Halloween Haunts: Halloween Treats, No Tricks
By Patrick Tumblety
Dear Ghouls and Goblins,
With dripping fangs and too much hair (not supernatural related), I come to you with terrible tidings of awful displeasure… HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Two Halloween-themed releases and a creeptastic anthology have made this spooky season especially special! I have provided details on
these new releases below, but I wanted to share with you three pieces that were not included in my all-ages illustrated book, The October Children. I did not include them in the final book because they will either be included in a future collection or are ripe for submission to an anthology. I will share them with you here and wish you the most horrifying Halloween you could ever curse to conjure!
There Is A House…
I place a hand on my boy’s shoulder as we stare up at the house.
“It looks normal on the outside, but concentrate on the details. The frame leans. Cracks run in nearly every row of siding. Remnants of a lattice fence frame the porch. The house is yellow, but if you had seen it when it was first constructed, you would know that it was originally white.”
Yes, THAT house.
You know the one.
“You know someone lives there because garbage piles onto their curb every week. The paperboy throws the daily on the lawn, and it is gone by mid-morning. You never see who lives there, of course, except for the moments you catch a glimpse of someone out of the corner of your eye right before the front door slams. The lights are always on, but the curtains are always drawn. Every once in a while, a sound comes from inside that you can’t quite place. One moment, it’s too high-pitched to be machinery. The next moment, the sound is too low to be human.”
My boy takes a nearly imperceptible step backward and asks with a wavering voice, “Why are you telling me this?”
I kneel and turn him around so we are facing eye-to-eye. It’s “man-to-man” time. I tell him the truth that your parents most likely explained to you about that one house in the neighborhood.
“People will wonder what is going on inside that house, but that is not for them to know. To know is to risk knowing too much. Do you understand?” He nods his head, but I need him to retain the grave importance of what I am trying to tell him. “Every neighborhood has this house. People always want to know. Your friends will want to know. If you ever witness what goes on inside this house…” I use my finger to lift his chin, demanding his eyes meet mine. “No one can ever know.”
He nods without blinking. I think he gets it. I know you do.
Everyone has lived down the street from that house.
Nothing good ever comes out of that house.
“Come now,” I say to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We have a lot of work to do.”
I open up the screeching gate, lead him across the yellowed grass, up the creaky stairs, through the door that is barely hanging from its rusty hinges, and into that house.
That house.
You know the one.
_
By The Way (of Autumn)
Every writer, creator, & dreamer
holds tight to autumn.
Ideas grow in autumn
like pumpkins in a patch,
interconnected by sturdy roots.
Don’t hold it against the creator
if autumn brushes against each of their children.
Autumn brushes the hair of every child,
with the same breeze
that kicks up dead leaves.
_
Last Will & Testament
When I die,
rip my organs from my body, and
hand them out to those in need.
Let my death hold up the living;
tossing them in a grave is greed.
When only my shell remains,
drop my body into a vat of beetles.
Let them pick my bones clean.
Hang my skeleton on the front porch,
to scare the kids on Halloween.
When I’m history,
ask the King to write my obit, and
embellish on the darker times.
Pay the Price to tell us it was worth it,
with his rolling voice and macabre rhymes.
When Death ends my story,
tell my tale around campfires.
Let it travel down the line.
If it changes, so be it, but
let it unravel across time.
_
Find frighteningly fun stories and poetry like these in my new release, The October Children, a collection of October and Halloween-themed pieces illustrated by Drew Rausch and released by October Nights Press! You can purchase the book here: https://octobernightspress.bigcartel.com/category/novels
For more Halloween shenanigans, pick up my new horror novel, One Fright Only, from Uncomfortably Dark Horror.
One Fright Only
David gets a job at a local farm that hosts a haunted attraction – one night only – on All Hallows’ Eve. Although he’s relieved to have a fun job, one staff member is missing, another disappears under strange circumstances, and a mounting pile of evidence leads David to suspect a disaster will occur on Halloween night…
Purchase One Fright Only here: https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/shop
Need more chills creeping up your spine? Pick up Hotel of Haunts from Watertower Hill Publishing.
Every year on October 13th, a celebration is held in the lavish ballroom of the opulent Hotel Ethel. Built in the wake of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, founded by a d̶i̶a̶b̶o̶l̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶v̶e̶n̶ beloved group of socialite women, the Ethel holds the secrets–and ghosts–of saints and sinners alike. The time has come for the 115th Grand Founder’s Ball, and you are invited to attend, to explore not only the fabulous ballroom but all the well-appointed rooms and never-ending corridors of San Francisco’s most infamous hotel. Just remember… at the Ethel, you’re never alone. Welcome to Hotel Ethel. The last reservation you’ll ever need. 23 Floors. 23 Ghosts. 23 Stories.
Purchase Hotel of Haunts here: https://www.watertowerhill.com/product-page/hotel-of-haunts-hardback
_
Thank you all for celebrating Halloween with me this year! Stay safe, and stay scary!
With love and death,
Patrick(-or-treat) Tumblety
Patrick Tumblety is an author of horror, science fiction, and poetry. He has been featured in numerous anthologies, including Tales of Jack the Ripper from Word Horde Press, The Dead Inside from Dark Dispatch, and Sincerely, Departed, created by Cat Voleur and Angel Krause. His first horror novel, Come Out & Play, debuted in September 2024 from Uncomfortably Dark Horror and has been reviewed as “A poignant look at how our trauma bleeds into every part of our lives. My heart didn’t know whether to break or race.” (Laurel Hightower, Bram Stoker Nominated Author)
Patrick lives in Delaware with his wife, daughter, and their cat, Mittens, where he spends his time writing, playing video games, and teaching self-defense to those who want to be prepared for all the monsters that may come.