Halloween is not one of the holidays of my country, but the mercantile spirit of our society brought some celebrations here too. I personally do not celebrate Halloween, but I have to admit that I like this holiday a lot. I especially love the Jack-o’-lanterns, which I also made in my childhood together with my grandmother although not part of any holiday, the Halloween costumes and the candies and caramel apples. There is a lot of fun, but I do my admiring from distance. Still, there is one place where I can let myself enjoy Halloween in the fullest and that place is in fiction. Another such opportunity will rise when Prime Books will release a new anthology edited by Paula Guran, “Halloween”. I am not sure exactly when the release date is (I believe it is in September), but Paula Guran’s “Halloween” line-up of authors looks extremely interesting and strong. Among the stories featured on this upcoming anthology there is Gary McMahon’s “Pumpkin Night”, a story that together with others from the collection “How to Make Monsters” opened my eyes to this very talented writer:
“Pumpkin Night” – Baxter is spending for the first time the Halloween without his wife. But his loneliness might not last long. Another favorite of mine, if not my favorite from the entire collection. I was almost feeling the Halloween atmosphere and Gary McMahon makes the pumpkins coming to life. The twist of the story took me by surprise and it was followed by an end that was more than satisfactory for me.
Therefore it seems that I will celebrate Halloween by feasting on this appetizing anthology. Here is its presentation and the alphabetical line-up as Prime Books published them on its website:
Shivers and spirits...the mystical and macabre...our darkest fears and sweetest fantasies...the fun and frivolity of tricks, treats, festivities, and masquerades. Halloween is a holiday filled with both delight and dread, beloved by youngsters and adults alike. Celebrate the most magical season of the year with this sensational treasury of seasonal tales—spooky, suspenseful, terrifying, or teasing—harvested from a multitude of master storytellers.
“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury
“Tessellations” by Gary Braunbeck
“Memories” by Peter Crowther
“Universal Soldier” by Charles de Lint
“Auntie Elspeth's Halloween Story (or The Gourd, The Bad, And The Ugly)” by Esther Friesner
“Struwwelpeter” by Glenn Hirshberg
“Pranks” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
“By the Book” by Nancy Holder
“The Sticks” by Charlee Jacob
“Riding Bitch” by K.W. Jeter
“On the Reef” by Caitlin R. Kiernan
“Memories of el Dia de los Muertos” by Nancy Kilpatrick
“The Great Pumpkin Arrives at Last” by Sarah Langan
“On a Dark October” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Conversations in a Dead Language” by Thomas Ligotti
“Hallowe’en in a Suburb” by H.P. Lovecraft (poem)
“The Vow on Hallowe’en” by Dorothy Macardle
“Pumpkin Night” by Gary McMahon
“The Halloween Man” by William F. Nolan
“Monsters” by Stewart O’Nan
“Three Doors” by Norman Partridge
“Ulalume” by Edgar Allan Poe (poem)
“Night Out” by Tina Rath
“Hornets” by Al Sarrantonio
“Tamlane” by Sir Walter Scott (poem)
“Mask Game” by John Shirley
“Pork Pie Hat” by Peter Straub
“Halloween Street” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Tricks & Treats: One Night on Halloween Street” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“The November Game” by F. Paul Wilson
“Sugar Skulls” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
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