Halloween Carnival Volume 2 Edited By Brian James Freeman *Review*

Here we go with the second in the series, and it was definitely a step-up from the first. Yet again I averaged out all of my ratings for each story, and the book as a whole came to 3.2 stars (.6 stars more than the last one, which trust me, is a decent amount in my opinion). Most of the stories in this one were enjoyable, and it followed in the footsteps of its predecessor by bringing the book to a close with the best story of the bunch. In fact, the final story in this one, The Pumpkin Boy by Al Sarrantonio, was the best story in this series so far.

The breakdown of each story’s rating is as follows:

Mr. Dark’s Carnival by Glen Hirshberg (3 stars)

Mr. Dark’s Carnival is a large part of local lore on Halloween night. What is Mr. Dark’s Carnival? Well, we don’t really know, and even when you do discover the mystery behind the Carnival you’re left wondering. So much is led up to in this one, and so little is really revealed. While this is one of the longer stories in the book, and the writing is pretty good with a spooky atmosphere, it never quite delivers. Much is implied for us to figure out for ourselves, but I feel like more should have been bluntly stated. The idea here is a good one, that alone warranting the 3 stars, but it’s never fully realized.

The Facts in the Case of My Sister by Lee Thomas (3.5 Stars)

David’s sister is dying, and a trip through David’s childhood memories may lead to the reason why. The writing near the beginning of this one was a bit scattered, and I figured out a while before the end what the “twist” would be, but it was a great story nonetheless. The best in the anthology? No. But still very worth the read.

Mischief Night by Holly Newstein (2.5 Stars)

An old drunk and a mischievous boy converge on Halloween night. Oh, this atta be good. Here is another case of “doesn’t-quite-deliver”. The writing was good, but the story itself? I feel so much more could have been done with this one instead, it feels like the author needed to write something that fit the anthology and couldn’t come up with a real plot. So we’re left with a well-written yet forgettable story.

The Ghost Maker by Del James (2 Stars)

An assassin who hates Halloween... yeah, not much more worth telling in this one. Even though this is the second to last story of the bunch, I literally forgot what it was about by the end of the book. I had to go back to the book’s blurb in order to remember. We’re told the main character’s life story, and how he came to lead a life of crime, but it probably would have been a more interesting tale if expanded upon. I would have liked to experience things with him rather than just be told what happened. Another issue I had was with characters that were offhandedly given names and only mentioned once then quickly forgotten. Him not liking Halloween felt thrown in, maybe because they needed another mention of Halloween to make the story fit the anthology. And the ending, while you may have seen it coming it was abrupt, and you’re never given a reason for it, making the rest of the story feel pointless. “The Ghost Maker” is probably my least favorite of this book, even so, I could see someone out there liking it.

The Pumpkin Boy by Al Sarrantonio (5 Stars)

A young boy follows a strange pumpkin figure into the woods, and he never returns. Detective Schneider tries to figure out what happened, but he’s haunted by a past case, and it may cause him to mess up all over again. This one is just plain fantastic. Well thought out plot, believable characters, great writing, and it has the consistently mysterious and spooky atmosphere you’re looking for in a Halloween story. You don’t want to miss out on this one, I promise. It takes up a good amount of space in the book too, which I was perfectly happy with.

The only stellar story to be had here was the last, but I wouldn’t have been entirely disappointed if I had paid for this anthology. Even though there were one or two worthwhile reads in the first book, I would have much rather skipped right to this one.

**This book was given to me through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**