Octobertown by Mia Dalia
Earthling Publications (October 31, 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms
The best month of the year is now here. With that turn of the calendar, readers awaiting Earthling Publications’ Halloween Series are in for a treat.
Octobertown takes place on Halloween, which is the best thing ever, but if one is familiar with Earthling, one thing is certain: no entry is cliché, no story is a boring retread of tired tropes.
Enter Mia Dalia, one of the best talents in the business, a writer who can immerse herself in many styles and genres with ease. She set the novel in a real town in New Jersey, where neighbors on an idyllic street compete to design the best Halloween decorations in the most suburban way possible.
At the heart of it, though, is a couple who want to celebrate, yet when tragedy strikes, a macabre cycle begins. To say more about these two, a writer and his wife, would spoil everything, but Dalia weaves their tale with a deft touch and strikes an emphatic yet sympathetic chord with the readers. Why do they have trouble just trying to enjoy their favorite day of the year?
Dalia focuses more on the interplay between the neighbors, who, on the surface, are your typical southern New Jersey folks, happy, family-friendly, hard-working, but always striving for the one thing that helps their status in the community. Peel back the shine of the street and something devious peers back at the reader. Families who design amazing decorations, displays, and events for the incoming horde of trick-or-treaters seethe with simmering undercurrents. The typical stressors and distractions of real life boil over and spill onto their street. It might remind the reader of the best of King’s small towns, focusing on how the little things families face can open the gateway to horrors, human and otherwise. It’s the simple conflicts in homes that simmer, boil, and bleed into the other households that elevate the novel. Dalia’s descriptions of both the mundane and horrific are also reminiscent of classic Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson.
But what about the couple? How does their simple walk home transform this novel from a standard Halloween story into something that transcends its peers? Delve into it and enjoy the holiday in Dalia’s universe.
Yes, the plot description is intentionally vague, but the payoff is worth it.
Anyone who’s been following Earthling’s Halloween series for the past two decades understands that these entries are anything but typical horror fare. Each year, they offer up something intriguing that entices fans of the genre, but also add a bit extra.
Mia Dalia’s Octobertown easily rises to the top five in Earthling’s catalog and comes highly recommended. This is a story that truly fits the spirit of Halloween.
With beautiful art by Ben Baldwin and an introduction by the amazing Michael Marshall Smith, it’s a slam-dunk winner. Horror fans will likely see this one during awards season, and with good reason.
Don’t miss this.
Please note: Octobertown is an Earthling Publications’ exclusive. Numbered and signed copies available here
