The Last Night of October by Greg Chapman [book review]

About The Last Night of October:

The Last Night of October follows Gerald Forsyth. He’s seventy years old and dreads Halloween every year. You would think it was because he was old and grumpy. That’s exactly what the new nurse that comes to take care of him thinks because Gerald refuses to open the door for anyone who knocks. On top of that, he’s rude to the nurse and tries rushing her out of the house. When she doesn’t listen and takes her time she realizes she should’ve gotten out of the house a lot sooner.

What I thought about The Last Night of October:

I want to say thank you to Greg Chapman and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review The Last Night of October. I picked the book up because of the cover and how creepy it had sounded. I love creepy books, especially ones that don’t rely on blood and gore.

The Characters

I won’t give anything away but I’m actually kind of curious how Gerald survived as long as he did. Being haunted for years by an old friend would drive a person mad. It seems like Gerald still has his mind intact despite this. The Last Night of October actually gives me The Tell-Tale Heart vibes which may have been the whole point. I guess a part of me wishes we got some idea why he held on for so long. I get that Gerald was scared but you’d think he’d break at some point. He didn’t exactly have anything to live for so why hold on for so long?

The Plot

The concept of the story is really cool and I love how it ended. However, this is a novella and I feel things were rushed (sort of). I wish we got more background on the haunting even though we get some.

A part of this story does remind me of Supernatural. I think just about everything that deals with the paranormal reminds me of Supernatural anymore. If you read the entire story then you’ll get why especially with how the story ended.

So, I have mixed feelings about the story. I love the idea but I do wish we got a longer story instead of a novella.

If you like this review then you may like my review for Crossroads.