Christmas Dinner Of Souls

by Ross Montgomery

It's a dark and lonely Christmas Eve in the dining room of ancient Soul's College. The kitchen boy, 11-year-old Lewis, has helped prepare a highly unusual meal, made with unrecognisable ingredients, cooked by a mysterious chef. And then the guests arrive ... and carnage ensues. They are ex-students of Soul's College, and they are all completely demented. They demand bottle after bottle of wine, flinging their cutlery and howling like banshees until ... silence. The Dean of Soul's College has arrived, and the evening's ceremonies must begin. For this is the annual meeting of a secret club for those who despise children, warmth, happiness, and above all Christmas. Each member must try to outdo the others by telling the most terrible, disgusting story they know. A spooky, shocking, bloodthirsty alternative to festive cheer that will appeal to, fascinate and delight young readers.

Genres: Middle Grade, Christmas, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Ross Montgomery has worked as a pig farmer, a postman and a primary school teacher, so writing books was the next logical step. He spent his childhood reading everything he could get his hands on, from Jacqueline Wilson to Beano annuals, and it taught him pretty much everything that's worth knowing. If you looked through his pockets you'd find empty crisp packets, lists of things to do, and a bottle of that stuff you put on your nails to stop you biting them. He lives in London with his girlfriend, a cat called Fun Bobby, and a cactus on every available surface.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice dark Christmas read. Loved it!

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a perfect spooky Christmas read to finish up my Christmas reads for the year! I finished it last night, & I absolutely loved it! It’s a spooky Christmas story that is also filled with short stories. A gothic Christmas tale for sure. To me this book is like The Nightmare Before Christmas is for me-it’s perfect for Halloween & Christmas! The two best holidays ever! Lol Everything is so descriptive & vivid, I felt like I was at that dinner listening to the stories, & seeing everything myself. I highly recommend this! Another beautiful naked hardback with the most beautifully gothic cover ever too! David Litchfield does beautiful work. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!💜

[Katerina Kondrenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 out of 10

This book is rather unpopular as I see. I might never choose it o read if not for work and CLEVER publisher. I'm so glad they asked me to try this story, 'cause I enjoyed it dearly. In Christmas Dinner of Souls, you will find a few stories within a story: fast-paced, creepy, with no stupid cheesy romances, Mary Sues, or any other pet peeve. I think I start to fall for the middle-grade genre)

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is this wonderful word in German which sums up Christmas Dinner of Souls beautifully: “gruselig”. It translates as creepy, eerie or spooky. Yet none of that really conveys the meaning of gruselig in my opinion. (Isn’t that always the ways with trying to translate something?).

Christmas Dinner of Souls is a collection of stories, some are Christmas themed but not all. What each of them has in common is that the teller is a guest at the Christmas Dinner of Souls. Each of these guests loathes Christmas and the purpose of the evening is to tell the most terrifying tale to win the chance to enter the catacombs beneath Soul’s College. Why? Well that’s the central tale which encompasses all the individual stories and you need to find out for yourself.

Each of the stories told that night is creepy, they are all quite different from each other and I thought that the number of narrators was ideal. The book length means that while you can decide to read one tale at a time you’re probably more likely to read more because you want to know what happens at the end of the evening.

Christmas Dinner of Souls is a wonderful alternative to fluffy cuteness and magical snowflakes (which have their purpose) and is certainly much more my kind of reading. In dark cold nights you want to be curled up reading about the scratching sounds in the walls – surely?

[Samm | Sassenach the Book Wizard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

This was a weirdly interesting book with a very abrupt ending. I liked the scary stories all the evil professors told but I think my ultimate favourite was the one about the guy who married and kills his wife for her land. Some of the stories were just meh and I wasn't particularly into the dinner scenes for some reason. There was also weird changes in the formatting with some sections italicized and others not but...without any obvious reason.

[kiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Случайно нашла в подборке рождественских книг и прослушала, пока убиралась. Книга вроде как для детей, но истории в ней реально жуткие и пугающие, идеально бы вписались в экранизацию хоррор-антологии.

Причем каждая история хороша, и финал тоже получился эффектным. Сами рассказы главных героев небольшие по объему, но в них идеально соблюден баланс мини-сюжета.

В общем, что-то среднее между хэллоуинской и рождественской атмосферой, мне понравилось.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Коротесенька книжка в стилі хеловінських книг Бредбері, тільки про Різдво. Така собі добірка страшних історій (з Різдвом пов'язаних переважно тільки часом дії), яку обрамили головною страшною історією. Загалом непогано, в аудіоваріанті цікаво слухається, але не всі історії мені сподобалися. Хоча одна така, шо я певно буду довго її згадувати - за це й ставлю книзі четвірку.

[✨Veruca✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023: 10/10- Still my all-time favourite Christmas book.

2022: Another year, another reread. One day I hope to make a creepy Christmas book worthy of being on the same shelf as this one.

2021: Best. Christmas. Book. Ever. I love this spine-tingling collection of tales that fulfills my wants of creepy middle grade novels. My Christmas tradition with myself is reading this book every Christmas Eve and it has held up well over the years. Merry Christmas!

[Melanie (TBR and Beyond) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun little read. It wasn't quite as good as I wanted it to be but it was worth a read. Probably more of a library borrow than a buy though.

RTC

[Anajinxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This spooky Christmas book is a thing that you just need. The end was abrupt, I wanted to read more but that was it. 🕯

[Amanda Almén · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kändes inte upplägget lite krystat, som att författaren skrivit ett gäng skräcknoveller för mellanstadieelever och sedan inte vetat hur hon ska nå ut med dem?

Ramberättelsen utgjorde kanske en åttondel av boken och var hela tiden skriven i kursivt vilket sänkte läsbarheten, upplevde jag. Historierna som de olika festdeltagarna berättar och ”tävlar med” har egentligen ingen förankring i resten av texten så de kan man utan problem hoppa över ifall man (likt jag) starkt ogillar berättelser i berättelsen.

Vill du läsa ett gäng halvhjärtade noveller, visst, varsågod. Men som spännande sammanhängande bok var den väl sådär.

[Autumn Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! Holy freaking plot twist didn’t see that coming, what a great book to read right out of coming from Halloween. The little stories were well written and kept you wanting more. It was an easy read and I read it all in one day!

[Tracy Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, slightly different Christmas read. Maybe not for those 9 - 12 year olds of a nervous disposition but original and quirky. It is a quick read but can be returned to each festive season.

[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories were very similar to each other so that was a bit boring. Also the stories all ending with the villain dying or losing made no sense. Why wouldn't they be the ones to win since it was all bad people telling the stories? I know it's a kid book but still was blah for me.

[Tanya Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Christmas Story + Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Lewis messed up. It wasn’t his idea but he was the only one that got caught. The Dean of the school and Lewis’ mom agree that he deserves to spend his Christmas Eve working off his punishment. Bet Lewis’ mom didn’t know what he’d be doing! He is the serving boy at the annual Christmas Dinner of Souls. A group of misfit gathers to top each other when it comes to gruesome, macabre tales. Who will win the ultimate prize (which I won’t tell you)? Will Lewis be alive to see Christmas Day?

Y’all! I ADORED this book!! While waiting for it to arrive, I had started reading Link by Link, which is supposed to be an anthology of haunted holidays. So far in the first 3 stories, it is about teen love. When my copy of Christmas Dinner of Souls came, I was more than happy to switch over. THIS is what I’m talking about! I read it in one sitting! Each story topped itself in creepiness, grossness, and the macabre! I didn’t know what was coming next and I wanted MORE!!

Buy this for yourself or anyone who is looking for something different this Christmas! Or, if you’re twisted, get it for someone else who is all about Christmas romances and fah-la-la!

[Isabel Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find the concept of this book very interesting and honestly i really hope the main character does not die. The objective of our protagonist is just to survive and not die. While for the teachers working at this college was to tell the scariest story and whoever wins this title, gets to venture down the trapdoor and search for teeth ;from a man who can tell the scariest stories, so scary that they could kill people.

The first story was told by Lady Arabella Dogspit. It was about a man who murdered a woman out of greed for her land. However, her screams from when she was murdered by him haunted him until he died.

The second story was told by Retch Wallmanner and was about a man who gambled all of his parents money away and then starting taking loans from gangsters, and when he lost it all, he hid in his house terrified of the gangsters beating him up for not having the money, the devil came and helped him and gave him tons and tons of money. However, the man got overconfident and decided to spend all his money. Long story short, he was broke again after a year in more debt than ever before. And just like last time, the devil came, however this time the man requested for infinite money and that’s what he got. However after the fine dining he ate, he became fat and had a heart attack. The devil then came back and this time, he did not help him. The man then pleaded to see his family, who always cared for him one last time in exchange for his soul. However, the devil revealed he had already taken his soul when he used his money selfishly and never gave it to the poor or his family.

The third story was told by Sir Algernon and was about how this wealthy girl’s parents died and how her closest relatives were very mean to her and wanted her to get married to a wealthy man so that they could enjoy some money. They tortured her, and were very mean to her until she turned 18, when there were royal servants who went to the mansion and said that she was the Queen as her mother were the closest relatives. Hence, after enduring the torture that was inflicted upon her for 6 years, she asked her new royal guards to do the same thing they did to her to them for the rest of their lives.

The fourth story was told by Miss Ariadne Biter and was about how this old woman lived in an apartment for free, thanks to the owner. However when the owner passed away, the nephew came and demanded that the woman pay money, however the woman had disappeared and there was a nest and the creatures inside scared him so badly that he decided to stay in the apartment for one night, and the next day he died.

The fifth story is told by Bloodrick Gallant. This story in my opinion, is the scariest out of the 5 stories so far and also the most thriller type. Basically there were two boys living in their uncle’s house for christmas. He was a hunter and had many heads of animals on his walls. However, he banned the two children from ever going into his study room. One day the eldest boy dared the main protagonist, which was the other boy, to go into the study room with him. As the protagonist did not want to look like a scaredy cat, he took the keys to the study room and went in with his brother. Inside, there were many weird animals, and they all had one problem or another, like they were the mistakes of the world. However, the uncle had one thing, that was scarier than all of these animals by ten fold, which was a murderer who killed children and was locked in a cabinet. The brother also dared him to unlock the cabinet holding the murderer and touch him. So, with shaky hands, he did and then they left, the protagonist, feeling relieved that he has finally proven to his brother that he wasn’t a scaredy cat. However, he was mistaken. Apparently he had not locked the cabinet door and now he had to go back to the study room to lock it, in the dead of night, before his uncle finds out in the morning. However when he went to lock it, he realised the body was not there. Then, he saw the murderer come up to him and he used his keys in self defence, to hit it. The murder’s head then almost fell off cleanly, however not quite as his head now hung downwards. The protagonist then decided to use the flame he was holding to light the murderer on fire. This was soon proceeded with a shriek and multiple after that. Apparently, all the animals were alive, soon, due to the flames now on the murderer, the whole house lit into flames. However, the murder, was not dead. He kept crawling to the protagonist, causing him to run for his dear life until dawn, then breaking down in exhaustion. When he was in the hospital, the nurses asked if there was anyone else following him while he was running, and he shook his head. However, apparently there was a set of footsteps chasing him not far behind, assumedly the murderer.

The sixth story was quite like the 5th story, just less interesting.

The last story was told by the dean and apparently since he wanted the dead man’s jabbers, he poisoned the gin. All the guests then died. Afterwards he brought Lewis and the chef to the catacombs to find it so that they can set off all the booby traps for him. However, the chef then ran as fast as he could as if he knew the way to Edgar Cavener’s coffin and he did. After that however, it turns out the chef was really Edgar Cavener in disguise and then trapped the dean into the coffin. I was definitely not expecting that plot twist and I was like what the heck? All in all, it was a good book and nicer around Halloween than Christmas. Most of the stories were like average and the plot twist was definitely unexpected but all in all still a 3 star from me

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one that I think would make for a really fun, short Christmas Eve read! Some of the short stories were better than the others, and the ones that I did like were actually really creepy! I loved the revenge plots or lessons that were to be learned from most of the stories also! Nothing totally outstanding, but just something fun if you want to read a festive horror novel around the holidays!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm straight up giving this 5 stars not because it's a flawless or perfect book (it isn't) but because of how much I loved it. The blend of grotesque characters and spooky Christmas tales was just up my street- it was like a blend of M.R James, Tim Burton animation and Shirley Jackson. I could see myself reading this every Christmas.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely not your usual jolly festive stories! Wonderfully creepy tale, not for the squeamish, with a diabolical cast of characters that you certainly wouldn’t want to run into.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your traditional holiday read but gee whiz that was a fun one

[Siobhan Leahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great childrens entry to horror stories

[Shifty Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such an amazing experience. I can best describe it as a Deccameron with horror stories, I first went into the book paying no attention to any guests, only to the stories, but I ended up being shocked to my bones to the multiple plot twists than kept unfolding. I loved all of the 7 tales from this book, my favorite being the one with Eliza and her diary. With antalogies I know that some stories tend to be amazing while others can be quite bad, but this one had only fantastic tales. Oh, I do wish many more people knew about this book because it is simply something else entirely. I would recommend it more to people who love Halloween, as it a bit quite dark in my opinion for this season.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas Dinner of Souls is a collection of spooky stories, some are Christmas themed but not all. Threaded together by a central narrative in which, as punishment for being naughty, an unlucky boy misses out on Christmas to play waiter to a bunch of unsavory souls attempting to get their hands on a terrible prize.

Definitely not your usual jolly festive stories! A wonderfully creepy tale, properly gruesome and dark in places, in a classic Gothic sort of way. The author’s writing is so vivid, and his characters are beautifully grotesque.

This book was devilishly good, fiendish and delicious. I really loved it!

Christmas Dinner of Souls would be a great read for Halloween, and great read for Christmas, it is the perfect short story for both children and adults alike!

[Liza Hotta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read that i would have liked so much more if it wasn't for the fact that i expected a christmas book. I thought the stories were going to be about santa and candy canes and christmas trees. But still, i liked the book and the ending was great.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devilishly good. Fiendish and delicious. I really loved this. One story with mini scary tales in - Perfect! It would be INCREDIBLE to read aloud to kids too!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gothic fabulousness! A Christmas treat of a fiendish and gruesome kind.

[Jess Bonanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect lil spooky holiday read!

For those who love The Nightmare Before Christmas then I think you'll really enjoy this one. It's a quick, easy read filled with stories within this larger story that, while classified as a middle-grade, does contain some elements that I don't know I'd recommend for really young readers. For that reason, I can see why this isn't as well known but I am so glad I found this book because telling spooky stories (for me anyways) is an all-year round thing not just reserved for one season. And what better time to sit around a fire and tell scary stories than in the throws of winter?

Also, this cover is *chef's kiss* perfection. Love this artist so much!

[Zach Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection of spooky short stories that all related to the bigger story. Fun and whimsical! Would love to read more books like this

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was going with a high 4* through most of the book, but that ending pushed it to an easy 5! What a fun spooky Christmas book.

[Kat San Andres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eerily dark, spooky, and an all around good gruesome and terrifying time. This book delivered in cozy Christmas vibes while incorporating scary spooky time. If you’re looking for spooky in the time of Christmas season, I recommend reading Christmas Dinner of Souls