Evil Halloween spirits are on the loose in a Massachusetts town, upstaging a popular neighborhood attraction dubbed the Haunted Woods. It's 1984. For 11 years, Tony Barbosa and his 17-year-old daughter, Chloe, have turned the woods behind their house into a scary theme park. Tony, who takes his fog effects, banshee screams, and apparitions very seriously, is going all out to make this year's fright-athon--the last one he and Chloe will present--the best ever. But hours before its opening, a bunch of creepy, oddly aggressive children in costumes and melting makeup show up demanding protection from a punishing force they call the Cunning Man. Terrible things start happening, with especially sorry results for Donnie Sweeney, an adulterous charmer who counts Tony's wife among his conquests, and a pedophiliac couple who abuse children in their house. "Nothing in these woods could be more dreadful, more terrifying, than the selfish cruelty of ordinary people," thinks Tony, but a series of bizarre killings, dismemberments, and gruesome possessions change that tune. In his attempt to liven up familiar tropes, Golden's new book is less daring than its blood-freezing, Siberian-set predecessor, Road of Bones (2022). But it is no less nasty. Characters you may not expect to get it do. But even though Golden skillfully orchestrates a full cast of characters, including a group of plucky teenagers, the book lacks serious chills in the end--it's better at clever phenomena (including small fires inside of which shapes and images tell stories) than bumps in the night. The Cunning Man, a 7-foot creature with flaming eyes who is mostly seen from a distance, needs to have more of an impact than a little girl in a Raggedy Ann outfit. An enjoyable but not terribly bone-rattling addition to Halloween horror. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Golden (Road of Bones) disappoints with this derivative and decidedly unscary outing set in 1984 Coventry, Mass., on Halloween Eve. The holiday is a big occasion in the small town, headlined by the Haunted Woods, an elaborate display complete with special effects and cosplayers, staged by local Tony Barbosa as a charity fund-raiser. This year, however, will see the last such event, due to the Barbosas' strained finances. Instead of a glorious finale, however, the Barbosas and their neighbors are subjected to supernatural manifestations, including a mysterious and scared young girl dressed as Raggedy Ann who claims she's being pursued by the Cunning Man. The predictable terror that ensues afflicts the entire community, as a killer with small flames in place of eyes attacks, eviscerating young and old alike. Meanwhile, domestic secrets--including marital infidelities, sexual orientation, and criminality--are revealed. Hopping between the perspectives of various one-dimensional characters does nothing to make the night's horrors feel any more surprising or suspenseful. If this bit of '80s nostalgia is intended to capitalize on the success of Stranger Things, it falls far short. Agent: Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Jan.)

Golden is back (after Road of Bones, 2022) with an original and realistically frightening entry into the popular Halloween-night subgenre. On October 31, 1984, in a suburban cul-de-sac, Rick Barbosa is setting up his famous Haunted Wood attraction in the backyard with his 17-year-old daughter, Chloe, for the last time. The entire neighborhood, like most of the country, is at a crossroads as societal change and family drama are coming to a head up and down the street. But this year there are also some creepy, unaccompanied children mixing in with the trick-or-treaters, children who are from another time and have only until midnight to escape "The Cunning Man." Uneasy from the opening moments, this tale builds its tension relentlessly with multiple points of view from a range of neighbors of all ages--revealing unsettling domestic dramas--until it bursts wide open with numerous twists, each revealing something more violent and terrifying. Suggest confidently to fans of fresh, violent, and immersive folk horror such as Lute, by Jennifer Thorne (2022), The Autumnal, by Daniel Kraus (2021), and Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex (2016).

Even as families bicker and crumble on Halloween night in 1984, Coventry, MA, four children who aren't from town go door to door in vintage costumes and creepily washed-out makeup, begging for protection from the Cunning Man. As the author is Bram Stoker Award--winning Golden, we know something horrifying will soon happen. With a 60,000-copy first printing.