by Norman Partridge
169 pages
I'm just going to jump right in and say that this book was pretty disturbing. I won't say it was bad, just disturbing. I found this book doing a simple Google search and the reviews were pretty good.
The setting is "any-town" in the mid-west in the 1960s. Every year the schools close and the boys in the town aged 16-18 are locked in their rooms for the 5 days leading up to Halloween and are sustained by only water. When Halloween day rolls around, a mystery man goes into a cornfield where he carves the pumpkin that sits on top of a vine-made scarecrow. Once the face is carved, the space between the vines is stuffed with candy, the October Boy is handed a butcher knife, and he comes to life.
The starving boys in town are released from their rooms, gather their weapons, and go to hunt down the October Boy. The way the legend goes is that the boys all hunt for the October boy. The boy who kills the October Boy gets a one-way ticket out of town. The October Boy doesn't go down without a fight and wounds, or kills, real boys along the way. The race is also against the clock, someone must kill the October Boy before midnight. The October Boy attempts to reach the town church before he can be killed. The October Boy has never won before.
First of all, that is pretty disturbing: but it gets worse. The town is a lot more corrupt than even this. The policeman is the worst of them all and has no problems shooting people in the streets. The story follows 16 year old Pete, the hero we are all cheering for, as he partakes in his first Halloween hunt. Parts of the book also follow the October Boy who you gain unexpected compassion and empathy for. When Pete discovers the horrifying truth surrounding the October Boy, his entire life changes.
While this book is definitely disturbing, and graphic, it still has an ending that pulls at your heart. The book moves quickly because there is tons of action and suspense. The book isn't for everyone, but I'd recommend it to people who want something different and don't really mind the horror.
3.5 Stars