Halloween poems Book

I love Halloween.

It's always been my favorite holiday. I'm not sure exactly why, but I suspect the main reason I love Halloween so much is because it's all about the macabre. And since darkness and the macabre have always fascinated me, to have a holiday centered around it is pure awesome. That, and the leftover candy. XD

But anyway, one day, I stumbled across Stephen Gammell's art. When reading up on it, mostly the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, I then came across this book, and all the memories came flooding back. This was one of the scary stories books I loved to borrow from the library when I was a kid, along with the "Poems to Trouble Your Sleep" book series. And a few years later, I was able to find a decently-priced copy online, and so purchased it. Just a heads up though, "decently priced" copies are pretty much always former library books, and the non-library book versions often sell for at least a hundred bucks. Thanfkully, the library binding on my copy ended up being easy to remove, so much so that you'd never think it was one. If only there was a company out here like there is in Japan, where you can request them to re-print old books…

But anyway, the topic here is the book itself, not finding a copy. So what all is there to say?

First off, the main, if not only draw about the book is the art. Drawn by Stephen Gammell, the illustrations have the same feel as those from Scary Stories. Which is to say, surreal and freakish while simultaneously well-detailed. The illustrations range from vaguely off-putting to outright grotesque, all the while giving off a vintage 80's and 90's vibe. As a geek for 90's pop culture, I love this kind of nostalgia, and another random thing my copy has, being an ex-library book, is the smell when the pages are sniffed. Anyone else like that smell? It's random, but I do - makes me think back to visiting the library.

The poems themselves are generally rather lame, and pretty forgettable. A poem I'm rather surprised they got into the book, especially when it's ostensibly for kids, is entitled "From Ghoulies and Ghosts"…and is a request from the Lord to deliver people from the macabre. I'm not a fan of this, partly because of my negative views on religion, and partly because it seems rather out of place in a book about Halloween. But that's just me. And when you try and look at the poems from a kid's perspective, some of them actually do manage to be a bit creepy, though that's more due to the illustrations than how they're written.

All in all, I enjoy the book as a piece of 90's nostalgia - it was released in 1989, but close enough. Recommended, especially if you're a fan of Stephen Gammell's art - that's what makes it worth purchasing, by a longshot.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5