Okay, my thoughts on the books:
DC Halloween Special 2009:
The framing sequence with the Bizarros is…okay.
The Guy Gardner story is really good, not only fun with all the Lanterns in different costumes, but actually does some interesting stuff with Guy as a character.
The Outsiders story was cool – different to see the Outsiders (which I recently read this version of the team with the Lantern Book Club) with a very different artist in Kelley Jones.
“Halloween Past and Trick Defeat” was okay – kind of felt like a standard Batman story, really.
“Cavity Search” was also felt more like a standard Batman & Robin story – nothing really special.
“Our Father’s Sins” was interesting, liked that they explored a different facet of Halloween with the Day Of the Dead celebration, and fits with where Tim was at the time.
“Mirror Games” was pretty cool – never thought of Bloody Mary being part of the Mirror Dimension, that was pretty clever.
“Haunted or Hoax” was kind of a dud for me – one because I hate when writers depict Wonder Woman as completely ignorant or foreign to the ways of the world in modern times. Like, she’s been around in-universe for almost a decade, she’s probably seen a scary movie or two. The other thing is the art of this one was kind of bad – like the artist was trying really hard to do cheesecake and it just doesn’t work.
“To the Finish Line” was just cute as heck.
Same goes with “My Turn To Be Scary.” It’s not often you see Superman around this time of year, and it really works with Superman’s powerset. Very fun.
DC Halloween Special 2010:
“Trick for the Scarecrow” was a great start. Seeing Batman try to contain his laughter finding that Scarecrow got dropped by a couple of kids was hilarious – even if the face Batman made was terrifying. There’s a reason why we don’t see Batman smile often. It was also funny that it seems like this story is a sequel to another story in a previous Halloween special. Who knew these books had continuity to them?
Speaking of, “Robin, The Vampire Hunter” was cool because it feels like it was referencing the Outsiders story of the previous issue with how the Cult was bringing Andrew Bennet back to the, erm, undead. It was interesting seeing Damian deal with the supernatural like this for the first time.
“Time of Your Life” was certainly a thing that exists.
“A Night To Remember” was really fun. Deadman’s sort of crush on Wonder Woman was cute and I liked that she understood his need for companionship, very sweet.
“Medusa Non Grata” was okay – I liked that the real moral of the story is that what saved the day was a bunch of cool goth kids giving validation.
“Free of Steel” was a pretty cool examination of Superman’s fears, and it was interesting to see Etrigan of all people being the one who helps raise Superman back to his normal level of confidence. However, some of the rhymes in this story is just wack as hell. “Like” and “psyche” just don’t rhyme at all.
House of Mystery #3:
Another solid issue. It’s mostly focused on Fig cementing in her mind that there’s no conventional way of escape. It was funny seeing the other occupants kind of laugh at her antics and even try to prank her for their own amusement. We also get a little idea of what really happens to people who leave in the stagecoach, which is nice.
The only thing I didn’t really care for is the story inside. Here’s my problem: so the gangster breaks out of his bonds by breaking the gas line, and he eventually gets out of the mansion by having "The Neck shoot his gun, which causes the mansion to explode. BUT, how is the gas able to ignite the mansion from that far from the line breakage when another triggerman was able to shoot inside the room without a spark going off? Is it nickpicking? Absolutely. But considering how this is the only story we’ve seen so far that doesn’t have a supernatural element, one kind of expects more of a rational element to it, you know?