Silver Bells: A Christmas Horror Story

by Sandy Lender

With a mature female main character, this Christmas horror story offers a quick read, clean, festive, suspenseful, strategically violent, cleverly humorous view of adults handling spiritual warfare for the holidays.

When Ivy Light travels to her dearest friend's new home for Christmas, an eerie winter backdrop disturbs her, but the Harris family's personal security detail—the debonair John Knightley—intrigues her greatly. The handsome gentleman has his hands full with his client being stalked by more than unethical business moguls. There are hybrid wolf-bear creatures and a manipulative side chick to worry about, after all.

It'll take extra Christmas cheer for Ivy to bring comfort and joy back to her best friend amid the tragedies and paranormal threats this year. Readers are welcome to join in the festivities at Reindeer Creek…and help the families at the Harris house divine what's reality, who's a foe, and how to thwart the evil side of a spiritual war.

Genres: Horror

217 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2024

About the author

After her reincarnation from a Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle to a simple human female, Sandy Lender figured she had to do something that let her stay near the ocean or Gulf waters. Being in a sunny environment keeps the vampires on a tight leash, too. So Sandy lives in SW Florida where she edits a magazine for the day job, edits books for the evening job, and helps with sea turtle conservation on the weekends. She lets the companion parrots and the muse fight for her attention in between it all.

Her first novel from ArcheBooks Publishing, Choices Meant for Gods, was released March 2007. The novels, novellas, short stories, magazine pieces, and poetry have been ongoing ever since! Sandy has garnered a handful of technical writing awards, a handful of creative writing awards, some fancy nominations, and excellent stress-reducing meds over the years...

Reviews

[Nancy (The Avid Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silver Bells is a great read, filled with many twists and turns that keep the pages turning. Silver Bells has a lot to offer. It is filled with mystery and suspense that is sure to keep you entertained for a few hours. Silver Bells is an eerie, sort of scary Christmas story.

Ivy Light is on her way to her friend’s house. Upon her arrival at her friend’s house, Ivy discovers there is more to the little town of Reindeer Creek than meets the eye. There may be monsters involved. Very unique monsters/paranormal creatures. Ivy is determined to keep her friends safe with the help of her friend's security detail.

Ivy’s journey to figuring out what is going in Reindeer Creek is very entertaining and will have you glued to your seat from beginning to end. The descriptions are well-written making it easy to follow Ivy on her journey. I felt as if I was a part of Ivy’s world. I could see everything I was reading play out in my head as if I were a witness to everything that was going on.

I highly recommend Silver Bells to all paranormal fans. Check out Silver Bells today by grabbing a copy and joining Ivy on her adventures of trying to save Christmas for her friends!

[Karen Siddall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting Christmas-set tale of nature fighting back.

Silver Bells is a riveting new Christmas-set horror tale by author Sandy Lender in which the spirits of a natural area cross into the physical world to halt the encroachment on their sacred land by developers. With its well-drawn, engaging main characters, compelling plot, and witty dialogue, I couldn’t put this book down and completed it in one highly satisfying evening’s reading.

The main character is Ivy Light, who has come to Reindeer Creek, Kansas, to visit her lifelong friends, Candy and Arthur Harris, for the holidays. She is a welcome support for Candy, who had suffered a late-life pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage the previous year. Arthur is distracted by threats against his company, hiring a security firm to safeguard his home and family, but has been an unsympathetic partner during her difficult recovery. The marriage is quickly eroding, and Arthur is keeping secrets.

With the onset of the holidays and Arthur’s planned work-from-home schedule, security is reduced to a single man, the capable and sexy John Knightley. But when a neighboring family’s home burns to the ground days before Christmas, Candy welcomes the shocked and displaced Stovalls to move into their basement apartment to regroup, recover, and allow the two teenage daughters to complete the semester at their high school, doubling the number of people John needs to keep up with. When strange things start happening around the family, and Arthur abruptly changes his work plans to keep going into the office, John realizes he’s spread too thin. And as the attraction between him and Ivy heats up, he calls in an old friend as a backup.

The author does a great job with character development, imbuing each with individual personalities that quickly gained my support or suspicions. The plot is revealed through multiple points of view and has several compelling secondary storylines vying for the cause of the danger unfolding in Reindeer Creek. I was delightfully distracted from discerning the true nature of the menace at work until the big reveal. Time passed without notice, and I was highly entertained and satisfied by this fun, horror-filled novella.

I recommend SILVER BELLS to horror readers who enjoy a holiday setting.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a great cover that hides the horror inside.

Ivy Light is visiting her best friend for Christmas. She will get more than she bargained, both good and bad.

The Harris’ have a security guard by the name of John Knightley, after the husband receives a threat. He will regret allowing the rest of his team to have the holidays off.

A fire next door leads to a full house, when they open their doors to the homeless family.

The spirits have a beef against those who built their houses on sacred ground. We all know what happens when the spirits take offense. They fight back.

Silver Bells by Sandy Lender is a quick read with enough horror to keep me curious, having to know how the story will end. So, if you are looking for something wicked for the holidays, you might want to take a looksee.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silver bells. Silver bells. It’s Christmas time in Reindeer Creek. But all isn’t merry and bright. Nope. Far from it.

Ivy arrives in town to stay with her friend, Candy, who’s struggling to keep her marriage from falling apart. Her husband is hiding something from her and his business deals have attracted some unsavory attention. He feels the need for protection and hires a body guard. One should do it. The house is filling up, but it isn’t a cheery gathering. Tensions are high and when things take a turn to the weird, it gets dangerous.

Christmas. A mystery. Something mythical. Some horror. How could I not enjoy this book. It kept me guessing. The weird thing with the big gnome lawn ornaments was super creepy. The mystery of the silver bells had me curious like a cat. Oh, I forgot. There was some romance sprinkled in. Put a silly grin on my face and made me hope for a happy ending.

If you like some scary with your holiday spirit, this would be a good one for ya. I had fun.

I received a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book to read if you enjoy Christmas themed horror movies! There's no Krampus or evil Santa lurking in this one, however. It's so easy to get caught up in this book, it moves at a smooth, decent pace, the tension is good, and the characters are amazing. You won't like all the characters, but they're so well done, it's hard to not appreciate how well-developed they are. Arthur is one you'll love to hate, with the way he acts and treats his wife. But he's not the only problem to contend with, and with each new event and revelation, you'll find yourself drawn even deeper into the story. There were a few things I didn't see coming - but no spoilers, you'll need to read this yourself if you want to know whether the holidays end up even a little merry!