Ratings13
Average rating3.5
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home. It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road? All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask...
Reviews with the most likes.
This book had all the components of me loving it, but I feel like it couldn't decide between being a horror or a literary fiction. The family drama parts were fine for a while, but then they got repetitive. It took me awhile to get a hold of all of the different perspectives. I wish they were written in first person, they all felt one-dimensional and the same. There was a lot of foreshadowing to a build up, but I found the ending very lackluster.
7/10
My full review will go on my YT channel Damnable Delvings in the next couple of weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/@DamnableDelvings
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this book! Though it wasn't scary it still gave a pretty spooky vibe. The characters were all equally as interesting so I did really enjoy the multiple characters pov. Perfect book to get cozy with during the fall season. It's a little over the top in some sections, but overall super happy I pick it up.