What is more ideal for Halloween than an original Point Horror book with a Halloween theme?! I actually read it in 2002 (not that I remembered it). It stands up remarkably well, compared to other Point Horrors I’ve read in recent years. Richie Tankersley Cusick was one of the main authors, along with Christopher Pike, R L Stine, and Diane Hoh. This novel is very atmospheric and creepy. It has all the classic features of this kind of story. An old house with an evil past. A cemetery in the woodland. Teenagers left in the house while the adults are away. Threatening phone calls. Tangled romantic relationships and rivalries.

The story follows 16-year-old Martha, who has moved to a new area because her dad re-married. Her dad and step-mother promptly go away, leaving Martha and her step-brother Conor, who she barely knows, in the sinister old house on their own while they navigate the new high school and discover that a girl remarkably similar to Martha was murdered in their house, but the murderer may still be out there. An increasingly frightening series of events leads Martha to believe that something terrible will happen on Halloween and history will be repeated.

I would have liked an extra twist at the end, but I don’t think extra twists were a trend when this book was written. It’s certainly worth reading if you’re looking for something seasonal and short, but it could have had more detail. There is a lot packed into the book and everything seems rushed. It was first published in 1989 and there isn’t anything really dated about it, although Martha’s fascination with her step-brother is a little weird. The edition I read was published by Open Road Media, 2011, with extra biographical material about the author.