Hall-Lore-Ween, by Josh Spero, illustrations by TT Hernandez

Castle Bridge Media, 2024

ISBN: 9788989593477

Available: Paperback, ebook

Buy:  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

A quick 98 page read with a few short stories, a few poems, and some really cool illustrations, Hall-Lore-Ween is the author’s attempt to create Halloween stories for little kids (as well as adults that never grew up, like me) and on that, he succeeds admirably. The stories are short with a bit of spook factor and a lot of charm, and they have (GASP!) happy endings! These would be great to read to your first through third graders, and the adults will get a kick out of them as well. Let’s break it down!

The stories: there are three of them, the first involving a possible heritage witch, the second a town with a Halloween tradition/curse, and the last with kids and werewolves. I definitely liked the second one best, and the ending was a real feel-good surprise. It kept me guessing the most. The first story was the closest to a traditional ‘scary’ Halloween story, and the ending wasn’t quite as happy as the others. The last story works with the idea of a new kid trying to find his place, and werewolves are involved. Adult readers will probably guess where the story is going, but remember, the target audience is kids, and they won’t see it coming. And again, a nice, cheerful ending. All the stories are well-done and utterly enjoyable. For me, especially, this is a nice change of pace from the material I am usually asked to review.

The poems: hey, I’m no poet, and I know it. Get it? That’s fellow reviewer Nova Hadley’s department. To me, good poems rhyme. These poems rhyme. I enjoyed Shel Silverstein’s poetry, and I enjoyed the Hall-Lore-Ween poems, especially the “Mr. Wolford” poem. OK, no more… I can’t pretend I know beans about poetry.

The illustrations: Oh boy, pictures! I like pictures! And these are really cool pictures! Again, I have no art knowledge, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a Jackson Pollock and a finger painting, but I did like the black and white illustrations. The one of the kid with an evil-looking pumpkin head on page 48 was my favorite, and the one of the witch in the first story is a close second. I would have liked two or three illustrations per story instead of only one: they really added to the stories.

Bottom line: you will like these, and your kids will probably love them. Purchase this one now, and save it till next October! Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson