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.