I didn’t like this unfortunately. I wanted to love this and truly enjoy it, but it was difficult to get into. I think part of the issue is that I got approved for it after Halloween. I think coming out when it does wasn’t the best choice.

The last 30% really is amazing, but the prior 70% was hard to get through.

Thank you to SMP, Netgalley, and Christopher Golden for this ARC!

So I got this just in time for Halloween and started it a few days beforehand. I loved that there were multiple POVs—different adults/parents in the neighborhood, different kids/teenagers in the neighborhood. But because of this I felt like it took me forever to get into the story, and there were a LOT of characters to remember. It got really interesting once I hit the 30-40% mark.

Sadly because there were SO many characters and POVs, it took forever to get through the end. I was bored from about 70% through to the end. I wish some characters could have been cut to shorten the book, but we needed them to tie up loose ends for the conclusion.

So overall I liked the story (the cunning man, the creepy “children”) but wish the ending didn’t feel like it dragged on.

Halloween night, 1984, small town Massachusetts, and it’s a night of drama… and scares. As the neighbor trick or treats, strange children in vintage costumes show up talking about hiding from the Cunning Man.

This was a creepy read, perfect to save for a Halloween read. The entire story takes place on one day: Halloween. It can be challenging writing an entire story in one day, but the author really shows how it’s done; constant action, many people. There are tons of characters, but it’s never confusing. It got seriously wild at the end. I loved the crazy costumes and the vivid descriptions.

“There’s something here already. Like this shadow’s come ahead of him, sniffing around like a … like a hunting dog.”

All Hallows comes out 1/24.

If this had been a short story, it may have been paced enough to be awarded 4 stars. The premise, albeit unoriginal, has some substance. I also didn't mind most characters in the band of misfits Christopher Golden created-- although I would've been happy with less sexualization of all the female teens we encounter.

The entirety of this 330-some page novel is set within a span of 12 hours (mostly). Jumping from one dysfunctional home to the next, all of them dirty laundries are about to get aired out on this fateful Halloween night in Massachusetts.

But by page 125, I was over the repetitive descriptions and familial drama, and skipped a hundred pages... only to find myself pretty much exactly where I left off in the actual plot.

Again, Golden's ideas would be far better off in a short story format, and I'd love to dive more into those should he release them. Description has no place if it's just filler.

Big thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This one was definitely creepy. I read this a few chapters at a time every night before bed until I finished it and it definitely gave me the creeps. Something about children in old, drab, scary costumes giggling in the woods is enough to scare anyone, I’d think.

In a small town in New England, on a suburban street called Parmenter Road, All Hallows focuses on a handful of families in the neighborhood on a deadly Halloween night in ‘84.

It’s a Halloween like any other but there are children in tattered old costumes and creepy makeup walking around and begging people to help them; to save them from The Cunning Man who is after them.

This was a pretty slow burn and I really enjoyed it. You don’t really get into the traditional horror until a little later in the book. Instead, we are given a plethora of narratives throughout the first half, demonstrating the crumbling of some family dynamics. The dysfunction in these peoples lives is the perfect set up for the horror that is to come, establishing that people and the supernatural alike can both be monsters.

This book is delightfully creepy! The atmosphere itself is pretty on point, it really felt like this neighborhood was the place to be on Halloween night! Well....until it wasn't.

First you get some domestic disputes that kind of taint the night, but it is no big deal. I kept waiting for something bigger, something worse, to come along. I thought there was no way we are 20% in and the domestic dispute would be the core issue of the story.

And oh man, did it only escalate from there. Enter the ghost children. These kids started popping up early in the story, and they are very vague about their origins and why they are scared of "the Cunning Man." I was so interested in these kids, and I knew there was something nefarious going on here. Then the book escalates pretty quickly, and there is a lot of action and suspense in the last chunk of this book.

Beware though, this is not a story with a happy ending. This book has a lot of death in it, and not everyone makes it out alive. Still, the story is pretty good and I was definitely unsettled at many parts throughout. This is a good book for the Halloween season, and the atmosphere alone makes it worth the read.
Content warnings: child death, child abuse, death, graphic depictions, infidelity, homophobia, pedophilia, racism, toxic relationships

Thank you so much to @stmartinspress for allowing me to read this awesome thriller in exchange for my honest review!

This horror story is told from multiple POVs and takes place on Halloween in 1984, Coventry, Massachusetts. It’s about some creepy-looking kids dressed in faded, old costumes from a different generation and they’re just popping up around the neighborhood, tagging along with the town’s trick-or-treaters, and looking terrified as they constantly check their surroundings.

This main storyline is woven between the multiple storylines being told from the different POVs of neighborhood kids, teens, and parents. The true horror of this book was the raw realities the characters were going through and how the same circumstances can affect those involved differently, but just as devastatingly and traumatic all the same.

All around GREAT story, I loved the folklore involved, and I felt an attachment to the characters which is always a plus for me as a reader. I do wish Barb having a faint memory of the Cunning Man came full circle though - I thought there’d be a curveball toward the end.

Unfortunately, this felt more like domestic drama than an eerie horror. I am not especially fond of books involving everyone’s quarrels unless it’s deeply emotional or done as social commentary. This was neither, so it lost me long before the horror arose. Plus, that horror stayed in the backseat while the neighborhood’s arguments took the wheel for almost 75% of the story. Hints of what might be up ahead were not enough to make the rest more intriguing.

I also found the simplistic writing style in All Hallows to be quite annoying. Had so many other aspects of the story not been lacking, I might have been able to overlook this component a bit more.

The novel did not have the maturity level of an adult novel. Some of the family dynamics may have been a bit heavy and some of the horror did get graphic, but the book still felt incredibly childish to me. That’s not to say I think it better suits young adults nor do I think young adult books are immature. They suit their target audience well. I don’t know who it suits, to be honest, but I found it overwhelmingly disappointing as an adult novel.

I will give credit to the surprising turn of events toward the end. This did draw me in a bit more, but it was not enough to alter my overall opinion of the book. I wanted an immersive creepy read and this just did not fit the bill.

I am immensely grateful to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this story - the writing was good and the characters were fine, I just found that I had to keep making myself pick it up. Unfortunately, something was missing for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for this advance copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I received an advanced copy of this one on a Friday and finished it up the next day. Let me just say that if you like a creepy tale that’s spooky and dramatic but not too scary, you’ll want to add this one to your list.

The entire book takes place on Halloween in small town Massachusetts in 1984 and has major Stranger Things vibes.

Available January 24 from author @christopher_golden and @stmartinspress.

Thank you @netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

All Hallows was the perfect spooky read! Intense, gory, full of action, I could not put this book down. It’s Halloween night, 1984, and everyone in the neighborhood is preparing for trick or treat. Through multiple character POVs we watch the horror unfold. Drama and terror weave their way through this creepy book-with legends of The Cunning Man roaming around. Golden gave a perfect “Stranger Things” vibe when he wrote All Hallows, a perfect Halloween read!

Welllll, I had to DNF not because it wasn’t good, but because it absolutely creeped me out.

All Hallows is set on Halloween, and follows a neighborhood, both adults and children, on Halloween night. Families are unraveling, all while kids are out trick or treating. This neighborhood is surrounded by woods, and “The Cunning Man” is haunting or terrorizing a group of “children.” These children assimilate as much as they can but something is off and these children attempt to convince the neighborhood to protect them.

The beginning is a little slow in setting the scene, but once the creep starts, it was completely creepy! If you like eerie feels or horror in general, you may like this. I am too much of a chicken to handle it.

Definitely would recommend adding this to your spooky season reading list.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've struggled writing a review with this one because even though I enjoyed it, I'm afraid that I'll give too much away.

All Hallows is set on Halloween night in 1984 on Parementer Road in Coventry, Massachusetts. The story unfolds as various bizarre and even sinister things begin to unfold to the residents of Parementer Road. The story alternates from various points of view of kids, teens, and adults of those living in the neighborhood.

The book contains:
▪️Very creepy kids
▪️A haunted woods
▪️A killer on the loose called the Cunning Man
▪️Stranger things vibes

I loved the fact that this book was set in the 80s it gave me so much childhood nostalgia.
The book begins as a slow climb and introduces us to the various characters as well as the neighborhood setting. Then when you least expect it, BAM! Action and unexpected occurrences begin to unfold until it snowballs into a spectacular ending.

There is a lot of various points of view which can be sometimes confusing when keeping up with who's who but the author wrote each of their perspectives so distinct that I didn't have this issue at all. I also loved the fact that this book contains a diverse cast of characters that represent so many. This is my first read by the author and it will not be my last. All Hallows will be a story that I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

All Hallows by Christopher Golden will be available on January 24, 2023! Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Supernatural thrillers/horror are not a go-to genre for me, so this was definitely a harder read for me. Overall, I liked the premise of the book. But I really had to skim over the gore. And I think I would have liked it more if it the thriller/horror part wasn't based in the supernatural. Basically, it wasn't the book it was me....I learned that I'm not the right audience for this particular genre.

Book Review
All Hallows by Chritsopher Golden

⚠️What Its Got⚠️
Haunted house/ Dark woods
Domestic violence
Marital issues/infidelity
LGBTQIA relationships
Neighbourhood drama
Creepy children
Monsters
Racism

Thoughts
I could not put this one down! It reminded me of old school horror movies- think Candyman and Friday the 13th. There was a clear adults vs kids theme woven through out. Parents in the neighbourhood that are either disillusioned or naive about the true nature of their relationships with their spouses and children. Kids/Teens dealing with emotional growing pains, self discovery and young love.
A simple Halloween evening of trick or treating turns deadly for these families.
This book left me scared stiff.
The parallels between Grimms fairytale of Hansel and Gretal were not unnoticed- candy, witches, woods, glowing eyes…..Sleep will be elusive tonight as visions of the Cunningman invade my dreams.

This book would make an ideal horror movie adaptation!
It is THE perfect #horror read for the #spookyszn

Thank you to @sartinspress and @netgalley for My gifted copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Told from many characters’ POV, All Hallows does build a nice tension and I quickly got into, but it didn't succeed in keeping my interest - after the slow build up (in my opinion), the middle and ending didn't stand up well, nor did it really seem to fit with the rest of the story. Ultimately, I finished my reading of this one disappointed.

Halloween night, 1984, in Massachusetts. The Barbosa family is preparing to host their annual “haunted woods” for the last time before moving out of the neighborhood. The neighborhood kids are excited, even as strange children that no one knows starts showing up. But as these children beg to be “hidden” until midnight, it becomes clear there is more going on here than meets the eye.

This was the most perfect “spooky season” book to read over Halloween weekend! It had vibes of “Stranger Things” and gave me an eerie feeling from the first few pages. Part domestic/neighbor thriller and part supernatural/horror, this story was exciting and kept me reading quickly! Without giving away any spoilers, I definitely double checked that all my doors were locked and reminded my kids not to talk to strangers after reading 😆

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Christopher Golden for the ARC! “All Hallows” will be released January 24, 2023!

This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly 😊

Sorry, I just could not get into this book or finish it no matter how many times I tried. Nothing against the author, I have seen rave reviews for this book. It just was not for me.

.When I read the synopsis for this book I was excited, as I felt this would be right up my alley.
While I did enjoy the read there were a few things that I disliked about it. While I do love a
book with multiple POVs. There were so many POVs that it was hard to follow at times.
Most of the story isn't what I would consider horror, as nothing horror related happened until
around the 70% mark.

DNF

Sometimes you come across a novel by a well established author and you think to yourself how on earth did this guy get published?!?! That is me with this book and Christopher Golden. I hate to be harsh but I'm always honest. You've been warned.