DEVIL’S NIGHT by Richard Chizmar
You’ve read about what happened that night. What you don’t know is the true extent of the damage. The papers got it wrong—and the truth is so much worse than you thought.

My favorite of this volume. First of all the protagonist is a teacher, so I may be biased, and secondly the action happens during Halloween, and there is some violence. Nicely woven together, rich characters and some nice storytelling.

THE LAST DARE by Lisa Tuttle
Elaine hasn’t been back to her hometown in years. The house she lived in is gone. The tower house isn’t—nor are the stories of the fate that befalls whoever dares to go there.

Decent and atmospheric tale.

THE HALLOWEEN BLEED by Norman Prentiss
People think there’s some sort of mystical power that allows enchantments and witchcraft to come to life on Halloween night. But real magic obeys no calendar—and true evil strikes whenever it’s least expected.

Nice supernatural story with a twist. Good pacing and satisfying payoff.

SWING by Kevin Quigley
In Hollywood, everyone lives forever. At least that’s what I used to think . . . before Jessica. But no one seems to live long when they’re around me.

Second favorite in the book. This one was a bit haunting, and real. There was a sadness and deep pain that ran through story. This one left me with some questions and wanting more. Very powerful.

PORK PIE HAT by Peter Straub
When it comes to jazz, there are players, and there are legends. “Hat” was a legend. His real name didn’t even matter. Still, he had his secrets—secrets best left buried in the past.

Least favorite in the book, though Straub can write. It is just that I came across this story before and it never really grabbed me, and while I got through it this time it still did not grab me. I understand the quite horror of it all and liked the story of Hat, but to me, it never worked.

I received this ARC for an honest review

a solid entry in the halloween carnival series. the stories are short enough to act as palate cleansers if you're just getting into your autumnal reads but have enough body to keep you up late to finish them.

The Halloween Carnival series started out so strong but this 5th and final volume fell flat. None of the short stories grabbed me and scared me, they barely kept my attention.

Review copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I'm so sad that I've reached the last volume of these Halloween collections. I will just have to reread them next Halloween season! Give yourself a treat, read these!

Halloween Carnival Vol 5

DEVIL’S NIGHT by Richard Chizmar – A high school professor gets into some trouble with a couple of his students. This isn't a Halloween story, it's a crime story. Nothing spooky about it. 2 stars. The story wasn't bad, but I'm not sure why it was in this anthology.

THE LAST DARE by Lisa Tuttle – A woman visits her hometown one Halloween and revisits a spooky house that once scared her as a child. People told stories of kids that have gone missing in the tower room of that home and are never seen again. They're just stories though. Right? This was not a bad story overall. It was really short, but like most of these stories there is no real cosure, which I guess might be the point. 3 stars.

THE HALLOWEEN BLEED by Norman Prentiss – I could not get through this story. It bored me to tears and if anything interesting did happen, well I wouldn't know about it because this is when I put this book down. Did Not Finish. I don't often DNF books but I think that reading the first 4 of these Halloween Carnival volumes was enough for me. I didn't leave particularly good reviews for any of them and this one is by far the worst since I couldn't even finish it. 0 stars.

SWING by Kevin Quigley - DNF

PORK PIE HAT by Peter Straub - DNF

Halloween Carnival Volume 5 is the fifth and final (for now, at least) installment of the Halloween Carnival series. The last one gives us gems by Richard Chizmar, Lisa Tuttle, Norman Prentiss, Kevin Quigley, and Peter Straub.

I found Swing by Kevin Quigley fascinating. Essentially, it's a horror love story. Not very Halloweeny, but good nonetheless.

Surprisingly, Peter Straub's Pork Pie Hat was my favorite. First of all, let me say this: I do not like Peter Straub's writings. I have tried to like him. I have read several of his books in an attempt to like him. But with the exception of his dalliances with Stephen King, I have not liked any of them much. But something about Pork Pie Hat grabbed me and took me for a ride. Definitely my favorite of the book.

4.5 stars once again the stories are really good and are a bit strange but not scary or spooky or creepy ,but their still good to read doing October,once again thinks NetGalley for letting me read and review these series .

Advance Review Copy

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed the final installment of HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL. One of my favorite authors, Norman Prentiss, offered us a new Dr. Sibley story to savor. I admit to not liking Peter Straub at all, but he surprised me - I loved his short story; it was wonderful. Those two were my 5 star picks. Richard Chizmar is always a solid starter; I'm always on the lookout for his stories. The other two authora were new to me and I found their stories stories to be quite satisfying

With one book each week in October, this Halloween will be a great one. I hope Hydra does this next year!

Halloween Carnival Volume 5, edited by Brian James Freeman was received direct from the publisher. Halloween anthologies are like a box of chocolates, in that you never know what you are gonna get. Of these five authors of these novellas, I had only heard of and read two. The stories as presented, in my opinion are not very horrific, meaning they are thinking mans "horror," set to a Halloween setting, many may enjoy this, I personally "likes me some more gore." My final score is the average of each if the five stories. Fall is the air and it is time to read some Halloween stories, maybe just maybe you should start with this one.

Had high expectations for this book. i love halloween. But sadly it just wasnt for me. There was no real wow factor in any of this. The stories just fizzled very disappointing sadly

This series is fab and fun! Halloween is my favourite holiday and I’ve really enjoyed reading these to get into the Halloween spirit. These stories are definitely creepy and each one ties into Halloween in some way. The stories aren’t terribly long so they’re quick reads. Very highly recommended! Get a cup of tea and a warm blanket and settle in!

In this last installment of the 5 part Halloween Carnival anthology there are some real winners and a couple of clunkers. I was hoping the final volume would end with a bang. Instead it just kind of fizzled out.

I like Peter Straub a lot but I am just not a big fan of Pork Pie Hat. I know someone must really love it, since it's been published so many times, but that somebody is just not me.

For me, only 2 stories really made this anthology worth reading. DEVIL’S NIGHT by Richard Chizmar in which an ordinary school teacher gets wrapped up in murder and mayhem on a windblown Friday, the night before Halloween.

THE LAST DARE by Lisa Tuttle was another 5 star read for me. Two old friends, each of them a grandma now, who haven't seen each other in many years happen to bump into each other on Halloween. Their granddaughters hit it off immediately. What seems like a happy reunion soon turns into a nightmare. I loved this story.

Nothing more to say other than that this is another great collection. I recommend it to all.

2.5/5 stars.

I was really excited to read this collection of short stories about Halloween. Now that it’s fall and everything is pumpkin-spiced, I figured, what better way to get in the fall spirit than reading about Halloween?

However, I was overall disappointed with these stories. I felt like they were missing something to make them more…well, just more. I was expecting chilling ghost stories or thrillers of Halloween murders – and this coming from someone who doesn’t usually read too many bone-chilling thrillers – but there really wasn’t any of that. Most of these stories were slow-building plots with some sort of revelation at the end. Of all of them, my favorite was probably “The Halloween Bleed,” which was about a woman interviewing an older university professor about Halloween traditions. Although it was my “favorite,” it still wasn’t “scary” enough for what I was expected a Halloween story to be.

I think my biggest problem with this anthology is that the stories were so vague and short. I get that’s the point of a short story – it is short – but I feel like good short stories have this ability to draw you into the plot, care about the characters, and filled with careful layers of plot and subplot. However, that’s not what I got from these stories. I felt like the stories were interesting, but they also needed to be fleshed out more. They had potential, but I was left wanting more, but more in the sense that the story itself was lacking and not that I particularly cared to know more about the characters and their lives.

This collection was not what I was expecting it to be, and so I didn’t personally enjoy it. However, if you’re looking for something Halloween-themed with a little bit of suspense and okay story lines that’s a relatively quick read, then I’d say go for it. Maybe you’ll like these stories better than me. And if you’re still interested, there are four other Halloween Carnival Volumes to get you into the Halloween spirit.

*I received a copy of this eBook from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group (Hydra) in exchange for an honest review*

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

Halloween Carnival Volume 5 is the last book in a 5 book series. Each book features 5 short stories written by a different author. These books are pretty short. Only takes a little over an hour to read the whole book. A new book will be released each week of October in 2017. This book the final book will be released on Halloween.

The stories are scary or creepy. I think they were more creepy then scary. I really enjoyed this book. I liked seeing each of the authors style of writing. I liked all of the stories but if I have to choose a favorite it would be THE HALLOWEEN BLEED by Norman Prentiss. But even though it wasn't my favorite of the stories in this book I really liked Peter Straub's writing style the best.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

Well, there were stories....not very good ones, but yes, halloween stories. The first tale was the only one I really liked. I don't think I've ever read anything but Richard Chizmar before, so I may give his collaboration with Stephen King a go. Pork pie hat by Peter Straub is something I didn't even finish. Straub is one of those authors that I either love his story or hate it, and so he needs to grab me from the start. It didn't grab. The rest of the tales were mediocre. My thanks to Netgalley and Hydra/Random House for the gratis e-book for a review

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, authors, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL: Vol. 5 is a mutli-author horror anthology. Each story can be read individually and as standalones. This publication consists of short stories, not novel-length pieces. This fifth volume consists of stories written by Richard Chizmar ("DEVIL’S NIGHT"), Lisa Tuttle ("THE LAST DARE"), Norman Prentiss ("THE HALLOWEEN BLEED"), Kevin Quigley ("SWING"), and Peter Straub ("PORK PIE HAT").

Like the first four volumes, this was an extremely fast read; I read the entire collection in an hour. I enjoyed the stories, but I didn't find them to be scary. I also noticed one of the stories didn't have the same connection to Halloween as the other stories in all of the previous anthologies, which I found a little odd. Nonetheless, it was a good story. Also, I definitely must have a higher threshold for fear than the average reader, because I don't find these stories to be scary at all--creepy/odd/interesting, sure, but not scary.. However, like all the other stories in each of the anthologies, these stories were very unique and told in different styles, and I enjoyed them.

I recommend this anthology if you're looking for a good Halloween story rather than a scary story. 3.5 stars.

Halloween is absolutely my favorite holiday. Monsters, Ghouls, Ghosties, and all creepy things that go bump in the night! Bring 'em on!!

Halloween Carnival Volume 5 is the last in a series of 5 horror short story collections from Random House. The volumes will release -- one every week -- throughout the month of October. Love the covers! Love the variety of stories! Great way to scream your way to the holiday this year!

Volume 5, which releases on Halloween Day Oct 31st, contains five horrific tales. These tales are subtle, a smooth, slow build of uneasiness that morphs into horror just before the end. A slow ride....to hell. I prefer that type of horror story to the more in-your-face, spurting blood, b-movie sort.

Devil's Night by Richard Chizmar. Everyone has heard the news stories about the man who fought off a killer. But, nobody knows the whole story. A nice creepy read that builds slowly before smacking you in the face with the truth. Great read!

The Last Dare by Lisa Tuttle. Lane returns to her hometown to visit with her daughter and grand-daughter. She happens to meet Bobbi, her childhood best friend. They reminisce about all sorts of things, even the time Bobbi dared Lane to go into the Tower House. Lane discovers that while her childhood home has been torn down, the old Tower still stands. And it's just as dangerous as it was in the 1950s. Dare to go in? Lovely creepy story. Every town has that One House -- the abandoned one nobody wants to enter. Probably for good reason.

The Halloween Bleed (A Dr. Sibley Curiosity) by Norman Prentiss. One really should not assume that evil and magic only come out on Halloween. Real magic can pop up anywhere at anytime....especially when it's a surprise. This is hands down my favorite story from this collection! Awesome ending!

Swing by Kevin Quigley. Swing music brings memories of Jessica to him. He remembers her dancing. He remembers her dying. But then again, everyone he loves dies. And he falls in love all the time. This is an odd, but mesmerizing, bit of creepiness. Definitely a twisted love story. After all, there are all different types of love. Right?

Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub. A famous Jazz musician recounts a tale from his childhood. But some tales are best kept secret. This story fell a bit flat for me....maybe because it develops slowly? I'm not sure exactly...but it was my least favorite of the 5. Worth a read....but not scary/horrific. More disturbing than frightening.

All in all, this is a Halloween anthology worth reading! The tales are not screaming, wild, ripper tales but more subtle in their horror. The sort of story that sneaks up on you, rather than chases you down the lane. I think the release of one story anthology a week throughout the month of October is an awesome way to lead up to Halloween! And the ebooks are affordable! Excellent short stories at a price any reader can afford. Although some readers might have to take a glance behind to see if something is following them, the stories aren't so frightening to give sleepless nights and vivid nightmares.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Random House Hydra via NetGalley. Opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Review: HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL VOLUME 5
Edited by Brian James Freeman
Stories by Richard Chizmar, Lisa Tuttle, Norman Prentiss, Kevin Quigley , Peter Straub

Included in this new volume are a quintology of stories centered around the Halloween theme, though they range beyond that. For example, Richard Chizmar' s "Devil's Night" commences on October 30, "Devil's Night," or "Mischief Night"--the date immediately preceding Halloween. Norman Prentiss' "The Halloween Bleed" (for this reader, the set-piece and foundation of the quintology) postulates, via a pontificating "old-school" academic, that the cultural celebration of Halloween--not just on the day itself, but the conversation, thinking, retail sales, planning, and so forth--bring the nature of Halloween earlier and earlier in the year, so that the concept of Halloween "bleeds" into much of the year. (Although the professor's premise relates to the Dark Arts, I found it pertinent to the "thought is creation" premise: by virtue of so many of us--readers, authors, journalists, children--thinking in Halloween terms--we are striving to bring to pass that "Halloween Bleed" on which Professor Sibley insists.)