Title: Night of the Pumpkin God

Author: Chris Kosarich

Release date: June 11, 2020

 

Having just read the prequel novella, ‘Mister Jack,’

(review here: https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/book-review-mister-jack-by-chris-kosarich/)

I was excited to dive into ‘Night of the Pumpkin God.’ Kosarich had set up an excellent back story/folklore world to draw the reader in. It was suggested that the reader read ‘Mister Jack’ first before the follow up and in this case I would 100% agree with that sentiment. Bits and pieces are alluded to throughout the story, but Kosarich dove in and wrote this with the mentality that any one reading this would’ve read ‘Mister Jack’ first.

So, fair warning, if you haven’t read ‘Mister Jack’ yet, some of this will be spoiler territory for that novella!

What I liked: The novel picks up not too long after the events in ‘Mister Jack.’ We find out that Tully survived the carnage from that Halloween night, but was badly burned. He now harbors pure hatred for Misty, even though she wasn’t involved or was more than a passing mentioned character in ‘Mister Jack.’ His hatred stems from the fact that Misty was like a grand daughter to ‘the witch.’

The book takes a bit to really get going. We see how the events of that night have played a role in the various students lives, as Mike and Maddie have gone off to College but Tully has remained behind, not wanting to go out into public due to his scars. He is now immersed in wanting to make a horror movie, and you guessed it, obsessed with the pumpkin god aka ‘Mister Jack.’

Kosarich did a great job of showing how different things around Tully work to annoy him, anger him and eventually churn him into an uncontrollable ball of hate.

I enjoyed how much of the story focused on Misty, particularly how she didn’t comprehend or understand why she was the focus of Tully’s rage, when she had no involvement in his injuries.

What I didn’t like: One thing I’m never a big fan of is the stunted or rushed ending and I found that ‘Night of the Pumpkin God’ suffered just that. While the action/climactic moments are satisfying, I wished less emphasis was placed on other random occurrences and more was dedicated to a bloody carnage closing scene.

Why you should buy it: As with ‘Mister Jack’ if you love Halloween folklore, this one will be right up your alley. Kosarich has some really gruesome death scenes throughout and the transformation we see from Tully’s character was great. This was a fun, quick read and Kosarich left the ending open just a smidge for another possible entry into this series.

4/5