{"id":3690,"date":"2015-01-25T20:55:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=3690"},"modified":"2015-01-25T20:55:44","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:55:44","slug":"book-review-the-halloween-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-the-halloween-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Halloween Children by Brian James Freeman and Norman Prentiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/em><\/p>\n

The Halloween Children<\/em> <\/a>\u00a0by Brian James Freeman & Norman Prentiss<\/p>\n

Earthling Publications, 2014<\/p>\n

Available: Limited edition hardcover, lettered traycased hardcover.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Note<\/strong><\/em>: You must order directly from Earthling Publications here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Earthling Publications’ Halloween books are something that no reader of horror fiction, or any genre of fiction, should ever miss, and The Halloween Children is no exception; Freeman and Prentiss \u00a0have produced another book that has been knocked out of the park.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is a disturbing, claustrophobic, enjoyable read that encompasses everything Halloween should be.<\/p>\n

This is an everyman’s horror story: the best, most relatable kind, that holds family close to its dark heart.\u00a0Harris, the handyman for the Stillbrook apartment complex, narrates the events through diary entries. \u00a0Harris\u00a0lives with his wife, Lynn, his son, Matt, and his daughter, Amber.\u00a0 From the opening diary entries, we learn that Harris’s and Lynn’s marriage is about as frayed as possible, without blood being spilled (for the moment). \u00a0Lynn is paranoid about her husband’s work around the complex, assuming the worst. She also believes \u00a0something is seriously wrong with their son. Parents can have favorites, and this usually leads to hurt, deceit, and psychological wounds that have far-reaching effects. In this case, mother sides with daughter, and father with son. \u00a0Neither parent, however, is aware of what their children are doing, or planning. Then the owner\/manager of the complex decides that Halloween should be canceled this year. No party will take place, no decorations will adorn the buildings and grounds.\u00a0When the children hear about the holiday cancellation,\u00a0\u00a0the slow-motion disintegration of the family, community, and soul is already underway.<\/p>\n

Parallels may be drawn to The Shining<\/em>, but The Halloween Children<\/em> is utterly original and deserves to be given applause on its own merits.\u00a0Freeman and Prentiss are talented, far more than has been recognized by the masses.\u00a0 The storytelling here is near flawless, as is the writing– always a challenge in a collaboration.\u00a0 If this is what they are capable of as a team, I hope that more writing from both will be on the way soon.\u00a0 The characters make the story, and it’s actually more frightening than seeing the Torrance family torn apart, because it draws in neighbors, friends, or maybe something much closer. \u00a0While The Halloween Children<\/em> can be read in one sitting, take some time and enjoy it, allowing its effects to take hold.\u00a0 A perfect tale for any holiday. Well, any holiday that includes a fragmented, fragile family. Highly recommended.
\nReviewed by David Simms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Halloween Children \u00a0by Brian James Freeman & Norman Prentiss Earthling Publications, 2014 Available: Limited edition hardcover, lettered traycased hardcover. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Note: You must order directly from Earthling Publications here.   Earthling Publications’ Halloween books are something that no reader of horror fiction, or any genre of fiction, should ever miss,<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[129,2374,8,2370,155,2372,83,365,2373,11,485,2371,956],"class_list":["post-3690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-reviews","tag-brian-james-freeman","tag-collection-development","tag-earthling-publications","tag-halloween","tag-halloween-series","tag-horror-fiction","tag-norman-prentiss","tag-paul-miller","tag-readers-advisory","tag-small-press-publishers","tag-the-halloween-children","tag-the-shining"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3692,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions\/3692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}