You might recognize Greg Chapman’s name, as he was responsible for the amazing cover for That Which Cannot Be Undone. But in addition to creating horror art and horror covers, he also writes as well. And Midnight Masquerade is his latest book, a collection of short stories with many of them taking place on or around Halloween. I received an eARC from him and gave it a read back during the summer. And with it coming out on Halloween proper, I thought I would release a review now, at the beginning of October.
So, what did I think?
Well, like most anthologies and collections, there were stories I enjoyed and others I didn’t. Of the ones I enjoyed, they were really good. The novella at the beginning of the collection, “The Last Night of October,” is a tragic tale of a man dealing with both grief and fear of mortality, wrapped up in what might be a revenge story. The stories “Octoberville” and “Vaudeville” were also good, though I thought the latter’s ending wrapped up a bit too nicely and left one or two questions.
However, a few of the stories felt like they entered a bit too abruptly, such as “Left on October Lane” and the titular story, “Midnight Masquerade.” Honestly, I would have liked to see the concept in the latter explored in a longer story, but it ended just too quickly. And the story “Happy Daze” felt like it was partly inspired by 2019’s Joker but didn’t go far enough with the concept of a party clown on a bad day. If any of these stories or a few others were maybe fleshed out a bit more, I might have enjoyed them more.
As the collection stands, Midnight Masquerade by Greg Chapman is decent reading for spooky season. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’ll give it a 3. It comes out on Halloween day, so if you enter November still craving that Halloween horror buzz, this collection might fill the need. Head to your favorite retailer to preorder a copy.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to summon armies of terrifying beings for a month-long party. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares! Only 30 days till Halloween, so get fucking excited!
Rami Ungar The Writer 