Thrillers & Suspense
![Christopher Golden - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APAU2I.jpg)
All Hallows: A Novel
New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales...but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.
It's Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man.
There's a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn't belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask...
It's Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man.
There's a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn't belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask...
Editorial Reviews
"An atmospheric tale of folk horror shot through with unrelenting dread, All Hallows twists and turns in haunted woods until all your Halloween dreams (and nightmares) are made real." - Christina Henry, author of The Ghost Tree and Near the Bone
"Christopher Golden is in top form with All Hallows, a haunting horror tale that brings the bone-chilling terror right to your suburban front door. Golden turns up the fear and anxiety with a deft touch that evokes classics like King's Salem's Lot, channeling a different time while still crafting a terrifyingly modern story. All Hallows may be Golden's best yet." - Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity
"Somehow, in 2022, Christopher Golden has written the PERFECT 1980s horror thriller. Kids in peril! Karmic deaths! Just the right amount of gore! But he's done it with the skill and compassion of a master storyteller. He makes good choices throughout the story, and you can't reliably go 'good person, lives,' or 'bad person, dies.' Nothing feels unearned...Two full sized candy bars of approval." - Seanan McGuire
"I ripped through All Hallows like a wildfire. Straight-up classic-feeling old-school horror. Declare Golden the KING OF HALLOWEEN after that one. Preorder now!" --Chuck Wendig
"I love the novels of Christopher Golden, and this one is no exception." --Book Riot
"80's nostalgia, suburban secrets and seriously scary children - what more could you ask for from a horror novel? Wonderfully creepy and atmospheric, All Hallows is a perfect (Halloween) treat bag of chills." ― C.J. Tudor, author of The Drift
"Easily recommended to curious parties, fans of Christopher Golden, or those looking for a new Halloween horror novel." --A Green Man Review
"Christopher Golden is in top form with All Hallows, a haunting horror tale that brings the bone-chilling terror right to your suburban front door. Golden turns up the fear and anxiety with a deft touch that evokes classics like King's Salem's Lot, channeling a different time while still crafting a terrifyingly modern story. All Hallows may be Golden's best yet." - Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity
"Somehow, in 2022, Christopher Golden has written the PERFECT 1980s horror thriller. Kids in peril! Karmic deaths! Just the right amount of gore! But he's done it with the skill and compassion of a master storyteller. He makes good choices throughout the story, and you can't reliably go 'good person, lives,' or 'bad person, dies.' Nothing feels unearned...Two full sized candy bars of approval." - Seanan McGuire
"I ripped through All Hallows like a wildfire. Straight-up classic-feeling old-school horror. Declare Golden the KING OF HALLOWEEN after that one. Preorder now!" --Chuck Wendig
"I love the novels of Christopher Golden, and this one is no exception." --Book Riot
"80's nostalgia, suburban secrets and seriously scary children - what more could you ask for from a horror novel? Wonderfully creepy and atmospheric, All Hallows is a perfect (Halloween) treat bag of chills." ― C.J. Tudor, author of The Drift
"Easily recommended to curious parties, fans of Christopher Golden, or those looking for a new Halloween horror novel." --A Green Man Review
Readers Top Reviews
Book Reviewer 44
Fun juxtaposition of Halloween monster horror with family drama. Would recommend.
ElaineLinda S.Gau
I’m almost done reading Christopher Golden’s latest novel and I love the plot, characters, and all the references to Halloween (the book is practically an homage to our favorite holiday) but I am shocked that a major publisher like St. Martin’s would release such a poorly edited book! I have nearly thrown the book across the room on several occasions due to scenes that just didn’t make sense. Without spoiling the book for other readers, I will mention these scenes in particular: at the Sweeney residence, early in the novel, at one moment the garage door is open but a few paragraphs later, Mr. Sweeney opens the CLOSED door. In another scene, Mrs. Barbosa is described as stepping into the woods but a few paragraphs later she is back amongst the other people on the Haunted Woods pathway. THEN, as the chapter ends, she is hiding back in the woods! Just two examples of the sloppy editing this book has. Christopher Golden should fire his editor, Michael Homler, for this mess of a book. Still, good story, interesting characters, and the book is all set on Halloween. Give it a shot if you can overlook all the errors.
MarkElaineLinda S
I enjoyed this book. You'll start to get hints at the end early on, but I enjoyed it. I wish it would have explored and talked about the other world more, but that didn't distract from the story.
K. A. Y.MarkElain
3.5 stars. ALL HALLOWS, by Christopher Golden, is the perfect Halloween novel. The entire tale takes place during one fateful Halloween night--which is both good and bad in equal measures. Good, because the focus is on the one night of the year where the veil between the living and the dead is said to be the thinnest. Bad, because everything that could possibly be was crammed into one fateful night. The main focus for much of the novel was an emotional upheaval between the neighbors in this well-to-do suburb. Huge transgressions are suddenly brought to light, racism, homophobia, infidelity, and so much more "backstabbing" that it reminded me of middle school on an adult level. Between all of this going on, however, IS a good supernatural story that focuses on the day and time necessary to complete a "ritual" of a sort, and a man known only as "the Cunning Man". Creepy kids dressed in old fashioned clothing appear from nowhere, needing to be hidden until the stroke of midnight, and evade capture by this unexplained entity. This part of the story I loved. Of course, we kept going back to the human factors and their emotional issues and prejudices. If not for this, I would have rated the novel higher. Still, a good seasonal read that I wish had been released closer to Autumn.
Kindle K. A. Y.M
I would rank this right up there with Stephen King it's that good. The characters were wonderfully created. The writer made me care about all of them and what would happen to them. It kept me up until midnight reading because I had to find out how it ended. I look forward to reading more from Christopher Golden.
