The shadows grow long in the crisp autumn air, and soon the summer will be a distant memory. In the dim light of a fading sun, the night has returned to reclaim its own. From hayrides to corn mazes, and Jekyll and Hyde. With warped games and witches, demons, and Death personified. “Autumn Nights: 13 Spooky Fall Reads” brings together the very best in chilling tales to tell under a harvest moon.
Created for those who get excited for Halloween and crisp Fall weather (and yes, even Pumpkin Spice Lattes). Are you the type to dream of windy nights and tumbling leaves even while summer days stretch on? Do you want scary bonfire stories with doses of humor and twists on classical tales? This collection is perfect for you. With thirteen plus one (bonus!) spooky short stories, each twisted tale glimmers with a different sinister face of Autumn to bring new chills to your spine.
Autumn Nights: 13 Spooky Fall Reads – Horror Novel Book Review Blog
The Halloween season is upon us and, even though I read horror all year round, during this time of year it gets ramped up and I want to try and get in as many scary reads as I can. What better way to get engulfed in an anthology? I recently read Flight or Fright, a compilation of horror stories centered around air flight put together by Stephen King and Bev Vincent. Flight or Fright contained some good stories and some not-so-good stories, as is the case with a majority of anthologies, at least the ones that I’ve read. After reading reviews for Autumn Nights, I was psyched to get my hands on a copy and read it while in bed or on the sofa by a soft light on a side table, the fireplace crackling on the other end of the living room. I found a copy on eBay and placed an order. The book got to me in about a week or so and I started reading a few days later.
Spoiler alert: I did not like this book… at all. The writing is fine, I just felt like I did not get what this book was being marketed as, primarily the “spooky” part in the title. Maybe being a horror fan desensitized me over the years but I did not read one story in this anthology that was scary let alone spooky. The problem for me was that most of the stories read more fantastical as opposed to what I expected, tales of the macabre, the supernatural or paranormal, ghosts, demons, and things that go bump in the night. These are the things that tickle my bone, and not in a fun way but, rather in the way that keeps me up at night, afraid to shut my eyes, frightened of what may be in the room with me in the dark. Talking cats and fairies are not scary.
For the most part, the stories were well written but the content was just not my cup of tea. I found myself quickly losing interest in, not just one tale, but all of them as they were rather unforgettable and, again, far, very far from being scary or spooky. There is certainly a target audience for Autumn Nights 13 Spooky Fall Reads and, clearly, it was not me.