Devils Night: A Halloween Short Story by Richard Chizmar

Devils Night: A Halloween Short Story Reviews

• 
  Marie

  This was a pretty good short story, but it wasn't scary. The book is about a teacher at a high school that witnesses a murder and his thoughts on what he should do about it. The story moves along at a fast pace, but there was no scare factor involved in this book. Giving it three stars.
• 
  Jeff O'Brien

  Isn't Cemetery Dance supposed to be one of the most prestigious horror publications out there? There were typos on almost every other page of this story. Wrong words, missing words, etc. The story might have been okay but the lack of editing and resulting nonsensical sentences kept me from really getting into it and left me spending more time trying to decipher what the author intended to say.
  
  Nothing against the author. I know he's good. Just very disappointed in the publisher.
• 
  Jenelle

  I grabbed this story a few months ago and saved it for today! So in honor of Devil's night, I read it. :D
  
  
  Holy crap. This book scared me. Somewhere in the middle of the story, I thought "I should talk to my kid about being careful about the boys she dates". By the end I realized that wouldn't always help would it? You can't help it if the boy dated a crazy chick before you.
  
  For a short story, Devil's Night did a great job pulling me and plopping me right into the story. The main characters late night drives, the Halloween dance...I could picture all of it. The characters seemed to capture teenagers perfectly. This whole story just felt really real. And it scared me.
  
  I really really hope my kids grow up to be nerds who would skip the dance.
  
  
• 
  J.C. Brennan

  Ah, high school, a time of growth, of leaning, of love and broken hearts. The last story in the Four Halloweens is a must read.
  A teacher, Mr. McKay, goes out for a drive on Devil’s night to clear his head. He is parked in an old post office parking lot smoking a cigarette when a car pulls in, a man stumbles out and begins heaving. Mr. McKay finds it humors until the man gets up, goes to his truck and he sees what the man had pulled out. Devil’s night, the night of mischief or not, this is too much for the teacher. Mr. McKay cannot let it go. Devil's night will never been the same.
  Wow, Richard Chizmar truly knows how to tell a story! This one had me biting my nails until the end.
  
• 
  Jamie Johnson

  I don't understand how and why people constantly proclaim that "man killing man" is included in the horror genre. No its is simply put, murder. This short story holds absolutely no supernatural or paranormal element. When a person kills another person that is murder. There is nothing within these pages that makes this a horror fiction short story. I am very disappointed that I allowed myself to be fooled by the cover and the books synopsis
• 
  Kay Oliver

  Chizmar is a literary genius. How have I not read his work before??? This short story was haunting and the characters were excellent. And just when you think it's over and solved, BOOM! a twist. Perfect for Halloween.
• 
  Pamela Abel

  Surprised
  
  This was a good short story. Just when I thought it was over ,there was a twist. I would recommend this
• 
  SHARON LUCILLE ALEXANDER

  Nice twist to the story
  
  This quick tale was entertaining (written in the 1st person) with an unexpected twist — and a milque -toast ending, but still it was a fun read.
• 
  Scott Sarley

  Perfect, quick October read!
• 
  Heidi

  Good writing
  
  I am so impressed with this short story. The writing is excellent. I wish that I could do it this efficiently and entertaining. Great Halloween stuff.
• 
  Wendi

  Pretty good short story for passing time when you’re waiting for something/someone or when you can’t sleep. Predictable, but I love how Chizmar writes.
• 
  Joseph Vinci

  Great story
  
  Taken in the context of the mid-atlantic region, and today's headlines, it scares you to think about smart kids killing.
• 
  Tom

  Don't know if this is a reprint or an original as Rich has not published anything of his own in a long time.That being said this was a great story told from the first person point of view.Without giving to much away the story takes place the night before Halloween.The main character sees something while out on a drive that leads to turmoil.Highly recomended.
• 
  Craig Peterson

  Great little story
  
  This is the first I've read of Richard Chizmar. I will certain,y seek out some more by him. Although this story in my option wouldn't fall into a horror genre, perhaps that wasn't the objective anyways, it was a good Halloween tale
• 
  Phil Zimmerman

  Somewhat interesting story about a Teacher that runs into a group of student be very bad on Devil's Night. Nothing really jumped out at me about this one.