Chapters (84)
- Cover
- Praise
- Dedication
- About the Author
- HALLOWEEN
- Seven Weeks Before Halloween
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- HALLOWEEN
- Six Weeks Before Halloween
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- HALLOWEEN
- Five Weeks Before Halloween
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- HALLOWEEN
- NINE
- TEN
- HALLOWEEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- Twenty-Five Days Until Halloween
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- HALLOWEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- HALLOWEEN
- Eighteen Days Until Halloween
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- HALLOWEEN
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- Eleven Days Until Halloween
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- Eight Days Until Halloween
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- HALLOWEEN
- THIRTY
- Four Days Until Halloween
- THIRTY-ONE
- HALLOWEEN
- THIRTY-TWO
- Two Days Until Halloween
- THIRTY-THREE
- The Night Before Halloween
- THIRTY-FOUR
- HALLOWEEN
- THIRTY-FIVE
- Halloween, Present Day
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- HALLOWEEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- HALLOWEEN
- THIRTY-NINE
- HALLOWEEN
- FORTY
- HALLOWEEN
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- HALLOWEEN... NOW
- FORTY-FIVE
- Seven Months Later
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ALICE SWANSON’S
- Reader's Guide
- Questions for Discussion
- Booklist
Then I spied the zombie I’d come for, shoved in the very back near a tall bookcase. As I leaned over to pick him up, I stubbed my pinkie toe on a box that had been half-hidden in the shadows.
“Dammit.” I knelt to rub my toe through my sneaker, letting the ripples of pain subside. From there, I could read the black magic marker label on the side of the box.
SCRAPBOOKS
I opened it, lifted out the book on top. It was dated five years before, an album from the Ivy Woods Halloween party. Alice with a baby, probably Greta, and her oldest, Jonah, in a ninja costume. Kendra pouring a glass of punch, her face painted like the Queen of Hearts. Poorly lit shots of the decked-out cul-de-sac.
I set it on the floor and flipped through a few other scrapbooks—more from past block parties, others from vacations Alice and her family had taken to the beach.
An alert tone from my phone reminded me I had an appointment to review wallpaper samples for our powder room. I stacked the books I’d removed and tried to pack them back in, but my grip slipped, their weight knocking the box on its side. The rest of its contents skittered onto the floor. Cursing again, I righted the box, stuffing them all back inside.
The one that ended up on top was smaller than the others and seemed older. Ivy Five Halloween Bash, Alice had written on the front in her loopy cursive. Curious, I opened it and noted the year: 2005. Wow, they had done these parties for a long time.
It was fun to see them younger. Alice’s hair was much longer—she looked barely older than Lily in some of the photos. Kendra still had the same haircut, but Bettina’s was just past her shoulders with short bangs and the ends flipped out for body. I didn’t even recognize Pia at first because she had reddish-brown hair and none of the gray streaks.
Then I came across a group shot—all of them dressed as witches in black dresses and capes and big hats that shadowed their faces. Alice, Kendra, Pia, Bettina, and a fifth woman, standing on the edge, slightly apart from the others as if she didn’t really want to be there. I squinted to see her better, but the photo was grainy and had been taken from far away.
In the corner, Alice had written in black Sharpie:
The Ivy Five!
Halloween 2005
The fifth mother.
My heartbeat increased. I rubbed my finger over her face, as if that would clear it. Something about her posture seemed familiar, rounded shoulders. That thin, pointed chin.
I carefully plucked the photo from the transparent corners that held it to the page. On the back, Alice’s handwriting again, this time fainter, faded, though I could still make out all the names.
Bettina Price
Kendra McCaul
Me!
Pia Burman
Jackie Hendricks