Review: All Hallows by Christopher Golden

Author: Christopher Golden
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 2023

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 takes place in the early 80s on Halloween Night.  The night when the dead come back and evil sprits roam free.  But for a couple of families in one neighborhood it's just another Halloween night filled with neighborhood secrets and family issues.  While I liked the book, I didn't love it.

I was hoping for a great Halloween ghost story.  But it didn't live up to my expectations.  It was definitely gory for a horror story.  The kids were creepy and I did like the atmosphere.  I also liked that not everyone was safe.  Characters that I wouldn't have expected to die, actually did.  However, the book suffered from way too many perspectives.  I couldn't keep them all straight. There was way too much drama for one neighborhood. I'm still not exactly clear on what exactly the "lore" was behind the events.  I wanted more of an explanation.  It's not awful, I did ultimately have a good time reading it.  I just didn't love it like I was hoping I would.