THIS IS HALLOWEEN BY JAMES A. MOORE

OCTOBER AIN'T OCTOBER WITHOUT SOME HALLOWEENY READS. 

"THIS IS HALLOWEEN" really does what it says on the tin!  This book contains 10 short stories by James A. Moore which centre around Halloween .  The autumnal October vibe is so strong you could cut it with a witch's broomstick! This is just the kind of book I want to read in October during the Countdown to Halloween.  Christopher Golden's introduction to the book humorously reveals that Moore is such a die hard horror fanatic that he finally realized his dream to move to New England because that's where the Autumnal ghosty spooky Halloweeny vibe is best.  And he's right.  The proof is in the pages of this book.  I mean, just savour this autumnal paragraph from the first story in this collection "The Dry Season":  

"The air was dry that year, dry enough that hair took on a static charge and the leaves fell from trees and commenced a hissing sigh when they were caught by the arid winds.  Not that kids seemed to care.  If anything, the dry atmosphere made costumes just a little easier to breathe in, and added to the snap of cheap plastic capes in the wind.  The air had the perfect bite of cold to it, and the wind carried hints of distant conversations and the far away sound of cars on the highway.  The scent of autumn mingled with the bite of candle-roasted jack-o-lantern.  It was Halloween, and Linda loved that."

All the stories in this book crank the October vibe up to 11 and feature everything from monsters from our childhood nightmares, very human monsters and folk horror monsters.  One of the best tales in the book is "Harvest Moon" which concerns a small New England town named Summitsville that has a strange connection to scarecrows.  A beautifully written story . . . but they ALL are frankly.  Each story is unique in itself but there is an over-arching atmosphere to them which makes all the tales fit into the book as a whole.  I've never read any other James A. Moore books (which I'll have to rectify soon) but apparently settings such as Serenity Falls and Beldam Woods, which make a few appearances here, are also featured in his other works.  I really don't have any negative nitpicks about this book; it's an ideal October read that I highly recommend.