These days it feels like Halloween stretches out for an entire month. Between pumpkin patches, Trunk or Treat, and the neighborhood Halloween parade, I’ve spent the last four weeks escorting my kids in their costumes—and Halloween isn’t even here yet. What’s more, I have not been dressing up myself, which a few people who know I wrote a whole book on cosplay have remarked on as strange. Rather than esoterically remarking on the world of difference between “cosplay” and “costume,” I got a tiny witch hat to wear.

For me it’s not the costumes that have been my favorite part of the season, but the opportunity to paint many children’s faces. I loved to paint faces as a teenager, and now that I’m a parent I have a ton more opportunities to do it at birthday parties, fall festivals, and now Halloween. It’s allegedly volunteerwork, but I am just psyched they let me do it for free. The best part of face painting? Even when I do what I perceive to be a bad job, the kids are happy. This year I splurged on a set of split cakes (this one, if you must know), so I can rainbow stripe my way through any obstacles. Or if it looks really wonky, I can stick a gem on it.

In between all of this Halloween, I’ve stayed committed to my two main goals: hitting the gym and reading questionable manga and light novels. Now that the ANN Fall Manga Guide is out, I’m excited to share my impressions! I’m not going to pretend these are the best ones I read, but they’re all pretty interesting or at least bad in an unusual way. So without further fanfare: out of all the manga I read for the Fall Manga Guide, these were certainly some of them:

What Do You Call This Trash?

“Forget ‘manic pixie dream girl.’ This dumpster fire romance stars a girl who is just manic.” Read this one in public to signal to passersby that you support women’s wrongs.

Sun Tzu’s Art of War: The Manga Edition

On the one hand, this book was bad. On the other hand, it sent me down a Chinese military history research hole afterwards for about a week. So who can say.

The Princess I Loved in My Past Life is Now a Middle-Aged Dad

“It’s rare for me to read a book described as BL and want to recommend it to people who aren’t BL fans… This is a gag manga about a love that transcends age, gender, and even lifetimes.”

In the Twilight of Our Adolescence

This is my stand-out title this fall. “Romance takes a backseat to self discovery, but the bonds these characters develop as they work through this universal metamorphosis we call being a teen offer a unique layer of warmth.”

Kamudo

“It’s clearly inspired by The Legend of Zelda, but its inventive character designs and forthright heroic narrative make it a must-try for fantasy fans.” This high fantasy is sure to become an instant classic.

Phantom Busters

Not Ghostbusters, but a second legally-distinct thing. “[T]here’s really nothing new about Phantom Busters, and yet I found myself reading this fast-paced adventure all in one go.”