Buckets

by F. Paul Wilson

It's Halloween and all the kids who come to Dr. Cantrell's have something dar, red 7 wet in their buckets, but no other neighbors notice. Why are the kids with these buckets ONLY visiting his house?

Genres: Horror, Fiction

47 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit over the top.
Q:
The little girl lifted her silver bucket. (c)
Q:
“After our fathers, you’re the second most important man in our lives.
”This was insane! “I don’t know any of you!”
“Because you killed us.” (c)

[Heather]

Vitriolic, moralistic claptrap. Hope author doesnt really feel this way.

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful and stupid moralizing.

[Milo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this story in Halloween Dreams anthology by Cemetary Dance publications. This is NOT a halloween story, shame on you Cemetary Dance for including it. If the author wants to voice his point of view on this there are better channels for that.

Bummed I read it and will never consider this author or the publication in the future.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Cantrell has many children dropping by his door. It's Halloween. They are trick or treating. But why have some of the kids stainless steal buckets for the treats? What happens at the new medical center? Many eerie details here and a topic you can controversially discuss. The author emphasizes his attitude a bit too much for my liking. He should have stayed focused on a horror instead of sending out a political pamphlet and message. Well told but I don't like the use of horror as a political vehicle.

[Mindy Jacobsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of the October Dreams book (a collection of writings involving Halloween) and while the actual story is written fine and paced well, the plot is just very dull.

Aside from the blatant pro life propaganda and being anti choice (saying women use abortions like birth control and sort of ignoring science and the doctor has a God complex and that's why he does abortions lol) it's just not very scary or interesting. It feels like the point of the story was to push an agenda, not tell an interesting, creepy Halloween tale.

[Emily Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely horrifying!

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful genre story told from an absolutely unique perspective. You’ll probably never read anything else quite like it.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.