"Some horrors stay with you forever."

3.8🎃✨

Russian doll - 3✨
Dia de los Muertos - 5✨
Easy Pickings - 5✨
Keeping Up Appearances -5✨
A Not Not-So-Scary Halloween -2✨
Rain - 2.5✨
Black - 5✨
Ride Like The Devil -3.5✨
Pulp -4✨
Last Halloween - 3✨


Spooky-Kookie, creepy tales to get you into the Halloween mood 🎃 reminiscent of Scary stories to tell in the dark meets Are You Afraid Of The Dark? Campfire stories 🔥

When I saw this collection of tales I immediately thought of "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark" and grabbed it to read for the nostalgia of feeling like I was tiptoeing into the pages, afraid of what might be lurking there.

There were just a few tales that captivated me, but overall I felt like these were too long to maintain their suspense and thrill.

Having just finished a Halloween short story collection, one which I enjoyed immensely, I probably went into "Mischief Night Massacre" with rather too high expectations. Jason Parent's collection is a good read, deeply immersed in the Halloween spirit and celebrating all aspects of that day of the year, but only a few of the ten stories included worked for me in that format: the ideas and the settings are wonderful and attractive, but most of the stories are just too long! Though there's rarely too much of a good thing, in this case the length takes most of the tension and the suspense out of the story. At least it did for me: "Dia De Los Muertos," for example, one of my favorites (about a veteran with PTSD, whose experiences overseas brought him face to face with the supernatural - I love this kind of stories!), could have been a tremendously good horror story were it half the length it is; by the time I finished it, it felt like a joke that took too long to get to the punchline and I'd lost interest in the ending. On the other hand, "Pulp," by far the longest tale in the collection, employs a sort of gimmick to keep the story running after it literally ends several times! So perhaps Parent's style is purposefully structured around long story length: it's neither a misstep nor optional. But it's difficult for an author to sustain an atmosphere of dread (necessary, I suppose, to the ambience of Halloween horror stories) when it's clear that the story has made its point and the reader expects closure. Another instance: the opening story, "Russian Doll House," a terrific haunted house tale with very sinister twists despite the young adult overtones. I couldn't help wondering why, once the young friends go into the house (which has taken lots of pages already), an entire series of new trials was needed to underline the same point again and again; that said, this would not be a "Russian Dollhouse" otherwise.

Almost all the stories have been previously published, though they've been revised for this publication. Two of them stood out for me, in spite of the problems with pacing and length: "Rain" and "Black". The first gave me chills: it's about a dad trying to tell a scary story to his young sons on Halloween night, and getting continuously interrupted by strange events. I thought the dad would have been the key to the story, due to the (ultimately misleading) humorous tone, but nope: this was a proper horror story with no humor at all. I loved it! The other story, "Black," employed a very smart technique to offer a nasty twist in the end: it's told almost entirely from the point of view of a husband who's been cheating on his wife; just before the end, the point of view changes and we get the chance to see things from the wife's perspective. This was a very enjoyable story, one which all readers will appreciate for its entertainment value.

In sum, this is a collection lots of people will probably enjoy; the fact that Parent's style is not for me means little, when the tales are obviously well-crafted and rich in detail and intelligent dialogue.

I never tend to choose to read a short story collection, but since I’m a sucker for Halloween and slashers and all things related, I decided to gove this one a go. Honestly, I wish I hadn’t. The only story that I seemed to enjoy was the first, and the rest after that just weren’t somehting I liked, skimming through the ones that I found boring.

These 10 short Halloween stories are not enough spook for me. I expected something darker and twistier for a horror, but it felt a bit flat. I wanted to be scared, and this just wasn't it.

Mischief Night Massacre is a lively anthology featuring ten short stories, many previously published but now conveniently collected. The book blends horror and dark humor, exploring themes of fear and revenge through a mix of chilling and playful tales.

The pacing makes it easy to dive from one story to the next, with standout pieces that twist familiar themes, like trick-or-treating gone wrong. This collection isn’t just for horror fans; it offers a fun look at our darker impulses. Overall, it’s an entertaining read that kept me hooked from start to finish!

Surprised how much I liked this! Loved that it was short stories I could read one before bed, I am a big scaredy cat so I did sleep with my closet light on haha but loved

Mischief Night Massacre brings together ten short stories, many previously published but collected here for reader convenience. As the title and cover would lead you to believe, these stories are all about Halloween and there’s nothing that I love more this time of year than curling up with a good Halloween-themed horror collection. Before I go in to a short description of the stories, I want to start by saying how much I love the cover art. It gives off a vintage Halloween feel with a warm color palette and is seriously sinister.
Ok, let’s dive in.

RUSSIAN DOLLHOUSE:
The old house on Waterford Lane has been abandoned for years. Eager to impress her crush, Kit goes to the house with a group of friends for a harmless Halloween prank but they end up walking in to a house of horrors.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS:
A war veteran with PTSD is living in Mexico and wanders out amongst the Day of the Dead celebrations to get a drink but things end in a bloody showdown.

EASY PICKINGS:
Two bullies get their comeuppance on Halloween night when they choose the wrong kid to pick on.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES:
A group of criminals use the anonymity of Halloween and its masks to rob the homes of old, rich people and end up getting a little taste of their own medicine.

A NOT NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN:
Danielle and her brother Robby are trick-or-treating in the suburbs of Orlando while their cousin regales them with horror stories about the local alligators…

RAIN:
When a rainstorm traps Georgie and his brother inside the house on Halloween night, their dad starts to tell scary stories. It’s up to Georgie to decide if they’re real or not.

BLACK:
Max and Rose’s marriage is falling apart and it’s going to take a lot more than a trip to Frightmare to fix it… or will it?

RIDE LIKE THE DEVIL:
Taye goes to the local carnival with his sister and her boyfriend where there are rumors of a ride that some people didn’t come out of last year…

PULP:
In the longest story of this collection, there’s a bit of a mash-up between Scream and Groundhog Day, where Jaime must learn to trust his instincts if he wants to survive the party in the woods.

LAST HALLOWEEN:
When two girls go out trick-r-treating and run in to a couple of boys from school, they decide to get drunk in the woods but something is lurking out there and they may not make it out alive.

In these stories, readers will find haunted houses and the undead, monsters and creepy kids, lots of blood, some Hannibal Lecter vibes and many nods to iconic horror films, and of course lots of tricks and treats. My personal favorites are honestly hard to choose when it comes to such a strong collection but I would put Russian Dollhouse, Easy Pickings, Rain, and Black at the top.
This is a wonderful Halloween collection that is perfect for readers who enjoy the dark and macabre. The imagery is sharp and visceral so readers beware!

Thank you Corpus Press for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review! Available 09/24/2024 ❤️‍🔥👻🏚️

Such a great story! Loved reading this just in time for halloween! Overall a cute and quick read for halloween

I really enjoyed these ten tales of horror and was a great overall concept for a good Halloween tale. Jason Parent was able to weave interesting tales with the spooky element that I was hoping for. Each story worked overall and had a few unexpected elements to them. I hope Jason Parent writes more collections as this was really well done.

Had to get my glasses and pen out for this one.

I Loved it.

I always try to pick one or two stand out stories and this was hard but
Russian Dollhouse is living rent free in my head yall.

If you recall seeing me say something irl about mannequins, this little short story is what tipped me over the edge of paranoia, gave me the spooky vibes from a horror movie called The curse of Sleeping Beauty, those things concern me greatly lol.
I'm not saying they are real, but I am saying I give them a healthy respect, just incase. ( tie this in with, I just finished another book heavy on the mannequins and I'm loosing it lol)

Second was Easy Pickings, this one wasn't scary but it was so so so satisfying. I hated the MC and loved every single second of it.

I want to keep listing my favorites from this but there are only ten, and I can't tell you about all of them, then what would you get to read?