The month of October conjures certain imagery. Sunsets the color of pumpkins, blown leaves of red-yellow-orange, fraying scarecrows, spooks, crows, tricks and treats, hollow trees, headless horsemen.

October Dreams is a celebration of Halloween, packed with contributions from 47 writers. Classic novellas, new stories, Halloween memories, poetry, essays on the history of the holiday, essays on Halloween movies, and more await you in this volume.

Familiar names await you: Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Poppy Z. Brite. Writers who may be new to you beckon: Owl Goingback, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Stefan Dziemianowicz.

Days after setting the book down, which stories stick in my mind?

Kiernan's "A Redress for Andromeda" didn't strike me upon my initial reading, but I find myself thinking about it again and again. I find myself connecting dots, linking this story with the Andromeda Greek myth--and the parallels are nice.

Bradbury's "Heavy Set" was most disturbing to me, for it's a situation many people deal with today--yet the story was first published in 1964. Heavy Set is a young man who still lives at home, aimless and friendless, and horrors abound.

Kim Newman's favorite Halloween memory is a collection of journal entries, pulled from each Halloween from 1974 to 1999. In one, she says her entry for the prior day is much more interesting--but them's the breaks.

Each story captures a magical element of October, providing shivers and quivers. The best thing about this anthology is that if you find yourself craving the scent and sound of October in the middle of spring, all you have to do is open this book.