Something eerie is going on at Stillbrook Apartments where Harris is the maintenance man. The bizarre and disturbing residents, screaming birds, strange noises and odors, an eerie abandoned unit—these all add up to make a chilling and oppressive atmosphere. I’m so glad that I don’t live there.
This spooky tale is told by Harris and Lynn, two parents with opposing viewpoints on most everything, along with the random email from Jessica Shepard, a tenant. Harris and Lynn’s marriage is on the rocks even though Harris doesn’t realize it. The majority of their trouble centers on their differing views about their children.
Lynn sees things one way and Harris sees them another way. Through the journals they keep, we learn about the turmoil in their family life and in their marriage.
In one of her emails, Jessica warns her boyfriend not to come visit her because the Halloween children are there.
The tension builds page by page until it finally explodes into a mass murder on Halloween night. But this is an explosion that has been planned by the person or persons doing the killing.
This is one twisted book that grabbed hold of me and I didn’t want to put it down. I read it so fast that I was amazed when I saw that its print length was 300 pages.
For those of you who are faint of heart and don’t like reading horror, stay away from this one. On the other hand, if you are into horror stories, curl up on your couch one night with a glass of wine or a cup of tea, preferably during a thunderstorm, and read away! This tale full of horror, blood, gore, grotesque murders, and paranoia is perfect for Halloween or any time of the year you’re in the mood to be creeped out.
I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. If you would like your own copy of this creepy tale, I’ve provided an Amazon link below.
Amazon Link: The Halloween Children
Favorite Sentences:
You go through life thinking you’re essentially invincible, the star of your own personal little movie, and then from out of nowhere you’re tossed into chaos that you can’t predict or control.
The cloth in his mouth turned out to be his swollen tongue.
Who thought something you learned in high school would have a practical use in the real world?
I never swear in public, but that music was making my brain shake like the epicenter of an earthquake.
Below the pelvis and leg segments, severed feet were laced into a pair of black Rockports.
New Word Learned:
bas-relief – relief sculpture in which the figures project slightly from the background.
About the Authors:
Brian James Freeman sold his first short story when he was fourteen years old and his first novel when he was twenty-four. His novels, novellas, short stories, essays, and interviews have been published by Warner Books, Cemetery Dance Publications, Borderlands Press, Book-of-the-Month Club, Leisure, and many others.
Norman Prentiss is the author of Life in a Haunted House and Odd Adventures with Your Other Father (A Kindle Scout Selection), and he won the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for Invisible Fences, published by Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com).
