A spoiler free book review of All Hallows by Christopher Golden
What town in the 80s has a creepy portal to a hellish dimension that threatens to kill a gang of neighborhood kids? We’re not talking Stranger Things or the Upside Down here.
In Christopher Golden’s All Hallows, we follow the neighbors of Parmenter road, as strange children show up on Halloween Night begging to be hidden from “The Cunning Man” who wants to take them away to a cold land of autumn rot and decay. While there are some similarities and lots of 80s nostalgia, I didn’t get a whole lot of Stranger Things vibes here. Maybe it’s the setting, but put creepy old-timey children in a dark Massachusetts woods and I’m getting colonial New England ghost children vibes.
Although this was a recent book club read for me, I am always drawn to New England based horror. I especially was with All Hallows, since it takes place in Massachusetts and for me horror that takes place in a familiar setting gives it an added layer of fearful credibility. It’s almost as if its just a smidge more believable because they mentioned Market Basket or Worcester (which I proudly can pronounce correctly.) The familiarity of New England, is one of the reasons I enjoy Paul Tremblay’s books so much, and it’s just one small part of why Brom’s Slewfoot is one of my all time favorites.
New England I’m familiar with, the 80s… not as much. Is it possible to be nostalgic for a decade you weren’t even alive for? If it is, I totally felt that during this read. Golden gives us the perfect amount of the 80s, without it being cheesy and in your face, like in My Best Friends Exorcism. It felt like a more realistic depiction of the 80s, which is great because the focus here is horror right?
Well… I will say the story had a slow start when it came to the introduction to the supernatural horror. It takes place on Halloween night, so of course there are spooky costumes and a “haunted woods” with an animatronic screaming banshee, but the real supernatural horror doesn’t really come in to play until at least halfway through.
What this story lacks in horror, it makes up for in loads of neighborhood drama and character development. The story actually follows many characters throughout the course of the book, so while we don’t get very deep into everyones individual stories, I will say that Golden did a good job of fleshing out quite a few of those characters. There were a few I was really rooting for in the end and even a couple that I was really hoping would be killed off.
When it comes to the supernatural being behind the horror here, well, it’s a bit complicated, but we really don’t learn all that much of a backstory. The backstory and the lore is what I look forward to most in any horror, so this was a disappointment for me. Especially with Massachusetts having such a rich history in spooky happenings and real historical horrors, it seemed like a bit of missed opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong, there was real supernatural horror to be found on Parmenter road for sure, but it seems that the main focus here were the neighbors and their drama. There is a wide range of drama, as we have kids coming of age and dealing with changing friendships, kids who’s parents are facing possible divorces, teenagers navigating their sexuality and dealing with their neighbors reactions to that, and then we have the adults, who are just a hot mess. All hell seems to break loose on Halloween night, leaving them ill equipped to notice and respond to the threats among them.
It makes for a complex story and interesting kind of horror for sure, but for some this may be too slow going and too light on the action. For me, reading this felt like watching a classic 80s horror film, and I was able to enjoy it for what it was. Unfortunately, I just can’t love a horror that neglects the lore and backstory as much as All Hallows does.
So for me this one was a 3.5/5 star rating. The Cunning Man seems like an interesting guy, and I would have liked to get know him better.