stewart O'Nan
THE HALLOWEEN MAN, William F. Nolan
THE YOUNG TAMLANE, Sir Walter Scott
PORK PIE HAT, Peter Straub
THREE DOORS, Norman Partridge
AUNTIE ELSPETH'S HALLOWEEN STORY, Esther M. Friesner
STRUWWELPETER, Glen Hirshberg
HALLOWEEN IN A SUBURB, H.P. Lovecraft
ON THE REEF, Caitlin R. Kiernan
THE STICKS, Charlee Jacob
RIDING BITCH, K.W. Jeter
MEMORIES OF EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS, Nancy Kilpatrick
HALLOWEEN STREET, Steve Rasnic Tem
TRICKS & TREATS: ONE NIGHT ON HALLOWEEN STREET, Steve Rasnic Tem
MEMORIES, Peter Crowther
ULALUME: A BALLAD, Edgar Allan Poe
MASK GAME, John Shirley
BY THE BOOK, Nancy Holder
HORNETS, Al Sarrantonio
PRANKS, Nina Kiriki Hoffman
PUMPKIN NIGHT, Gary McMahon
THE UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, Charles de Lint
NIGHT OUT, Tina Rath
ONE THIN DIME, Stewart Moore
MAN-SIZE IN MARBLE, E. Nesbitt
THE GREAT PUMPKIN ARRIVES AT LAST, Sarah Langan
SUGAR SKULLS, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
ON A DARK OCTOBER, Joe R. Lansdale
THE VOW ON HALLOWEEN, Lyllian Huntley Harris
THE OCTOBER GAME, Ray Bradbury
THE NOVEMBER GAME, F. Paul Wilson
TESSELLATIONS, Gary Braunbeck