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A Christmas Cackle: F*cked-Up Festive Shorts
Christmas is a time for love and peace and.... oh, bollocks to that! Bah Humbug and all that! Give me Halloween over Christmas any time! Think of me as The Grinch! Think of me as Scrooge! Think of me as the miserable git who won't be buying you a present this year because... Well.... You don't deserve one and I am tighter than a duck's arse! And - as for this book - think of this as short stories based around Christmas in typical Matt Shaw style. An 'up yours' to the festive period containing dark tales of horror and twists that you don't see coming no matter how many Shaw books you have read.
Contained within this book:
The Night Before
Marley
The Snowman
Author Facts (based around Christmas no less)
Krampus
And the short story "This is HORROR" which introduces you to a key character coming in 2016...
PLEASE NOTE: There is VERY bad language in this book. If easily offended - do yourself a favour and sod off. This book isn't for you.
Contained within this book:
The Night Before
Marley
The Snowman
Author Facts (based around Christmas no less)
Krampus
And the short story "This is HORROR" which introduces you to a key character coming in 2016...
PLEASE NOTE: There is VERY bad language in this book. If easily offended - do yourself a favour and sod off. This book isn't for you.
67 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 12, 2015
15 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Matt Shaw
529 books2,191 followersBiography
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.
Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.
Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 15, 2015
Giving new meaning to 'extreme'
Jesus, Krampus, snowmen & video cameras! I really enjoyed the Krampus story but the sneaky short at the end stole the show for me! Can't wait for the horrors of The Matt in 2016. Yikes! Highly recommend to all fans of modern horror!
Jesus, Krampus, snowmen & video cameras! I really enjoyed the Krampus story but the sneaky short at the end stole the show for me! Can't wait for the horrors of The Matt in 2016. Yikes! Highly recommend to all fans of modern horror!
December 12, 2016
This book has a parental advisory on the cover because of language but it is fairly mild in actuality. The stories themselves though could be a bit offensive to some people. There is no character development just descriptions of who the people are and what they are like. The language is rough but not totally crude like I expected it to be. These were not even shorts, more like micro stories. It was not scary or edgy or really even that interesting to me. It was however very much about the holiday and what it has become.
Our narrator is on the first floor of a families home as they sleep upstairs on Christmas Eve. He wants to be present for the arrival of Father Christmas, who he wants to see taken out for making Christmas about gifts. He wants it to go back to being about the religious day it had been before his advent.
It was a quick read.
Our narrator is on the first floor of a families home as they sleep upstairs on Christmas Eve. He wants to be present for the arrival of Father Christmas, who he wants to see taken out for making Christmas about gifts. He wants it to go back to being about the religious day it had been before his advent.
It was a quick read.
February 2, 2016
A set of very dark tales that horrify and are often ugly and twisted. The first circles around to entwine with one later on which was a surprise. They are not for everyone. Language and gore will offend a lot of people. That said, it is some seriously messed up Christmas horror!
July 12, 2017
Matt Shaw brings us some short stories of Christmas seasonal cheer with a twist. If you’re not sure who he is, he’s a prolific British horror writer on the extreme side. He is also collaborating with a number of top horror authors and possibly building a horror fiction empire.
Everyone who has a birthday on Christmas Day tends to be a little resentful. None more so than our narrator for the first story, Jesus. This isn’t the Jesus you might see portrayed elsewhere. This Jesus is funny, fond of swearing, and the kind of person who steals toys left by Santa for pawning purposes. He’s got a beef with Santa and something’s got to give.
In other stories, we have a mysterious snowman who is not what he appears and a warning about being good to avoid a visit from the Krampus. The stories are all fun and have a very British slant, both humor and language wise. If you’re easily offended, this isn’t the book for you.
The final short story is a preview for a book coming next year called The Horror, which has no seasonal cheer. It’s brutal, shocking, and darker than dark. We meet a horror director who values realism above anything else. This book is going to make Saw look like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Everyone who has a birthday on Christmas Day tends to be a little resentful. None more so than our narrator for the first story, Jesus. This isn’t the Jesus you might see portrayed elsewhere. This Jesus is funny, fond of swearing, and the kind of person who steals toys left by Santa for pawning purposes. He’s got a beef with Santa and something’s got to give.
In other stories, we have a mysterious snowman who is not what he appears and a warning about being good to avoid a visit from the Krampus. The stories are all fun and have a very British slant, both humor and language wise. If you’re easily offended, this isn’t the book for you.
The final short story is a preview for a book coming next year called The Horror, which has no seasonal cheer. It’s brutal, shocking, and darker than dark. We meet a horror director who values realism above anything else. This book is going to make Saw look like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
June 18, 2018
With Matt Shaw's wit and humor, I couldn't wait to see his take on Christmas short stories.
A Christmas Cackle is a series of short horror takes on the holiday season. From The Night Before to Krampus, I enjoyed seeing where Shaw would go in each story. They are filled with horror, along with the humor I have come to expect from Shaw. At the end of the book is a short story, called This is Horror. This story involves a man who kidnaps people and tortures and films them. I am not a huge fan of the torture style of horror, so it is a testament to Mr. Shaw's writing and writing style, that I can read this type of story, due to his style of writing.
A Christmas Cackle is a series of short horror takes on the holiday season. From The Night Before to Krampus, I enjoyed seeing where Shaw would go in each story. They are filled with horror, along with the humor I have come to expect from Shaw. At the end of the book is a short story, called This is Horror. This story involves a man who kidnaps people and tortures and films them. I am not a huge fan of the torture style of horror, so it is a testament to Mr. Shaw's writing and writing style, that I can read this type of story, due to his style of writing.
December 9, 2021
🎄🎁 Book #5 for #Christmas2021 🎄🎁
"A Christmas Cackle: F*cked-Up Festive Shorts" by Matt Shaw
💥Proceed with caution in regards to this read as it is an extreme horror story collection and is NOT for the faint of heart💥
Honestly, I didn't care much for this collection 🤷♀️😭. The writing style for this particular book just wasn't for me. However, I did really enjoy "The Snowman". It left me completely shocked 😲 and a bit frozen ⛄❄ to say the least 😅. I also really love this cover art! 3 🌟
"A Christmas Cackle: F*cked-Up Festive Shorts" by Matt Shaw
💥Proceed with caution in regards to this read as it is an extreme horror story collection and is NOT for the faint of heart💥
Honestly, I didn't care much for this collection 🤷♀️😭. The writing style for this particular book just wasn't for me. However, I did really enjoy "The Snowman". It left me completely shocked 😲 and a bit frozen ⛄❄ to say the least 😅. I also really love this cover art! 3 🌟
March 18, 2022
It's a (Christmas) cracker of a read!
Another short read of an hour or so, that is just enough to satiate the reader's needs for gore, sex, horror and utter depravity, split into bite-sized chunks of deliciousness.
Another short read of an hour or so, that is just enough to satiate the reader's needs for gore, sex, horror and utter depravity, split into bite-sized chunks of deliciousness.
December 22, 2019
A short, solid package of horror themed Christmas stories.
December 24, 2022
Enjoyable messed up festive stories as have come to expect from Matt Shaw. Liked the way the main stories looped back around on each other.
December 30, 2022
Holiday humour and horror
Another great short from Matt! A collection of shorts, some horror some funny. Includes a great lesson in how to horror in the final story!
Another great short from Matt! A collection of shorts, some horror some funny. Includes a great lesson in how to horror in the final story!
December 17, 2025
Ho Ho Ho
Ho ho hold on there. I always reading Matt Shaw's work. A talented writer. Now I must find Horror and read it.
Ho ho hold on there. I always reading Matt Shaw's work. A talented writer. Now I must find Horror and read it.
December 22, 2015
This was a fun holiday read. It had clever stories related to Christmas, and the holiday season - Stories were well written and clever. overall it was an enjoyable read. There also was a short story to provide readers with a preview of the character from his upcoming full-length novel "The Horror". Great read for the holidays .
December 16, 2015
Ho, ho, ho, Merry f*ucked up Christmas!
Twas the season of Christmas and all thru the house not a creature was stirring except for maybe a box full of woodlouse. Get ready to go on an unimaginable sleigh ride thru festive short stories that will leave you with visions of gore and horror dancing in your head.
Twas the season of Christmas and all thru the house not a creature was stirring except for maybe a box full of woodlouse. Get ready to go on an unimaginable sleigh ride thru festive short stories that will leave you with visions of gore and horror dancing in your head.
December 28, 2015
Not for the faint of heart
I myself am a horror author but even I felt myself cringing in fear. The story, This is Horror is brutal and terrifying but I do have to thank Mr Shaw because it did provide the inspiration for a new short story which I'll write soon. In a word this book is disturbing yet brilliant.
I myself am a horror author but even I felt myself cringing in fear. The story, This is Horror is brutal and terrifying but I do have to thank Mr Shaw because it did provide the inspiration for a new short story which I'll write soon. In a word this book is disturbing yet brilliant.
March 24, 2016
Shaw is the proverbial "sick puppy" ...
... And that's why we keep coming back for more! Who says Christmas and horror don't go together? Certainly NOT Matt Shaw! For all the people who don't pass up good horror any day of the year ... Get your copy! And do not wait until next Christmas!
... And that's why we keep coming back for more! Who says Christmas and horror don't go together? Certainly NOT Matt Shaw! For all the people who don't pass up good horror any day of the year ... Get your copy! And do not wait until next Christmas!
December 18, 2015
HaHaHa I loved these stories. So warped and perfectly Matt. His dark sense of humour is addictive. I'm always amused and pleased to see how he works his friend and co-author Michael Bray into his stories. Together these two are totally entertaining.
December 13, 2015
what can I say? Matt Shaw is awesome. this was a little over the top for him, but I loved it.
July 15, 2016
This definitely livened up my Christmas! Review to come :)
(THIS IS HORROR may be my most anticipated book of 2016!)
(THIS IS HORROR may be my most anticipated book of 2016!)
November 2, 2016
Great Christmas gift for someone special! Great book!
December 21, 2022
Fun festive horror read
Would have given 3.5 if an option. Definitely recommend. Felt very tales from the crypt. Would make a really good anthology Christmas horror film actually.
Would have given 3.5 if an option. Definitely recommend. Felt very tales from the crypt. Would make a really good anthology Christmas horror film actually.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews