A stand out Halloween anthology that delivers a trick or treat bag full of tasty chills.
Editor Evans Light has gathered a coven of 14 excellent tales from some brilliant writers, and kept the quality high.

Personal favorites include:

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES by Jason Parent
THE FRIENDLY MAN by Thomas Vaughn, and
THE RYE MOTHER by Curtis Lawson

Highly recommended.

*I received a paperback ARC in exchange for an honest review*

With Halloween right around the corner, let's get right into this collection.

Mr. Dark's Carnival - Glen Hirshberg

A Montana ghost story thats got some nice creepiness. David is a college professor that teaches a class that explores folklore and his favorite part of the course is the folk tale of Mr. Dark's Carnival. For many years, it has been rumored that the mysterious carnival pops up in a rural setting and only a few select people get chosen to attend. David has never met anyone that has personally been to the carnival and doesn't believe it truly exists until he gets his ticket. A great ghost story that has a murky ending.

4 out of 5 stars

The Facts in the Case of My Sister - Lee Thomas

David's estranged sister, Joyce, is in the hospital from an "accident". The prognosis isn't good and David has doubts that her injuries were from an accident. When Joyce and he were kids, David taught himself how to do magic tricks from a book he got. Joyce was always his willing audience and participant. Now, David pulls out a trick from his past to learn what really happened to Joyce.

4 out of 5 stars

Mischief Night - Holly Newstein

Willard had a good life, a loving family and wife, and looked forward to his retirement. He was never a drinker after growing up with a nasty old drunk for a father. In what seemed like a harmless way to celebrate his retirement, the bottle grabs ahold of Willard and doesn't let go. On Mischief Night, Willard meets a troubled teen that stumbles into his basement. Can one man's bad decisions help alter the path the youngster is headed down?

4 out of 5 stars

The Ghost Maker - Del James

Halloween has it's own set of scares when you're a mob hit man. You have to be on your toes, even if you're the grim reaper. Great voice that makes for a fun read.

5 out of 5 stars

The Pumpkin Boy - Al Sarrantonio

Jody is a latchkey kid for half an hour every afternoon until his mom gets home. He knows he's not supposed to be outside and he follows that rule. Until, one day, he sees the Pumpkin Boy walking past his window and he can't believe his eyes. For police detective, Len Schneider, Jody's disappearance is bringing back old, haunted memories that he's been trying to lock away for 18 years. What started out as a promising novella, fell flat for me with the ending.

3 out of 5 stars

Overall, a nice little collection with mostly hits than misses. Well worth the time.

4 out of 5 stars

This book had some potential, but fell short. The stories were interesting, but they were more like chapters in a bunch of different books that were extracted and stuck into this book as short stories. There was no real ending or it just ended without any flair - I'm still not sure myself. There is no artwork, which left me confused because the book description on Amazon says it would be good for kids 5-12 and I can tell you now (as if you, with kids, don't already know): 5 year olds (heck, up to at least 7) are not going to pay attention to a bunch of words (in fact, they kept asking me where the pictures were and you could tell they weren't interested at all).

More Than Frightened - 2 1/2 stars
Haunted Friday Night - 3 stars
The Wicked Witch - 3 stars
The Spooky Pumpkin - 2 stars
The Black Cat - 3 stars
Halloween jokes - 2 1/2 stars