Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC. I apologise profusely for being so late in getting to it but let me tell you it was worth the wait.

I really enjoyed this to the point that once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down. It reminded me a lot of Stephen King’s books with the slow build up of dread, the story being told from different characters in the neighbourhood and of course the 80’s vibes. This book is PERFECT for Halloween. The Cunning Man was not what I expected in the slightest in a good way and I’m not going to elaborate on that because I think you should delve into this book with as little knowledge as possible.

I enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation and the dynamics between all of the different families not just with each other but with others in the neighbourhood. There was a lot of drama aside from the horror so if you like a character driven novel you will enjoy this. I genuinely teared up at some points and looked over my shoulder at others. Creepy children will always give me the heebie-jeebies.

This is book is a testament to why I don’t read books based on Goodreads reviews because it’s rated pretty low but I really enjoyed it and it was the type of book that I was excited to pick back up. I definitely look forward to more of this authors work. This was released last year on 19th September.

Christopher Golden has absolutely nailed this one. He is absolutely a name to watch in modern horror. Fantastic read, really an author that's carving out his own style.

I actually read this in October for Halloween, but as you may have noticed, 2023 was a bad year for reviews for me, so I'm now trying to catch up with those i needed to review. So, thanks to netgalley for gifting me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

All Hallows seems to have been a top trending horror read for Halloween last year, and for more reasons than just the title.

Coventry, Massachusetts, Halloween 1984. The Barbosa family are preparing to hold the last ever haunted woods event they have been running for many years. But this year, they won't be the only ones creating the scares and screams.

As kids start making the rounds of the neighbourhood trick or treating, they start noticing some children in strange, vintage clothing clinging onto the end of groups. Soon, the story behind them emerges, and its a tale originating from nightmares, one nightmare in particular, the Cunning Man. A legend they have all heard of, but nobody had ever seen.

The first chapter of this book will pull you straight in and make you read more. However after this for about the first 40% of the book it is quite slow as they quietly build up the tension, set the scene and introduce you to all the characters which is important for what happens next.

The 2nd part was so much fun. It was dark, tense, and thrilling, and I loved hearing more of the legend of the Cunning man, as I had never heard of him before. The slow start to the book also meant you were given more time to get to know each character and connect to a few, which makes what happens even harder and more emotional to observe.

Creepy children, legendary monsters and a suburban neighbourhood? This combined with the 80s setting, screams Stephen King style, which I personally loved.

If you are looking for a chilling, dark, lore based book with all the 80s vibes, and love Stephen King and Stranger Things I would highly recommend it.

What could be more appropriate for Halloween than a Horror book set on Halloween night?

Bram Stoker award-winning author Christopher Golden uses his considerable skills to write an accessible read, filled with iconic Halloween imagery and rituals. Set in Coventry, Massachusetts, in 1984, we’re definitely in Stranger Things territory, with all of the iconic Stephen King and John Carpenter themes used to create the setting. It’s small-town America, seemingly idealistic but like Peyton Place or Haddonfield, Illinois before it, clearly with issues below the surface.

Much of the first part of the book introduces us to the characters, with each short chapter being written from the perspective of a different person. There is a range here – young, teenager, adult, male, female. This creates variety in the delivery of the narrative and I was impressed by how Golden manages to give each character a distinct and individual tone.

The beginning captures what I suspect is the joy, the excitement, the anticipation of a typical Halloween night in America – albeit one set in the 1980s. (So no mobile phones to spoil things.)

Why are many of the characters so horrible? There are adulterous affairs, racism, bullying, sexism and paedophilia all on show here. Part of the reason I think is because, as a result, the reader wants these unpleasant people to suffer pain, torment, unpleasantness. It’s a sort of come-uppance for people who really deserve terrible fates.

It’s only about halfway in, once the setting and the characters have been established, for the creepy things really start to happen – disembodied voices, flickering lights, strange characters appearing.

We are told of the impending arrival of the Cunning Man, from the woods – although why he hasn’t been seen before this particular year isn’t clear.

The ending of the novel is appropriately gory and rather creepy. This one very much reminded me of early Stephen King in its evocation of small-town Americana and characterization, something that I’m sure Christopher Golden knew well. As someone from that time, the novel clearly taps into all those cheap and cheerful paperbacks and movies that proliferated after the success of Carrie in the 1980’s.

As a result, you pretty much know what you’re going to get with this sort of horror novel, and it helps that Golden’s an old hand at this sort of thing. With some lovely descriptions, characters you get to know and root for, and a typical setting for Halloween the readers pretty much get what they hope for. The important thing is that it doesn’t let you down as a reader, and the good news is that All Hallows doesn’t. All Hallows is a very readable, pleasingly creepy kind of novel that pretty much delivers what it promises, an American Halloween horror – and thus recommended for you at Halloween.

I assume I started this book with too many expectations: 80s, a bogey man, the idea this was going to be a slasher horror.
I was a bit disappointed even if I think that the author is an excellent storyteller.
Unfortunately this story is very slow and a huge part of the book is about the family issues. The last part was very exciting and I love it, it would have been great if all the rest was so exciting
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was such a fun read for Halloween! The story is told from the perspective of the neighbours of one street during the evening of Halloween. We meet many people, each POV gets his/her own chapters, but it never gets confusing. I felt this had a bit of a Stephen King and John Marrs vibe. Stephen King for the characters, and John Marrs for the short chapters, and fast pace.
This book would be great for someone who wants to try horror, but doesn't like their books too scary.

OH MY GOD. I LOVED this. So much!

If we are comparing it to movies then I definitely got Trick R Treat vibes, coupled up with Halloween III - Season of the Witch. It just so happens that they are two of my most favourite movies.

This story started out on a regular halloween evening in a nice little neighbourhood, with a variety of different families either following on with their halloween traditions, or having their night disrupted by family disputes and chaotic consequences. Throw in some creepy little kids and we have ourselves a party!

There are multiple different viewpoints from multiple different characters in this book, and I was completely invested in every single one of them. I didn’t want it to end.

This book will 100% be my Halloween re-read every single year.

✩✩✩✩✩

Unfortunately this one didn't really work for me. I was expecting creepy, atmospheric autumnal Halloween read but instead this just felt like a bit of a let down. The main antagonist, the 'Cunning Man' instead of being main and centre throughout the story tends to stick to the shadows, while the neighbourhood and the Barbosa family takes centre stage. There's often a lot going on, and I feel the story would have benefitted from from being stripped back and more focused on the kids and creepy goings on. I just wasn't that interested in hearing about the ins and outs of a 1980s suburban neighbourhood.

Golden delivers a fun seasonal themed horror novel with a supernatural bent about a neighbourhood which finds itself targeted by a group of mysterious costumed children claiming to be hiding from a dangerous figure known as the 'Cunning Man'.
But as the adults of the estate get caught up in their own dramas and secrets, it's up to the youth of the area to uncover the dangerous truth the haunting visits.
Set over the over the course of one Halloween night in the 1980s, it's a fun, easy read that's perfect for the spooky season.
Golden clearly loves Halloween and delivers a rich and nostalgic look at the era of block parties and neighbourhood wide trick or treating to go with the burst of horror.

A great Halloween read. I love the atmosphere of this one, very spooky. If you’re a fan of Stephen King you might want to pick this one up.

This felt like I was a 10 year old again reading a spooky book. Gave me Halloween vibes, which is what I’m all about!

Overall all quite enjoyed this book, the perfect autumn read with a great spooky atmosphere.
A bit predictable in parts but would overall recommend.

Very much for fans of Stranger Things, this spooky tale takes place over Holloween night 1984. Featuring a large cast, mostly from two family's that are busy imploding, and the supernatural beings that have invaded this one street.
Fun read from a great author who always delivers the chills (Road of Bones was wonderfully atmospheric).

Everyone loves the 1980's right now, with more and more stories cashing in on nostalgia for the decade. For those who love the 80's and get a kick out of Halloween All Hallows might be the book for you, as it combines the horrors of living in 80's suburbia with the fun of Halloween in a book that's more neighbourhood soap opera than actual horror.

All Hallows follows a number of residents of Parmenter Road, a quiet street in the town of Coventry, Massachusetts. There's Tony Barbosa, who puts on a special haunted woods attraction behind his house each and every year, complete with special effects and actors to jump out and scare people; though this year is his final year as he's having to sell his house and move away following a layoff from work. There's the Sweeney family, overworked and put-upon wife Barb, her heavy drinking womanising husband Donnie, and their three kids caught in the middle of their marriage difficulties; whose relationship comes to a crashing and violent end on Halloween night. And there's Vanessa Montez, the punky daughter of two immigrants trying to fit into a neighbourhood of mostly white people all whilst trying to hide the fact that she's a lesbian; who will lose her best friend and be publicly humiliated before the night is over.

These are just a few of the characters that we follow over the course of the book, though they're not the only ones by a long shot. Each member of their families feature in the narratives that intertwine with each other and cross over as we see the events of this one small neighbourhood over a single night. The reason I opened with describing this as being akin to a soap opera is that that's how a lot of this plays out. There's infidelity, domestic abuse, crying children, betrayals of trust, young love, coming of age stories, marriage breakdowns, drunken parties, public fist fights, and even a pair of neighbourhood paedophiles to deal with too. With all of that going on how does the horror even find time to fit in?

Over the course of the evening, as people air their dirty laundry left right and centre and put entire seasons worth or TV story arcs on display for all, several creepy children begin to appear on Parmenter Road. These children, dressed in odd costumes, talk about The Cunning Man, some form of evil entity that's coming for them. They beg the people that they find to let them hide just until midnight, telling them that if they can just avoid The Cunning Man until midnight they'll be safe. Sadly, these moments are far too few and far between to end up being anything but a small side-story in what's supposed to be a horror book.

Most of these children barely make an appearance until more than half way into the book, and those that do have fleeting moments on the page. The Crooked Man too makes an occasional appearance early on, but when he gets four or five pages sandwiched between fifty about the various trials and tribulations of the people on the street you almost forget that he's even a thing. By the time the book turns into a more overt horror story you've got perhaps twenty percent of the book left to go, and stopped caring at around the halfway point.

All Hallows made one of the greatest sins of a horror story, it left be absolutely bored. If this was marketed as a neighbourhood drama, which is what most of the book felt like, I'd have perhaps been open to watching several marriages fall to pieces; but I'd come for a spooky Halloween tale. I like getting to know characters in horror stories, but this was that dialled up to the extreme, where it was all character focus and very little actual horror. The fact that most of the characters were thoroughly unlikable also didn't help matters. If the horror of the book was in capturing how awful the 80's were to live in, and in how disgusting people can be then the book succeeded, but if it was the ghosts and monsters that make a cameo appearance then it certainly fell too far off the mark for me.

Christopher Golden has made some great horror stories, and I grew up reading his Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, so I know that he can scare me, but this book just didn't. It was hard to get to the end of All Hallows, I got very little from it, and I'm sad to say that this time it wasn't a book for which I was the audience.

A really enjoyable, nostalgic read! Featuring kids coming together to fight the town evil, parents going through their own shit and not realising what's going on around them, not to mention the menacing presence of the Cunning Man! I loved the shifting POV, giving us a slice-of-life but somehow insightful look into all the characters and their mindsets! Perfect book for a Halloween read!

An absolutely stunning read, perfect for Halloween. The way the author delves into the lives of each character in the neighbourhood immediately makes you care what happens to them and the terror of knowing that no one is safe makes it all the more gripping.

I've not read any Christopher Golden book for a few years but glad I read this (will have to read back catalogue). Good setting dark forest, halloween and it's creepy. Good characters and a well plotted novel anybody who loves horror will love this. Thanks to Titan books and Netgalley for a review copy of this book.

Welcome to Parmenter Road. For a decade now, your Halloween night tradition has included braving the jump scares of the Haunted Woods, the brainchild of Tony Barbosa and his now 17 year old daughter, Chloe. They’ve added more scares to the path this year, the Haunted Woods’ final year.

You didn’t take a glow stick into the woods with you tonight because you wanted to savour the full experience. It was worth the wait and you’re going to really miss this long standing Halloween tradition next year.

Now you’ve faced down the banshee, you wander over to the Koenigs’ block party. On your way, you think of Zack and Ruth Burgess. You’ve heard rumours about that couple so you told your kids to skip their house when they’re Trick-or-treating. You can’t be too careful these days, after all.

You usually keep to yourself but even you aren’t immune to the gossip you’re hearing at the party tonight. Sure, you feel bad for the lives that are imploding all around you but there’s also a part of you that’s relieved your marriage and your kids aren’t part of tonight’s fodder. At this distance, you can almost imagine this is all playing out on Wisteria Lane.

Hold on. Who’s that? There’s a kid approaching you, wearing a costume that looks like it’s seen better days. You thought you knew all of the kids in the neighbourhood but you’ve never seen them before. You wonder if they’re okay.

“He’ll find me. He always finds me.”

Hmm, maybe not. As you start to ask them what’s wrong, who always finds them, you notice someone getting closer. You’ve definitely never seen them before. You would have remembered someone that tall. Is that who the kid’s so terrified of?

Are those … candle flames where their eyes should be?

If you like to get to know your horror victims before they’re sliced and diced, this is the book for you. If you want to see people’s insides become their outsides, this is the book for you. If Halloween isn’t a day of the year but a state of mind for you, this is the book for you. If you desperately want to visit the place the horrors have come from, join me in hoping for a sequel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.

This book brings out the mischievous feeling of Halloween nights of the 80s. The excitement of wandering around your neighborhood after dark, teenage antics, trick-or-treating, and the ominous suppressive feeling that there is something intangible in the air, and that this night is not the same as others.
The Barbosa family are set for their last Haunted Woods. A yearly tradition they hold, a haunted path through the dark woods with terrifying decorations, lights and even actors. The neighborhood is buzzing with excitement to attend. Meanwhile, the Sweeny family is in the midst of falling apart, the Burgess family has dark secrets about to come to light, and the Koenig family is about to hold the block party of the year. No one is as they seem in this small suburban neighborhood. Especially the lost children who show up for the festivities.
All Hallows is the perfect book to get you into the Halloween, spooky season feel. It is ripe with suburban nightmares. Do you really know who is living next door? Can you trust the couple down the street? It gives us a glimpse of what the thin veil of All Hallows Eve allows to enter our world.

•1984, Coventry, Massachusetts

“Sometimes boring could be wonderful, that was an inescapable truth”

This book is perfect for spooky season. The characters are relatable. The author has created such a poignant back stories and portrayed the reality of life so well.

There is a town where Halloween is celebrated and there is something mysterious and perilous about it. There are families that have issues. A husband try to escape his wife and children. A lot of things are going on between them. Everyone dress up for Halloween and do eerie makeup. Sweeney’s family is falling apart due to Donnie. While Barbosas family has opened annual haunted woods but it’s a home of evil mysteries. I was deeply touched by Vanessa’s and Steve story. I felt sorry for Barb and her children. Charlie has been through a lot in early age. Billie and Rick, Chloe and Sarah Jane. They have all experienced horror. There is a mysterious creature and a cunning man. I felt sorry for Donnie as well. All the wrong choices he made. I loved how Julia supported her mother.

Thank you Titan Books, Author, and Netgalley.