"Nothing in these woods could be more dreadful, more terrifying, than the selfish cruelty of ordinary people."
That statement pretty much sums up this book in a nutshell. If there's any real horror, it's the descriptions of the messed-up people in the messed-up neighborhood where most of the events take place - and the realization that at least that aspect of this story isn't really that far from fiction. Aside from that: I wanted to like this book, as the premise started off as an interesting one. Halloween night, 1984: in an ordinary neighborhood, in an ordinary town, full of seemingly ordinary people, the inhabitants prepare for seasonal fall festivities, which, this night, turn out to be anything but ordinary.
A father and daughter go all-out prepping for their annual Halloween event, the "Haunted Woods," a haunted-house-style neighborhood attraction full of campy props and scares for local thrill-seekers. In another house, a block party in the making is being hosted by a competing clan which almost seem to be their rivals. And in another house, a family is unraveling completely: a philandering-drunk husband, his fed-up wife, and a daughter who is questioning her own identity come to blows over events which will spell the end of their family. And then there are the mysterious children, who appear seemingly out of nowhere, who are scared out of their wits of someone they only refer to as "The Cunning Man," and who beg neighborhood residents for sanctuary "until midnight." Add in a couple of other assorted characters - a scarecrow, a clown, Raggedy Ann - and you have quite the extensive, varied cast.
An 80s neighborhood seems an odd setting for a modern Halloween tale... and it is. And, as much as I tried to like this one, the pieces were just too disjointed for me. They do come together at the end, mostly, but not really in a way which makes the effort worthwhile. Perhaps the greatest sin was how incredibly SLOW the plot dragged on. It's not poorly written, per se, but it's just, well, frankly, BORING. Absolutely NOTHING really interesting happens for at least the first half. Sure, some neighborhood creeps get their comeuppance, but not really in a creative way, or one that is even clearly defined. Some undefined monster gets them. Big deal. Then some more thick description of totally ordinary events which are just not very engaging or compelling - not enough to really keep going.
The chapters are short vignettes told from the perspectives of the extensive cast, so the book jumps around a lot, making it quite disjointed and hard to follow. This literary technique seems to be trending for modern horror novels, in fact, as I have encountered it more in the last four or five books I've read than I ever remember seeing previously. In short, there just wasn't enough of the horror or mystery element to keep this one interesting, which was a real let-down, as I was expecting a lot more, considering the number of positive reviews. I was expecting something on the order of the novel version of a good ole' fashioned 80s-style slasher movie, but this just didn't deliver.
As the first sentence notes, the most disturbing aspects of this uninspiring novel were the actions of many of the characters, but that belongs more in a drama than a horror or mystery novel. I think it would have been preferable to choose one over the other: focusing on the people rather than the almost out-of-place paranormal events and almost-afterthought monster would have been more effective, in my view, but I'm not interested in the former. I did force myself to finish it, as I am committed to doing for all books I start for the reading challenge, but it was honestly a chore. Final answer: not terrible, per se, but it wasn't good, either. It started out with a certain degree of promise, but it just didn't meet expectations or reach its potential.
That statement pretty much sums up this book in a nutshell. If there's any real horror, it's the descriptions of the messed-up people in the messed-up neighborhood where most of the events take place - and the realization that at least that aspect of this story isn't really that far from fiction. Aside from that: I wanted to like this book, as the premise started off as an interesting one. Halloween night, 1984: in an ordinary neighborhood, in an ordinary town, full of seemingly ordinary people, the inhabitants prepare for seasonal fall festivities, which, this night, turn out to be anything but ordinary.
A father and daughter go all-out prepping for their annual Halloween event, the "Haunted Woods," a haunted-house-style neighborhood attraction full of campy props and scares for local thrill-seekers. In another house, a block party in the making is being hosted by a competing clan which almost seem to be their rivals. And in another house, a family is unraveling completely: a philandering-drunk husband, his fed-up wife, and a daughter who is questioning her own identity come to blows over events which will spell the end of their family. And then there are the mysterious children, who appear seemingly out of nowhere, who are scared out of their wits of someone they only refer to as "The Cunning Man," and who beg neighborhood residents for sanctuary "until midnight." Add in a couple of other assorted characters - a scarecrow, a clown, Raggedy Ann - and you have quite the extensive, varied cast.
An 80s neighborhood seems an odd setting for a modern Halloween tale... and it is. And, as much as I tried to like this one, the pieces were just too disjointed for me. They do come together at the end, mostly, but not really in a way which makes the effort worthwhile. Perhaps the greatest sin was how incredibly SLOW the plot dragged on. It's not poorly written, per se, but it's just, well, frankly, BORING. Absolutely NOTHING really interesting happens for at least the first half. Sure, some neighborhood creeps get their comeuppance, but not really in a creative way, or one that is even clearly defined. Some undefined monster gets them. Big deal. Then some more thick description of totally ordinary events which are just not very engaging or compelling - not enough to really keep going.
The chapters are short vignettes told from the perspectives of the extensive cast, so the book jumps around a lot, making it quite disjointed and hard to follow. This literary technique seems to be trending for modern horror novels, in fact, as I have encountered it more in the last four or five books I've read than I ever remember seeing previously. In short, there just wasn't enough of the horror or mystery element to keep this one interesting, which was a real let-down, as I was expecting a lot more, considering the number of positive reviews. I was expecting something on the order of the novel version of a good ole' fashioned 80s-style slasher movie, but this just didn't deliver.
As the first sentence notes, the most disturbing aspects of this uninspiring novel were the actions of many of the characters, but that belongs more in a drama than a horror or mystery novel. I think it would have been preferable to choose one over the other: focusing on the people rather than the almost out-of-place paranormal events and almost-afterthought monster would have been more effective, in my view, but I'm not interested in the former. I did force myself to finish it, as I am committed to doing for all books I start for the reading challenge, but it was honestly a chore. Final answer: not terrible, per se, but it wasn't good, either. It started out with a certain degree of promise, but it just didn't meet expectations or reach its potential.
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
