It seems like every Halloween anthology I own starts with a scholarly retelling of the origins of Halloween or the history of its celebration in the US. That was fine for a while but it's long lost its appeal, at least to me. Paula Guran doesn't fall into that trap. She's not afraid to get into a little of the religious background on the celebration of All Saint's Day and then All Souls. As someone who grew up celebrating all three I thought that was pretty engaging.
Her introduction struck me as the kind of thing a hostess might say before inviting her guests to indulge themselves in a buffet, if you will, of darkly delicious treats.
I read this book much like I'd eat at an actual buffet. I started with something familiar: Caitlin R. Kiernan taking us off planet to a dystopian future still celebrating with hollowed out gourds. I ventured to the exotic (at least to me) Laird Barron and an ominous first date. There were a few dishes I didn't care to finish after my first taste. There were also stories that left me wanting seconds like Jonathan Mayberry's offering. Apparently a sequel, it relates the story of a good soldier coming home to a ruined town. I'll need to track down whatever it was a sequel to.
I love autumn. Crisp days, rainy mornings, college football, soup and Halloween. Perfection!
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