Christmas and Other Horrors is the PERFECT winter collection!
“All my little horror wants is a single night of laughter carved from whatever darkness holds it the other hours of a year, just one night to run beneath the stars, spin in the snow, pluck blossoms from their stems, scream in joy.” - M. Rickert
Hitting shelves soon is the PERFECT horror short story collection for the upcoming holiday season. Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Ellen Datlow is a must-read. This is one of the strongest collections I’ve read in awhile. There’s 18 stories in here from a variety of talented authors and each story is set on or around Christmas/Yuletide/Solstice etc. There’s a variety of traditional holiday spirits, demons, and myths that cross borders, generations, and cultures covered here. Featuring authors like Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Tananarive Due, and more.
“Candlelight twitched and glowed at the windows, the glass webbed with spokes of frost.” - Cassandra Khaw
Here’s what I loved:
There’s a few legends in these stories that you’re probably familiar with, but most of these stories were brand new legends to me. I learned a surprising amount about winter lore across the world, which was a pretty cool addition to my reading I didn’t expect.
I mentioned it above, but this is one of the strongest collections I’ve read in a long while. Almost every story was either a 4/5 or a 5/5 for me. Everyone brought their A-game.
My top three stories are:
The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey which feels like an old Grimms Fairy Tale.
Cold by Cassandra Khaw which is a beautiful and haunting end of the world tale.
And Gravé of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren which was so unique and had some incredible commentary on the fascination of beauty and inclusivity.
“Suddenly this felt too intimate. They were intruding on this quiet moment, this breath taken and held until sunrise, when the new year would really begin in earnest.” - Christopher Golden
Overall, this is a perfect collection for the winter season and I might make this an annual read going forward. Christmas and Other Horrors is on shelves October 24. A big thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
