### From Publishers Weekly Here's another Halloween offering from Cemetery Dance, which, with last year's anthology October Dreams and the forthcoming anthology Trick or Treat, plus last year's Richard Laymon novel, Once Upon a Halloween, is emerging as a notable publisher of Halloween-related fiction. This is a slight tale, suitable for all ages but of primary interest to kids, about the adventures of one Timothy Maywood Usher Mouse. Timothy lives in a public library and yearns for the sort of adventure he's read about in the books that surround him. One day he works up his courage and leaves his shelter through a window, only to encounter a snake (that he fools with a piece of candy corn), trick-or-treaters and a cat, which he escapes by taking refuge in a jack-o'-lantern that rolls into a local river. When last seen, Timothy is sailing to unknown shores, enjoying the world from his perch atop the jack-o'-lantern's nose. Laymon, who died in February, is known for his meandering, you-are-there plots and tight, sensual writing. Here, though, the meandering seems almost arbitrary, offering just one obstacle after another thrown in the path of the intrepid mouse, and the prose lacks Laymon's usual punch and precision. Much more effective are Clark's full-color illustrations, which capture the mystery, magic and delicious terror of Halloween via bold, intense colors and dramatic angles of view. While it's not a major addition to Halloweeniana, this volume will appeal to Laymon completists, Clark fans and anyone who can't get enough of America's second-favorite holiday. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The
Halloween
Mouse
By Richard Laymon
Pictures by Alan M. Clark
Cemetery Dance Publications
Baltimore
2001
Dedicated in loving memory to Richard Laymon
Text copyright © 2001 by Richard Laymon
Illustration copyright © 2001 by Alan M. Clark
Book design by Alan M. Clark
Published by Cemetery Dance Publications
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
All Persons in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance that may seem to exist to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction.
ISBN 1-58767-047-X
Cemetery Dance Publications
P.O. Box 943
Abingdon MD 21009
U.S.A.
http://www.cemeterydance.com
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
10 987654321
Timothy Maywood Usher Mouse was a fine young lad who lived in the Elmwood Public library.
In the library he liked to read stories about great, thrilling adventures . . . tales of giants and pirates and bandits, of secret treasures and gallant journeys, of lost tribes and narrow escapes.
"I should like to have such an adventure myself," Timothy often thought.
But then he looked out the library window
The outside world looked very big.
So very big and strange, not at all like his cozy library with its shelves and its books . . . its many many books that were full of such wonderful adventures.
He wasn't sure he wanted to leave his library.
"But I must," he told himself. "If it's such fun to read an adventure, it must be
And so he kept watch out the window . . . watching for just the right sort of day for starting a great adventure.
Some days were gray and rainy. He hoped for an adventure, not a soaking.
Some days, the wind blew so hard he supposed that a tiny fellow such as himself might be blown clear off his feet and into the next town.
Other days, he spied dogs and cats on the library's lawn. He had read many tales about cats and dogs, so he knew they might like to eat him.
"I would rather have none of that," thought Timothy.
And so he waited and watched.
Finally, there came just the right sort of day. The sun was bright. The wind looked mild. Across the street, the trees down by the river were full of bright leaves. Most of them stayed in the trees. Others fell softly, moving sideways in the gentle breeze. Some landed on the ruffled water of the river and floated slowly away.
For as far as Timothy could see, he saw no dogs or cats.
"This is
"Or should I?" he wondered.
What if a nasty storm is just around the corner? Or what if a dog is? Or a quick and hungry cat?
"I'll wait just a little while longer. Just to make sure it's safe."
He waited and waited.
No dog or cat or storm came by.
Soon, the sun took on a wonderful golden color. It spread its gold over the trees and grass and river.
"My, oh my," thought Timothy. "I've never seen such a beautiful day. If I don't go out now, I'll be sorry. There might never be a better day than this."
The window gave him some trouble. He was a good, strong mouse, but
The sun moved lower in the sky outside.
Though only a mouse, Timothy was a very smart mouse. He went and got a pencil and
"Ah ha!" he said.
Out he rushed, and over the sill and down the ivy-covered wall. Before long, he came to the ground.
"That was easily done," he thought.
Then he turned to the lawn.
"Oh, dear."
From his window, the lawn had looked like a soft carpet of green.
Down here, it looked like a million blades of grass, each one taller than Timothy himself. He couldn't see over them, not even on his tiptoes.
"Oh, well," he said. "Adventures do have their ups and downs."
With that, he marched into the field.
"I do hope I don't get lost. It might add spice to my adventure, but I would rather go without it. This is only my first adventure. I should like to keep it simple."
Pushing through the grass was not so hard, but more than grass got in his way. Sometimes, he had to circle around pine cones and small stones. Other times, he needed to climb over twigs and branches.
One old stick was shiny and had very bright stripes. While Timothy climbed over it, it moved.
He almost fell, but didn't.
"A moving branch," he thought. "How wonderful!"
He had never read of such a thing.
"It just goes to show, books don't tell you
With his arms out like a tightrope walker, he rode the branch through the grass.
"I do hope it's taking me in the best direction."
Then he thought, "Oh, well, really . . . an
