For
today's (and this year's first) countdown to Halloween reading
suggestion: This Is Halloween, by James A. Moore. "Ten Tales of Terror"
as the cover says. Not all of them are explicitly set round Halloween,
but many of them are. And many of them feature the sinister Bedlam
Woods, where a ghostly witch and her monstrous offsprings dwell.
Relatable characters are mercilessly sent to and through hell, and neither critters nor ordinary humans are devoid of moral ambiguity. Moore is great
at turning familiar places and traditions into unsettling backdrops. I
also loved how original his monsters often are: you have undead made of
bones, shadowy female spirit that haunts and attacks its preys like
lightning, a blobby shape-shifting fiend who puts on a human skin and
walks among them as a... but I don't want to give too much away. This is
the perfect seasonal read. Preparing this post, I learned that Moore sadly passed away in March this year. I am sad to discover a new horror writer as of late, but this will not be the last book of him that I will read. This post is a posthumous homage.
Tuesday 8 October 2024
This Is Halloween
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4 comments:
I wonder if anyone has ever written about Halloween PTSD.
Sounds like an interesting read!
Oh no, I read this book a few years ago and enjoyed it so I was very sad to hear the author has passed away.
Sounds like a book I need to get my hands on!
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