Title: Inheritance – A Halloween Urban Fantasy Short Story
Author: Zoe Cannon
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 23, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: 20 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 4 Stars
Blurb:
Lena’s grandmother defended her small town against the supernatural. So did her mother. Lena should be next in line. But her autism makes that impossible. At least that’s what her mother has always said. Lena couldn’t even get through college—what makes her think she could wield a magical sword and banish the undead?
But now her mother is gone. And Lena’s little sister is in danger. It’s time for Lena to take up the role she was born for… or lose the last of her family forever.
This #ownvoices short story is 6,500 words long, or approximately 20 pages.
Review:
What better way is there to spend Halloween than trying to banish the dead?
Halloween has many different meanings. In Lena’s case, her understanding of and response to it changed quite a bit over the years. I found it interesting to see how those things evolved as she grew older and was better able to communicate what she did and didn’t like about this holiday. She had excellent reasons for all of ways she reacted on Halloween over the years.
There were quite a few time jumps in this story, and I occasionally found them confusing. No sooner would I get invested in one particular part of Lena’s life than the plot would suddenly jump to years before or after that event. While I understood why the author wanted to show this character at so many different points in her development, it would have been helpful to have more of these scenes in chronological order so I could understand them a little easier.
Some of the most memorable scenes were the ones that explored Lena’s complicated relationships with her mother and younger sister. They both struggled to accept Lena’s autism at times, especially when it came to the ways this diagnosis shaped the course of the main character’s life. I liked the fact that this was an Own Voices story and that the characters were given so much time to work through their conflicts.
Inheritance was a thought-provoking Halloween story that I deeply enjoyed and would recommend to anyone reading this review of it.
If you ask me, Halloween has some of the most delicious foods associated with it! Here are a few of my favourite Halloween treats.
Red Licorice. My dad often had a bag of these in his desk. One never went rooting around in his personal effects, but he’d often share a few if you asked politely.
Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate it! If you live in a country where it is a big deal, I hope you find some amazing Halloween candy for sale on November 1.
Title: A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale
5. 
Title: Safer at Home – a Ghost Story
Watching TV is one of my spouse’s favourite things to do. Over the years, I’ve cultivated the ability to (accidentally) look away from the screen at the exact moment that something important happens that is not noted in the dialogue.
I could talk about this topic for ages! Let’s see if I can keep my list down to a reasonable 10 or so answers.
Title: No Good Deed – A Sourdough Tale