Douglas Clegg's The Halloween Man reviewed by jseger9000

Here's a review for The Halloween Man. I picked the book mainly because the title seemed appropriate right now.

I very much enjoyed Douglas Clegg's writing and thought his story was a good one. But something about the actual presentation of it left me cold. I tried to hit at that in my review, but am not sure how I did.

Any/all suggestions/criticism/editing is appreciated.
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My first Douglas Clegg book will not be my last. The book had problems, but I was very impressed with Clegg's writing.

Stony Crawford is on the road with a kidnapped child messiah. As he travels he remembers events from his own childhood in the New English town of Stone Haven. The Halloween Man is an ambitious horror tale that is not easy to sum up without including spoilers. I can say that it has very little to do with Halloween. If you are looking for a book to read in the last weeks of October that deals with harvest time, pumpkins and trick-or-treaters, this is not it. At its heart it is a tale of Satanism and black magic. That isn't entirely accurate, but close enough to give a spoiler-less idea for potential readers, I hope.

I enjoyed the book. It told an exciting and complex story that I got into and was exceptionally well written. But I never felt... connected to it. I got the feeling he was maybe a bit too ambitious with his story. It sort of came off as muddled. I was impressed with the book while I was reading it but (until the end) it wasn't a book I would eagerly anticipate picking up again.

I liked the writing, A LOT. From this first experience I can say that Douglas Clegg is quite a talented author. But the writing would tend to get too lyrical at times. This was a problem for me especially at the beginning of the book. Doug throws you into the story as it is already underway. This can work really well, making the reader immediately feel unsafe and out of his depth. But a confused story coupled with overly ambiguous writing made the beginning of the book feel a bit like a chore.

He does a decent job of describing the town of Stonehaven, but the book was missing a real sense of time and place. It could be that I was extra sensitive, because I've just recently reread Stephen King's It and The Tommyknockers, two books that create completely detailed and believable New England towns. The Halloween Man's Stonehaven came off as much sketchier. I never got the sense of verisimilitude that the book wanted me to have.

Still, I did enjoy the book overall. As the story progressed I was drawn into it and was excited to see where it would go. I would have no problem suggesting Douglas Clegg to an interested reader, but I get the feeling this book probably isn't the place to start.

Not bad, but there's something...

Not sure what it is. I'll read it again later to see if I can put my finger on it, otherwise pretty good.

I've just revised and rewritten. Is this any sort of improvement?
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My first Douglas Clegg book will not be my last. From this first experience I can say that he is quite a talented author. He told an exciting and complex story that was exceptionally well written.

Stony Crawford is on the road with a kidnapped child messiah. As he travels he remembers events from his own childhood in the New English town of Stone Haven. The Halloween Man is an ambitious horror tale that is not easy to sum up without including spoilers. I can say that it has very little to do with Halloween. If you are looking for a book to read in the last weeks of October that deals with harvest time, pumpkins and trick-or-treaters, this is not it. At its heart it is a tale of Satanism and black magic. That isn't entirely accurate, but close enough to give a spoiler-less idea for potential readers, I hope.

He was maybe a bit too ambitious with his story. It came off as muddled. I was impressed with the book while I was reading it but (until the end) it wasn't a book I would eagerly anticipate picking up again. I never felt... connected to it.

I was very impressed with Clegg's writing, but it would tend to get too lyrical at times. This was a problem for me especially at the beginning of the book. Doug throws you into the story as it is already underway. This setup can work very well, making the reader immediately feel unsafe and out of his depth. But a confused story coupled with overly ambiguous writing made the beginning of the book feel a bit like a chore.

He does a decent job of describing the town of Stonehaven, but the book was missing a real sense of time and place. It could be that I was extra sensitive, because I've just recently reread Stephen King's It and The Tommyknockers, two books that create completely detailed and believable New England towns. The Halloween Man's Stonehaven came off as much sketchier. I never got the sense of verisimilitude that the book wanted me to have.

Still, I did enjoy the book overall. As the story progressed I was drawn into it and was excited to see where it would go. I would have no problem suggesting Douglas Clegg to an interested reader, but I get the feeling this book probably isn't the place to start.

I like this review. You have explained very well what you liked and where you hit snags. Useful information as a reader can usually put up with troublesome details of style but bad writing is hard to tolerate. And your ellipsis is very expressive.

2nd para

New England instead of New English?

and inconsistent use of Stone Haven and Stonehaven.

Otherwise it reads well, I like it.

#4 - a reader can usually put up with troublesome details of style but bad writing is hard to tolerate.

I know what you mean. I almost wanted to give the book extra credit because the writing was better than I was expecting.

It's a shame the book had as many probelms as it did, really.

#5 - inconsistent use of Stone Haven and Stonehaven.

Oh. I wonder if I spellchecked myself into that. It should be Stonehaven.

I wasn't sure of 'New England' vs. 'New English'. Since you pointed it out too, I've changed it to 'New England'
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My first Douglas Clegg book will not be my last. From this first experience I can say that he is quite a talented author. He told an exciting and complex story that was exceptionally well written.

Stony Crawford is on the road with a kidnapped child messiah. As he travels he remembers events from his own childhood in the New England town of Stonehaven. The Halloween Man is an ambitious horror tale that is not easy to sum up without including spoilers. I can say that it has very little to do with Halloween. If you are looking for a book to read in the last weeks of October that deals with harvest time, pumpkins and trick-or-treaters, this is not it. At its heart it is a tale of Satanism and black magic. That isn't entirely accurate, but close enough to give a spoiler-less idea for potential readers, I hope.

He was maybe a bit too ambitious with his story. It came off as muddled. I was impressed with the book while I was reading it but (until the end) it wasn't a book I would eagerly anticipate picking up again. I never felt... connected to it.

I was very impressed with Clegg's writing, but it would tend to get too lyrical at times. This was a problem for me especially at the beginning of the book. Doug throws you into the story as it is already underway. This setup can work very well, making the reader immediately feel unsafe and out of his depth. But a confused story coupled with overly ambiguous writing made the beginning of the book feel a bit like a chore.

He does a decent job of describing the town of Stonehaven, but the book was missing a real sense of time and place. It could be that I was extra sensitive, because I've just recently reread Stephen King's It and The Tommyknockers, two books that create completely detailed and believable New England towns. The Halloween Man's Stonehaven came off as much sketchier. I never got the sense of verisimilitude that the book wanted me to have.

Still, I did enjoy the book overall. As the story progressed I was drawn into it and was excited to see where it would go. I would have no problem suggesting Douglas Clegg to an interested reader, but I get the feeling this book probably isn't the place to start.

Nothing else is jumping out at me.

I wondered about "New English" but figured an American would know better than this British/Canadian.