Book excerpt: Twenty-six terrifying tales set on the scariest night of the year by Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Helen Marshall, Richard Christian Matheson, Robert Shearman, Robert Silverberg, Angela Slatter, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many more. Along with a very special contribution by award-winning poet Jane Yolen. Treat yourself to some very tricky stories! Halloween . . . All Hallows’ Eve . . . Samhain . . . Día de los Muertos . . . the Day the Dead Come Back . . . When the barriers between the worlds are at their weakest—when ghosts, goblins, and grisly things can cross over into our dimension—then for a single night each year the natural becomes the supernatural, the normal becomes the paranormal, and nobody is safe from their most intimate and terrifying fears. The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories brings you a dark feast of frightening fiction by some of the most successful and respected horror writers working today: OCTOBER IN THE CHAIR Neil Gaiman REFLECTIONS IN BLACK Steve Rasnic Tem THE HALLOWEEN MONSTER Alison Littlewood THE PHÉNAKISTICOPE OF DECAY James Ebersole MEMORIES OF DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS Nancy Kilpatrick FRAGILE MASKS Richard Gavin BONE FIRE Storm Constantine QUEEN OF THE HUNT Adrian Cole THE OCTOBER WIDOW Angela Slatter BEFORE THE PARADE PASSES BY Marie O’Regan HER FACE Ramsey Campbell A MAN TOTALLY ALONE Robert Hood BLEED Richard Christian Matheson THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN PARTY APP Lisa Morton THE FOLDING MAN Joe R. Lansdale I WAIT FOR YOU Eygló Karlsdóttir DUST UPON A PAPER EYE Cate Gardner NOT OUR BROTHER Robert Silverberg THE SCARIEST THING IN THE WORLD Michael Marshall Smith THE NATURE OF THE BEAST Sharon Gosling THE BEAUTIFUL FEAST OF THE VALLEY Stephen Gallagher IN THE YEAR OF OMENS Helen Marshall THE MILLENNIAL’S GUIDE TO DEATH Scott Bradfield WHITE MARE Thana Niveau PUMPKIN KIDS Robert Shearman LANTERN JACK Christopher Fowler HALLOWEEN TREATS Jane Yolen Here you will encounter witches, ghosts, monsters, psychos, demonic nuns, and even Death himself in this spooky selection of stories set on the night when evil walks the earth . . .