"OCTOBER DARK is a delight."―LIBRARY JOURNAL (Red Star)"This new edition of OCTOBER DARK is sharper, more concise in places, and, yes, darker."―SF SIGNAL"In the grand tradition of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes", OCTOBER DARK is an epic tale of the wonders and magic of youth with a dark side. Definitely one of the best books of the year."―FAMOUS MONSTERSHalloween, 1931. The metropolis of Grenton. On the ruined canals, a clock tolls midnight. Willis H. O'Brien, the father of stop motion animation, seeks a dark miracle. And Henri Mordaunt, the undying Phantasmagoria magician, will soon provide it. An uncanny bargain is struck, leading to betrayal and dire retribution, and an act of cinematic alchemy that echoes down the history of fantastic film.Halloween, 1977. For thirteen-year-old Will and his best friend Jim--amateur stop-motion animators and Famous Monsters of Filmland fanatics--summer darkens into mysterious autumn. A black balloon prowls the skies of their suburban neighborhood; strange portents appear on the midnight monster movie show; and their lifeless armatures twitch to uncanny life, long after midnight. Everything will lead them to a reclusive magician--once an acolyte of Willis O'Brien's--who wrought a curse in the frames of an unseen, unseeable film named Dark Carnival. And everything is destined to end on Grenton's ruined canals, at the faded cinema palace where STAR WARS has been showing non-stop since late May, a gateway into the mysteries of Grenton's past, and a secret history playing out on either side of the silver screen....Fully revised by the author, with new or expanded scenes, OCTOBER DARK is now available in an illustrated E-book edition."Herter excels at creating a truly spooky, Halloween-worthy atmosphere that Bradbury fans, among others, will relish."―BOOKLIST"Herter's genius here lies in never becoming merely derivative while paying serious homage to Something Wicked This Way Comes.. A paean to the childlike sense of wonder, OCTOBER DARK is itself wonderfully imaginative"―MACABRE REPUBLIC"Herter, like the stop-motion magicians of history, has brought a monster of imagination to life. OCTOBER DARK is brilliant."―JEFFREY FORD, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author"For Famous Monsters fans this book will strike a nerve. In the grand tradition of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes", OCTOBER DARK is an epic tale of the wonders and magic of youth with a dark side. Definitely one of the best books of the year and will require a second reading in the near future. If you love Halloween, monster movies, FM Magazine and classic movie makers you will absolutely lovethis book."―FAMOUS MONSTERS