New Review! Red Harvest (The Haunted Hallows Chronicles) by Patrick C. Greene 4 Cranky Stars

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38782528-red-harvest" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">Red Harvest by Patrick C. Greene
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Cranky Stars


What do you get when you combine horror punk, a killer ala Michael Meyers and the parade scene from "Animal House"? Red Harvest!


Ember Hollow is known for its annual Pumpkin Parade, with everybody in town getting into the Halloween spirit. This year on Devil's Night the local punk band, Chalk Outlines, is performing during the parade. Little do they know that there is a true horror coming.


Stuart Barcroft is the younger brother of the band's lead singer and tries to impress his crush, Candace Geelens, by inviting her to the concert with front row seats. However, Candace has a huge secret to hide.


Without giving too much away, this book has tons of creepy characters, more than enough religious zealots, recovering alcoholics, and enough scares and gore to delight the biggest horror fan. The author has added tons of references to classic horror, including some obscure Bela Lugosi films. "The Exorcist" is also brought to mind with some sleazy priests thrown into the mix. I am sure that a closer reading of the book would bring to mind a lot of other horror movies.


It took a while to get into this book because of the introduction of a lot of characters. However, once I passed the first third of the book, I couldn't stop reading. As a former punk myself, I loved the inclusion of the Chalk Outlines and I wish I could hear their music. Their manager, Kerwin Stuyvesant, was a cringe-worthy character straight out of a bad haircut.


A short quote from one of the band's songs gives a pretty good description of the story:
"I was hunted, far from home
Haunted, cursed to roam
Desperate to be freed
From my insatiable need
To kill by full moon's light"

If you are a fan of campy teen slasher movies, you will love this book. And, if you ever see Everett Geelens out Trick or Treating, run and hide as fast as you can!

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