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A review by 5elementknitr
Halloween by Paula Guran
2.0
This anthology had a lot of brilliant stories as well as some real duds.
The two-star rating I've given isn't so much to do with the duds (although, for me, there were more of them than ones I enjoyed). It's due to the fact that the entire 500+ page book never seemed to have made it to a proofreader. At all. There was an unconscionable amount of typos. The last story - an 80-page novella - even had several missing words!
I can't stand that. It completely takes me out of the story.
That novella at the end had amazing tension and pacing which was constantly interrupted by typos.
Other stories I enjoyed in this book:
The one where the kids are dropped at the old folks home to hang out with a cantankerous, witchy great-aunt. The story she told them was delightfully spooky! It was a story within a story.
The Ray Bradbury story, The October Game, was one I'd never read before. It was a gorgeous bit of perfection.
The follow-up November Game (different author) was an incredible take on the aftermath of The October Game.
There were others that were also very entertaining, but until they send this to a proofreader, I'd say skip it.
The two-star rating I've given isn't so much to do with the duds (although, for me, there were more of them than ones I enjoyed). It's due to the fact that the entire 500+ page book never seemed to have made it to a proofreader. At all. There was an unconscionable amount of typos. The last story - an 80-page novella - even had several missing words!
I can't stand that. It completely takes me out of the story.
That novella at the end had amazing tension and pacing which was constantly interrupted by typos.
Other stories I enjoyed in this book:
The one where the kids are dropped at the old folks home to hang out with a cantankerous, witchy great-aunt. The story she told them was delightfully spooky! It was a story within a story.
The Ray Bradbury story, The October Game, was one I'd never read before. It was a gorgeous bit of perfection.
The follow-up November Game (different author) was an incredible take on the aftermath of The October Game.
There were others that were also very entertaining, but until they send this to a proofreader, I'd say skip it.