Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology

by Ellen Datlow, Tananarive Due (Contributor), Terry Dowling (Contributor)

Hugo Award winning editor, and horror legend, Ellen Datlow presents this chilling horror anthology of 18 original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and many more.

The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a
time when families and friends come
together—for better and for worse.

From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry...

Featuring stories from:

Nadia Bulkin
Terry Dowling
Tananarive Due
Jeffrey Ford
Christopher Golden
Stephen Graham Jones
Glen Hirshberg
Richard Kadrey
Alma Katsu
Cassandra Khaw
John Langan
Josh Malerman
Nick Mamatas
Garth Nix
Benjamin Percy
M. Rickert
Kaaron Warren

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

368 pages, ebook

First published October 24, 2023

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the song It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams lists plenty of well-loved holiday feelings and activities. There are parties for hosting, mistletoe, caroling, and my personal favorite: scary ghost stories. Sure, the autumn season seems to get all the credit for spooky stories, but I’d love to see the tradition of ghost stories for Christmas make a strong return and Christmas and other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow is a perfect way to join in. Ghosts and other menacing spirits have long been part of yuletide folklore—one of the best known being celebrations of Krampus going all the way back to the 6th or 7th century and one of my favorites being Jólakötturinn the Yule Cat of Iceland that would devour children if they didn’t wear their new holiday outfits—and they come alive in this collection to lace some dread in with your cheer. These pages are haunted by sinister Santas, the Celtic Mari Lwyd, an absolutely terrifying story of the Schnabelperchten, the Lord of Misrule, wood demons, witches, scary dog walks on the Solstice and more. So enter, if you dare, because this is a great (if a bit hit or miss at times) collection of Holiday cheer if by cheer you mean screaming in terror.

I love all the old holiday lore and the eerie stories that go with them. Pre-Christian traditions around the world had many beliefs of spirits emerging during the winter solstice and these tales were passed down for centuries. Stories like Ukrainian author Nikolai Gogol’s The Night Before Christmas blended pagan and Christian traditions, becoming a popular tale that is reread in the region every year. ‘But the ghost story as a phenomenon is a 19th century phenomenon,’ Jeanette Winterson writes in her introduction to Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days, a book filled with holiday stories ranging from cute and cheery to full-on hauntings. Ghost stories from Christmas, she explains, hit peak popularity during the Victorian Era. While one theory of this rise in popularity is attributed to the printing press and the transfer from oral tradition to printed stories in every home. Authors like Elizabeth Gaskell and Arthur Conan Doyle were quick to move the supernatural stories from small towns and villages into printed works to be read in cities, and in 1819, Washington Irving published one of the first Christmas ghost stories. Winterson explains that another theory ‘is that the spectres and apparitions claimed in so many sightings were a result of low-level carbon-monoxide poisoning from gas lamps (it does cause fuzzy, drowsy hallucinations). Add in the thick fogs and plenty of gin, and it starts to make sense.’ And what goes better with some Christmas cheer than some holiday chills?

‘But there’s a psychological side to this too,’ Winterson explains, ‘the 19th century was haunted by itself,’ and the gothic tradition began to blend with the new struggles around industrialization. This is most notable in one of the best-loved Christmas ghost stories, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, where three ghosts visit a cantankerous old man on Christmas Eve to instill in him a feeling of charity and goodwill and showing the tragic outcomes that would befall himself and his workers if he continues to be ruled by greed. But while this story has persisted and even been adapted by the Muppets, the Christmas ghost story never quite caught on across the ocean in the United States. In a follow-up to her christmas tales, Winterson addresses this in Night Side of the River and how in the United States, the gothic shifted from the European style such as how Nathaniel Hawthorne ‘built into his sgtories the psychic fractures and guilty disturbances peculiar to the pioneering spirit,’ or, namely, atoning for the sins of ‘bloodstained colonization,’ or the mass executions of witch hunts.

So let’s bring back holiday horror reading. I couldn’t resist this collection in order to read new stories from Stephen Graham Jones and Cassandra Khaw, but there are many, many other great authors here such as Tananarive Due, Richard Kadrey, Benjamin Percy, Jeffrey Ford, Alma Katsu, Josh Malerman and more. Each author provides a small blurb about the inspiration, which makes for a really lovely holiday treat and I am always wanting to hear authors talk about their stories or what frightens and fascinates them.So why stop with spooky season when Halloween is over,keep on shivering your way through the holidays with me and read some ghost stories by the fire.
⅘

[Dez the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a horrifyingly delightful anthology!

A mix of fantastic authors grace this book and the stories are all unique. More than just a Christmas story, these gothic and terrifying tales surround The Winter Solstice and truly make you stop to listen to the noises outside.

Easy to pick up and put down when you’re in need of a horror fix, or feeling like a little change of pace from your current read. I often read 1-2 stories a day and it was a perfect pace for me.

This book would absolutely make a great gift for those who love both the Christmas season AND Horror.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review!!

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
While I don't read as many short stories these days, I always have to make an exception for Ellen Datlaw. She has proven time after time that is brilliant at curating fantastic stories from a whole range of authors.

I have always loved horror sent in winter around the holidays so this collection was naturally up my alley. Given the loose theme of "winter solstice" I found that the story were less focused on Christmas which made the thematic ties a bit weak.

As always the case with anthologies, I enjoyed some stories more than others. My personal favourites in the collection include….

Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due which deals with generational traditional
And…
All the Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin which felt like an accurate representation of a twenty something holiday party

One of my favourite aspects of this collection is that each other provided a short explanation of the behind the scenes of their story. I wish this was a mandatory practice.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher

[inciminci · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thread holding the stories of Christmas and Other Horrors together is not so much Christmas as it is Winter Solstice, or the darkest hour of winter. Beside some classically Jule and Christmas themed stories there were lots revolving around Solstice, I think even one about Hanukkah - a pretty unconventional Christmas collection.

Still, the tropes tackled were pretty common to the festive season and the horrors we imagine along with it; home invasion in manifold variations, strange traditions, ghosts...

My highlights, Gravé of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren about a weird ceremony being held on an island, almost a touch of fairy tale but crooked, and The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickert which follows a young woman who, under the influence of the titular lord, can't help but kill children – Christmas is such a child and family focused holiday that this was a breath of fresh, brave air – could unfortunately not erase the feeling of slight wishy-washiness and lack of consistency of style among the stories.

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Christmastime read with the Night Worms fable book club and it was so much fun! Not all the stories hit but the ones that do are perfect for getting into the Christmas/Yuletide spirit. Love that this features Christmas folklore around the globe

[Adrienne L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas and Other Horrors is a collection of stories centering around the festive season.  There are stories mentioning Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even Festivus, but I would say the celebration that is mentioned the most is Solstice.  Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, this was a rather disappointing collection for me and probably ranks among the lowest of Datlow-edited anthologies in my estimation.  There were a few good stories, including "Cold" by Cassandra Khaw, "The Mawkin Field" by Terry Dowling, and "The Lord of Misrule" by M. Rickert, but not a single 5 star read for me.  There were a couple of downright duds (including by authors whose short fiction I usually like), no scares, and most stories hovered around the 3 star range.  

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not the most Seasonal person which I suppose is how I have ended up reading a collection of short stories that are all grounded in horror themes. I am currently thinking that my overall rating is 3.5 stars but rounded down. I'll see if it stays that way lol

While I am not sure if I have been swayed to the short story band wagon, I thought that there were some interesting entries. The stand outs for me were The Importance of a Tidy Home, His Castle, All the Pretty People, Loyly Sow-na, Grave of Small Birds and After Wards. No Light, No Light wins the award for the best premise that was most fumbled for me unfortunately.

Even with the stories that I enjoyed though I found myself using the mental benchmark of “I would read a full-length novel of this”, which kind of defeats the purpose of short stories lol.

Strangely enough a common thought I had at the end of a lot of these stories, is that the endings were too abrupt and kind of let down the rest of the story.

I will say that I didn’t find any of these scary, so if that’s the only barrier you have to reading this then I wouldn’t stress.

The Importance of a Tidy Home (Christopher Golden): A gory little tale based in Salzburg Austria featuring the Schnabelperchten. I don't want to victim blame but there’s stupid and then there is STUPID. This was a story I came to appreciate more with reflection as I read through the rest of them.

The Ones He Takes (Benjamin Percy): the sudden reappearance of a missing son leads to more questions. This story had an interesting premise but ultimately fell short for me just being too surface level

His Castle (Alma Katsu): a couple on a Christmas holiday to Wales have an encounter. This was great! This remained my favourite, and I would 100% have read this as a full-sized novel.

The Mawkin Field (Terry Dowling): a strange encounter in rural Australia. This started off promising but my god, so many words and yet nothing was said.

The Blessing of the Waters (Nick Mamatas): a priest of questionable morals is surprised by his brother who has broken out of prison for an important reason. I didn't mind this. I can't say I thought it was particularly spooky, and it didn't speak to my imagination, but I thought it had an interesting premise.

Dry and Ready (Glen Hirshberg): I can't even really tell you what this one is about. I read half of it and still had no clue what was happening so I DNF it.

Last Drinks at Bondi Beach (Garth Nix): A maybe creature/maybe vampire. Honestly this one was very abstract. I'm not sure I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t long enough for me to get my teeth into it.

Return to Bear Creek Lodge (Tananarive Due): an interesting allegory for intergenerational trauma. This was written well but something about it never really grabbed my attention, and it dragged for me.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Richard Kadrey): a woman prepares to fend off evil Christmas spirits. Honestly this one was a bit spookier than the last few and I appreciated that. Was almost immediately keen for the husband to get caught.

Our Recent Unpleasantness (Stephen Graham Jones): a very uncanny valley winter solstice story. This one started off with an unsettling vibe but kind of lost its way by the end.

All the Pretty People (Nadia Bulking): an airing of grievances at a Festivus party. Honestly this one was one of the more interesting for me. Considering how short it was it packed a lot of interesting interpersonal drama in (think gossip girl drama vibes).

Loyly Sow-na (Josh Malerman): a man travels to Finland to meet his girlfriend's family. I thought this one was great, probably my second favourite, and did a good job evoking a claustrophobic madness in a short time.

Cold (Cassandra Khaw): a Saint in a dystopian future. Cassandra Khaw was the author who drew me into this collection, and I feel like this story is very true to her form. Kind of abstract whimsical in a way that barely makes sense lol. I was ultimately a bit disappointed by this.

Grave of Small Birds (Kaaron Warren): Jackie, a vicious, narcissistic yet beautiful chef accepts a job at an isolated high dining restaurant. I thought that this was a great, well written story until the last page and the ending was really fumbled which is deeply unfortunate.

The Visitation (Jeffrey Ford): a strange tale about letting in people in need over Christmas. I didn't care for this one, the premise was strangely over written, and the story was then so brief it was over before it began.

The Lord of Misrule (M. Rickert): a woman meets her new partners son, but things aren’t quite right. I found the neediness of the MC to be unappealing, but the actual story was well written and engaging.

No Light, No Light (Gemma Files): a story of Norse gods and a vulcanologist. The premise of this one was very appealing, but I found it to be so overly written I kept getting lost.

After Wards (John Langan): A man reminisces with his wife about his teenage lover and her strange disappearance. I thought that this was a strong ending to this short story collection, not a spooky story but a interesting one, although I thought the ending was a bit weak.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welp, that was disappointing. More thoughts to come!

Buddy read with Malli!

[Becky Spratford · Rating 5 out of 5]

STAR review in the October 1, 2023 issue of Booklist and on the blog here: https://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/2... (link live 10/3/23)

Three Words That Describe This Book: Holidays, All Original Stories, Range of Scares

Very good but..... it is the gut punch of Tananarive Due and Stepen Graham Jones’ stories which tower above the rest and cannot be missed.

Includes Horror from southern Hemisphere as well where it's the summer solstice.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas and Other Horrors is an eclectic short story anthology that touches not only upon the Christmas holiday, but also the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanza and other rituals and traditions found around the world. While I read the anthology with the expectation of being scared, I also felt very grateful that I was given the opportunity to glimpse the traditions of different cultures that I had no previous awareness of.

With stories written by several incredible writers: Alma Katsu, Garth Nix, Stephen Graham Jones and Cassandra Khaw, I found myself enthralled, unsettled and even terrified. The subjects range from surviving nightmarish creatures who exact a hefty price if they find that your home isn’t tidy enough to the lingering damage caused by generational trauma to the horrifying consequences of gazing at a neighbor’s window on the night of the Winter Solstice.

I greatly enjoyed the writers’ commentary following each story, as it was wonderful to gain a better understanding of their thought processes and the intentions behind their writing.

My favorite stories were: “The Importance of a Tidy Home,” by Christopher Golden, “Return to Bear Creek Lodge,” by Tananarive Due, and “The Ghosts of Christmases Past,” by Richard Kadrey.

“Our Recent Unpleasantness,” by Stephen Graham Jones was the story that left me the most unnerved, while “The Mawkin Field,” by Terry Dowling was beautifully written, but had me feeling more perturbed than frightened.

The cover illustration is lovely and the use of parts of its artwork as chapter headers is a great touch. Christmas and Other Horrors is an excellent anthology and a superb addition to your holiday reading.

Thank you to Edelweiss Community and Titan Books for this advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hardest part of reviewing a short story collection is deciding what to rate the whole collection. As with all story collections, there are a variety of ratings. I loved some stories and some were boring with the majority falling in the middle. I will say of this collection as a whole that alot of these stories were too long. I like my short stories to be short. I want the stories to be like doing shots, I don't want to have to read a story set it down and than pick it up to finish it.

My favorite stories:

1. The Importance of a Tidy Home by Christopher Golden
2. Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due
3. All the Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin
4. The Ones He Takes by Benjamin Percy
5. After Words by John Langan

I did have a couple 1 star stories but from other reviews I've read I'm in the minority with those. I just found those stories to be boring or forgettable. Most stories in this collection were 3 star reads so I guess that's the overall rating I'll give it. I did enjoy it even if I did think they were too long and I did find some new authors I'm interested in reading from in the future.

If you're interested in this collection, thus week is is a great time to pick it up since Thursday is the Solstice and Monday is Christmas.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good anthology of original stories set on or about the winter solstice and nearby holidays. Christopher Golden leads off with a holiday message explaining why it's important to keep your house clean for the holidays, followed by a traditional evil-Santa story by Benjamin Percy. Alma Katsu's story is a clever traditional Welsh crime tale set at an Airbnb, followed by a strange Terry Dowling story I'm not sure I completely got about a refrigerator and scarecrows in a field. Nick Mamatas is next, with a Cthulhu-inspired story about a post-Christmas miracle and an odd blessing, and Glen Hirshberg's is a Hanukah story about family traditions and dark secrets and the necessity of ritual. Garth Nix has a short and sort of predictable vampire tale, and Tananarive Due follows with a very good story about a young Black man who learns that age can be worse than monsters. Richard Kadrey tells us that Christmas can be a time of transformation, and Stephen Graham Jones' is my favorite from the book, about reality and the necessity of not losing your head around the holidays. Nadia Bulkin's story is a good and strangely visceral story of a Festivus gathering and friendship and responsibility, and Josh Malerman's story warns of meeting a new partners' parents and motivations and appearances. Cassandra Khaw's is another story I'm not sure I understood; maybe it's about apocalyptic cold and tiredness and rebirth from winter? Kaaron Warren's story is a long, fun but odd, story of a weird solstice ritual on a small U.K. island; think The Wicker Man crossed with one of those cooking competition television shows. I very much liked Jeffrey Ford's spooky story of old beliefs in rural Ohio, and M. Rickert's bleak birth of a legend (with a very unreliable narrator) is good, too... (wait, where are your kids?) Gemma Files has a story about Ragnarok and Loki the trickster and I recommend the Robert Calvert album, Lucky Leif and the Longships, as a soundtrack to read it by. The final story is by John Langan and is a kind of strange mash-up of eroticism and the occult, with a well-designed interior sequence and surprising plot twist. I read one story with my coffee every morning this month, and I guess I'm ready for the festivities now. Happy holidays!

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of short stories. All about different things too. We have Xmas, we have solstice, Hannukah. Lots of winter holidays, and lots of different monsters that show up. I still think those Austrian ones were the creepiest.

Some were better, some were meh, but that is the thing with an anthology. Some were not scary at all, some had some horror in them. Though none made me look at the window in fear.

But I do like short stories in audio. I really do. They work so well, a fast listen and on to the next one.

It was the same narrator, but I was so immersed in the stories that I didn´t really think about it. So she did well there


"The Importance of a Tidy Home" by Christopher Golden:
A creepy tale about what happens if you have not cleaned your house before xmas.

"The Ones He Takes" by Benjamin Percy:
A sad xmas turns into a happy ones and then horror


"His Castle" by Alma Katsu:
I liked this one. A little twist to what happens in Wales on xmas


"The Mawkin Field" by Terry Dowling:
I am not really syre if I understood this one fully, I think, but, what? Not scary either


"The Blessing of the Waters" by Nick Mamatas
Another not scary one about a runaway inmate and blessed waters


"Dry and Ready" by Glen Hirshberg:
It took me a while to get it, but yes no eerie feels here before the boom at the end


"Last Drinks at Bondi Beach" by Garth Nix:
I liked this one. I wondered about a few things. It could have been longer. Never scary though


"Return to Bear Creek Lodge" by Tananarive Due:
I wondered about things here too. Like wtf was that thing? I want to know


"The Ghost of Christmases Past" by Richard Kadrey:
I had no idea where this was going, and it went dark


"Our Recent Unpleasantness" by Stephen Graham Jones:
This just had me confused what was happening.


"All the Pretty People" by Nadia Bulkin:
Kind of wanted more blood

"Löyly Sow-na" by Josh Malerman:
A story set in Finland, and all in the sauna. No xmas feels here. Just some wood demons I know nothing about


"Cold" by Cassandra Khaw:
I managed to fall asleep to it twice


"Gravé of Small Birds" by Kaaron Warren:
Same with this one, I feel asleep twice. Dunno why


"The Visitation" by Jeffrey Ford:
Interesting one. Creepy ending


"The Lord of Misrule" by M. Rickety:
A slow start, then it turned creepier


"No Light, No Light" by Gemma Files:
Could have been better


"After Words" by John Langan:
Confusing, but meant to be so

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Importance of a Tidy Home" by Christopher Golden: 4 stars
This was about the Schnabelperchten, an Austrian folktale! Wow, when this started, I was not prepared for how wild it was gonna get! It was awesome!

"The Ones He Takes" by Benjamin Percy: 4 stars
OMGGGG this was twisted and I loved it. I don’t even wanna say what it’s about to not give anything away, but it definitely makes you look at Santa differently!!

"His Castle" by Alma Katsu: 4 stars
This was fun, and I loved that things weren’t as they first appeared. I love evil protagonists!!

"The Mawkin Field" by Terry Dowling: 2 stars
This was boring and not at all horror 😂

"The Blessing of the Waters" by Nick Mamatas: DNF
This confused me and I didn’t feel the need to continue.

"Dry and Ready" by Glen Hirshberg: 1 star
Boring and not at all spooky.

"Last Drinks at Bondi Beach" by Garth Nix: 2 stars
The format was kinda cool I guess, but I didn’t really understand what was going on. At least it was short!

"Return to Bear Creek Lodge" by Tananarive Due: 2 stars
This was okay but I was a little confused and never felt fully invested.

"The Ghost of Christmases Past" by Richard Kadrey: 4 stars
This was WILD and I loved it! It had a great twist, something pretty rare to find in such a short story!

"Our Recent Unpleasantness" by Stephen Graham Jones: 3 stars
I liked how this was written, and it was engaging enough, but it was also super confusing and I understood less and less as it went on.

"All the Pretty People" by Nadia Bulkin: 1.5 stars
Didn’t care for this one. It just wasn’t interesting or scary.

"Löyly Sow-na" by Josh Malerman: 3 stars
This was interesting and super weird. Not very festive? It didn’t feel like it had much at all to do with Christmas.

"Cold" by Cassandra Khaw: 1 star
Huh???

"Gravé of Small Birds" by Kaaron Warren: 2 stars
Readable, but not scary or very interesting.

"The Visitation" by Jeffrey Ford: 3 stars
A pretty good one! I liked how it kind of came full circle by the end of it.

"The Lord of Misrule" by M. Rickety: 3 stars
Pretty solid.

"No Light, No Light" by Gemma Files: 1.5 stars
Not intriguing to me, skimmed most of the last half of it.

"After Words" by John Langan: 3.5 stars
This one was SUPER sexual so I almost DNF’d it pretty fast, but I’m glad I kept with it. It was very readable and engaging.

[ThatBookish_deviant · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0⭐️

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix - some really stood out, where others were easily forgettable.

Wasn't a fan of the ones that started with a whole lot of dull explanations instead of story - in this shorter format, every word counts so a slow start means a bad first impression. Least favourite stories for mostly this reason were No Light, No Light and The Visitation.

I will admit, a lot of these ended in such a way that I was left scratching my head. It's such a common thing with short stories and it frustrates the hell out of me. I like well enough the ones that imply the ending, rather than outright stating it, but the ones that are vague and unfinished drive me crazy. The Mawkin Field stood out for me because it was fascinating, but I have no idea what that ending was supposed to mean so it soured it a little for me.

My favourite in this collection was easily Grave of Small Birds - it held my attention, kept things creepy and sinister, and revealed enough at the end that you could follow it. I also really liked the final story, After Words and Loyly Sow-na. Our Recent Unpleasantness was also really fun, but the ending, once again, left me too confused.

Overall, I do think it was a decent mix, and I loved the vast array of Solstice myths and legends. I was entertained throughout, and the stories were short enough that I was never really bored.

Decent, and a fun little holiday horror read.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, can we all take a second to appreciate how fabulous this cover is? Good, now that you’ve feasted your eyes, listen to me gush about this anthology! Usually short story collections are a mixed bag, some good mixed in with some bad and some just average. But this collection did not follow in others footsteps. This collection was absolutely stunning! Out of all the stories there’s only a few I wouldn’t give 5 stars to and that’s pretty damn impressive! I found so many new authors I want to read and discovered new favourites from authors I already love. There’s really something for every horror fan here, from straight up classic gore horror to more subtle mind horror, this anthology has it all. And don’t let the fact that it’s a Christmas collection fool you, I’d read this gem year round!

[Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Ellen Datlow  is an anthology of short stories by various authors, with themes surrounding the winter solstice.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Titan and of course the authors, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
 

My Synopsis and Opinions:
These short stories, by a number of well-known authors, are all centered around the Christmas season (the winter solstice) ...but they are all horror-based, and cover myths from around the world.  These are the darker aspects of the season...ghosts, devils, mythology, and family shenanigans.

As always, I will rate/review each story individually.  Let's begin.


The Importance of a Tidy Home by Christopher Golden … A delightful tale on the Schnabelperchten folklore of Austria, where these bird-like creatures enter your home on January 5th of every year to make sure you have dusted.  If your home is not clean, you probably won't survive their visit.  Freddy is homeless.  Absolutely loved it!  5 stars

The Ones He Takes by Benjamin Percy … In Minnesota, Santa may take a naughty boy so that he has help to build his toys.  There is no escape.  Good short story. 3 stars

His Castle by Alma Katsu … In Wales, a man and his wife are on holidays, when the revelers knock on their door with a horse head on a stick, demanding drinks.  Knowing the custom of Mari Lwyd (the grey mare), the couple let them in, but the revelers are in for a surprise.  This one seemed to miss the mark for me. 2 stars

The Mawkin Field by Terry Dowling … In Australia, a man sees a working fridge in the middle of a field, and starts visiting the field for a beer and a chat with the brother and sister who own the field, and who tell him about their missing father, and the scarecrow.  This was okay.  3 stars

The Blessing of the Waters by Nick Mamatas … In New York, the Greek community would toss a cross in the Long Island Sound and a child would dive in to retrieve it, which blessed the waters.  The priests brother-in-law escapes prison and insists that they do this again.  This was great!  Loved the characters.  5 stars

Dry and Ready by Glen Hirshberg … In Washington, a Jewish family have their own holiday tradition.  Mother, daughter, and grand-daughter leave notes in the mouths of the creatures that the patriarch had made in a garden.  No one really wants to do this, but what happens if they don't?  This was somewhat disturbing, and I didn't like any of the characters.  The plot had merit though.  3 stars 

Last Drinks at Bondi Beach by Garth Nix … Sydney Australia gets a lot of visitors around Christmas....they may not be safe near the water.  This one was short, but somehow missing something.  2 stars

Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due  … 14 year old Johnny didn't want to return to the lodge where his grandmother had burned him, but she is dying, and his mom says there'll be money for his college fund.  But Johnny's nightmares have never left him, and his uncle knows more than he is saying.  This was quite good! 4 stars

The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey … Laura is terrified of the Christmas child-eaters, as she saw her brother eaten by one many years ago.  She now takes extreme measures around Christmas, but she's in for a surprise.  Absolutely loved that twist! 5 stars

Our Recent Unpleasantness by Stephen Graham Jones … A nightly dog-walk has Jenner seeing a strange sight or two.  This was really out-there.   3 stars

All the Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin  … A Christmas party where people are airing their grievances with each other brings back memories, fears, guilt, and a bit of hatred.  Interesting.  4 stars

Sow-na by Josh Malerman … A man travels to Finland to meet his girlfriends father, and has some strange experiences in the sauna.  Apparently the wood demons demand the truth!  Really good.  5 stars

Cold by Cassandra Khaw …  The apocalypse has arrived, and there is only un-ending winter.  This was okay.  3 stars

of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren … Jackie, a very vain woman, lost on a cooking show, but felt she should have won.  She is invited to an island to work in a prestigious hotel, where they have a rather bizarre beauty contest each Christmas.  Again, Jackie is sure she is a shoe-in.  This was really good!  5 stars

The Visitation by Jeffrey Ford … The moral obligation to help anyone who knocks on your door from the day before to the day after Christmas is questionable.  Loved it!  5 stars

The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickert … A child haunts a woman.  Difficult to like a story with such unlikable characters.  2 stars

No Light, No Light by Gemma Files … A man visits Iceland as part of a science team.  A little too much mythology, climate change and historic details for me. I was skimming. 1 star

After Words by John Langan … A couple discuss the man's first teenage love, amid a bit of confusion.  This was a bit of erotic fun as the last story, and really good.  5 stars


Overall, there were a surprising number of 4 and 5 star stories in this collection. However, the entire collection seemed really long, and I didn't feel that a lot of them were actually horror, although a couple could be sci-fi.  Anyway, as in any anthology, you take the good with the less than good.



For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been so lucky with my horror reads lately but when I saw that Titan was releasing a Christmas horror anthology, I knew that I had to be all over that. I was like a kid in the candy shop. I wanted to inhale them all – but I knew I had to patient, I would have the opportunity to have a taste of them all, and taste I did. I gobbled each story up like a starving woman. I needed my horror fix, and this release from Titan did just that.

What do you think about when the word horror and Christmas materialise? If you’re normal, then candy canes and tiny elves are the first thing you want to say then you’d be wrong! Christmas was made for horror. Bear with me. A strange man coming down your chimney to deliver gifts? Come on – that is just asking for home invasion type horror. Or imagine an advent calendar of death? Okay, okay, maybe now I’m getting a little carried away, but you get the gist!

So, onto this anthology. When I saw the list of contributing authors, to say I squealed a little would be an understatement. Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu and Tananarive Due, those are some big shoes to fill. Their stories did not disappoint, and they were most definitely the best stories in the collection. Just their magnificent prose, how they carried their stories and the way they injected cultural significance into their stories left me enthralled and excited for Christmas horror movie season!

Are you looking for stories about who actually makes the toys at Santa’s workshop? Or do you prefer a story about strange beings turning up every winter solstice? Or maybe you fancy a trip to Wales and the Mari Lwyd?

I loved how the authors of this collection were able to have a basic and rather harmless concept in Christmas and/or the winter solstice and transform it into something wholly frightening. If I’m completely honest there wasn’t a bad story in this collection but the one’s that really stood out were the ones I mentioned above. They just brought something stronger – they didn’t over explain, their characterisations were exemplary and most importantly – I just felt like I was there.

After all – there are some very acceptable reasons to be scared of the dark.

[Nina The Wandering Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A sudden snow blinded the windows, as if a cloud had descended onto the house. The flakes swirled and eddied and fleeting shapes could be seen in them. There was a thump that shook the whole house. Several pictures fell from their hooks and glasses fell from cupboards and shattered on the floor. The dog began to bark, racing from a window to the door and finally to the fireplace. Then, above them, a creaking sounded as a great weight negotiated its way across the roof. With a whimper, the dog retreated to her kennel.”

You know a book is good when you feel the need to write a glowing review before you’ve even finished reading the last pages.

Christmas and Other Horrors (curated by the remarkable Ellen Datlow) is a fantastic assemblage of worldwide Winter Solstice holiday horror stories that are sure to make you suspicious of those heavy footsteps on your rooftop on Christmas eve–Santa might not be the only one creeping into your house at night—and I’m so thrilled to have this anthology join my frightful home library!

Right from the jump, the very first story gave me chills (Google the image and definition of the Schnabelperchten and report back on the nightmare fuel I’ve just cursed you with). From feasts and prayers to child eating monsters and gods of old, each story introduces readers to holiday traditions both ancient and emerging—Krampusnacht, Mari Lwyd, Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanzaa, Christmas, even Festivus! (haha). And the authors bringing us these scary stories are some of my favorites—Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Cassandra Khaw, Josh Malerman and more!

Add this to your Winter reading TBR!

Will update later as I continue through this anthology but here are my fav stories so far:

The Importance of a Tidy Home - Christopher Golden
His Castle - Alma Katsu
The Blessing of the Waters - Nick Mamatas
Return to Bear Creek Lodge - Tananarive Due
The Ghost of Christmas Past - Richard Kadrey

[Nate Dawg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellen Datlow is a wonderful editor of modern horror short fiction. I will check out anything she puts together. Christmas and Other Horrors is an excellent example of Ellens eye for good storytelling. All the stories contained in this volume are good with a few being great. I enjoyed the mix of myth and folklore into modern tales of horror.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok... so this was just... ok. None of the stories stood out in particular as great, or as awful. Nothing really struck me or stuck with me. This was perfectly middling. lol. I honestly feel kind of bad thinking this because usually I have a lot more opinions about an anthology but this was a lot of good or very good authors who feel like they just wrote for a payday. Even the explanations at the end of each story about the hows or whys about them writing it didn't feel particularly convincing.

I think the ones that stuck with me the most would maybe be The Lord of Misrule by M Rickert and Löyly Sow-na by Josh Malerman but both were still just, maybe, 4 stars each. Most stories were 2 to 3 stars. Just ok.

I will say I deeply disliked this in audiobook format and am glad I was able to read along because at times the narrators did so poorly they almost ruined the story they were reading. There was no attempt at voices or accents. This is especially awkward as this is an international collection and made the readings feel like... a joke? Like I good have done a better job narrating this. What a disappointment.

But overall glad to have read it and glad to have it under my belt. I suppose if you're really in the mood for a Christmas-y deep-winter anthology of spooky tales this isn't the worst way to spend your time - just avoid the audiobook.

[Marky The Nerd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ehm, tohle bylo fakt špatný? Pořád jsem si říkala, co jsem to vlastně přečetla?

Nejsem největší fanoušek povídek, ale mám ráda strašidelné příběhy. Kombinace Vánoc a strašidelných příběhů? Give me that.

Ale bohužel zpracování nebylo vůbec dobré. Některé příběhy nedávaly smysl. Hodně z nich bylo na podobném principu, kdy v nich figuroval pár, který někoho zabil.

Smysl jsem viděla jen v jedné povídce, ale jinak se omlouvám, připadala jsem si, že čtu nesmysly.

Chtěla jsem se dozvědět třeba nějaké nové informace o tom, jaké strašidelné pověsti kolují v určitých zemích. Místo toho jsem dostala příběhy, které autory jen náhodně napadly. Příběhy na konci knihy byly lepší, ale teda fakt zklamání.

Čekala jsem alespoň, že se budu bát. Bohužel jsem nic takového nedostala. Knihu jsem se musela nutit dočíst. Dávám 1,5/5✨.

[anjaRUok · Rating 4 out of 5]

that settles it, christmas will forever be spooky season vol. 2 in this household

[Prisandherbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2,5 stars

Anthologies are always a mixed bag, with some stories standing out more than others, but unfortunately, Christmas and Other Horrors didn’t quite hit the mark for me. None of the stories earned a five-star rating, and in fact, most of them felt rather middle-of-the-road, if not outright boring and forgettable. I even DNFed one, something I never did before in short story collection.

That said, I did appreciate the author explanations at the end of each story and the variety of themes explored. However, despite the festive undertones that tied the stories together, I found that they lacked the horror element that I was hoping for.

Rating for each story:
The Importance of a Tidy Home by Christopher Golden: 4/5 stars
The Ones He Takes by Benjamin Percy: 4/5 stars
His Castle by Alma Katsu: 3,5/5 stars
The Mawkin Field by Terry Dowling: 1,5/5 stars
The Blessing of the Waters by Nick Mamatas: 2/5 stars
Dry and Ready by Glen Hirshberg: DNF
Last Drinks at Bondi Beach by Garth Nix: 2/5 stars
Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due: 3,5/5 stars
The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey: 4/5 stars
Our Recent Unpleasantness by Stephen Graham Jones: 2,5/5 stars
All the Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin: 3/5 stars
Löyly Sow-na by Josh Malerman: 4/5 stars
Cold by Cassandra Khaw: 2,5/5 stars
Gravé of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren: 3,5/5 stars
The Visitation by Jeffrey Ford: 3/5 stars
The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickety: 3/5 stars
No Light, No Light by Gemma Files: 2/5 stars
After Words by John Langan: 2,5/5 stars

[kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authors featured in this winter themed horror anthology include:
Christopher Golden, Benjamin Percy, Alma Katsu, Terry Dowling, Nick Mamatas, Glen Hirshberg, Garth Nix, Tananarive Due, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Nadia Bulkin, Josh Malerman, Cassandra Khaw, Kaaron Warren, Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Gemma Files, and John Langan.

My highlight reel from the collection:
Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due
The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey
Our Recent Unpleasantness by Stephen Graham Jones
The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickert

Overall rating for the collection is about 3/5 stars. There were a few stinkers and none of the stories really stood out to me as remarkable.

[thevampireslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amusingly dark anthology held together with themes of tradition surrounding Christmas and Solstice, other holidays are mentioned and I enjoyed the chance to glimpse into other cultures traditions and folklore, I would say this definitely falls into the gothic genre rather than straight up horror, two words come to mind 'cosy and ghosty' you can expect a few goosebumps but you won't have any nightmares, I imagine these stories would be told around a campfire amongst friends to entertain rather than to scare if that makes sense? That being said there are some rather creepy ones!

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️, hier naar boven afgerond omdat ik het boek echt met veel plezier heb gelezen, maar niet alle verhalen bij mij in de smaak vielen. Ook waren niet alle verhalen feestelijk (op een horror manier dan); dat het zich enkel afspeelt rond yule/21 december is voor mij niet goed genoeg - I need a killer Santa at least. De eerste paar verhalen, zeker als het was gebaseerd op folklore, zijn mijn favorieten.

[Holden Wunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review tbd

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another collection of short fiction! I saw a couple of the names on this one and had to read it. Most of these stories are about the Solstice, so you won’t get a bunch of specifically Christmas related tales. A few of them do have holiday themes and atmosphere, though, and I especially love a good snowy horror setting. There’s a nice variety here, (even one story that takes place at a Festivus party), so everyone is bound to find something they like. And if you do want that cozy, home for the holidays feeling with your horror you will still get that.

However, if you’re hoping for consistently violent, gory or pulse-pounding frights then this won’t be a good collection for you. There are some bloody and graphic moments throughout, but a lot of the fiction is either of the psychological or slow-burn variety. Surprisingly, there were also several pieces in this collection that I just flat out didn’t like.

My favorite story was “The Mawkin Field” by Terry Dowling. Though the frights in that one are very subtle, and most people would probably disagree with me and call it more on the boring side, I loved it. So strange and eerie! Very well done. I also really loved that Tananarive Due story, ("Return to Bear Creek Lodge,") and “The Lord of Misrule” by M. Rickert. Those three were the biggest standouts for me.

One story was about creatures resembling plague doctors going from house to house and punishing anyone whose home wasn’t clean enough, but it was told from the perspective of a homeless person so that was very interesting.

Another story felt like it went on for way too long, but had a great ending, which is rare. (The one about the sculpture garden.) The Stephen Graham Jones story was a bit confusing, but I will read anything he writes because he’s great. (And his name being on this collection was a big draw for me.) The Josh Malerman one is better than his recent contribution to the “Creature Features” series on Amazon.

As far as the stuff I didn’t care for…The Garth Nix story was simply not the same quality as all the others. I also hated the misguided morality of “The Visitation,” and that “After Words” story was the most tedious piece of fiction I’ve read in any collection this year. I ended up skimming through it. Full honesty, I skipped over the Gemma Files story entirely because I absolutely could not follow it.

Very cool artwork on the cover on this book, though, and the stories that were good more than made up for the ones that I didn’t like. I always know going into a collection that it’s going to be a gamble.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

TW: Suicide, child death