HALLOWEEN HORRORS

Yawns is more like it. Of the 13 new yarns here, two stand out: Robert R. McCammon offers a splendid tale about an unusually prosperous and lucky neighborhood whose inhabitants are required to make unpleasant sacrifices every Halloween; and, from Michael McDowell, a superior piece wherein a woman is magically trapped in time by a jealous rival. Elsewhere, some famous names come up empty: Whitley Strieber (unfunny Nixon paranoia), Charles L. Grant (squishing eyeballs), Bill Pronzini (a haunted pumpkin), Frank Belknap Long (a demon lover), Ramsey Campbell (a haunted orchard), and Robert Bloch (ghostly child-stealers). Plus, even more limply: Irish demons, ghostly tricksters, hungry houses, murderous kids, and so forth. One or two signs of life, but mostly unscary, mediocre fare.