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Dead List: The December Files
Santa’s making a list
A Dead List
Dr. Harris’ infamous psychiatric patient, Fiona, harbors some disturbing ideas about Christmas and Santa’s The Naughty List, the Nice List, and the Dead List. But when his twisted client requests he look at a few stories, Dr. Harris sees no harm in humoring her. One after another, he reads the stories and becomes increasingly disturbed by what he
Too Much to Holly’s job is killer. Even getting the day off for Christmas may end up being too much to ask.
Playing Naomi envisions a perfect Christmas for her children, but sometimes the harder we try, the worse things get.
Red It’s a dirty, dirty world and Starla simply wants to clean it up.
Previous Some places are cursed. Maybe some people are too.
But the most gruesome story may be the one that Fiona and Dr. Harris are in the middle of acting out.
Read this collection of dark, disturbing, and delightful tales… if you dare!
A Dead List
Dr. Harris’ infamous psychiatric patient, Fiona, harbors some disturbing ideas about Christmas and Santa’s The Naughty List, the Nice List, and the Dead List. But when his twisted client requests he look at a few stories, Dr. Harris sees no harm in humoring her. One after another, he reads the stories and becomes increasingly disturbed by what he
Too Much to Holly’s job is killer. Even getting the day off for Christmas may end up being too much to ask.
Playing Naomi envisions a perfect Christmas for her children, but sometimes the harder we try, the worse things get.
Red It’s a dirty, dirty world and Starla simply wants to clean it up.
Previous Some places are cursed. Maybe some people are too.
But the most gruesome story may be the one that Fiona and Dr. Harris are in the middle of acting out.
Read this collection of dark, disturbing, and delightful tales… if you dare!
55 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2022
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Jesse Sprague
36 books44 followersHi. My name is Jesse and I’m a compulsive writer
I can’t help it. I write prolifically. I write because I must! And luckily for you, my dear reader, the stories never stop.
What do I write?
I write fantasy because the world we live in can feel like a trap.
I write sci-fi because I like to toy with worlds, universes, and cultures. I like to play god. I write horror as a kind of decadence. I mean, who doesn’t like writing that bleeds?
Regardless of what type of speculative fiction I write, you can expect that it will be dark. Whether my inspiration comes from a shiver crawling up my spine while darting across a dark parking lot, a fascination with Gothic heroines and their delightful kidnappability, or a desire to build a world to suit a spiffy MMO character, that dark undercurrent of fear makes me feel alive.
So, if you enjoy science fiction and fantasy with an eye to horror, join my readers group.
I’d love to have you along for special sneak-peeks, cover reveals, free stories, and more! Just to show how special you are to me, I’ll start you off with an exclusive short story!
I can’t help it. I write prolifically. I write because I must! And luckily for you, my dear reader, the stories never stop.
What do I write?
I write fantasy because the world we live in can feel like a trap.
I write sci-fi because I like to toy with worlds, universes, and cultures. I like to play god. I write horror as a kind of decadence. I mean, who doesn’t like writing that bleeds?
Regardless of what type of speculative fiction I write, you can expect that it will be dark. Whether my inspiration comes from a shiver crawling up my spine while darting across a dark parking lot, a fascination with Gothic heroines and their delightful kidnappability, or a desire to build a world to suit a spiffy MMO character, that dark undercurrent of fear makes me feel alive.
So, if you enjoy science fiction and fantasy with an eye to horror, join my readers group.
I’d love to have you along for special sneak-peeks, cover reveals, free stories, and more! Just to show how special you are to me, I’ll start you off with an exclusive short story!
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 2, 2024
This was an okay xmas story, more like an anthology though. I wish it was longer and went into deeper details. Here it says that the book is 57p while in reality it’s only 45p, don’t take this as “pulling the ears” but I do think it should be mentioned that it’s 20% shorter than stated.
December 18, 2023
Dr Harris an accomplished psychiatrist, accolades adorn his office his patient Fiona had been present when people close to her died. She talks about Santa's nice list, naughty list and dead list. Somebody stuck in a chimney.
August 28, 2025
Fast, festive, and twisted. This was so fun to read in July with Christmas music playing. Good match for anyone wanting something slightly sinister for the season without heavy sadness.
Energy: Coy. Wicked. Dark.
🐩 Tail Wags: Short, sharp, easy to read. Christmas / holiday vibes ran through all the stories. Fun and entertaining without being overly tragic (as many Christmas horrors tend to be). How the stories connect and inferring their meaning.
The Stories:
1-A woman wants to relax for Christmas but gets called in to her job because work never stops, even for holidays.
2-A mother goes through the motions preparing for Christmas for her two kids while seething about her seemingly careless husband.
3-A women who treats everyone to a little Christmas cleaning each year is given the opportunity to choose.
4-A woman with a complicated past for Christmas receives a present from an unknown sender that really wanted to be opened.
Scene: 🌨️ Somewhere with snowy winters
Perspective: A psychiatrist who gained accolades after publishing research papers about a patient. They hate dealing with this patient but continue seeing them to gather info for future research papers.
Timeline: Linear. 2010s or 2020s. 🎄Christmas, Winter.
Narrative: Invisible in the room, eavesdropping, being told a story (third person limited)
Fuel: Unusual patient. Meaning of the short stories. How are the stories connected? Why is the patient insistent on telling them?
Cred: Speculative realism
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Lightly falling snow. Christmas decorations. Cookies. Red patent leather shoes. Fireplace chimney. Fir needles. Paper snowflakes.
• Quick, direct, simplistic writing style
• Troubled, morally questionable characters
• Psychological female rage and empowerment arcs
• Tinges of paranormal
• Interconnected short stories
• Twists, reveals, ‘not as it seems’
• Things that go bump in the night
• Vengeance plots and hypocrisy
• Dark takes on Christmas traditions
Content Heads-Up: Abusive parents (mention). Alcohol (recreational, stress drinking). Antisocial personality disorder. Confinement (accidental). Death. Guns (threatening). Infidelity (mentions). Loss of parent (as child). Loss of romantic partner. Mugging (mention). Murder. Suicide (mention). Violence against women.
Rep: Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Freckled and ambiguous skin tones.
📚 Format: Kindle
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Energy: Coy. Wicked. Dark.
🐩 Tail Wags: Short, sharp, easy to read. Christmas / holiday vibes ran through all the stories. Fun and entertaining without being overly tragic (as many Christmas horrors tend to be). How the stories connect and inferring their meaning.
The Stories:
1-A woman wants to relax for Christmas but gets called in to her job because work never stops, even for holidays.
2-A mother goes through the motions preparing for Christmas for her two kids while seething about her seemingly careless husband.
3-A women who treats everyone to a little Christmas cleaning each year is given the opportunity to choose.
4-A woman with a complicated past for Christmas receives a present from an unknown sender that really wanted to be opened.
Scene: 🌨️ Somewhere with snowy winters
Perspective: A psychiatrist who gained accolades after publishing research papers about a patient. They hate dealing with this patient but continue seeing them to gather info for future research papers.
Timeline: Linear. 2010s or 2020s. 🎄Christmas, Winter.
Narrative: Invisible in the room, eavesdropping, being told a story (third person limited)
Fuel: Unusual patient. Meaning of the short stories. How are the stories connected? Why is the patient insistent on telling them?
Cred: Speculative realism
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Lightly falling snow. Christmas decorations. Cookies. Red patent leather shoes. Fireplace chimney. Fir needles. Paper snowflakes.
• Quick, direct, simplistic writing style
• Troubled, morally questionable characters
• Psychological female rage and empowerment arcs
• Tinges of paranormal
• Interconnected short stories
• Twists, reveals, ‘not as it seems’
• Things that go bump in the night
• Vengeance plots and hypocrisy
• Dark takes on Christmas traditions
Content Heads-Up: Abusive parents (mention). Alcohol (recreational, stress drinking). Antisocial personality disorder. Confinement (accidental). Death. Guns (threatening). Infidelity (mentions). Loss of parent (as child). Loss of romantic partner. Mugging (mention). Murder. Suicide (mention). Violence against women.
Rep: Cis. Lesbian. Hetero. Freckled and ambiguous skin tones.
📚 Format: Kindle
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
December 17, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up. This one was so much fun!
December 25, 2024
Sehr gutes aber kurzes Buch. Gerne mehr Details zu den fällen und mehr verschiedene Stories der dead list aber dennoch schön zu lesen. Ist leider zu schnell vorbei.
January 2, 2025
I really enjoyed this holiday horror.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews