The Halloween Man by Douglas Clegg Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Halloween Man
Book Review: A Horror Harvest
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my third Douglas Clegg book. I've also read his short story collection, The Nightmare Chronicles, and his novel, You Come When I Call You. I read all three books back-to-back this summer, and just wasn't able to put any of them down.The Halloween Man is the story of Stony Crawford, a boy on the verge of manhood who, in the autumn of his fifteenth year, learns some troubling things about his birth, and must decide how to move forward in the light of this knowledge. There are many similarities between this novel and You Come When I Call You. They both feature main characters on the cusp of adulthood who must battle demonic forces in a small town (in both cases the town is ultimately wiped out Roanoke Colony-style by the evil force in question).
Clegg probably does a better job in You Come When I Call You of building a strong propelling narrative that leaves the reader with no other choice than to keep turning pages. The Halloween Man is still very reader-friendly, but it's a little bit smaller and quieter of a novel (a little bit, anyway). The focus here is more on atmosphere and history. Clegg brings out more of the local color of the small seacoast New England town than he did for the desert town of You Come When I Call You. There's something very Lovecraftian about the briny surroundings that doesn't bode well for the local inhabitants.
In both novels, Clegg is concerned with religion and in teasing out what he believes, and what his characters believe about the origins of Biblical stories. I found this very fascinating, especially in The Halloween Man, in which Clegg does a more complete job of teasing out those beliefs.
If you've read and enjoyed any of Clegg's other writing, you should certainly pick up The Halloween Man. If you haven't read anything by Clegg and are thinking about it, I would either start with his short story collection, The Nightmare Chronicles, or this novel. You Come When I Call You is more of a powerhouse, but The Halloween Man displays more range and more of Clegg's facets as a writer.
Book Review: A very good novel
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this three weeks ago and started itlast Sunday night and could not put it down. It reads quickly and is eye opening in terms of the horror and the slow build in this story to a really brutal moment in the book. The Halloween Man by Douglas Clegg ranks as one of the all time horror novels. Iam amazed I missed this in hardbound since I collect good novels. I almost passed on this because the title didnt do it for me, but this was worth getting and reminded me of what I used to like in horror more. The story of Stony and Lourdes and the secrets in this town are what make the book so great. I give it 5 stars.Book Review: Awesome novel!
Summary: 5 Stars
Another awesome novel by Douglas Clegg, who is one of America's bet out there in horror fiction with fantastic characters, superb and original stories and good vs. evil conflicts. This book grabs you from the first page and simply doesn't let go, it's that good.Book Review: BIG LOAD
Summary: 4 Stars
Great book, a little left unexplained, but good for the imagination. overall... a big creamy load of a book.Book Review: BORING
Summary: 1 Stars
I work at a bookstore and read a lot of books but this book made me fight to stay awake. It was BORING! Read 666,The Revelation, or Green Eggs and Ham, they are all more entertainig!