Somewhere in New England there’s a very old and strange tree, the tree that gave the town of Blackwood Falls its name. When three boys dig up an old and musty book near the base of the tree it begins a Halloween like none the town has ever experienced, or would ever want to experience. What better time and place for a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and his companion to visit? When the eyes of all the cats take on a strange glow and even the rubber Halloween decorations take on a life of their own, is it magic or just advanced alien technology? Only the Doctor knows.

Will Thorp reads this pleasantly creepy, but not-too-frightening tale at a properly almost breathless pace, as he drags us through the underground lair of the ancient and now awakened aliens or through the eerie greenish fog suffusing the town.