Vande Valde, Vivian. (2006). All hallows’ eve. New York: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN: 0-15-205576-2. p. 225
Genre: Horror, short story
Interest Age: 12+
Curriculum: NA
Reader’s Annotation
On All Hallows’ Eve, ghosts, witches, werewolves and all of the other creepy things emerge from shadows to roam free.
Plot Summary
All Hallows’ Eve is a collection of 13 horror stories which all occur on October 31st, or “All Hallows’ Eve”. The stories vary in length; some stories are as short as 2 or 3 pages others closer to twenty. All of the stories revolve around teens and their encounters with various ghosts and creatures of the night. Sometimes the stories are sweet, like when the spirit of a deceased boy visits a guilt ridden kid in “Holding On”. Other times the stories read like cautionary tales, such as “I Want to Thank You” and “Come in and Rest a Spell” where the speaker learns too late not to trust certain types of people on Halloween. There are several ghost stories. Some ghosts are humorous (“When My Parents Come to Visit”), some seek vengeance (“Marian”), others protect (“Cemetery Field Trip”), and some are not what they seem (“Morgan Roehmar’s Boys”). Other stories include a tale of a girl’s search for her real mother which comes back to bite her (“My Real Mother”), a boy meeting his girlfriends’ parents for the first and last time (“Pretending”) and a tale of a one sided friendship that even death cannot break (“Best Friends”).
Critical Review
Vivian Valde Vande creates a fun collection of short stories which all occur on the spookiest night of the year, Halloween. While I would not go so far as to call any of the stories contained in All Hallows’ Eve great, they are all fun and more often than not have a twist which leaves the reader with either a smile on their face or a look of shock.
When writing horror stories for teens and young adults, one must walk a very fine line; the author needs to show horror without being graphic, create a sense of dread without being cheesy, and create ghosts and monsters which are not predicable. Vande Valde walks this line quite successfully. She creates creepy atmospheres through her use of description and decent levels of tension through careful pacing and syntax in stories like “Cemetery Field Trip” and “Morgan Roehmar’s Boys”. Although there are several deaths throughout the collection, Vande Valde does not rely on gore or blood to shock the reader. Disgust and nausea are not her goals; that slight chill running down your spine is what Vande Valde is after. For the most part, her stories deliver this feeling. It is easy to imagine these stories being read aloud around a camp fire or in a darkened room lit only by a single flashlight or candle. There is a sense of fun to all of these stories as well as terror.
Some stories work better than others. I found the story of a haunted Global Positioning System (GPS) to be a little corny. The twist at the end of the “When and How”, where four teens have their fortunes read, can be seen coming a mile away to anyone who has ever watched an episode of The Twilight Zone or read/watched Tales from the Crypt. But Vande Valde also puts new spins on several predictable plots which should leave the reader pleasantly surprised. While one might be able to guess the true identity of the adopted girl’s real parents in “My Real Mother”, the final turn is deliciously creepy and unexpected.
Where Vande Valde ultimately succeeds with All Hallows’ Eve, is making Halloween both terrifying and fun. Vande Valde shows that during Halloween there is equal opportunity for laughs and fun, as well as terror and horror.
Author Info
Vivian Vande Valde is an award winning author of over 30 books for teens. She writes primarily in the horror and dark fantasy genres but her works generally include an element of humor and fun as well. Born in 1951, she currently resides in Rochester, NY. Her first book, A Hidden Magic, is a fairy tale inspired by Disney movies like Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.
Vande Valde’s books have been honored by the American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her novel Never Trust a Dead Man, won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery of 2000. Vande Valde offers author appearances and workshops for both students and teachers through her website: http://vivianvandevelde.com/index.cfm.
Book Talking Ideas
1. What makes a location or an atmosphere scary?
2. What are some of the ways Vande Valde puts twists on classic scary stories involving ghosts or vampires?
Challenges
• There are several deaths involving younger teens.
• There is some description of blood and murder but nothing too graphic.
• "Not too gory, not too gruesome, but thirteen short stories that are scary enough to raise goose bumps and send shivers down the spine. " -- Children's Literature
Why I choose this title
Short stories can be a good way to get reluctant readers to pick up a book. It is a lot easier convincing a kid to read 15 pages than 315 pages. This collection is a good example of how horror stories don’t necessarily need to be overly bloody and violent to be effective. Also, the element of fun is constant throughout the stories.
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