Halloween Rain (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in the all the world, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.

Around Sunnydale, they say a scarecrow saturated with Halloween rain will come alive and slaughter anyone in sight. (Lovely place, Sunnydale.) Buffy's best friends, Xander and Willow, used to think the tale was nonsense -- but after a few adventures with Buffy, they're not so sure.

Even without a maniacal scarecrow, a Sunnydale Halloween is a truly horrific happening. There are enough zombies and vampires about, ready to party hearty and eat some brains, to keep the Slayer and her friends up all night.

And then rain starts to fall....

About the Author

Christopher Golden is the award-winning, bestselling author of such novels as Wildwood Road, The Boys Are Back in Town, Of Saints and Shadows, and the Body of Evidence thriller series. He has cowritten a number of novels and comic books set in the worlds of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. There are more than eight million copies of his books in print. He lives in Massachusetts with his family.

Best-selling author Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or cowritten twenty Buffy and Angel projects. A graduate of the University of California at San Diego, Nancy is currently a writing teacher at the school. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, and their growing assortment of pets.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment; reprint edition (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671017136
• ISBN-13: 978-0671017132
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #551,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #15 in	Books > Teens > Series > Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  #24 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Holder, Nancy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the scariest, July 8, 2001

By	Alaria (England) - See all my reviews

The legend is that when it rains on Hallowe'en a scarecrow will come alive and slaughter anyone in sight. Of course Buffy doesn't believe it, but this is Sunnydale and legends have a nasty habit of coming true. Soon Giles uncovers the story of a past slayer who encountered the demon Samhain and lost. Now Buffy must face the Lord of Samhuinn and destroy his spirit forever...

This was one of the scariest Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels I have read so far. The characterisation was very good and the plot was suspenseful and absorbing, although it did take a while to get going. The darkness and the rain creates a creepy, tense atmosphere that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. The second half of the book is far superior to the first and the battle between Buffy and Samhain provides a worthwhile climax. Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder have produced what are arguably some of the best Buffy books, and their other works include the Gatekeeper Trilogy, Immortal and Child of the Hunt. I recommend "Halloween Rain" to all fans of the series.

~Jenna~

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely New Story, May 10, 2004

By	Sarah Sammis "Avid BookCrosser" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed this book more because it's a completely new story. It takes place where the first season Halloween episode would have been if one had been made. It's interesting to see what the authors do to play within the limitations of first season while making sure to not spoil the character's lack of knowledge about other aspects of Halloween that become important plot points for the season 2 episode.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Golden and Holder come up with a treat for a rainy Halloween, October 27, 2000

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

While we have all expected Buffy the Vampire Slayer to trot out a special Halloween episode each season like Roseanne used to do, it has been pretty much an every other year proposition ("Halloween" from Season 2 and "Fear Itself" from Season 4). Fortunately, to help fill in the gap we have Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder's first Buffy novel, "Halloween Rain." By now this pair has clearly established themselves as far and away the best writers working on the Buffy novels, with The Gatekeeper Trilogy being their masterpiece (to date). Their respect for and understanding of the Buffy mythos is second to none. After all, they were the two main compilers of "The Watcher's Guide" and its follow-up works. So, what we have here is a well-written Buffy novel that will suffice as the Halloween episode from the first season.

Anyhow, it seems that there is a legend in Sunnydale about a scarecrow that comes alive when saturated with Halloween rain and slaughters everyone in sight. Of course Giles uncovers the logical explanation for such things. This is really the demon Samhain (Remember the name from the movie "Halloween"? We are talking classic homage here boys and girls), and just to make things even more fun the demon has dealt with a Slayer in the past. Add to this the fact that it is Halloween and it is Sunnydale, which means mondo party time for all the vampires and zombies this side of the Hellmouth. Golden and Holder have Buffy speak down solid, but the key to the novel is coming up with a fairly sophisticated villain for the Slayer to take down. Make it easy on yourself and just read every Buffy book this pair writes.

Oh, and enjoy All Hallow Even in your own little town.