Mischief Night Massacre is a collection of ten spooky short stories, all set on Halloween night. This was my first short story collection in a long time. They aren’t something I usually gravitate towards but curiosity got the better of me with this one.

The imagery within these stories was incredible and I couldn’t fault it. At many points throughout, I was gasping at how brilliant the descriptions were of the gory moments. When haunted/abandoned houses and carnival rides are used as settings, I immediately know that the story is going to be brilliant.

My Rating for Each Story

Russian Dollhouse - 5
Dia De Los Muertos - 3
Easy Pickings - 3
Keeping Up Appearances - 5
A Not Not-So Scary Halloween - 5
Rain - 4
Black - 3
Ride Like The Devil - 5
Pulp - 3
Last Halloween - 4

Jason Parent really knew how to build a sense of terror within each story. There was strong character development, which in a short story can be hard to do well seeing as you don’t have much time to build up before the story has ended. Quite a few of the endings had me in shock, especially A Not Not-So Scary Halloween, I actually had to re-read the ending a few times just to make sure I had read it right.

The stories that really stuck in my mind are Russian Dollhouse, Keeping Up Appearances, A Not Not-So Scary Halloween and Ride Like The Devil. I felt that the pacing of these stories worked really well and the others just lost my interest. While I think some of the stories were perfectly paced, the rest were more of a slow burn vibe. To go from one kind of pacing to another so quickly was something I struggled with. I feel like if all the stories had the same pacing then I may have enjoyed it more. Within some stories, especially Easy Pickings there was some language that I found quite off-putting. While I understand that it was about someone being a bully, I felt that the language could have been more varied (and less offensive) rather than focusing on using one specific slur constantly.

My overall rating of this book is 3.5. I appreciate the spooky vibes that this book emanated, it has definitely put me in the mood to read some more horror books. I will be sure to check out more of Jason Parent's work.

**I received this advanced copy of Mischief Night Massacre by Jason Parent from NetGalley and Corpus Press in exchange for an honest review**

These reminded of those great spooky campfire stories that would keep one eye open all night. There was a range of stories and all felt spooky in their own ways. The Russian dollhouse slasher one was my favorite. I flew through this collection. I will definitely keep my eye on tis author and their future works.

I really liked the stories in this short collection because they had all the right vibes I was looking for and seeking. The fall and creepy vibes are all in the stories you find in this book. And With all short stories collections some will be more fabulous than others. In this case without spoiling anything, there was only one that was kinda meh to me. I gave this book 4 stars. Perfect to read to get yourself ready for Halloween.

This was a quick Halloween read with 10 short stories. Keeping Up Appearances was by far my favorite (and probably the most shocking) of the 10 and I loved the Disney reference with A Not Not-So-Scary Halloween.

Very good horror book! It has 10 short story’s and I feel like the author did very good with The description and details I felt like I could picture it all. Definitely horror if you do not like horror and you do not like reading about graphic things this book is not for you. I feel like it was done great and the detail was really good!

10 tales of horror set on Halloween or Halloween adjacent holidays, an absolutely winning pitch for me.

This is a fantastic horror short story collection that feels aimed at the older YA crowd and which read like Point Horror or RL Stine for a new generation. It feels modern and fresh even whilst utilising classic horror tropes and monsters. A good number of the stories were genuinely scary, gory and incredibly tense. I loved it as a collection and loved dipping in and out of the stories over a few days. From a favourites perspective I especially enjoyed Easy Pickings, Keeping Up Appearances and Rain, and whilst a few were weaker than others there wasn't a dud story in the collection.

My individual story ratings and notes as I read along:
- The Russian Dollhouse- 4*
- Dia De Los Muertos - 4.25* - this one has grown on me the more distance I get from it
- Easy Pickings - 4.5* - a true horror story
- Keeping up appearances - 4.5* - short, sharp, shocking. The stories in this collection keep getting better and more horrific as we go.
- A Not Not-So-Scary Halloween - 4* - Not the scariest or most horrifying but a quick one with a good twist at the end - probably bumping up a .5* because it's set in Orlando and references the theme park - Halloween events which I love (title is partially in reference to Disney).
- Rain - 4.25* - honestly that was so tense! Things that go bump in the night dialled to 11
- Black - 3.5* - still good but didn't quite click as well as some of the others
- Ride like the devil - 3.5*
- Last Halloween - 3.75*

Even though this collection was teenage character focused for the most part I wouldn't let that deter you. These stories have genuine creep and ick factor and will be an ideal spooky season read for all horror fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Corpus Press for a digital review copy of "Mischief Night Massacre" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

"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?