I enjoyed Guran's first Halloween-themed collection, Halloween, so when I saw this new one at Barnes and Noble I had to have it! It's got a mix of grisly, creepy, haunting, and oddly touching stories. Among my favorites:

Carrie Vaughn's "Unternehmen Werwolf" features a young village boy - a werewolf - who's been tapped by the SS to join a special unit. When he's ordered to assassinate a collaborator, he has to choose which path his life will take.

Jonathan Maberry's "Long Way Home" has a returning soldier meeting an old friend - who should be dead... This one was more touching than I'd expected.

"Black Dog" by Laird Barron centers on the "black dog as omen of death" myth, but takes it in another direction.

"The Halloween Men" by Maria V. Snyder is one of the more disturbing tales in this collection - it's definitely in the "turn on all the lights" category!

Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Whilst the Night Rejoices Profound and Still" adds a sensual/grisly lottery-based ritual to a tale of Mars colonists.

"Quadruple Whammy" by Chelsea Quin Yarbro features the combination of Halloween and a full moon during one night in a hospital ER - with interesting results. (This one's in the darkly-humorous category.)

Brian Hodge's "We, the Fortunate Bereaved" is rather heartbreaking, dealing with the possibility of returning lost loved ones to life - whether it's a good idea or not.

"Trick or Treat" by Nancy Kilpatrick blends the darker side of (real) Halloween - overly-damaging "tricks" by disgruntled kids - with some even bleaker concepts; in this case the main character's growing anger at the annual disrespect and vandalism is almost sympathetic, until...

The book has black-and-white illustrations between each story, some of them quite simple, others elaborate. Among my favorites is the tree bare of leaves, but with its branches laden with birds. It's quite lovely, but the story it introduces - "From Dust" by Laura Bickle - is bleak and heart-wrenching.

And there are many more stories here as well. Good seasonal collection!

I donated this book to the ongoing charity-sale shelves inside Hannaford's at around 6. [They sell donated books for low prices, with the proceeds going to benefit various charities.] Hope the buyer enjoys the book!

*** Released for the 2014 Spook-tacular Halloween Challenge, for "Halloween" - and the jack-o-lanterns on the cover. ***

*** Released for the 2014 TICK TOCK release challenge, for "Halloween". ***