Book Review: OCTOBER NIGHTS by Kevin Lucia

 

OCTOBER NIGHTS by Kevin Lucia (Crystal Lake Publishing, October 22, 2021) 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Halloween is a night when anything seems possible. This is true everywhere, but nowhere more so than in the small town of Clifton Heights. October nights here are long and strange, filled with both dread and transformation, and in these four shared-world tales of small-town Halloween horror, you'll encounter things both wondrous and terrifying, in equal measure, as...

- A priest hears a ghostly confession on Halloween night which will mark him forever.

- A young man is offered a supernatural chance to remake his fortune, at the risk of losing everything.

- A pastor fleeing the death of his daughter comes to Clifton Heights to face his fears, but finds himself living a nightmare instead.

- Two people with supernatural talents face-off with an engine of darkness and pain on Halloween night.

Four connected Halloween tales, evoking echoes of Ray Bradbury and Charles L. Grant, taking place in a town where every day is All Hallow's Eve. Spend the Halloween season in Clifton Heights...if you dare.

"Kevin Lucia is a modern storyteller with a firm grounding in the classics." Bram Stoker Award Winning Author Norman Prentiss  

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     OCTOBER NIGHTS is one of the finest Halloween-themed works of fiction that I can recall having read. I highly recommend it for two important reasons: 1) The town of Clifton Heights, New York as detailed by Kevin Lucia is as close to a small-town setting that seems authentic and believable as you can get while still incorporating some serious supernatural themes into it's folklore, and 2) The characters are fully developed with wonderfully detailed hopes and fears, guilt and remorse. You may become emotionally vested to several of these characters, as I did. 

     This collection of four linked stories is book-ended by a recollection by an author that I presumed was Kevin Lucia, who recalls obtaining a collection of Halloween stories and poems written by a little-known local author that served as inspiration for the tales within OCTOBER NIGHTS. This only serves to add to the realism, and coupled with Lucia's vivid descriptions of the town and surroundings that involve all six senses you'll believe this is a real place. 

     I was so convinced that this must be the author's home town that I researched Clifton Heights and learned that it is indeed a small community within the population of Hamburg, New York (population 60,000, located south of Buffalo, NY in western New York state). Clifton Heights is also a reoccurring setting in other Lucia collections, a town where everyday seems to be Halloween and strange things have happened throughout its' history. 

     Each of the stories in this collection are linked, not just because of the Clifton Heights setting, but also with overlapping characters, themes and images. It's challenging to designate just one story as a favorite, but "The Last Will And Testament Of The Not-So-Good Reverend Ford" (also the longest story here) cuts right to the bone. 

     Just as Stephen King does so well in placing his stories in a New England setting and making the scenery just as much a part of the story, Kevin Lucia utilizes that same template so well. There is a book store and a strange shopkeeper that crops up in several of these stories, mindful of King's NEEDFUL THINGS. And the final story has a definite IT feel to the proceedings.

     Three of the stories have a real Twilight Zone type ending that is effectively haunting and eerie. The final story departs from that sensation with a spell-binding Lovecraftian tale of two townies with failed ambitions but supernatural powers going up against an otherworldly monster weaving it's evil influence throughout Clifton Heights. It felt a bit out of place compared to the other three tales, but it's so wonderfully good that it's better to celebrate that difference.

     You'd be hard pressed to find another work that depicts small-town Halloween horror as effectively as this. I received an advance review copy from the publisher without obligation. My review is voluntary, as I always desire to share deserving works of high quality with other readers.