I had SO much fun reading this one!!! I loved the intertwined story lines of what was happening at the same time throughout. The character development and characters were all great, yes even the unlikable ones! This was both hilarious and spooky. The early 2000’s vibes were nostalgic for me and I loved the Halloween time setting. Duncan Ralston is one of my favorite authors and this one is now my favorite book by him (sorry Ghostland I still love you too)!! I’m also completely obsessed with this book cover!

On Halloween 5 teens set out to make a horror film in their town of Crooks Corner. Aa hell breaks loose when a powerful entity able to control objects starts causing carnage all across town. Fighting for their lives can the people of Crooks Corner save their town or they will at least die trying.
This is a beast of a book but well worth the long haul a brilliant story that had me on the edge of my seat thorough out. I love a book where no character is safe and I got that feeling from this right from the start. Highly recommend this book. LOVED IT 😁
Thank you to Netgalley, Duncan Ralston and Shadow Work Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not to be hyperbolic but I think we should address Duncan Ralston as The Great Pumpkin from now on.
This book is for Halloween fans, the ones who wore their costumes again and again until they fell apart. Those of us who hoarded Halloween pencils and party favors to try to keep enough to have year round, those of us who lived for October for the AMC marathons. That we’d watch with one finger on the recall button for when our parents inevitably walked in during the sex scene.
If I just described you, I think you’ll appreciate Helloween as I did. It’s gory, supernatural Halloween fun while also making some keen observations about religion, popular culture, and even some shout-outs to the Indigenous people of the area (yakoke for that, Mr. Ralston).
I think what Ralston does most successfully is bring together all of our favorite things about Halloween, that feel nostalgic and familiar, but combine them into a new story that will still surprise you. At different points I was reminded of some of my favorite Buffy episodes and Trick r’ Treat, with a coming-of-age aspect that reminded me of IT without ever feeling too familiar or derivative. Excellent.
Another great success of Helloween is the characterization of the teenagers. This is a common gripe from me while reading from the POV of a teenager, sometimes they are overwrought and attempts to portray teen surliness/rebellion comes off as distinctly unlikeable and hard to root for when the s*** hits the fan. Not here. I rooted for them all and cheered and grieved throughout the story.
This is the time that I confess that I may be slightly biased as I was blown away by Woom so I knew to expect a good story. But Duncan Ralston especially shines with Helloween. He had a blast writing this story, it comes through on every page. And he was nice enough to bring us along for the ride.

5/5 wire hangers

Big thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!

Breakfast club x Blair Witch x Stranger Things Vibes

Halloween night 2001, the town of Crooks Creek is buzzing with excitement–kids eager to trick-or-treat, the annual Halloween Village is packed, and smiley face symbols being found all over town have the local police feeling ill at ease.

Five students are assigned to work together on their midterm project-a found footage horror film. Where and when better to film than at the Haunted Village on Halloween night? What should be a fun, easy assignment turns deadly after the Resurrection of an evil entity lays waste to Crooks Corner and its citizens.

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Finished reading Helloween at 2 am. I couldn't put it down until I found out how it ended. It has been hard to find a book that holds my attention, much less keeps me awake all night.

Given the sheer size of the book and the huge cast of characters changing POV every chapter, Ralston easily could have made mistakes with continuity, but he rocked it. If you dig small town horror, late 90s-early 00s nostalgia, human sacrifice, ancient entities hellbent on world domination,and possessed Furbys, check this out.

Firstly I would like to thank Duncan Ralston , Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op | Shadow Work Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of ' Helloween' to read and provide an honest review for in return.
I was very excited to receive a copy of this new novel as I have been following the author's work for sometime . I am an avid reader of the splatterpunk genre and Duncan Ralston is a big name in those circles.
In all honesty it was the cover that drew me to this title immediately even before I realised Duncan was the writer. It had a very nostalgic feel to it and reminiscent of the 80s big box vhs horror tapes that I grew up with a fascination for .

The novel follows the story of a group of teenagers who are set a school project to create a film in the small town which they reside in. Things are not what they seem in this small town and the teens are soon to discover as they fight for their lives and put together all of their skills just to survive the night.

I loved the premise and the concept and the nods to nostalgia . I certainly feel I was the right age to relate to these parts. Unfortunately though I struggled with this book . Although I wanted to like it so much with a heavy heart I had to accept at 46 percent read that it just wasn't for me .
It was very lengthy and descriptive and just as I started getting invested in part of the plot and with a character set , it would change entirely. I felt that it would have worked better as a series of short stories or a collection rather than the one novel . I can see that the author tried to pack as much into the book as he possibly could , but it just fell short for me on this occasion .

I am at the perfect age where this book hits all the right throwback feelings. I really enjoyed all the subtle nods to horror icons in the names of several characters, as well as other notable personalities from that time period. A lot of this felt like an adult Goosebumps in the best possible ways. I didn't vibe with everything in this book, but that's more reflective on my preferred style of horror reading than it is this specific book/author. I would recommend this because I do think it does a great job of telling a classic halloween scary story with some really clever visuals, while adding in some metaphors for our current world and fun easter eggs for the horror faithful.

The premise is perfect but it's a bit to long for me to give it five stars. The story would benefit from naroowing it down about 200 pages. But Ralston is still an auto buy for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up!

It's Halloween of 2001 in the small town of Crooks Corner. A small group of teens sets out to film a horror movie for a school project at their local Halloween Haunt, but all of a sudden, the Haunt becomes real and nobody is safe. Teens, parents, teachers, and the local sheriff all must come together to put an end to Helloween before it's too late.

HELLOWEEN by Duncan Ralston had a very nostalgic feel, full of murder, gore, and a whole lot of friendship.

Coming in at a whopping 572 pages, it's hard to believe that most of this story takes place over the course of one night, and I found that to be one of this book's main downfalls (the other being some of the language used that was more commonplace in the early 2000s).

We follow at lease five different storylines throughout this book, which kept me engaged, though some of the characters felt a bit cumbersome to follow. The "entity" also didn't feel fully fleshed out to me, despite having so many pages for its entire backstory to be established.

A fine Halloween read, but could have been much better if it was combed through a few more times.

Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Work Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love a Halloween, spooky vibe book, and this book definitely falls in that category. Helloween does start out slow, I thought during this time it would develop the characters more so that you make a connection. Unfortunately I never did, there are a lot of characters, and I think that is where it fell flat with me, there were too many characters to keep track of. The book does pick up and there is a lot of action, however it starts to slow back down, I think it was just longer then it needed to be, as it ends up dragging. I found myself skimming through just to get to parts where it is more fast paced. This was a fun premise, and overall a good book, but not my favorite by this author.

Helloween by Duncan Ralston is packed with Halloween nostalgia that really brings the season to life. The vivid details make it feel immersive, but the story does drag in places and could have been tighter. If you love a slow, atmospheric read with a retro vibe, it’s worth picking up, but it might test your patience if you’re after something faster-paced.

I will say - I went into this blind so I didn’t know what to expect and it wasn’t for me. The cover and the name drew me in.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that horror element that I was looking for and thought worked in the genre. It was everything that was promised and worked overall, the characters felt like they were supposed to be there and was engaged with what was happening. Duncan Ralston has a strong writing style and am excited for more as this was really well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I love reading horror novels when the author is very clearly also a fan of horror, and uses that to the fullest of advantages. Ralston sounded vaguely familiar when I picked this one up, and I didn't realise that he was the author of 'Woom', another really solid horror short story with some particularly gory and gross content. This is another novel that is well within that same gamut of pulling absolutely zero punches, and putting spectacular effort into the story and characters.

The concept of this novel is great. Halloween coming to life following an accidental Satanic ritual? Count me in. The characters are variable and fun, and all have their own quirks that means they are identifiable by their language alone, which is always lovely (especially when there is a bigger cast!). The horror in this novel is exceptional, and I was particularly a fan of the haunted house decorations and the jack-'o'-lanterns. This is kind of what you'd hope the Goosebumps books would lead up to when you were a kid- it chooses to go all the way with the gore, nasties, and general vibe.

If I were to critique anything, it would be that sometimes the descriptions went just that bit too long, and sometimes there were a few *too many* pop culture references (although I appreciate that is also a mark of the time!). The other thing would be that this felt a little like short stories strung together - although, that does result in strong premises throughout.

Altogether though, this book was so much fun, and a really solid horror piece from an author who clearly knows his stuff. Also the cover? Exceptional, no notes. Looking forward to whatever Ralston puts out next!

This was so much nostalgic fun!
I was nervous to start this as it's quite a brick, but it read away so easily. I love reminiscing about all the good ol' milennial days.
There's lots of POV's and a lot going on, but it sure as hell never got boring. You spend a hot minute with all characters and eventually get attached to quite a few. Hell, I eventually even started liking The Snake, lol, he's such a sassy icon.

Brevity may be the soul of wit, but it’s not always a requirement for good fiction. Classics like “Les Miserables,” “War and Peace,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” are all over 1,000 pages long and have withstood the test of time. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” when considered as a whole, is much longer than 1,000 pages, but I’ve heard few people complain about its length. In the horror field, Stephen King stands out with massive works like “It,” “Under the Dome,” and the uncut version of “The Stand” crossing the 1,000-page mark. By contrast, Duncan Ralston is a horror writer best known for his shorter work, like the novella-length “Woom.” However, in his latest novel, “Helloween,” he turns his word processor loose, and the result is a 700-page book, most of which takes place on one night, Halloween, 2001. Despite the book’s length, there’s little padding here, but a lot of genuinely unsettling moments.

“Helloween” takes place in Crooks Corner, NH, a small town close to and similar in many ways to the locales of Stephen King’s Maine-set stories. The highlights of the town’s Halloween celebration, besides the usual trick-or-treating, are the annual Halloween Village and haunted barn at the Thompson family farm and the spooktacular double feature at the town’s only theater. (Non-spoiler: Both locations will figure prominently in the book’s action.) The novel’s main characters are a group of high school students in the same communications class. They decide to make a horror movie (to be called “Helloween”) and film it at the Thompson farm during the Halloween night festivities, adding a fictional serial killer to the “real” performers who had dressed as ghouls and vampires to scare visitors. Unfortunately for everyone in town, supernatural forces intervene.

A collective demonic entity that calls itself Geth (I’ll refer to Geth as an “it” rather than a “they” from here on) has been trapped in an underground cavern near Crooks Corner for centuries. Geth was imprisoned by a native shaman and could not get out until now. Geth is understandably angry and is out for revenge against the townspeople. In addition, Geth has a legion of helpers, wraithlike forces that are part of the collective. These minions can possess everyday objects like lawnmowers and Halloween trinkets and turn them into sentient weapons. Geth’s legions show up at the Thompson farm with gory results and then make their way into Crooks Corner.

If I attempted to summarize the novel’s plot in more detail, this review would soon become novelette-length (and spoil a lot of the grisly fun for readers). Although the communications students are the book’s lead characters, “Helloween” has a couple of dozen others that eventually figure in the storyline. They include some stock characters, like the football team bullies, and some more original types, like the two teachers who don’t want anyone to know they’re dating. Many of them don’t survive the night, but the author devotes enough time to them so they don’t just become the one-note statistics found in many slasher stories.

I’ve read several of Dunacn Ralston’s books, and I’ve always felt he could be a successful mystery writer if he ever switches genres. “Helloween” is meticulously plotted. At times, characters do things that don’t seem to make sense at first reading. However, the author includes several flashbacks (each chapter has its own timeline shown, so readers will be alerted to where the chapter fits into the overall story). Those flashbacks reveal additional layers of the storyline and often explain the events described on previous pages. Despite the book’s length, most readers will be able to follow the story as it progresses. The main reason is the novel’s tight editing. Many books of this length have lengthy digressions where characters voice their opinions on irrelevant topics. Here, the author keeps these digressions to a minimum. For example, when the students compare their own film to “The Blair Witch Project,” they dismiss the theatrical movie in a couple of sentences rather than several pages.

As the reference to “Blair Witch Project” suggests, “Helloween” is a product of its time setting. Besides references to the recent 9/11 attacks, characters refer to dozens of then-recent popular movies, songs, and books. The book became somewhat of an enjoyable pop culture trivia test for me, trying to recall every name dropped. In one clever in-reference, one character mentions Derry, ME, the setting for Stephen King’s “It,” a book with some similarities to “Helloween.” The early 21st-century setting also explains why characters use cumbersome video equipment instead of today’s ubiquitous smartphones.

I should point out that “Helloween” is not a book for the squeamish or those easily offended. There’s a lot of blood, gore, and dismemberment here. Some victims are children, whose deaths are described somewhat graphically. The book also briefly examines comparisons between the people Geth brainwashes into following it (another of Geth’s nifty powers) and traditional Christianity. I found that discussion fascinating, and the author wisely keeps it brief, but it may unsettle for some.

The major weakness of “Helloween” is, somewhat surprisingly, its major villain. I don’t mind that Geth’s origin and the nature of its collective being aren’t clear. That’s a byproduct of all supernatural stories. However, instead of making Geth the seemingly all-powerful evil force it should be, the author sometimes makes the character downright silly. Geth takes a “human” shape by beheading one victim, attaching the jack-o’-lantern the man was carving onto the headless body, and then possessing and reanimating the corpse. I don’t know why the author chose this host for Geth. Whenever the humanoid Geth appeared, though, I kept thinking of the very non-threatening Jack Pumpkinhead from L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” novels. Further, Geth often pontificated about itself and its plans and reminded me of Dr. Evil. (The author mentioned the “Austin Powers” movies several times in the book, which reinforced the similarities for me.) Turning the story’s central villain into a silly but powerful twit diminished the impact of the final chapters.

Despite the lackluster ending, I really enjoyed “Helloween.” Most of the book compares favorably with Stephen King’s works like “The Stand” and “It.” The depth of character development, enjoyable cultural references, and tightly constructed plot are incredible at times. The book’s length means that only the most dedicated readers will pull an all-nighter or two to finish it in one setting. For the rest of us, “Helloween” is something like the sack of loot kids accumulate after a night of trick-or-treating, to be enjoyed by one or two delicious pieces at a time. The only trick here was the author’s releasing “Helloween” at Christmas; the book is a definite treat for horror fans.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

I had such a great time with Helloween! This book has a LOT going on and is an absolute brick, but the plot never gets bogged down and the story moves along at the perfect clip. When a story has this many .moving parts and a large cast of characters, I sometimes have issues remembering who the characters are. Ralston managed to make his characters memorable enough that I was able to both remember them and the plot points they were involved with. 4.5 stars

This was fun, but most of the splatter is in the first half of the book and it kind of drags for a bit after. I still like it a lot, but think Island Bloodbath had a better pace.

4 stars

Ok I loved this. One of my favorite Ralston’s at this point. Like top 5 probably.
Anyway, I loved all the nostalgic references, and just the overall vibe of this book. The only negative for me is it seemed a bit too long.

I've read quite a few books by Duncan Ralston now with the Ghostland series being my favourite of his.

Helloween has an incredibly book cover and I really liked the premise of the book, however I found the book to be a bit too lengthy and it felt like a chore at times to pick up.

What I liked about the book is the nostalgic references dotted throughout and I liked the parts which featured the Halloween Haunt.

As well as being a bit long winded it also felt like there were too many characters to keep up with as some chapters darted back and fourth between the various groups.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

Review Copy

I "discovered" Duncan Ralston last year when I finally got around to reading WOOM. Hey! No one ever accused me of being on top of my TBR pile which currently towers at well over 2000 books. Anyway, after reading that, I read the rest of his written works and tried to kick myself (couldn't reach) and wondered what next might be in store.

I heard talk of HELLOWEEN, saw the projected price to be $2.99 and assumed a novella. You know what they say about assuming? Yeah. So, HELLOWEEN is NOT a novella. It is as far from a novella as it is possible to get. I opened the bo0k and the contents listed four titles. Four novellas, maybe? Four short stories? No and nope, Look and the kindle locations. Over 9000. Color me confused. That translates to what, about 700 pages? Something like that.

Well, wordy it is. It was a good story but really could have used some editing. He tried to pack everything into this novel. Possession, murder, kidnapping, zombies, you name it it's in there. The dialog and descriptions are a little on the long side as well.

Like I said, good story, but long. Don't start until you have time. Duncan Ralston is well worth reading.