Bleak Midwinter and Other Christmas Horror Stories

by Charlotte O'Farrell

“I LOVE this book. Not just Christmas horror fun, but some honestly original stories.”—Brett O’Reilly, author of Aftertaste

Unwrap terror in Charlotte O’Farrell’s chilling collection of festive frights. In this wintery world, stockings are stuffed with something more dreadful than coal, elves aren’t playful little helpers, and whatever is sliding down the chimney sure as hell isn’t jolly old Saint Nick.

Enjoy this Christmas like it’s your last. It may well be.

"If you are like me and love Christmas and a good horror story then you will enjoy this collection of seasonal horror stories."—T. Thornton Gray, author of The Dark Routes

Genres: Horror

74 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2024

About the author

Charlotte O’Farrell is a horror writer. A lifelong fan of the genre, she aims to share her love of the spooky, uncanny, weird and wonderful.

Her stories have appeared in several anthologies and on multiple websites. She writes daily flash fiction on Twitter.

Charlotte lives in Nottingham with her husband, daughter and cat.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an eerie collection of six fine stories is waiting in this anthology for you. In "Bleak Midwinter" an evil elf is terrorizing a pub (one of my favorites). "Midnight Mass" describes some devil worshipers. "Mistletoe-Ho-Ho" describes the parasitic nature of that plant and what it can cause among infected (very bizarre). "The Tinsel Murders" have a Christmas killer at work. "The Santa's Grotto" shows one of the most sinister Santas ever. You don't want your children to meet this one. "Haunted by Christmas Past" is a great closer. If you don't like Christmas you'll find six good reasons for your not-liking it in this anthology. Really recommended!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining horror listening 🎅🎄

This kindle ebook novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account book one of two

This novella is a number of Christmas horror stories. Each story is different with interesting characters and a different story line.

I would recommend this series and author to readers of holiday horror stories novels 😮😁 2025 🎉🎶

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short and creepy Christmas themed horror stories. These were all great.

[Nick Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another anthology of Christmas horror stories that just feel “eh”. None of them are terrible, but none of them are all that memorable either. The best is probably “Bleak Midwinter” which, unsurprisingly, is the longest story and more fleshed out. “Flashing Plastic Lights” and “Snow on Snow” are also pretty decent stories. Recommended if you want a quick read.

[Kerry]

Charlotte O’Farrell offers six short horror stories to tell on the cold winter nights around the holidays. In this collection, Santa mayn’t be as jolly an elf as he’s been portrayed. Mistletoe can run amok, tinsel can reflect a murderer’s rampage, and faces stare through frosted windows. Midnight Mass is even turned on its head.

My favorite of this sixtuplet was offered first, and it is the title story. In it, a pub is terrorized once a year by a sinister elf, in a sort of “Brigadoon” meets “Krampus” kind of way.

This compact collection serves up a hearty Christmas punch, so unwrap a copy whenever you need a little Christmas horror.

[Brett O'Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every now then you find a (Christmas) ruby in a mountain of rocks, and that’s exactly what this collection is. A set of thoroughly disturbing Yuletide stories, what I truly liked about this set is the shine of originality present in many of the tales. Combined with a comfortable writing style and a focus on tense storytelling over gruesome spectacle, Bleak Midwinter and Other Stories is a must read for the holidays.

[Russell Holbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was such a joy to read at Christmastime! It has such a great wintery feel, which is totally what I was looking for, especially since we don't usually get much of a winter where my wife and I live. I liked the Christmas monsters and the drama between the characters. Every story had something to offer and I feel that I'll enjoy reading this one again next season! Now, time for me to go write some of my own Christmas horror stories! :D

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly, out of all the “straight-to-kindle” books i’ve read this was probably one of the best, if not the best. every story was very different, there’s truly something for everyone in here. a lot of them reminded me of the supernatural/monster shows i was obsessed with in my teens, so it almost had a nice nostalgic feeling at times. also, SO quick, which was nice.

the car crash and gravedigger stories were my favorites.

[Christy Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Horror stories are my favorite genre. As such ch, I've read every horror story collection I could find and I must say that this is one of the best ones. Highly recommend to anyone who loves short horror collections.

[T. Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seasonal horror.


If you are like me and love Christmas and a good horror story then you will enjoy this collection of seasonal horror stories

[lucyreads_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

super short but great little stories for the holiday season. highly recommend if you want a spook this christmas!

[Linda Edmonds Cerullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short volume of chilling Christmas tales. Very atmospheric and an easy read for the holiday season.

[Norman Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good and fun read. The best story is the first one, but all were solid and worth reading!

[(the.darkandmoody.reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never know how to rate anthologies. I liked all the short stories. The first story, Bleak Midwinter was my favorite. Flashing Plastic Lights was a great revenge horror tale.