Forget about Christmas and all that Winter Solstice stuff. In my opinion, Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s even better than Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Chocolate Covered Cherry Day, Bourbon Day and Free Comic Book Day. 

And I’m not the only one who thinks so. I’m sure publisher/writer Christofer Nigro agrees with me. For proof, I recommend that you check out his latest effort Halloween Horrors, Vol. 1. 

The holiday-themed novel is about a young girl’s ill-advised alliance with Lord Samhain and includes a klatch of Wizard of Oz-like monsters including a murderous scarecrow, a rampaging android and a werewolf. For fun, Nigro also throws in a couple of otherworldly monsters from the All Hallows’ Realm. 

Samhain is no joke. Generally, he’s referred to as the Lord of Darkness, but some people think he’s the Celtic God of Death. Either way, he’s not the kind of deity you want to fool around with—especially if you’re a high school kid named Jennie Quinn. 

Jennie is a girl obsessed with ancient Celtic mythology and the tenets of the Book of Samhain. She says she wants to bring back the good ol’ days of Druidry, but secretly, she simply wants to crush all the bullies at school. If possible, she’d like to kill her older sister too. 

At first, Lord Samhain is happy to make Jennie’s dreams come true. And why not? He’s a bad mammy jammy who enjoys causing mayhem on Halloween. With delight, he helps his young charge fulfill her reign of revenge. 

But after a while, the ancient Celtic god goes rogue. He’s got his own agenda. And besides, he hates Jennie. She’s a brat with a potty mouth who barely understands the magick surrounding her. 

The story follows Jennie as she terrorizes her home town killing cheerleaders, jocks and anyone else who gets in her way. Ostensibly she’s the villain protagonist of Halloween Horrors.

It’s Lord Samhain, however, who steals the show. He’s seven-feet tall with an oversized jack-o’-lantern head. He’s got rows of ultra-sharp teeth and his eyes possess a radiant yellow glow like a candle being lit inside his head. He is a charismatic blowhard who talks like a megalomaniacal Marvel supervillain. In other words, he’s a lot of fun. 

Eventually Halloween comes to an end. Lord Samhain gets “dispersed” and Jennie is captured and sent to the local psych ward. “You can’t keep me there forever, fuckers!” Jennie says as she’s loaded into the back of an EMS vehicle. “Look what I did tonight! I’ll do better next Halloween!” To be continued in Volume Two of Halloween Horrors. 

[ Halloween Horrors, Vol. 1 / By Christofer Nigro with Dustin Dreyling / First Printing: October 2024 / ISBN: 9798990366145 ]