Hill Haven Creeps and the Halloween King

On Halloween in Hill Haven Creeps, the All Hallows Eve Midnight Traveling Spook Show sets up on the edge of town. Its tents stand empty and flapping in the wind, and no carnies are anywhere in sight.

A circle of close friends is pulled into the night, each with a private fear. A masked figure follows Trevor Sheevis through every reflection. Cole Reagor wants to be a stand-up comedian, but that dream has turned sour. Tommy Gallaghan's cell phone sends him threats. At school, Angela Rayburn smiles at Mathew Potts, and Ashley Gifford fears a monster that sleeps in his own home.

Then Steven Delhomme goes missing, and the friends' worst fears start to look real. The moon is full, pumpkins glow on porches, and crows gather in the cornfields. Beyond the veil between the living and the dead, something calling itself the Scarecrow King is watching.

As Halloween nears, the dead trade places with the living. This is a horror novel with an ensemble cast of young characters, set in an autumn small town, and it leans on atmosphere and slow-building dread. The question is whether Halloween holds the final word, or whether something older is moving on the night wind.