This was an excellent story. It had magic, which I love. It wasn't at all gore and blood. Perfect book to read this fall. I will definitely be buying a copy.

This is a different kind of Halloween story and the inclusion of magic really sets it apart. While the limax takes place on Halloween, this is just a really good horror novel which you can enjoy anytime of the year.

A magician with actual magical abilities performs a trick with his son. His son disappears (that was the trick) but never returns (as he should have). The magician spends the next forty years seeking out people with magical knowledge all over the world to help him get his son back.

And he does but things don't go as planned. Some other things have also come back to our world and they are hungry and vengeful.

A group of pre-teen friends start to realise something is very wrong with their town, and it started with the arrival of the old magician. Children start disappearing, they see and experience things which are terrifying and impossible. Of course, nobody will believe them so they must figure it out together and discover what's wrong and how to stop it. But they'll be in over their heads and they might not survive to tell the tale.

This novel covers small town horror, supernatural terrors, and some magic realism to tell this twisty turny story. It's full of surprises and various characters and most have some dark secrets of their own.

It's a creepy novel which doesn't rely on gratuitous blood and gore but rather world building to tell. And it's very effective.

I highly recommend this one.