Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Welcome to our October 2022 spooky BOM where we will be discussing this short read: Dr. Cadaver and The Raven!

I do love this cover so much!

Anyway, Feel free to start discussing the book whenever you'd like, just be aware of spoilers in the thread and avoid them if you need to.

I started early, and finished a couple days ago.
It wasn't at all what I expected, but I liked it.
Looking forward to the discussion.

Haldis wrote: "I started early, and finished a couple days ago.
It wasn't at all what I expected, but I liked it.
Looking forward to the discussion."

Oh, yay!

This will be my next read, I think! I'm looking forward to it!

Okay, I started this and got through the first chapter on my lunch break and so far I'm loving it!

I see that my Kindle thinks it will take me 2.5 hours to finish it and I think I'd like to read it all in one go. It's so rare that I ever get to do that with a book these days. But it's so enjoyable when I do. We'll see. Maybe I can finish it tomorrow morning before my afternoon shift at work.

It wasn't what I expected either. I was expecting a paranormal ghost story! This was short and sweet and rather a charming tribute to the actors and to the charms of Halloween. The villain was my least favorite part — kind of over the top and thinly drawn at the same time. The two MCs were adorable. I would have enjoyed even more detailed descriptions of their production. There was just enough to whet my appetite. I would have also liked more details about their new careers... but I suppose that would be a Book 2 type of story.

Oh, and I didn't know Haunts were a thing. I'd heard of the Evangelicals "Hell Houses" and other haunted house attractions, but didn't realize there were such big productions.

I also remember the very tame haunted house at the Halloween carnival put on by my elementary school — one that my daughters attended with their friends a few decades later. The scariest part was the bowl of eyeballs (peeled grapes) that you would be dared to touch without seeing. :)

I gave it 3.5 stars.

My review:

Above average sweet romance. There is a spooky atmosphere, but it is not a horror or paranormal story at all. I liked the depiction of the theater backstage. The villain was the weakest part of the story, a kind of cartoonish person.

Karen wrote: "Oh, and I didn't know Haunts were a thing. I'd heard of the Evangelicals "Hell Houses" and other haunted house attractions, but didn't realize there were such big productions.

I also remember the ..."

A lot of the amusement parks have haunts, or fright nights, or spooktaculars, or whatever in the evenings of October with shows and such. I haven't been to any of them, but I see them advertised every year.
The closest I've been is a huge corn maze in Dixon (I want to hit the one in Lathrop this year. It's supposed to be one of the biggest), and the flashlight tours at the Winchester Mystery House.

I agree with y'all about the "villian". I think a toned down version would have been better.
Or just leave it a sweet little romance.

I'm still reading it. The villain came back for the first time. It's still good. I agree though, I would like to know more about the productions.

I didn't really know Haunts were such a big thing either. I know there's one or two near where I grew up, but not really all that close. I don't know of any around here, though there must be some. But again, not close enough to get to easily.

I will always remember the haunted house at my elementary school. I saw a hand reach out and rub my dad's head ahead of me. It was really scary!

I just have to say, that scene where Ben massages the cream into Zack’s face sounds so relaxing! I need someone to do that for me. Lol.

Soooo close to being done. I've got about 20 minutes left, but my lunch break was up so I'll finish it later today.

One thing I did notice was that after the halfway point, I started to see a lot of minor errors, like "the" instead of "that" or break,r" with a common weirdly in the middle of the word. Otherwise, this story was well written!

Vinnie doesn't bother me too much, especially viewing the length of the story. Sure, it would be nice to know a little more about him so he's a little less one-sided, but it doesn't bother me as much as it would were this a longer piece.

I really enjoyed this one! I like that what happened to Ben in the past was a complete accident and not a full on tragic backstory.

I would definitely reread this one again.