Dark Hallows: 10 Halloween Haunts (2015) edited by Mark Parker

A night when lost things gather

Readers unfamiliar with Dark Hallows may prefer to read these notes only after reading the anthology.

Dark Hallows: 10 Halloween Haunts is a brief anthology. Many of the stories are perfunctory, though several are well worth the reader's time.

"Mister Parker" by Richard Chizmar 

Plot: Halloween, Murder, Prank, Revenge, Betrayal, Father-Son Relationship, Hallucinations, Addiction, Alcoholism

Setting: School, Home, Halloween Night, Cemetery

Character: Benjamin Parker (Mr. Parker), Kelly Rutherford, Carol Perkins

Location: Forest Hill, Hanson Road, Baltimore

Cf. "The Man Who Killed Halloween" by Ray Garton

     The truth of the matter was Parker hated Halloween because of his father. No surprise there.

     Parker's father wasn't big on holidays. Most Christmases he was solidly in the bag by the time presents had been opened and the smell of ham was just beginning to waft out of the kitchen. Thanksgiving was a blurred nightmare of football blaring on the television and loud, drunken complaints about food preparation. The fourth of July was more than likely a fistfight at the neighborhood picnic and an early exit, thus guaranteeing that Parker would once again miss the fireworks display after dark.

     But Halloween was the worst of all…because Parker's father actually liked it. He would start decorating the house and planning his costume by mid-October—paying little attention to Parker's own costume or excitement—and by the time the thirty-first rolled around, their house was a gaudy mess of fake spider webs and ghosts hanging from trees; plastic tombstones scattered across the front yard; and nearly a dozen glowing jack o' lanterns lining the porch and front walk.

     As dusk darkened the October sky on Halloween night, Parker's father would appear in full costume—the most memorable being an incredibly life-like Frankenstein, complete with stitched, green skin and nuts and bolts in his skull—and inevitably he would be reeking of liquor.

     When Parker would come downstairs dressed in his own costume—a hobo or a clown or a fighter pilot; usually something his mother helped him make—his father would make merciless fun of him, calling him "fag" or "sissy" or "homo."

"The Maze" by Lisa Morton

Plot: Halloween, Maze, Ritual Killing, Celtic Folklore, Sacrifice, Evil Fairies, Sidh, Coming of Age, High School Students

Setting: Dilapidated Farmhouse, Corn Maze, Dusk/Nighttime

Character: Sean, Ashley, Dozelle, Adam, Miss Mackenzie

Location: Rural Area

Cf. "Children of the Corn" by Stephen King

    Ashley took a card from the woman and said, “We read about this place in the paper. You’re Miss Mackenzie, right?”

    The old woman squinted up at Ashley, giving Sean a chance to look her over. He realized she wasn’t really that old—she might have been no more than sixty. Her face held few lines, her hands were steady, but her long silver hair made her look older. She wore a simple white polo shirt and baggy chinos, but the heavy gold necklace around her throat was unusual—it was a solid band of gold, not a chain, and had no decoration. “Is that a torque?” Sean asked.

    The woman smiled at him. “So it is. Not many folks know that.”

He heard Dozelle and Adam snickering, but ignored them. “I like history. In fact, I just read a book about Halloween, and it talked about the ancient Celts. That’s where I read about torques.”

   “You’re a smart boy,” she said. “So you know what tonight is really all about, then.”

   After a second of thought, Sean answered, “The night when the border between our world and the next is at its thinnest, and the sidh could come through, right?” He hoped he’d pronounced sidh correctly—“shee”.

   Evidently he had, because the old woman nodded. “Or so the Celts believed.” She laughed, a sound that was strangely unnerving.

   Sean passed his money to her, anxious to be out of her presence. She hesitated before taking it, then said, “You’ll be my last guests this year, looks like.”

    Sean realized the sun was about to dip below the horizon, leaving the muddy paths between the corn stalks already deep in shadow. “Are we too late? Will we need flashlights or something?”

   “Shouldn’t take you that long in there. It’ll still be light enough to see.”

   Sean took the card she offered, saw it was a little hand-drawn and Xeroxed map of the maze. “Well, okay, then. Let’s get lost.”

    Dozelle and Adam were already well into the maze as Ashley and Sean approached the entrance. Ashley leaned into Sean and whispered, “What are the sidh?”

   “Evil fairies that the ancient Celts believed would come out on Samhain—their Halloween night.”

   Ashley said, “How do you know that?”

   “I was just reading this book about the history of Halloween, and about how it goes all the way back to the Celts.”

    They were on the verge of stepping into the maze when Sean heard the old woman call after him, “Thank you for your sacrifice.”

"Monster Night" (2012) by Brian James Freeman

Plot: Halloween, Pumpkin Eater, Monster, Single Parent, Courage, Childhood Fears, Nightmare, Mom's Boyfriend

Setting: Home, School, Halloween Night

Character: Jonathon, Jonathon's Mother, David

Location: Small Town, Jonathon's House

Cf. "Silence in Having Words: Purple" by Josephine Saxton

https://jayrothermel.substack.com/p/monster-night-by-brian-james-freeman

"Johnny Halloween" (1992) by Norman Partridge

Plot: Halloween, Murder, Robbery, Revenge, Betrayal, Brotherly Bond, AIDS, Good Cop, Bad Cop, Ouroborosian

Setting: Liquor Store, Cemetery, Desert, 1959/Present Day

Character: Dutch (Sheriff), Helen, Willie, Johnny Halloween (Jack)

Location: Small Town, Mexico

Cf. The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

   What it is, is you get older. You change and you don’t even notice it. You think you’re making the decisions, but mostly life is making them for you. You’re just along for the ride.       Reacting, not acting. Most of the time you’re just trying to make it through another day.

   That’s how most cops see it. Like my deputies say: shit happens. And then we come along and clean up the mess.

   I guess maybe I do carry around that big roll of toilet paper, after all.

   So, anyway, Helen had asked me to get another six-pack and some chips. She does like her Doritos. It was hot, especially for late October, and a few more beers sounded like a good idea. I worry about Helen drinking so much, but it’s like the kid thing. We just don’t talk about it anymore. What I usually do is drink right along with her, and then I don’t feel so bad.

   So I was headed up Canyon, fully intending to go to the Ralphs Supermarket on Arroyo, when I observed some suspicious activity at the old liquor store on the corner of Orchard and Canyon….

   Suspicious isn’t the word for it. A couple of Mexican girls were coming out of the place. One was balancing a stack of cigarette cartons that was so high she couldn’t see over it. The other had a couple of plastic sacks that looked to be filled with liquor bottles.

"All Souls' Day" by Al Sarrantonio

Plot: Halloween, Death, Sacrifice, Lord of the Dead, Hawk, Small Town Life

Setting: Orangefield, Festival Preparations, Construction Site, Woods

Character: Tom Winters, Cathy Berrins, Jerry Reese, Samhain, The Dark One

Cf. http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2019/09/black-autumn-orangefield-cycle-by-al.html

          Orangefield seen from the air by the hawk:

A thin ribbon of highway to the East, a shivering long snake now seen, now lost between tall stands of tight pine trees and conifers and oaks. The trees were colorful now, dressed like costumers in red, yellow, brown. To the West were mountains, a string of high hills like low jagged teeth against the landscape. The tops were dusted bare white. And then there was the town directly below.

The hawk made a wide lazy gyre, looking down, and dropped lower. The spire of a church, white-crossed, and next to it a parking lot. Something small moved on the tarmac, and for a moment the hawk was distracted. A rodent? No, only a piece of balled-up paper, pushed by the wind. The hawk resumed his inventory. Another tall building, with a dirty flat roof but stately-looking brick on the sides. Steps leading up to it. The town hall, flanked by a long block of shops broken by side streets. The hawk knew those side streets—good hunting, there, mice and the occasional rat or treeless squirrel. A gas station across the road, next to it a small motel, its L shape squaring off its small asphalt parking lot.

Farther down, the Orangefield Hotel, nearly as old as the town, its flat roof old and cracked, but its red-bricked façade, recently restored, as beautiful as the day it opened.

The hawk flew on, its wing tips barely fluttering as it soared on the westerly breeze.

"Starting Early" by Adam Cesare

Plot: Halloween Obsession, Loneliness, Death, Murder, Collector, Spookyville, Dark Thoughts

Setting: Apartment, Supermarket, Train Station

Character: Maggie, Cecily, Brian, Jill, Heather

Location: Urban Area (implied)

Theme: Coming of Age, Maturity

          Cecily waits for me on the second floor landing. She’s been loitering outside the door to my apartment, but she stares down at her phone, pretending to be busy.

What does a ten-year-old need with an iPhone? And how can her parents afford it? I’ve asked these questions—internally—several times, but I’m never comfortable enough around the girl to ask.

“Miss Maggie,” she says, not really yelling my name, but sounding happy to see me as I begin to ford the steps.

She runs down to “help” me with my bag, but she knows I don’t need the help. And she wants to secure some of the candy for herself.

“Are we unpacking the village today?” she asks.

Yes. Yes we are. Somewhere she must have a calendar with these dates. Together we’ve decided on a schedule for preparing different elements of my Halloween display.

I don’t live in a large apartment, but it has a spare room and I’ve utilized that space the best I can to store my collection without looking like an insane hoarder. In that room, floor-to-ceiling, I’ve stacked orange and black plastic Rubbermaid bins. Each one is a little over knee-high and can hold a surprising amount.

“Yes, and you can help, but you have to be very careful,” I say, digging in my purse for the keys.

“I got it,” Cecily says, pinching the spare key I’ve given her from her necklace. It’s supposed to only be for emergencies, but there’s been times where I’ve suspected Cecily has been in my apartment without me. At least, that’s what I would have done if I were her age.

"Freight Train" Tommy by Aaron Dries

Plot: Halloween, Bullying, Revenge, Supernatural Entity, Secret, Small-Town Life

Setting: Library, House, Train Tracks, Midnight, Dead Kids

Character: Luke, Miss Melanoma (Librarian), Sammy Donaldson, Freight Train Tommy

Location: Wallaroo, Australia

Theme: Coming of Age

Luke’s moniker was either ‘faggot’ or ‘cocksucker’, on account of him having two dads. It didn’t matter that the librarian’s stomach was turned by the boy’s home situation; she must persevere. Being derailed by her revulsion wasn’t in her prerogative, though she had to admit, a look-quick-or-you’ll-miss it town like Wallaroo wasn’t the place for their kind. This was rural Australia, mining territory. The men here wore their grit with pride. It would have served the taller of the two dads—the one with that obnoxious moustache—to have rethought the managerial transfer to the industrial supplies company out here, and kept his ‘family’ in America.

There, that kind of thing was tolerated.

There, Luke could play out his October fantasies.

The librarian’s nickname was ‘Miss Melanoma’ because of her surgery-gouged flesh. Kids’ creativity, she’d long ago realized, was a thing of awe when it wasn’t so damn hurtful. The sun—which had left her a burns victim, a withered thing scoured by insidious, unseen flames—was equally merciless.

She sighed, conceding. Nicknames weren’t requested; nor did people ask to be born into their families. But assuming they were brave enough to do so, as Luke had been, help could be asked for. And it would be offered in return to those without judgment, and the rare ability to keep a secret.

"There Are Corners in the World Where Lost Things Gather" (2002) by Robert Morrish

Plot: Halloween, Coming-of-Age, Exploration, Hoarding, Loss, Family Dynamics

Setting: Small Town, River, Football Game, Draeger House, 1970s

Character: Narrator, Trevor, Jenny, Lisa, Mr. Draeger

Location: Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Byram Lake, Harpur Park

Cf. “The Body” by Stephen King

“I’m going to study at Jen’s,” says Trevor, veering off for the garage and his bike, “My books are already over at her place.”

My mother starts to open her mouth and then seems to think better of it, turning her attention instead to me as I troop past her and indoors. I’ve found that sometimes I can study when I’m stoned, drifting amongst the words on the page, immersing myself in the paragraphs, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do so tonight. I’m too excited. 

Too late, I hear my mother behind me, and realize she’s following me. My father is already barricaded in his study and I am easy prey.

“I said ‘hold on.’ Young man, I’m talking to you.”

Resigned to my fate, I turn to her.

“I want to talk to you about your brother.”

I nod, unsure what to say.

“Now, I know you might be inclined to…protect him, but I want you to tell me the truth. It’s important. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I say, not understanding.

“Look at me.” She pauses for emphasis. “Is your brother doing drugs?”

Ah, the inevitable question. Although why she’s asking me and not him seems less than clear.

“No. He couldn’t be. I mean, how could he? He’s playing football and getting good grades…” I hope my argument is convincing and that the smell of smoke is not too strong upon me.

“That’s true,” she says, as if mulling these facts over for the first time, and “I guess you’re right,” although she still somehow seems unconvinced. “But I want you to tell me if you see anything, understand?”

"Under the Tutelage of Mr. Trueheart" by Ronald Malfi

Plot: Halloween, Conspiracy, No Monsters, Child Protagonist, Bomb, Paranoid Delusions, Terrorism, Suicide, Coming of Age

Setting: Mr. Trueheart's House, Kennedy Park, Suburban Neighborhood

Character: Warren Enck, Mr. Trueheart, Warren's Mother

          Mr. Trueheart rose from the table, went over to a cluttered breakfront, and rifled around through unruly stacks of paper. There were photographs among the papers, photographs that Warren had looked at several times before. They were of Mr. Trueheart and some other men, all of them in their twenties or so, in khaki military garb holding guns. From the background, it appeared they were in the desert. Whenever Warren would ask Mr. Trueheart where those pictures had been taken, he would always receive a different answer. “France,” Mr. Trueheart sometimes said. “Africa,” he’d offer. “Budapest,” he said on a few occasions. And once, Mr. Trueheart (whose name was not actually Trueheart, not at all) said, “Mars, Warren. Those photos were taken on Mars.”

Mr. Trueheart returned to the table with a large sheet of paper rolled up into a cone. He unrolled it and splayed it out across the table, then set their empty drinking glasses on two corners. Glued to the paper were a multitude of photographs, each one taken by Warren over a period of three months. Some of the photos showed Windell Street from various locations. Others showed Kennedy Park—the baseball diamond, the swings and seesaws, the wooded treeline that brooked the park and Windell Street. Other photos were of the streets and houses that surrounded the park.

“Tell me,” Mr. Trueheart said. “What have you learned, Warren.”

Warren leaned over the table, scrutinized the photos, then pointed to the one depicting the baseball diamond at the center of Kennedy Park. “Right here,” Warren said. “That’s where they’ll meet up.”

“What time?”

“Eight o’clock.”

"The Darkest Night of the Year" by Mark Parker

Plot: Halloween, Childhood Trauma, Fear, New Home, Neighborly Kindness, Coming of Age

Setting: Rural House, Farmland, Halloween Night

Character: Roselyn Saunders, Roscoe (cat), Roselyn's Mother, Mr. Polk, Bertrand Franks

Location: Rural Area (implied)

Bertrand Franks, a skilled stuntman working with a low-budget traveling circus, and her mother’s long-ago boyfriend, had played a cruel joke on Roselyn and her friends, when one Halloween he dressed in farmer overalls and a red and black plaid shirt, and donned a bright orange jack-o’-lantern head that he’d soaked in gasoline and set aflame.

Like something out of a Washington Irving novel, Bertrand chased Roselyn and the rest of the neighborhood kids up and down the street in front of their houses, making them all scream at the top of their lungs in terror, before running inside to tell their parents what he’d done.

Roselyn had been furious with her mother when she came to Bertrand’s defense, insisting he’d only done it as a harmless prank, and nothing more. Roselyn vowed then and there that she would never again go trick-or-treating—and she hadn’t. In fact, she still blamed Bertrand for the terrible nightmares that plagued her to this very day. Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could see his lumbering frame chasing after her, his fiery jack-o’-lantern head caught up in a swirl of thick, black, roiling flames.

*   *   *

Compared to other horror readers on Reddit and Facebook, my scope is very narrow. If the author is alive, I'll pass (in general). If a new novel is hot right now, I may get motivated to read it thirty years later.

The horror fiction theme I find most nettling is the coming-of-age story. It's a cliche of mainstream fiction, from Faulkner's “The Bear” to To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye. And it's a thriving trope in horror, fundamental in the novels and short fiction of King, Straub, Malfi, Keene, and a thousand others.

While most stories in Dark Hallows could perhaps still succeed without taking place around Halloween, cutting out the coming-of-age theme would leave the reader with a thirty page anthology.

And yet, every time I write the above complaint, I immediately find myself reading a superb coming-of-age horror story that proves me wrong. Last year, it was “The Man Who Killed Halloween” by the late Ray Garton, and the superb "The House on Cottage Lane" by Ronald Malfi. 

And it happened again this weekend, when I read, and then reread, Robert Morrish’s “There Are Corners in the World Where Lost Things Gather” (2002) in Dark Hallows.

I also have Dark Hallows to thank for "Mister Parker" by Richard Chizmar and "Starting Early" by Adam Cesare. One is coming-of-age, one not. Both are vigorous pieces of short fiction.

Jay

8 September 2024