[REVIEW] Three Tales of Terror

As I snuck in a few moments of spine-tingling reading over the past week, my mind noticed what seemed like an interesting similarity between three of the short pieces that I read. I should observe at this moment that my anthology contains poems and memoirs as well as short stories. It gives me s chance to explore that quote about reality being stranger than fiction, so I like it. The "My Favorite Halloween Memory" word art denotes the third story as one of these.

The first story focuses on the potential for terror that results from visiting Whitby, which apparently played home to Bram Stoker when he worked on his most famous tome. A romantic evening turns into something else as the heroine of this tale remembers that this night is mischief night. Constant rapping on the doors of her apartment remind her of this fact while she prepares for a quiet dinner at home with her husband.  As pranksters continue to plague her and her plans go awry, she comes closer and closer to addressing a fear she never realized she had. (This was my favorite of these three tales, but that shouldn't affect your opinion.)

This story follows the Halloween happenings of a man who finds his life in turmoil and returns to his hometown seeking peace. Despite his attempts to bury himself in his sorrows, an opportunity presents itself that gives him a chance to look back on Halloween past. He reflects on the joy he once felt creating the perfect costume in preparation for the big evening. Somehow his remunerations bring him face to face with his past in an unexpected way.

The writer of this snippet of memoir, reflects on the joy he once felt at piecing together a costume to go out seeking sugary treasure. He sadly recounts how that enthusiasm faded as the years passed and he grew too old for trick-or-treating. Even still, one Halloween found him making a costume from the cast-off remains of others he had once worn with more relish. In so doing, he somehow found a costume that haunts him still. Or is he haunted by something buried deeper in his subconscious?

For my treat, I decided to go quick and simple. I whipped up a batch of cookies following the directions on the bag of chocolate chips (Nestle, of course, and they are welcome to contact me about sending me free samples ;)). Then I decided to add a twist inspired by my reflections on tricks and treats. I flattened out a cookie dough ball and placed a chunk of peanut butter cup on top. I covered that with another smooshed cookie. Then I baked them for 13 minutes in honor of the mysticism surrounding that particular number.  If you feel like making treats to wow Harry Potter, you could tuck something less desirable into your cookies (boogers, wasabi peas, a slice of carrot, a chunk of beef jerky, vomit, any flavor bean you want) and make your cookie more of a trick than a treat, but I'll stick with my cookie-appropriate sweet stuffing.