Bleak Midwinter: Solstice Light

by Cassandra L. Thompson, Amanda M. Blake, Mary Rajotte

Hope begins at the first sign of light...

The second part of a special double-feature anthology from Quill & Crow Publishing House, Bleak Solstice Light pulls us out of the cold, dark winter night and into the morning light. A dark fiction anthology with lighter horror elements, this anthology still honors the Gothic themes of dreadfulness and despair, but ends with a dash of hope. Featuring stories by Amanda M. Blake, Victoria Clapton, Seluna Drake, S.C. Fantozzi, A.R. Frederiksen, Erin Keating, J.S. Larmore, Mary Rajotte, Sarah Von, and New York Times Bestselling Author, Jacqueline West.

Genres: Horror

183 pages, Hardcover

Published January 10, 2023

About the author

Gothic horror lover Cassandra L. Thompson has been creating stories since she got her grubby little hands around a pen. When she is not busy managing a house full of feral children (human and canine) with her beloved husband, you can find her wandering around cemeteries, taking pictures of abandoned things, or in the library researching her latest obsession. She has a B.A. in History and an MLIS, but she ignores her degrees to focus on writing and running Quill & Crow Publishing House, both of which require copious amounts of coffee and Crows.

Reviews

[Nick Vallina (MisterGhostReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak Midwinter: Solstice Light is an anthology of short stories that, like the prior Bleak Midwinter book, share themes of cold and wilderness and darkness but tend to have less dreary endings. This anthology, while filled with small horrors and unsettling scenes, tends to lean towards a more hopeful feeling like the name of the collection suggests.

While I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first in the pair, I think I prefer the darker themes of The Longest Night a bit more. That being said I really enjoyed this book with some of my favorite stories in this collection including:

The Winter Mare - S.C. Fantozzi
Malediction - Selena Drake
The Stone Mother - Mary Rajotte
and my most favorite: The Warmth of Many Skins - Amanda M. Blake.

I definitely wish a few of the stories had been a tiny bit longer. In particular The Dormant Season by Jacqueline West was really enjoyable but ended far too soon for my liking.

Overall I think this collection is definitely worth a read and would recommend to fans of the first collection or short, dark, bleak horror.

Thank you to Quill and Crow Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Marvin Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

With every book/ anthology/ collection that Quill & Crow releases. I ask how are they going to top what has already been published?

I'm happy to announce this anthology is no exception. Every story here is a exquisitely written tale of horror/ dread and maybe a pinch of hope that the light is somewhere on the horizon.

[Eryn McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this 10 stars. It's impeccably arranged, perfectly edited and not one story falls short. These stories have a whiff of otherworldliness about them, some are terrifying, some are heartwarming. They're like modern folktales.

My absolute favourite was The Warmth of Many Skins. The prose is exquisite and the ending - my word.

Others that wowed me were :

The Winter Mare
The Dormant Season
The Calling of Whitecrest Lake

[Austrian Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happily received an ARC of the second part of Quill and Crow’s Bleak Midwinter anthology as a part of their recent call for reviewers. I know Quill and Crow from Cassandra Thompson’s Instagram posts, and I have also read a future release from them by Catherine Fearns, -Lamb of God, which I had the pleasure of editing, so was looking forward to seeing what else Quill and crow have out there.

This was a book of two halves for me, though the writing throughout the book was good, and the editing was exceptional. Some of the stories, for me, petered out at their endings or rushed to provide details withheld from the reader. One described a person’s ongoing fear, only to have it revealed there was no substance to her fear. All readable, all good.

The seventh story in the collection, however, Amanda M. Blake’s “The warmth of many skins” – as I am sure you may have read in other reviews on Goodreads – raised the bar. It is, frankly - exceptional – like living through the bear attack in The Revenant – you feel as if you have lived through the character’s trauma. It makes no difference that you are aware that it is fictional, the moment you read it you are transported to the scene and feel every wound the character receives as she fights for her life. It’s a fantastic short, I won’t spoil it here, but it’s a survivor’s story that makes you live the nightmare hours of a final girl. If anyone can suggest which of Amanda’s book’s I should buy next, I’d be extremely grateful, here’s an Author I’d love to read more from.

Get in touch on Twitter.

Of the 10 authors collected here, I had only previously known one – Mary Rajotte, with whom I shared a space in the Gothic Blue book 6 – A Krampus Carol, with her short “Castaway stones”. In Bleak Midwinter, her short “The Stone Mother” concerns the same theme: worshiping an old god to bring prosperity to the land. Mary’s voice remains as authentic as ever.

Other gems were “Malediction” by Selena Drake, which flowed off the page and felt like a fully realized period piece (great voice), and “The Dormant season” by Jacqueline West, notable for the excellent characterization of the gruff neighbor. The kind of character you’d love to see up on the big screen.

Bleak Midwinter Solstice light is a solid collection with a rising star of a short that is alone worth the cover price. I’m giving the book 4 out of 5 ⭐ ‘s, and have my eyes locked onto Amanda’s back catalog.

My thanks go to both Quill and Crow Publishing house, and Cassandra Thompson, for the Review copy.

[Full Throttle Sound · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is aptly titled as the bulk of the stories absolutely capture the bleak, sometimes hopeless nature of cold and winter, while offering just a glimmer of hope spring may be coming.
The Warmth of Many Skins was easily my favorite story of the collection, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
The Dormant Season felt like one of the most promising stories in this collection, so it was a bit of a let down for it to end so abruptly, as it had some of the most intriguing characters and plot in the book.
Overall, this collection is a fun read, but because of the common winter setting throughout, may be best enjoyed spread out over multiple readings to enjoy each stir properly. I had a blast getting to read so many new authors though and will definitely pick up more from this publisher.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sophie Brookes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic read! Exploring the gothic themes and dark tones of the winter season, Solstice Light is the second volume of Quill & Crow's Bleak Midwinter double anthology feature.

As the title suggests, this anthology veered more towards more hopeful stories, a light of hope at the end of a dark, dark winter. So, whilst The Darkest Night felt more dreadful and hopeless, Solstice Light was a lot more uplifting, whilst still very much keeping with the dark and gothic tones that Quill & Crow always boast.

Of all the amazing stories in this anthology, I think my favourite was The Stone Mother by Mary Rajotte. As someone with an ever-growing appreciation of folklore, spiritualism, and honouring the ancients, this particular story struck a chord with me.

As always with a Quill & Crow book, I can't recommend Solstice Light enough. And be sure to check out The Darkest Night if you haven't already!

[Layla, the Witch next door · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy endings done in a delightfully dreadful gothic style.

Another great anthology from Quill and Crow Publishing House. This second volume of Bleak Midwinter was a chilly-night treat. To start, these stories accurately live up to the title Bleak Midwinter Solstice Light, as they still have that great gothic feel, horror story vibe, with a little bit of light on the horizon. In addition to being written very well, these creepy frosted stories are unique and stand on their own. Read them in order, all at once or randomly pick one when you’re interested in a great short story. This is an anthology I will definitely read again, highly recommend checking this one out. It’ll make the stone mother happy.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kevin Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second part of Quill & Crow's Bleak Midwinter anthology, and is another absolute cracker. Not quite so dark as the first volume (though that's a fairly minimal distinction - these tales are still pretty creepy), when taken together these volumes represent some of the best winter-themed Gothic horror tales you'll find anywhere. It's pretty much impossible to single any one story out, as there's hardly a credit card's width between them. Different writing styles, certainly, but the editors have to be commended for bringing the whole collection together with an extraordinary degree of stylistic homogeneity - a 'house style' if you will. If you like contemporary Gothic horror (or fancy giving it a go), I guarantee you will love these books.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished up this second volume of Bleak Midwinter from Quill & Crow today, and once again I find myself sitting here chilly and cold after finishing these stories. Even with their hint at hope past the bleak, dreary, gray cold of the depths of winter, each author still did a phenomenal job driving that home.

As always, I'd be hard pressed to pick out any favorites here, each and every of the ten stories contained in this volume are just mesmerizing. Each author completely owned their story and their craft and left me wanting more. Or left me crawling away to find warmth.

Don't pass up on this one, and make sure you also check out the first volume!

[Mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! I enjoyed this Bleak Midwinter sibling from Quill & Crow and how the stories all tackled the theme differently from the other collection. While I slightly preferred how the theme was used in The Darkest Night stories, the stories of Solstice Light are equally haunting.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.