Tales of Halloween (2015) Review – October Anthology Fun

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to day 30 of our 31 Days of Halloween 2026 review marathon. Today we are taking a look at a Halloween themed horror anthology that seems to fly under the radar a little – Tales of Halloween (2015). Let’s take a look.

A great Horror Option For Halloween

Tales of Halloween is an anthology horror movie featuring ten individual shorts that all share one thing in common – Halloween itself.

“This is an absolutely fantastic option for some Halloween horror viewing and there is some serious talent on display.”

With that in mind, you might be wondering why the hell I am reviewing this movie on the 30th and not the 31st of October. Well, honestly, I had two movies ready to go that I felt would be perfect for some Halloween viewing. The deciding factor in which one would get the nod for the big day itself was due to one being markedly better than the other.

That doesn’t mean that Tales of Halloween is bad, though. As far as anthology horror goes, it sits firmly in that spot occupied by A Christmas Horror Story and some of the later V/H/S entries rather than the lofty heights of Trick ‘r Treat.

This is an absolutely fantastic option for some Halloween horror viewing and there is some serious genre talent on display.

Tales of Halloween features segments by directors like Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II), Neil Marshall (The Descent), Lucky McKee (May), and Paul Solet (Grace), as well as a cast absolutely littered with horror icons like Barbara Crampton, Lin Shaye, Pollyanna McIntosh, and the legendary horror icon Adrienne Barbeau providing the voiceover for the wraparound segment.

Now, naturally, I’m not going to breakdown each of the segments because there are way too many of them and this review would end up about 10,000 words but, suffice to say, they are all Halloween themed and fit the vibe of the holiday extremely well.

A few genuinely fun segments

Tales of Halloween is very much guilty of the age old anthology tradition of the segments arriving to mixed results. There’s a lot of thematic cohesion here and every director obviously got the memo, but the tone varies quite a bit from segment to segment.

“Lucky McKee’s Ding Dong is an absolute riot with Pollyanna McIntosh just chewing the hell out of the scenery”

There’s a hell of a lot of humour and even the more serious shorts tend to lean more towards light scares rather than overt horror. Depending on what you are in the mood for, you may find that you enjoy some parts of the film while others miss the mark spectacularly.

Personally, I really liked the first segment, Sweet Tooth. I don’t know what it is because it’s not a particularly unique or inventive concept, but there is something about the whole “babysitter watching a kid on Halloween when something goes horribly wrong” thing that works so damn well for this format. It feels like a fun throwback to mindless 80s silliness and is breezily paced.

Mike Mendez’s Friday the 31st is a ton of fun purely for how silly it is. It’s a great combination of Friday the 13th-style slasher and alien stop-motion ridiculousness that’s impossible not to be charmed by. Neil Marshall’s Bad Seed feels like, perhaps, the most complete story of the bunch. It has some wicked practical effects, too.

Lucky McKee’s Ding Dong is an absolute riot with Pollyanna McIntosh just chewing the hell out of the scenery beautifully to bring a suburban take on Hansel and Gretel. I can imagine it being a bit divisive, though, as it is just so weird. Ryan Schifrin’s The Ransom of Rusty Rex is fun, too, in an Abigail, “kidnappers get more than they bargained for” sort of way.

The Night Billy Raised Hell is a lot of fun, and perhaps the best segment of all. It’s so absurdly ridiculous that it’s hard not to have a good time with it and the ludicrous ending caps that off just about perfectly.

The not so good stuff

We then come to the stuff that is somewhere between average and forgettable.

“There aren’t any true stinkers, here. Every short is watchable, some are just more enjoyable than others.”

Paul Solet’s The Weak and the Wicked is a nice attempt at doing something darker while combining horror with spaghetti western revenge stuff, but it doesn’t feel like it works all that well. It is way too long, as well, and the pacing really drags the middle of the anthology to a crawl. I loved Gracie Gillam, as Alice, though; she’s great at playing psychotic characters.

Trick is pretty unimaginative and extremely forgettable. Luckily it is mercilessly short due to how lacking in story it is. It’s not funny, the acting is bad, and the twist is redundant.

Grim Grinning Ghost is a bit of a weird one because it feels very atmospheric and actually quite spooky, but it is so meandering that the payoff doesn’t feel worth the wait.

The worst segment of all, for me, is This Means War by Andrew Kasch. It’s like a not very funny joke stretched way beyond breaking point. The entire cast are unlikable, the idea is derivative, and it’s simply not that interesting or funny. This could have been two minutes long and, instead, it’s over ten.

As always, your own expectations and preferences will play a big part in which segments you enjoy. It’s the nature of the anthology experience and it’s one of the reasons why I love them so much, even though most anthologies trend towards being mostly bad rather than good.

Tales of Halloween has one thing going in its favour which makes it a lot more watchable than most anthology horror flicks.

The segments are short and punchy

Every segment here is short and punchy. Only a couple outstay their welcome and even if you don’t like a segment, it is never all that long before that one finishes and another starts.

That’s one of this movie’s biggest strengths. No single story stands out as being particularly awful, because you will have forgotten about it minutes later due to how quickly they fly by. That’s a point that needs to be doubled down on, as well. There aren’t any true stinkers, here. Every short is watchable, some are just more enjoyable than others.

It does deserve pointing out that the flip side to that is the fact that none of the segments are all that great, either. There isn’t a single short here that I would like to see made into a full movie, and I wasn’t surprised at all that I had completely forgotten nearly all of them when rewatching.

They are all simply competent and little more. With that being said, the thematic cohesion does make this a very apt watch for Halloween. Production values remain very solidly consistent between each segment, too.

Every one of these shorts is directed by a competent hand and they all feel well produced. While acting can be sketchy, it’s difficult not to be impressed by the general dedication to fun practical effects and to delivering something that feels like a very apt, seasonal collection of monster madness.

Tales of Halloween is definitely not perfect and its high points aren’t all that high, but it is a fun watch for October 31st and a great way to get in the mood for some Halloween festivities.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.