Poor Gerald is not long for this world. Alone and lonely near the end of his days, his only visitors are the nurse who comes to check his vitals and a yearly terrifying specter of his past that makes itself known every Halloween. On this particular night, he has a new nurse, who asks too many questions, over stays her welcome, and invites Gerald's greatest fear to come on in.

When I read the description I thought it sounded familiar but it wasn't until a few pages in that I realized I had read this novella before. Such are the hazards of reading so many books you sometimes lose track of what you've read. I first enjoyed this story when it was previously published in the Halloween Carnival series of anthologies. It's a fun spooky story for Halloween or any time of year for those of us who enjoy ghost stories all year round. I love the new illustrations inside too that I didn't get to see the first time around. This is a great read for those who like to keep Halloween close every day of the year.

Excellent, short book that left me wanting more! Reminded me of the great Charles L Grant. I loved it and highly recommend it!

I want to start thanking to the author, the publisher and netgalley. I’ve been reading lots of horror fiction and no fiction lately, and when the chance to read a novella about a spooky visitor on Halloween night I jumped into it.
Too sad that I had to FORCE MYSELF to read this. For the first half of this novel all I wanted to do was close the book because I didn’t care enough for the main character, Gerald, and it wasn’t –it really isn’t—worth it, having to sit there and read about how annoying Kelli, his nurse, is. I mean even Kelli –in case the pages of her being insufferable aren’t enough, what with how child-like she is and how she is having a tantrum and despise her total lack of respect for her patient— says or thinks multiple times that shes being really annoying.
Only in the chapter six of this novella (59% of it already read, and suffered) the story really stars, and then its all rushed, a story inside a story, with no time to feel for the characters and no time to set the atmosphere to feel anything but anxiety. All I could think was “please when is it gonna end?” – An episode of “are you afraid of the dark?” has more detailed, deep and complex characters and plot lines than this.
I want to say, having read a little about the author, I was not surprised to learn that he works in comis, because some chapters would end with an image that was, per se, page-turning. But it was the image. I understand how that could work in a graphic novel, but for me, it wasn’t enough in this novella.
Annoying characters that you don’t care about, a story inside a story inside a story that takes you way too far away from the plot that’s first introduced, no Halloween vibes at all.
Sorry, I just didn’t like it.

Short little novella about grief and the ghosts that haunt us. About past mistakes and secrets. About the guilt of childhood decisions.

I hope that Greg Chapman takes this story and expands on it because I see potential in this whole idea.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Turns out, I read this story a couple years ago as part of Halloween Carnival 3. It still holds up! Here's what I had to say back then (happily, my assessment upon giving this a second read hasn't changed!):

THE LAST NIGHT OF OCTOBER by Greg Chapman
Every Halloween, there's a knock on Gerald's door from a Trick or Treater unlike any of the other neighborhood kids. Now wheelchair bound and infirm, Gerald tries to shoo away his nurse before sunset, but the two quickly find themselves entrenched and in a struggle for survival. Chapman dishes out a really effective ghost story and I dug the heck out of this one! Good stuff all around.

Love a good Halloween tale - and this is a quick fun read in the vein of "Trick'r'Treat", one of my favorite new classic horror films. One of my favorite themes is ghosts from the past tormenting the the present, and this is an entertaining one. If you want a quick, fun, tormented read for Halloween, or any time you're in the Halloween spirit - read this one.

3.5 stars

I love Halloween! I love authors who write about Halloween even more! When it comes to a fast-paced, eerie, gory Halloween tale, Greg Chapman hits the nail on the head. The Last Night Of October is wonderfully paced and teeming with intrigue and macabre--a perfect novella to get you in the spooky-month spirit, even in April!

I was hooked from start to finish, read the whole thing in one morning! The writing isn't perfect, but the passion is there. (There's nothing a little editing can't resolve.) Also, can I say how much I love the inclusion of the author's artwork throughout? It adds an extra element to the story that very few books feature.

The Last Night Of October is so much more than I was expecting. This is a novella (and an author) that I'm sure to return to whenever that Halloween spirit comes creeping back to me (which happens often).

Pretty good little take of creepiness. Especially good since it was written by an Australian, and as I understand, they don't celebrate Halloween.

70 year old Gerald hates Halloween. Every Halloween at dusk, a visitor arrives that Gerald doesn't let into his home. That is until this year when his nurse, Kelli, opens the door. The little boy that comes in is not a trick or treater. He is here for Gerald but why?

I adore this story. It's one I will read every Halloween.

Ok so....what? What the f---? What the hell kind of ending is that?

This book was somewhat scary, but not for very long. It literally has three characters that make up the whole story, and one of them is completely unlikable for the most part. I could not have predicted the ending if I tried, because the ending made absolutely no sense.

Having said that, the book was very well written, if a bit short and vague on certain details. I enjoyed it. But then I didn't.

I may look into some of Greg Chapman's other books, but not right away.

Thank you to Netgalley and Greg Chapman for allowing me to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Trigger Warnings: Blood, horror violence

I read a lot less horror in the recent years that I used to and every time I pick a book like it, it makes me mad at myself for doing so. I love horror! This book freak me out! It's scary, but it also has a good story, and this is the fundamental of a horror story, if you don't love the story, if you don't care for the protagonist, you won't be scare! And a lot of author forget that. Chapman didn't! Great story, great horror, awesome book! Read more horror everyone!

Good short story. Was anxious to find out why Gerald was so afraid of Halloween. The ending was good and the story was at the right length. Interesting quick read. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

This was a quick fast story. I throughly enjoyed the story and the concept of the storyline. It was quick and straight to the point. It was also really cool to hear my home state mentioned. If your looking for a quick slight creepy Halloween story I would recommend this book.

Huge thanks to Omnium Gatherum. Netgalley and Greg Chapman for approving this for me to read.

I've hailed my love of Greg's work for a number of years now and when I saw this pop up on Netgalley, I couldn't resist, even knowing that if I was approved I might not get it read before release date. Once I was approved though, I had to put my other reads aside for an evening and read this. At about 70 pages, this was an easy single sitting read and for those who might be on the slower side of reading, the way Chapman hooks you with this one will force you to read this without putting it down, so be prepared.

What I liked: Like every other book I've read from Chapman (and his short stories) you'll start out feeling familiar with what you're going to read, only to see the stunning scope of 'freshness' that Greg's writing infuses into every trope. The book itself actually opens with a really nice foreword by Lisa Morton, which sets the stage. She says that Chapman writes one of the most stunning Halloween based stories while also throwing the expectations of what a Halloween story should be, on its head. You know what? She's spot on.

The story is simple enough (and familiar). We are introduced to an old man, Gerald Forsyth. Life has caught up to him, so he depends on home nurses to come and make sure his air cannisters are changed over and his oxygen supply is functioning correctly. He lives alone, just how he prefers it. He hates life itself and everything included; people, outdoors, niceness, everything. But what he hates most of all is Halloween.

Chapman does an enormous amount with the bare minimum. Gerald doesn't want anyone coming to his house on Halloween and this is most evident when a fill-in nurse arrives and decides to open the door to a mysteriously quiet trick-or-treater.

This simple act plunges the story down the rabbit hole you know Chapman was leading us towards, but when he takes us there, Good Lord. Expect grief driven darkness to infiltrate that layer between your skin and muscle, because this one makes you squirm.

I always love how Greg makes sure everything feels real. Even the paranormal/supernatural/horror elements he'll write about always have a sensation of 'this is actually possible' to them and 'The Last Night of October' is a prime example of this.

Learning about the 'why' of Gerald's disgust towards October 31st was a really great section and elevates everything that came before it as well as what happens after.

What I didn't like: In this case - I wanted to smack our fill-in nurse. She was inside Gerald's house and he expressly asked her not to do specific things, which she did anyways. But, I guess, if she'd listened then we wouldn't have discovered the rest of the story, so fine, I guess that's ok haha!

Why you should buy this: Chapman is one of my favorite authors and he is a stunning artist as well. 'The Last Night of October' deserves a wider release from it's limited offers previously and is another amazing example of how talented Greg is as a writer. It doesn't matter the length of story, you can always expect a fantastically twisted tale and this one is no different.

One of the best things I've read from Greg, this one is a must read and I'm excited to see more people discover his work.

**This review has been published on my blog site; https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2021/04/11/book-review-the-last-night-of-october-by-greg-chapman/

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC!
The story follows a 70- year old man, Gerald Forsyth. He has emphysema and is terrified of Halloween.
On the last day of October, children dress up in costumes and go trick or treating to collect candy; isn't it so much fun? Apparently not for Gerald, who did go trick or treating many years ago with his best friend Donny, in the middle of a blizzard. However, he returned alone.
Something happened all those years ago, that makes the old man shiver and cower whenever a small boy comes knocking at his door on Halloween.
In very few pages the author has managed to incorporate a good amount of terrifying scenes, so why only 3 stars?
1. I didn't particularly like certain sexist comments made by Gerald.
2. I could easily guess who it was that Gerald was afraid of!