Reviews

Halloween Season by Lucy A. Snyder

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luck13rabbit's review

The book felt more middle grade than I expected. It was fine and the stories were cute. I just have a long tbr and wasn't having as much fun as I'd hoped.

Another under the radar book by Raw Dog Screaming

Regarding some of the reviews about it not containing solely Halloween theme stories including some Christmas ones maybe she should rename it to: Halloweenish
After reading the collection, there is only one Christmas story and the rest fit really well under the Halloween season banner.

The two poems could have been left out and one story I did not read because I couldn't seem to get into it. Other than those two "complaints" it was a really good collection. A couple of stories, Cosmic Cola and Porcupine Boy, I wanted them to continue because the characters were really developed.

The last two stories were marked as rated R so I would have liked a little more NSFW content

raforall's review

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4.0

Review in the October 1, 2020 issue of Booklist Magazine and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2020/09/what-im-reading-31-days-of-horror-eve.html [review live on 9/30/20 at 7am]

Three Words That Describe This Book: immersive, Lovecraftian, uncomfortable

amindbroadcast's review

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4.0

4.5 stars
This is exactly the book I needed to read at this time. There were only a few stories that didn’t quite get there for me, but other than that, this is a pretty solid short story anthology.

bookishactor's review

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4.0

A Fun Short Story Collection

Lucy A. Snyder’s Halloween Season is a fun collection of short stories, many of which are set on or around Halloween. The Halloween season means many different things to different people, and this collection provides a nice assortment of tricks and treats which I found mostly delightful. I particularly enjoyed the multiple tales of cosmic horror found in this collection, some with direct allusions to Lovecraft’s Mythos. The writing was solid, even if the pacing felt a bit off in a couple of stories or I found myself wanting more from a few. Two of the stories were R-rated, and there were a couple of stories that didn’t feel like they really fit into a collection titled Halloween Season, including two about Christmas. Overall I think the general settings and horror elements present throughout most of these works make the book a great choice for spooky season. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars).

readwithcatriona's review

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3.0

Okay first of all, how amazing is this cover? This was what drew me to the book in the first place as I thought this would be a perfect start to spooky season

readingvicariously's review

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3.0

So I’m a little conflicted here. On one hand Lucy Snyder is a great writer. Her writing voice is so strong, and every story exudes a style that is whimsical, engaging, and very approachable. There’s also a pleasant variety of genres here, from cosmic horror to dark comedy to science fiction and fantasy. The stories that are really good are a lot of fun to read.

On the other hand, not every story really worked for me. Typically they would begin with furious activity but then fall flat by the end. Also, and this may not be a qualm for some, but in a collection that would appear so Halloween-centric there are very few stories that actually involve the spookiest of seasons in any meaningful way. And the inclusion of two Christmas stories felt...wrong.

Overall it’s an uneven group of stories, as collections tend to go, but there’s certainly much worth reading. In fact with such a wide variety there’s probably something here for everyone! Certain stories I’d even like to see as full novels! Favorites include:

“Cosmic Cola”
“Visions of the Dream Witch”
“What Dwells Within”
“In the Family”