A slow burn horror that was perfect for Halloween. I really loved the creepyness to it and the writing is nice. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a slow burn horror. The book is so creepy and so many unthinkable creepy things happens. Slowly and gradually, the book completely gripped me. And I connected with some characters. Set in 1970s, strange things are happening in the town of Maplewood. There is a mystery of the magician, children are going missing, scarecrow walks, a strange mysterious man appears and many more strange occurrences happens. Love the autumnal, creepy and halloween vibes. A magicians magic trick takes an unexpected turn and it takes years for him to solve the mystery. A group of teen friends try to solve the mystery. This book is filled with creepy happenings, mystery, suspense, action and twists and turns

This is yet another cracking book published by
Flame Tree Press!

I utterly adore this cover artwork! It's extremely aesthetic, creeky and just intrigued me so much!

The story focuses on 4 boys in the 1970s, mysterious happenings of Maplewood, and children going missing... oh, and a magician... what is going on?

This was an incredibly dark and creepy book and again, perfect for Spooky Season!

The story jumps around all the key characters, so you see a detailed picture of what is going on, and boy, is it detailed! You just fly in out around the town, which makes it an extremely interesting concept - chatacter development of the days is fab too!

The whole story weaves itself together for the finale and what a finale it is!

Great for spooky season!

This book was a creepy, atmospheric read that feels like Halloween in a book. Set in the small town of Maplewood, New Hampshire, during the 1970s, the story follows a group of kids who stumble into a chilling mystery as strange events unfold around them. Think of all the classic Halloween vibes—demonic pumpkins, sinister scarecrows, mysterious magicians, and haunted cornfields. Bastianelli packs every October cliché you can imagine into this story, and yet, it somehow all fits together in a way that feels just right.

At the heart of it is a coming-of-age story, as these young friends confront supernatural forces while dealing with their own fears and friendships. Each character brings something unique to the story, from Ryan, who is haunted by the loss of his twin brother, to Mr. Lothrop, the agoraphobic writer whose fictional goblins seem to come alive. Bastianelli masterfully builds suspense, letting the mystery unfold slowly but grippingly, day by day, leading up to Halloween night.

The writing style is simple but effective, weaving a nostalgic atmosphere that brings you right back to being a kid trick-or-treating on a cool autumn night. The story escalates as Halloween approaches, delivering a satisfying mix of spooks, suspense, and action without overwhelming the reader.

While it’s packed with familiar Halloween elements, I didn't feel like this book tried to reinvent the genre. Instead, it celebrates the best of spooky season with a solid, eerie tale that’s perfect for an October read. If you’re a fan of coming-of-age horror or simply looking for a book to get you in the Halloween spirit, this one is well worth your time.

I was given this book as an ARC. Thank you! I’’m reallly enjoying it. It has 31 chapters so I’m reading it as an advent reading for Halloween…..one chapter a day. How fun! I haven’t finished it yet (almost halfway through) but promised to leave a timely review so doing so now. The storyline is good, the characters are engaging and the setting is spooky. Really fun read for Halloween!

Edited to add.,,I just finished and wanted to update my review. This was soo good! I’d have enjoyed it even if it wasn’t an advent read. But reading a chapter a day added so much fun to an already fun read.,

Great read for spooky season! Magic, demonic Jack-o-Laterns, coming-of-age horror.

Lots of characters to keep track of, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed. Loved the kid characters, Ryan, Lance and Russel. Of course they noticed things were wrong before their parents. My favorite character was the agoraphobic, Mr. Lothrop. A horrid writer whose goblin monsters came to life. Yes, he hid himself away and was labeled a coward. But he did some pretty courageous things near the end.

Story takes off on the October 31st chapter and just pounds you with all kinds of Halloween horror.

SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO VERY VERY GOOD!!

This story begins on October 1, 1970 and needs on October 31st and is the perfect book for the Halloween Season.

Four boys who are the closest of friends are enjoying their childhood and unburdened lives until the night the tall, old stranger dressed in all black wearing a cape and top hat arrives in Maplewood New Hampshire. The man rents a room in the only boarding house along with several other seniors living there including an old pulp horror writer who hasn't left the home in over forty years believing that some of his horror stories came true and the entities he knows he saw are still out there searching for him and he has been in hiding all this time. The boys love this author's books and visit him on a regular basis and now they want to find all the information he can share about this dark stranger.

Peculiar events started happening the day that man arrived and every day that passes a darkness envelops the town and now children are disappearing plus a few other people yet the adults don't connect the dots and find anything unusual until it's too late.
Will the boys convince people that they need help to stop the evil that's taking over their once safe and comfortable town or will everyone be swallowed up by the darkness that refuses to leave Maplewood and seems to have huge plans that will take place on Halloween night especially for all the trick or treaters and anyone else who dares to be out on October 31st!


This book was deliciously atmospheric, entertaining, enjoyable and well-written. An intriguing coming of age story for the boys and a great nod to the older generation as well. The characters are very well developed with delightful humor thrown in as well as the eerie darkness that encompasses every chapter. This book was hard to put down since I was enjoying it so much and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. This was my second book by this author 'Gregory Bastianelli' which was called "Snowball" and I highly recommend reading that if you enjoy a great Christmas or winter horror novel.

I wasn't sure how everything would come together by the end of the story but it all played out with many questions answered. The parts I didn't care for happened at the end of the book, maybe I wanted it to end more seamlessly although I believe it had more of a horror effect since it didn't wrap up with a pretty bow the way I expected. Horror books are very subjective and they don't always play out the way the reader wants it too but believe me this was a fantastic, fun, creepy, frightening horror book that I recommend to all horror readers!

I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this exciting horror novel and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 4 CREEPY AND SPOOKALICIOUS 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

Leave it to Gregory Bastianelli to come out with a fantastic horror book just in time for Halloween!! It’s been awhile since his last book but it’s been worth the wait. Bastianelli disappoints. Thanks for the advanced read!!

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'October' by Gregory Bastianelli.

CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULES AND GRAB THIS PAGE TURNING HORROR PERFECT FOR HALLOWEEN!! I CAN GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!

This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely wont be my last!!

OMG!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVED THIS BOOK, AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, GOTHIC, HAUNTING, HORRIFIC AND PAGE TURNING EXPLOSIVE MUST READ!!!

This book is extremely well written with vivid and evocative descriptions that really put you in the storyline, feeling the hair on your arms raise and putting you on the edge of your seat!!! The storyline is just as stunning as the cover!!!

The first thing I have got to say is an absolutely HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to the amazing author Gregory Bastianelli!! I absolutely loved this addictive, explosive, creepy, horrific, ghostly page turner!!! It had the perfect amount of horror, occult, suspense, gore and everything else that you could ask for!! It is a very fast paced and gripping read and I devoured it in one sittings in the space of a few hours!!! This really is the perfect book to read for any horror fan but even more so with the run up to Halloween!! I mean, the cover alone is absolutely stunning and made me want to sink my teeth into the book and that is before I end read the synopsis!!! in this captivating and addictive storyline Gregory takes us back to the 1970's and transports the reader to a small town called Maplewood in New Hampshire. We meet magician Mortimer Rigby who performed a magic trick on his son which made him disappear but he cannot get him back and 40 years later he is still trying to find someone with the magical knowledge to reunite him with his son. He heads to a boarding house where we meet Harold who is a resident there. Harold is a horror writer but fears of what happened over 40 years ago has turner him into a recluse. We also meet four boys Eddie Scruggs, Ryan Woodson, Russell Mallek and Lance Stanton realise that since Mortimer arrived in their town things have started to go wrong. Children have started to disappear and they are seeing things that are impossible and petrifying. Nobody will believe the boys so it is down to them to find out what is going on and try to stop it. Will the gang of friends be able to stop the horrors while surviving themselves? Will Mortimer ever see his son again? Grab your copy of this addictive age turner and find out for yourselves. With a storyline ram packed with horror, mystery, heartbreak, magic realism, friendship, courage, supernatural horrors, twists and turns, suspense, tension and so, so much more I can promise that you will not regret it!!! This truly is an absolutely addictive, action packed page turner with a unique storyline that will grip you from the moment you open the pages until the very end, and longer!! i absolutely loved the brilliant layout with each day of October having its own chapters, something else that I found unique so a huge well done to Gregory on the absolutely uniqueness of this book!! I have read hundreds and hundreds of books so it is getting harder and harder to find books with a truly unique storyline but Gregory has smashed it out of the ballpark. I loved getting to meet all the different characters and Gregory has done an absolutely brilliant job of weaving the multiple protagonist perspectives together perfectly ensuring the reader gets the bigger picture. With a storyline filled with horrors from wizards to scarecrows, gargoyles to skeletons what more could you ask for to get into the Halloween spirit? The small town setting and creepy atmosphere is perfect for the storyline and Gregory's fantastic emotive and evocative writing skills really suck the reader into the story ensuring they can see the horror all around them and feel the chill up their spine. You have truly got to grab a copy of this fantastic horror today!!! I absolutely LOVE horrors and for me the creepier the better but, although I have found some great horror books out there, I struggle to find many filled with enough to creep me out!! That was up until I read this book and Stephen King eat your heart out because this is absolutely packed with a storyline and horror that I have never come across and as I have read hundreds of horrors and seen hundreds of horror movies THAT is truly hard to come across but Gregory absolutely slam dunks it!! A MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS Gregory!!

Along with a creepy and horrific atmosphere and storyline Gregory also creates an absolutely fantastic group of characters each with their own unique personalities. They were all very strong characters, realistic and sturdy. I loved seeing the friendships and relationships between the characters change and develop and really enjoyed their interactions between them all. My heart completely went out to some of them such as Ryan who has lost his twin brother, Harold who is petrified to leave the boarding house, Mortimer who lost his son and then sometimes I am wondering who is hiding what or if anyone could be trusted. There is a wide range of characters and we get to meet loads of different characters and residents of Maplewood which I absolutely loved!! I remarkably became very quickly attached and invested in the characters and loved seeing the dynamics and interactions between them all. Gregory has created them so well that I really did feel like I was with them and in their group throughout and the dynamics between the characters worked perfectly. Well done Gregory on creating such a memorable, unique, diverse and multi layered group of characters that will stay with me for a long time!! This is one of those books that I picked up and within a quarter of the book I realised I was wasting time lying to myself saying just one more chapter and I will do X, Y or Z as there was no way I could put it down!! Each and every chapter ended in a way that I had to know what was going to happen next so I ended up walking around with my kindle glued to my hands and unable to take my eyes of the screen until I had completely devoured the book within a few short hours. This book has definitely shot to my top horror book of the year and I would be absolutely shocked if anything managed to knock it off this spot as it just had absolutely everything a horror fan could want or ask for!! I honestly loved absolutely everything about it from the characters to the settings and it was just one heck of an amazing read!!! If you love horrors, gothic stories, supernatural books, thrillers, suspense, well do you know what if you love reading then grab a copy of this book today and you will not regret it!!! It has got to be one of, if not the best horror book that I have ever read!!! I absolutely love, love, LOVED the unique storyline!!I've just genuinely never come across a book anything like this one and I doubt I will again!!!! I just genuinely love, love, LOVED IT!!! This book will suck you in and keep you gripped in the pages until your thrown out at the end with a racing heart!! A truly unforgettable one in a million page turner!!!!

Clear your schedules before turning a single page as this book is truly unputdownable!!! However, I recommend you read this in the day with company although I still couldn't guarantee you wouldn't have nightmares!!

This book is one the BEST horror books I have ever read !!! This book really is a truly unique page turner that I picked up and had devoured within a couple of hours!!! It had absolutely everything you could ask for and more!!!

Well done Gregory Bastianelli on an absolutely addictive and explosive page turner and I would definitely like to welcome you on to my top 5 favourite horror author list!!! Congratulations on an absolutely fantastic success and here is to what is guaranteed to be many more 🥂

Overall an absolutely addictive, action and supernatural packed suspense filled and chilling horror that will keep you turning the pages until you've devoured the book in hours!!

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@GregoryBastianelli @FlameTreePress @RandomThingsTours @RandomTTours

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Four boys in the 1970s are having a rough October as strange events in their small town escalate. Each chapter is a day in October, and we see the boys dealing with the creepy events as they unfold. This hits a bit of coming of age and a bit of horror from the boys’ point of view and was a good spooky season read.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

October is guaranteed to give you all of the Stephen King vibes this Fall!

Gregory Bastianelli’s latest novel encapsulates the essence of autumn horror with incredible precision. From the very start, it immerses readers in an atmospheric journey through a small town in October, where each chapter represents a day on the calendar. This structure not only enhances the storytelling but also maintains a brisk pace that keeps the narrative engaging. The extensive cast of characters offers a wide range of perspectives, which was one of my favorite aspects of the book. It’s richly character-driven, yet the story progresses seamlessly, delivering an array of suspenseful moments and chilling scares that will keep readers captivated.

The story is ambitious, with several intriguing plotlines that Bastianelli carefully introduces. While I wasn’t certain how all these threads would come together, in true horror fashion, not every storyline needed a neat resolution. Some unravel unexpectedly, adding a sense of chaos and dread that enhances the horror elements and keeps readers on edge.

Fans of Something Wicked This Way Comes and Needful Things will find much to enjoy here. With its perfect seasonal atmosphere and suspenseful storytelling, this novel is a must-read for horror enthusiasts. You won’t be disappointed!

Overall this was an okay book, the characters were great and the setting was really good but the plot just fell a little flat for me, I wasn't drawn to picking the book up at all. This is purely subjective and I know there will be people who will lpve everything about this book. It is very similar to Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, which was a DNF for me so this one is better but it has the same form of style and story.

Set during the 1970s, Gregory Bastianelli’s October follows the spooky happenings that occur in the lead up to Halloween in the little town of Maplewood. This is the perfect creepy coming-of-age read for Halloween, giving whimsical and autumnal vibes, genuinely chilling frights, and a big dash of magic.

I absolutely loved the small town setting and following a relatively large cast of characters. Our main characters are four boys who suspect that something is amiss in their town, but we also get snippets from other kids, as well as a few adults. Following all of these people means that the town feels fully fleshed out and it also provides plenty of opportunities for horror—ranging from skeletons to pumpkins to scarecrows to gargoyles.

I personally could have done with the ending being a little more filled out, but that’s just a testament to me loving the story and wanting more of it!

“If this is going to be my last Halloween, I’m not going out without a fight”.

Set in Maplewood, NH in the 1970’s, October follows four adolescent boys on their adventure to figure out the disappearance of several local children.

I received an October arc from NetGalley/Flame Tree Press/Gregory Bastianelli and was SO excited because it was giving Losers Club vibes from Stephen King’s “IT”.

A spooky coming of age thriller, October is compared to Ray Bradbury’s “something wicked this way comes” and “All Hallows” by Christopher Golden. If your vibe is pulpy horror that focuses on world building and atmosphere rather than jump scares, I highly recommend!

October by Gregory Bastianelli is a book that serves as a perfect love letter to the Halloween season. It wraps nostalgia and terror beautifully within its crisp fall pages.

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on October by Gregory Bastianelli –
When an odd man steps off a train, something strange begins to spread like ink spilled on the map of this small town. Following the perspectives of various characters, readers follow this tale of horror through the month of October.

When things start getting spooky, the terror is sprinkled into the story in quick little bursts. So small that each character tries to convince themselves they’re seeing or hearing things at first. But they all soon learn it wasn’t just their imaginations.

My goodness! What starts as a quiet and creepy tale quickly ramps up to some seriously terrifying bloodshed! Some of these scenes are branded in my brain…

This would make a killer horror film or series! I’m so grateful I was able to give this an early read as it really helped me get into gear for fall!

AND THAT ENDING!

My Favorite Passages from October –
His heart felt like ice in his chest, as if he sucked in a great gulp of the fall air.

Time had no meaning here. There was no light, no days, only darkness blurring into more darkness as the house floated on a sea of black.

Eddie’s heart leapt into his throat so he couldn’t scream. He jumped up and raced across the bridge, not caring that the boards rattled beneath his pounding feet and felt like they were going to collapse and pitch him down into the grasp of whatever crawled along the underside.

He began to pant as his chest heaved up and down, air sucking in and out of his open mouth. He spun around looking for anyone. The plaza was empty. No one around except for the library gargoyles, but they didn’t see him, their lifeless eyes focused on the books held in stone hands.

My Final Thoughts on October –
What a perfect read for the ‘ber months! This one will have you reaching for your favorite fall beverage and perhaps an extra light to light up that darkened corner of your room.

Preorder your copy today! October releases on October 8th, 2024!

October is reminiscent of Stephen king classics in its vibe of small town America gone wrong, kids as central characters not willing to tell the adults what’s happening and a few older outsiders with secrets. Atmospheric rather than full on horrific, albeit with an undercutting inventive darkness. The mix of supernatural magic and common or garden bad people is enjoyable, and the mounting evidence of something going completely awry doesn’t prevent the full on experience once Halloween itself is reached. My only criticism is that the end felt a little rushed - a November epilogue wouldn’t have gone amiss to wrap the story up.

Four boys attempt to piece together the reason behind the disappearance of several children from their small-town during the Halloween of 1970 in this fun pulpy tale that mixes magicians, magic and old evils.
The book is a coming-of-age thriller in the vein of Christopher Golden's All Hallows and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and fondly captures the spirit of stories from that era.
A good choice for those in the mood for a fun, pulpy horror for the Halloween season.

3.5⭐

Set in 1970s Maplewood, NH, this tale follows four boys on the verge of adolescence as they uncover a chilling mystery brimming with magic and eerie happenings. The town's unsettling events lead them into a suspenseful adventure that blends nostalgic elements with thrilling twists. Though not overwhelmingly dark, the story manages to deliver a satisfying level of spookiness, making it a fun read for fans of magical mysteries and coming-of-age stories.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press, and Gregory Bastianelli for the opportunity to read and review “October” prior to its publication date.

I love halloween so this was obviously a book I had to go for. I also wanted to add an orange cover book to a readathon i was doing. This book is perfections I love magic and spooky themes mixed together it always ends up being a good time and I also love being scared. It was a 4,7 star read for me.

DNF - this one just didn't hit for me. While I've enjoyed the author in the past, the style of this one just didn't work for me. I think I prefer something a little more modern in context. Will definitely work for others.