Christmas Bestiary

by Various (Editor), John Howe (Illustrator), Stefan R. Dziemianowicz (Introduction)

The creators of such imagination-capturing collections as Horse Fantastic and Dragon Fantastic join forces once again to bring readers a spellbinding collection of holiday tales about such legendary creatures as selkies and sea serpents, elves and pixies, a transplanted Yeti, and a blue-nosed reindeer. Contributing authors include Jane Yolen, Alan Dean Foster, Harry Turtledove, and others.

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Christmas, Holiday, Animals

315 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 3, 1992

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology of original science fiction and fantasy Christmas stories with the added fillip of each focusing on a magical creature. Greenberg edited the book in collaboration with his wife in 1992 and followed it the next year with an anthology I thought was a bit better that he edited with Mike Resnick called Christmas Ghosts. It's amazing how many different anthologies of Christmas sf and fantasy have been published over the years, perhaps so relatives of sf fans will have something they know they'll probably like to put under the tree; David Hartwell did a bunch of them. Most of the ones in this book are light and amusing stories that are fun but aren't especially memorable. I remember enjoying Resnick's Mallory story, as well as the ones by Elizabeth Scarborough and Tanya Huff. Falalalalah, etc.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anthologies in sci-fi or fantasy that consisted of original and not reprinted material were incredibly rare after 1980, so to have one come out in 1992 was good. Unfortunately, the topic was Christmas, a holiday I loathe. (You work retail for over a decade and be homeless for five, and THEN see if you can still stand the bullshit.) I was searching for another anthology on Internet Archive and thought, "It's December 20th. Might as well."

Big mistake.

Even the best of writers can't make silk purses from sows' ears, so to speak. They wrote to spec (a fantasy story about Christmas, preferably funny with a heartwarming ending) ... and wrote drek, with the exceptions of Harry Turtledove, who managed it by NOT writing about Christmas, and Jane Yolen, for an anti-Christmas story.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Stefan Dzie(yougottabekiddingme). Usually, one or both editors of an anthology is obliged to do the introductory honors. This time, the Greenbergs chickened out and hired this guy. Talks about bestiaries, lists all of the creatures in the stories, and closes by calling Christmas "that most magical of seasons." Gag me with a stocking stuffer.
* "A Compromised Christmas" by Jennifer Roberson. The Loch Ness Monster is a Christian? Are you fucking joking me?
* "Karaoke Christmas" by Elizabeth Scarborough. Surprisingly, this was just as bad as the title suggests, climaxing in a shipwreck where the background soundtrack is "Jingle Bells."
* "The Raven Teaches the Professor a Lesson" by Jack C. Haldeman, II. And the parade of sentimental urban fantasy crap continues ...
* "The Rocking Horse Christmas" by Barb Jernigan. I used to go to school with someone who spooned sugar onto her bowl of Golden Grahams cereal. This story read like how I imagined that cereal tasted.
* "The Abominable Snowman" by Laura Resnick. Arguably the worst thing Resnick ever wrote. Extremely silly at first .... but soon degenerates with a stereotypical Eton graduate and dead dog jokes.
* "A Bird of a Different Color" by Blake Cahoon. Now a PHOENIX is not only Christian, but Catholic. And there are no churches that take in homeless people. And two birds get poisoned, but everybody's happy. Jesus Christ!
* "Christmas Seal" by Jane Lindskold. And now a Selkie is a Christian? Huh?
* "In This Season" by Harry Turtledove. FINALLY! A decent story -- only it's about Hannukah, not Christmas. A Golem appears in a tiny town in Poland during WWII.
* "A Web for Christmas" by Karen Haber. Even for a fantasy story, this was ridiculous. A poor woman who relied on her husband's job to feed the kids is overcome with happiness by a spiderweb on her husband's corpse? And so are the kids? Did nobody grieve for this guy?
* "Babe and the Christmas Tree" by Lawrence Schimel. Very short and forgettable Paul Bunyan tall tale.
* "Of Dust and Fire And the Night" by Barry N. Malzberg. New Wave nativity story narrated by one of the Wise Men, where a phoenix appears for no reason.
* "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Tanya Huff. Absolute shit. Don't even bother.
* "Birthnight" by Michelle M. Sahara. Sentimental and non-Christian claptrap about Jesus killing all magical creatures in the world.
* "Ox and Ass Before Him Bow" by Mark Aronson. This predictable first Christmas night story was borderline tolerable, due to a small donkey character.
* "Fate" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Although ultimately corny, this urban fantasy is, at least, a kind of anti-Christmas story.
* "The Last Sphinx" by Barbara Delaplace. You get a death, you get a death -- everybody gets a death!
* "The Best Laid Schemes" by Jack Nimersheim. The Wee Folk hire an American advertising agency to do ... what? Story that tries and fails to make any kind of point.
* "The Gift of the Magicians, With Apologies to You Know Who" by Jane Yolen. The "You Know Who" being O. Henry, the master of the twist ending. This time, Yolen has Beauty and the Beast get the O. Henry treatment.
* "The Blue-Nosed Reindeer" by Mike Resnik. This is one of his John Justin Mallory stories. If you're like me and haven't read the earlier stories, then you're shit out of luck. Resnik tries to write humorous fantasy, but he's no Terry Pratchett, so the puns and jokes fall flatter than the elf Santa sat on.

[R.M. Krogman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

"Christmas Bestiary" is a fantasy short story anthology all about Christmas, with quite a variety of story styles from 19 different authors. I didn't love all of them since everyone's writing style is different, but there were a few I really enjoyed:

"The Rocking Horse Christmas" by Barb Jernigan was a sweet story of a prideful rocking horse, set in the North Pole. The pride of Santa's workshop, Bolt is the fastest runner, and an essential cog in the business of toymaking. Of course, toys help until they are deployed, and Bolt looks forward to nothing more than his stable awaiting in some lucky child's nursery. But when a terrible accident happens, Bolt must endure a hard lesson in humility.

"A Bird of a Different Color" by Blake Cahoon featured the concept of rebirth in a drab urban setting, where Kate Muldoon works hard to maintain her shelter for the needy. Her charitable heart is a warm glow in a bitter cold season, but even her good intentions may not be enough to go up against the ruthless developer Malcolm Bartlett. He wants her dreams to evaporate in the ashes of progress, making way for bigger and better buildings and businesses, displacing the local riffraff. Little does he know that, like the magic of the Phoenix, hope can be reborn.

"In This Season" by Harry Turtledove was a Hannukah story, set in the despair of Nazi Poland. The few Jewish families of Puck congregate to light their candles in secret, and gift their children with a few moments of joy spinning dreidels and eating the few scrapes of potatoes left fried into latkes. They know only terror beyond their small orb of candlelight, until the terror enters their home in the form of a golem. The golem carries no words on his tongue, but he does carry a warning.

"A Web for Christmas" by Karen Haber was a bittersweet story of loss, recovery, and finding and appreciating the beauty of small blessings. Set in South America, this story featured a more unique Christmas culture and the goddess Arachne.

The rest of the stories were alright, but I didn't love them. I was surprised since I love Jane Yolen's other writing and it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but oh well! Nice read for the season.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite an entertaining collection of Christmas and Hanukkah fantasy stories, all centered around mythological creatures. My personal favorite was "A Bird of a Different Color" by Blake Cahoon, about a kind-hearted woman who runs a homeless shelter/soup kitchen, a terrible Scrooge-like businessman, and the legendary Phoenix. Also great was Harry Turtledove's "In This Season," which is about how a Golem aids some Jewish families in Hanukkah in Nazi-occupied Poland, Laur Resnick's "The Abominable Snowman," about a Yeti who needs a change in his life, and Jane Yolen's "The Gift of the Magicians with Apologies to You Know Who," which is a unique take on O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." Those are my favorites, but the whole collection is good Yuletide reading.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising number of phoenixes portrayed.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this anthology. Usually I find that there are a couple good ones and then the rest are let downs. Each story in this anthology was a pleasure to read. The 2 best in my opinion are "The Rocking Horse" and "Bird of a Different Color". I will definately be searching out books by these authors.

[Brett]

Anthology,Fantasy

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable christmas read.