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Essex Witch Museum Mystery #7
The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas
‘A treat for anyone looking for an antidote to the usual saccharine Christmas fayre.’ NB magazine
From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come twelve thirteen stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena.
As dark winter nights draw in, prepare to lose yourself in the world of the peculiar. With a tale for each day of the festive period and an unlucky thirteenth, Christmas is not the only spirit in these pages. ’Tis the season for sacrificial feasts, cultish communities and sinister rituals. So wrap up warm and get ready to be terrified and delighted as you journey from the spooky to the downright strange.
From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come twelve thirteen stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena.
As dark winter nights draw in, prepare to lose yourself in the world of the peculiar. With a tale for each day of the festive period and an unlucky thirteenth, Christmas is not the only spirit in these pages. ’Tis the season for sacrificial feasts, cultish communities and sinister rituals. So wrap up warm and get ready to be terrified and delighted as you journey from the spooky to the downright strange.
288 pages, Paperback
Published October 26, 2021
12 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
About the author
Syd Moore
16 books201 followersBefore embarking on a career in education, Syd worked extensively in the publishing industry, fronting Channel 4’s book programme, Pulp. She was the founding editor of Level 4, an arts and culture magazine, and is co-creator of Super Strumps, the game that reclaims female stereotypes.
Syd has also been a go go dancer, backing singer, subbuteo maker, children’s entertainer and performance poet, She now works for Metal Culture, an arts organisation, promoting arts and cultural events and developing literature programmes.
Syd is an out and proud Essex Girl and is lucky enough to live in that county where she spends her free time excavating old myths and listening out for things that go bump in the night.
Syd has also been a go go dancer, backing singer, subbuteo maker, children’s entertainer and performance poet, She now works for Metal Culture, an arts organisation, promoting arts and cultural events and developing literature programmes.
Syd is an out and proud Essex Girl and is lucky enough to live in that county where she spends her free time excavating old myths and listening out for things that go bump in the night.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 1, 2021
*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author, Point Blank Crime and Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources blog tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Technically there is a story in here for each of the twelve days of Christmas – and a spare poem for luck (though which kind of luck I couldn’t say) – but I have to confess, I wolfed all thirteen down in a single sitting and had absolutely no regrets… unlike that time when I got to my advent calendar a little early.
There is a mixture of stories in here: some crime or mysteries, some verging on the horror side of things, some clever retellings of classic fairytales. The common thread is that each story has a touch of the paranormal or unusual, macabre or strange, about it. Dark woodland rituals can be found here – very appropriate for those longer, wintry nights – and festive merriment is twisted into something a little scarier and a lot less jolly.
My personal favourite has to be the triptych of ‘Magus’ stories, which begins with Maggie visiting her friends in an isolated rural community, delves into some creepy local history, and eventually comes full circle as we return to Maggie’s perspective and can finally piece together the mystery of Iders End, Lady’s Day and Modranicht. That one is definitely going to stay with me for the foreseeable future!
That said, there wasn’t a single one of the thirteen that I didn’t enjoy, different as they all were in both style and content. If you’re looking for a read that perfectly combines the spooky and festive seasons, in short story format, then grab this collection, draw the curtains (to keep out bats and flying reindeer) and get cosy with a steaming mug of pumpkin spice egg nog (other beverages are available, thank goodness!).
The nights may be getting longer and darker, but the stories are short, spooky and semi-festive, and… well, yes, still dark!
'You were probably expecting a journal. I, myself, was intending to write such a thing but, as has been pointed out, a diary suggests more permanence than a letter. The reader may be reticent to destroy a book, imagining it may have some worth to offer later generations, some gems to bestow.
This does, of course.
Nevertheless, it must be destroyed after you have read it.'
– Syd Moore, from ‘II Second Magus: The Wise Man’ in The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
Technically there is a story in here for each of the twelve days of Christmas – and a spare poem for luck (though which kind of luck I couldn’t say) – but I have to confess, I wolfed all thirteen down in a single sitting and had absolutely no regrets… unlike that time when I got to my advent calendar a little early.
There is a mixture of stories in here: some crime or mysteries, some verging on the horror side of things, some clever retellings of classic fairytales. The common thread is that each story has a touch of the paranormal or unusual, macabre or strange, about it. Dark woodland rituals can be found here – very appropriate for those longer, wintry nights – and festive merriment is twisted into something a little scarier and a lot less jolly.
My personal favourite has to be the triptych of ‘Magus’ stories, which begins with Maggie visiting her friends in an isolated rural community, delves into some creepy local history, and eventually comes full circle as we return to Maggie’s perspective and can finally piece together the mystery of Iders End, Lady’s Day and Modranicht. That one is definitely going to stay with me for the foreseeable future!
That said, there wasn’t a single one of the thirteen that I didn’t enjoy, different as they all were in both style and content. If you’re looking for a read that perfectly combines the spooky and festive seasons, in short story format, then grab this collection, draw the curtains (to keep out bats and flying reindeer) and get cosy with a steaming mug of pumpkin spice egg nog (other beverages are available, thank goodness!).
The nights may be getting longer and darker, but the stories are short, spooky and semi-festive, and… well, yes, still dark!
'You were probably expecting a journal. I, myself, was intending to write such a thing but, as has been pointed out, a diary suggests more permanence than a letter. The reader may be reticent to destroy a book, imagining it may have some worth to offer later generations, some gems to bestow.
This does, of course.
Nevertheless, it must be destroyed after you have read it.'
– Syd Moore, from ‘II Second Magus: The Wise Man’ in The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
November 1, 2021
Despite the title The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas is not wholly set over the festive season. Twelve (plus a Thirteenth) short stories of varying length will entertain and surprise – all featuring the macabre, the supernatural, and good old fashioned criminal intent. The stories varied from a fun alternative version of the Seven Dwarves – I rather like the idea of a menopausal Grumpy; social distance dating with a nod to that ‘C’ word, a holiday with a difference; a few murders and a story of community spirit that goes a little too far.
What I particularly liked were that some of the stories were set in Essex – actually scarily quite near me! I could also relate, in part, to another one. As a regular ex-commuter on the C2C line from Fenchurch Street, the ‘Vomit Comet’ and the like were all too horribly familiar!
Many of these stories have a twist in the tale that wouldn’t have been out of place in Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, (if anyone remembers that TV programme with it’s creepy theme tune from the 1980s).
I think there was only one story that I skim read because it wasn’t really for me, but the others I was thoroughly engrossed in, even more the really longer ones – which to me read like a mini novella.
I haven’t yet read any of the Essex Witch Museum Mysteries – one of the stories here relates to the characters from the Museum, although I am intrigued by the series and do have a couple of the books on my Kindle. This collection is a very good introduction to the author’s writing if you haven’t read anything by her before. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes the strange and the unusual.
Reviewed for the blog tour.
What I particularly liked were that some of the stories were set in Essex – actually scarily quite near me! I could also relate, in part, to another one. As a regular ex-commuter on the C2C line from Fenchurch Street, the ‘Vomit Comet’ and the like were all too horribly familiar!
Many of these stories have a twist in the tale that wouldn’t have been out of place in Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, (if anyone remembers that TV programme with it’s creepy theme tune from the 1980s).
I think there was only one story that I skim read because it wasn’t really for me, but the others I was thoroughly engrossed in, even more the really longer ones – which to me read like a mini novella.
I haven’t yet read any of the Essex Witch Museum Mysteries – one of the stories here relates to the characters from the Museum, although I am intrigued by the series and do have a couple of the books on my Kindle. This collection is a very good introduction to the author’s writing if you haven’t read anything by her before. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes the strange and the unusual.
Reviewed for the blog tour.
October 28, 2021
If you love your stories to be spooky and quirky (I do!!) then here they are!! In this wonderful collection of 13 (not unlucky for us!) short stories, we are taken in all different directions from the alternative Seven Dwarves (now their names finally make sense!!), a very strange train experience on the C2C line (not that unusual for any of us who have taken that journey!), seaside dates, and the four housewives of the apocalypse to name but a few!!
I found this so easy to read! And so fun too! The stories are so different and that makes you just want to read them all in one sitting as you never know what you're going to encounter next! And some of the stories take you off into very weird tangents and I loved that! I also loved the Essex mentions in some of them! Definitely had me smirking at many observations! And I now find myself looking at murals in more detail now!!
There's also a visit back the Essex Witch Museum in one of the stories so that was nice to get to check back in with the characters from the Essex Witch Museum Mysteries series - if you've not checked that series yet, then get to it NOW!
A book that's perfect 12 months of the year - not just for Christmas! Full of the weird, the wonderful, the spooky and the strange!! Loved it!!
I found this so easy to read! And so fun too! The stories are so different and that makes you just want to read them all in one sitting as you never know what you're going to encounter next! And some of the stories take you off into very weird tangents and I loved that! I also loved the Essex mentions in some of them! Definitely had me smirking at many observations! And I now find myself looking at murals in more detail now!!
There's also a visit back the Essex Witch Museum in one of the stories so that was nice to get to check back in with the characters from the Essex Witch Museum Mysteries series - if you've not checked that series yet, then get to it NOW!
A book that's perfect 12 months of the year - not just for Christmas! Full of the weird, the wonderful, the spooky and the strange!! Loved it!!
October 31, 2021
Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources and @sydmooreauthor for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love anthologies as I like to dip in and out when reading time is scared 😊. I was genuinely excited to receive this one and I wasnt disappointed. I mean just look at that cool neon front cover.
This is a brilliant collection all with a festive theme. My favourites were definitely the trio of magus stories. I dont want to give any spoilers but there is a vast variety from dark takes on fairy tales to strange cults and mysterious deaths. Nothing too offensive or gory however.
Best read after dark snuggled up in bed (reading buddies optional).
I haven't read Syd's other anthology but its definitely going on my Christmas list.
I love anthologies as I like to dip in and out when reading time is scared 😊. I was genuinely excited to receive this one and I wasnt disappointed. I mean just look at that cool neon front cover.
This is a brilliant collection all with a festive theme. My favourites were definitely the trio of magus stories. I dont want to give any spoilers but there is a vast variety from dark takes on fairy tales to strange cults and mysterious deaths. Nothing too offensive or gory however.
Best read after dark snuggled up in bed (reading buddies optional).
I haven't read Syd's other anthology but its definitely going on my Christmas list.
December 22, 2021
I can't be mad about these stories being strange because it says it in the title haha.
Interesting collection of some slightly spooky/gruesome stories, some I enjoyed more than others. Biggest issue is that some of the stories aren't actually Christmassy at all...
Interesting collection of some slightly spooky/gruesome stories, some I enjoyed more than others. Biggest issue is that some of the stories aren't actually Christmassy at all...
December 29, 2021
3.5🌟
Some cracking short (and very short) stories in this compilation varying between 3 & 4🌟 So will settle on 3.5🌟
Some cracking short (and very short) stories in this compilation varying between 3 & 4🌟 So will settle on 3.5🌟
January 2, 2023
I really struggled with this book. some of the stories were good while others were not so good There were a lot of points where there were too much filler and over done descriptions. I did enjoy now all of the stories took place in Essex.
December 5, 2022
Lucky it got 2 stars.
I expected this to be a book of dark Christmas tales but about 50% of them had nothing to do with the holiday and felt random. Short stories are usually pulled together via theme or genre but this felt like a hodge podge of ideas - some genuinely interesting, some lazy and uninspired, some were ghost stories, some were about nothing at all, some set in lockdown, some set in Victorian era? Exhausting.
It managed to get 2 stars because the x3 part Magi collection was genuinely a cool idea - the author should have binned off everything else and focused on this premise and built a novel around it. Although what it had to do with Magi, I really couldn't say.
I expected this to be a book of dark Christmas tales but about 50% of them had nothing to do with the holiday and felt random. Short stories are usually pulled together via theme or genre but this felt like a hodge podge of ideas - some genuinely interesting, some lazy and uninspired, some were ghost stories, some were about nothing at all, some set in lockdown, some set in Victorian era? Exhausting.
It managed to get 2 stars because the x3 part Magi collection was genuinely a cool idea - the author should have binned off everything else and focused on this premise and built a novel around it. Although what it had to do with Magi, I really couldn't say.
January 10, 2023
Disappointing. A mix of short story ideas, a couple of which worked and most of which traded decent world building or character development for a loose attempt at a twist ending. The first story was a well executed (but non Christmassy) reworking of Snow White but sadly the rest were patchy at best. It felt to me like a few first or second draft ideas grabbed and rather hastily thrown together in a 'themed' compilation to try and make a bit of festive money.
Story and sentence structure was often clumsy and at times I really wondered if English was the author's first language. Turns out it is! The attempt at Victoriana was particularly bad; the literary equivalent of buying a 'Cor Blimey Mary Pawpins' polyester chimney sweep costume, with all the period accuracy that suggests. The final piece about the four housewives of the apocalypse is short, but will hit the spot for many readers!
Edit: I felt bad about this review and revisited the book to see if I'd been unfair. I hadn't.
Story and sentence structure was often clumsy and at times I really wondered if English was the author's first language. Turns out it is! The attempt at Victoriana was particularly bad; the literary equivalent of buying a 'Cor Blimey Mary Pawpins' polyester chimney sweep costume, with all the period accuracy that suggests. The final piece about the four housewives of the apocalypse is short, but will hit the spot for many readers!
Edit: I felt bad about this review and revisited the book to see if I'd been unfair. I hadn't.
November 1, 2021
Unfortunately I found this a really disappointing read, the stories weren't up to par with Syd's previous books
November 11, 2021
Syd Moore is a favourite author of mine, so it was a a delight to see this collection of short stories following up her The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas which I see was only published two years ago but 2019 seems much more remote to me! This collection of new stories is appearing just in time to be an indulgence for the dark winter nights - if you can't bear to keep it for Christmas, that is.
I should mention a couple of things about the collection. First, while The Twelve Even Stranger Days... does feature some stories set in Adder's Fork, home of the Essex Witch Museum, most aren't. While this may disappoint some, Moore's writing is always to be relished and it's great to see the range she covers here. Secondly, while there is indeed a story for every day of Christmas, many are not explicitly Christmas themed. Again though, that range is shown off: here you'll find transformed fairy tales, folk horror, an enigmatic glimpse (I think?) of earlier generations of the Strange family, detective stories (including a winter themed story from a pre-Great War Adder's Fork), classic ghost stories, tales of supernatural, and of perfectly natural, revenge - and, yes, the plum in the pudding, Christmas Day at the Essex Witch Museum, updating us on how lockdown has been affecting our friends there.
At the centre are three linked stories, Journey of the Magi: a Triptych. The separate parts of this make excellent use of the Essex topography, locating an eerie story amidst the lonely marshes and remote communities to be found there and documenting Maggie's journey on Christmas Eve to visit friends. We see what happens in a little world which seems a long way from the comforting and the modern. Combining Essex history with a vein of folk horror, Moore operates in the shadows; between what's spelled out and what we guess, between our fears and our hopes. Taking loops into history and with a dark mystery at their heart, this triptych would make excellent reading by the fire on a dark evening.
Another story with a folk horror motif, Rogationtide, could in my mind almost be set in the same community. It's not a Christmas tale - Rogation, the blessing of the community's crops and animals, takes place several weeks after Easter - but has the same preoccupations as the Triptych: the stubbornness of an inward-looking, remote rural community, its capacity to apply a weird logic that resists incomers' attempts at change, and the lurking possibility that picturesque ceremonies and beliefs may suddenly take us somewhere very dark indeed. Moore creates an atmosphere of menace hanging over what are apparently some rather jolly celebration, the unease that goes with the reign of the Lord of Misrule. While not perhaps so explicitly seasonal, this is a very fitting theme for Christmas itself, I think, as is the first story in the book, Pantomime, whose opening sentence turns expectations on their head: 'Nobody ever realised that the Seven Dwarves were female.' Upturning received hierarchies is of course the essence of pantomime (even if paradoxically it's done according to hallowed conventions) and Moore sets about that with relish, mashing together the conventions concerning the Dwarves and those of the noir in a story narrated by a straight-talking Doc which gives us all the inside secrets of what really went on in that cottage.
Moore returns to the detective story, but more conventionally, in The Over-Winter Harrowing of Constance Hearst, which opens with the melting of the snow and the discovery of a preserved corpse in the churchyard at Adder's Fork. This is pre First World War, and the story is narrated by the delightfully stolid Inspector George LeGrand who flits about the county in pursuit of a solution, staying now in this, now that, grand house, making use of motor cars and telephones loaned to him and generally having a fine time before finally grasping and exposing the details of a crime as devious as anything encountered by Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.
Moore sticks with the detective theme in the much more modern Two Minds, which sees the underrated Inspector Drew Oates, victim of sexist assumptions, come through to the solution when a woman is found dead in a pool of blood.
Another highlight of the collection is Thirteen (a number that is something of a theme in this books as you'll have spotted - what could be more fitting given the witchy background) which takes us far from Essex, to a paradise Mediterranean island whose history has, however, been far less than heavenly. This is a lovely ghost story in the best MR James style - however primed you are for the horror, you won't I think spot it coming: Moore slants reality ever so slightly to give us a satisfying and oh-so chilling vignette of the weird beneath everyday life.
After the Party Comes the Bill is a story it might be best not to say too much about, to avoid spoiling the gentle ramping up of unease that builds up as an unappealing City boy narrator makes his way home from an office party on Christmas Eve. Repellantly un-selfaware, sexist and bullying, he is somebody it is very hard to like and I for one was delighted when he got the runaround from C2C Rail...
Christmas Dates has at its centre a similar figure, a self-styled pick-up artist who's used the loneliness and isolation of lockdown to prey on women. On the last day of 2020, he's determined to get his "score" up to 52 for the year. Again, Moore magnificently portrays this unpleasant, unsympathetic man is what feels like a very of-the-moment story.
The two remaining pieces in the book both intrigue, albeit in very different ways. In String of Lights, young Rozalie recalls her youth before the Great War, and her mother's stories of her youth, in particular her dalliance with a certain Archduke in an ancien regime world of dazzling balls, gowns and uniforms. A world that's gone now, but is there a tantalising possibility that this is a glimpse at the past of Rosie's own family? And in Thirteenth (that was a formatting challenge!) the volume as a whole meets a fitting conclusion in a poem describing the coming of the Four Housewives of the Apocalypse - who are naturally working even harder over the Christmas season than they do the rest of the year.
Overall, a gorgeous collection (and it would be an excellent gift too, I'll just plant that thought).
I should mention a couple of things about the collection. First, while The Twelve Even Stranger Days... does feature some stories set in Adder's Fork, home of the Essex Witch Museum, most aren't. While this may disappoint some, Moore's writing is always to be relished and it's great to see the range she covers here. Secondly, while there is indeed a story for every day of Christmas, many are not explicitly Christmas themed. Again though, that range is shown off: here you'll find transformed fairy tales, folk horror, an enigmatic glimpse (I think?) of earlier generations of the Strange family, detective stories (including a winter themed story from a pre-Great War Adder's Fork), classic ghost stories, tales of supernatural, and of perfectly natural, revenge - and, yes, the plum in the pudding, Christmas Day at the Essex Witch Museum, updating us on how lockdown has been affecting our friends there.
At the centre are three linked stories, Journey of the Magi: a Triptych. The separate parts of this make excellent use of the Essex topography, locating an eerie story amidst the lonely marshes and remote communities to be found there and documenting Maggie's journey on Christmas Eve to visit friends. We see what happens in a little world which seems a long way from the comforting and the modern. Combining Essex history with a vein of folk horror, Moore operates in the shadows; between what's spelled out and what we guess, between our fears and our hopes. Taking loops into history and with a dark mystery at their heart, this triptych would make excellent reading by the fire on a dark evening.
Another story with a folk horror motif, Rogationtide, could in my mind almost be set in the same community. It's not a Christmas tale - Rogation, the blessing of the community's crops and animals, takes place several weeks after Easter - but has the same preoccupations as the Triptych: the stubbornness of an inward-looking, remote rural community, its capacity to apply a weird logic that resists incomers' attempts at change, and the lurking possibility that picturesque ceremonies and beliefs may suddenly take us somewhere very dark indeed. Moore creates an atmosphere of menace hanging over what are apparently some rather jolly celebration, the unease that goes with the reign of the Lord of Misrule. While not perhaps so explicitly seasonal, this is a very fitting theme for Christmas itself, I think, as is the first story in the book, Pantomime, whose opening sentence turns expectations on their head: 'Nobody ever realised that the Seven Dwarves were female.' Upturning received hierarchies is of course the essence of pantomime (even if paradoxically it's done according to hallowed conventions) and Moore sets about that with relish, mashing together the conventions concerning the Dwarves and those of the noir in a story narrated by a straight-talking Doc which gives us all the inside secrets of what really went on in that cottage.
Moore returns to the detective story, but more conventionally, in The Over-Winter Harrowing of Constance Hearst, which opens with the melting of the snow and the discovery of a preserved corpse in the churchyard at Adder's Fork. This is pre First World War, and the story is narrated by the delightfully stolid Inspector George LeGrand who flits about the county in pursuit of a solution, staying now in this, now that, grand house, making use of motor cars and telephones loaned to him and generally having a fine time before finally grasping and exposing the details of a crime as devious as anything encountered by Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.
Moore sticks with the detective theme in the much more modern Two Minds, which sees the underrated Inspector Drew Oates, victim of sexist assumptions, come through to the solution when a woman is found dead in a pool of blood.
Another highlight of the collection is Thirteen (a number that is something of a theme in this books as you'll have spotted - what could be more fitting given the witchy background) which takes us far from Essex, to a paradise Mediterranean island whose history has, however, been far less than heavenly. This is a lovely ghost story in the best MR James style - however primed you are for the horror, you won't I think spot it coming: Moore slants reality ever so slightly to give us a satisfying and oh-so chilling vignette of the weird beneath everyday life.
After the Party Comes the Bill is a story it might be best not to say too much about, to avoid spoiling the gentle ramping up of unease that builds up as an unappealing City boy narrator makes his way home from an office party on Christmas Eve. Repellantly un-selfaware, sexist and bullying, he is somebody it is very hard to like and I for one was delighted when he got the runaround from C2C Rail...
Christmas Dates has at its centre a similar figure, a self-styled pick-up artist who's used the loneliness and isolation of lockdown to prey on women. On the last day of 2020, he's determined to get his "score" up to 52 for the year. Again, Moore magnificently portrays this unpleasant, unsympathetic man is what feels like a very of-the-moment story.
The two remaining pieces in the book both intrigue, albeit in very different ways. In String of Lights, young Rozalie recalls her youth before the Great War, and her mother's stories of her youth, in particular her dalliance with a certain Archduke in an ancien regime world of dazzling balls, gowns and uniforms. A world that's gone now, but is there a tantalising possibility that this is a glimpse at the past of Rosie's own family? And in Thirteenth (that was a formatting challenge!) the volume as a whole meets a fitting conclusion in a poem describing the coming of the Four Housewives of the Apocalypse - who are naturally working even harder over the Christmas season than they do the rest of the year.
Overall, a gorgeous collection (and it would be an excellent gift too, I'll just plant that thought).
November 2, 2021
Thirteen stories that vary in length with plots that cover a wide range of subjects and issues and have a eclectic cast of vivid, realistic characters. There is a story for every reader no matter which genre you enjoy reading, from classic and modern day detective stories to cults, the supernatural, love, deception, religious beliefs,humour and people getting their comeuppance. My personal favourites were Pantomime, Rogationtide, After The Party Comes The Bill, Christmas Dates and both the stories that were titled Thirteen. A captivating enjoyable collection of stories that is perfect for curling up with on a dark, chilly night with a nice warm drink and wearing your favourite warm, baggy jumper.
Pantomime - Think you know the truth behind the classic fairy tale Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, well think again. I loved the truth behind the Dwarfs names.
Thirteen - A strange boy and the supernatural were the last things that Fletch was expecting to encounter during his holiday.
String Of Lights - A tale as old as time with fingers that reached into the past
Rogationtide - For four years, the isolated island of Northye had been blessed with good harvests but Cissie was convinced that it would not take too long for fortune to turn on its wheel and then things would change. I liked the spooky, sinister atmosphere that permeated the pages of this story.
After The Party Comes The Bill - I certainly didn't feel any sympathy for this obnoxious individual when their story reached the end of the line. This was one of my favourite stories.
The Over-Winter Harrowing Of Constance Hearst - A murder mystery with a dash of romance that is set in the past and has a classic Agatha Christie vibe to the story.
Christmas Dates - Number Fifty Two is definitely not going to be this obnoxious individuals lucky number. I loved this story with its unexpected twist in its tale.
Journey Of The Magi - Maggie's trip to spend Christmas at her friend's isolated new home doesn't quite go how she would have suspended in this story that is written in three parts and had fingers that reached into the past.
Two Minds - Sometimes knowing what to do or the best can be a really difficult decision.
Christmas Day At The Essex Witch Museum - Christmas during the pandemic is made even stranger and more surreal for Rosie and her friends when they find themselves caught up in a modern day enactment of the Nativity.
Thirteen - A short story about the repairs and alterations that the four housewives of the Apocolypse make to the planet whilst we are all safely tucked up in our beds at night.
Pantomime - Think you know the truth behind the classic fairy tale Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, well think again. I loved the truth behind the Dwarfs names.
Thirteen - A strange boy and the supernatural were the last things that Fletch was expecting to encounter during his holiday.
String Of Lights - A tale as old as time with fingers that reached into the past
Rogationtide - For four years, the isolated island of Northye had been blessed with good harvests but Cissie was convinced that it would not take too long for fortune to turn on its wheel and then things would change. I liked the spooky, sinister atmosphere that permeated the pages of this story.
After The Party Comes The Bill - I certainly didn't feel any sympathy for this obnoxious individual when their story reached the end of the line. This was one of my favourite stories.
The Over-Winter Harrowing Of Constance Hearst - A murder mystery with a dash of romance that is set in the past and has a classic Agatha Christie vibe to the story.
Christmas Dates - Number Fifty Two is definitely not going to be this obnoxious individuals lucky number. I loved this story with its unexpected twist in its tale.
Journey Of The Magi - Maggie's trip to spend Christmas at her friend's isolated new home doesn't quite go how she would have suspended in this story that is written in three parts and had fingers that reached into the past.
Two Minds - Sometimes knowing what to do or the best can be a really difficult decision.
Christmas Day At The Essex Witch Museum - Christmas during the pandemic is made even stranger and more surreal for Rosie and her friends when they find themselves caught up in a modern day enactment of the Nativity.
Thirteen - A short story about the repairs and alterations that the four housewives of the Apocolypse make to the planet whilst we are all safely tucked up in our beds at night.
November 1, 2021
Whether written by a number of writers or, as is the case with this book, one author, as is usually the case with these collections of short stories there are some that are enjoyable and some less so; some that hit the mark and others that, well, don't quite.
For myself it was probably the first story I enjoyed the most. I mean who could fail to be anything other than intrigued to discover that the seven dwarves were not in fact ...?
Ha! As if I'm going to tell you. You'll have to read the book for yourself in order to find this out.
Strangely enough a series of not twelve but thirteen short stories from 2 to 48 pages long; ranging from the quirky to the downright weird, whilst there is a story {plus a bonus one} for every day of Christmas many of them aren't explicitly Christmas themed ... indeed, several of them classic ghost stories and tales of the supernatural {to say nothing of Rogation, the blessing of a community's crops and animals, that takes places a few weeks after Easter}, the twelve Stranger Days Of Christmas is just as well suited to Halloween as it is to Christmas.
Ideal to read whilst putting your feet up and enjoying a cuppa as the nights darken, though be warned you may find one cup of your favourite beverage leads to another just as one story invariably leads to another ... and another.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... One of several bloggers participating in this Book Tour, no financial compensation was asked for nor given
For myself it was probably the first story I enjoyed the most. I mean who could fail to be anything other than intrigued to discover that the seven dwarves were not in fact ...?
Ha! As if I'm going to tell you. You'll have to read the book for yourself in order to find this out.
Strangely enough a series of not twelve but thirteen short stories from 2 to 48 pages long; ranging from the quirky to the downright weird, whilst there is a story {plus a bonus one} for every day of Christmas many of them aren't explicitly Christmas themed ... indeed, several of them classic ghost stories and tales of the supernatural {to say nothing of Rogation, the blessing of a community's crops and animals, that takes places a few weeks after Easter}, the twelve Stranger Days Of Christmas is just as well suited to Halloween as it is to Christmas.
Ideal to read whilst putting your feet up and enjoying a cuppa as the nights darken, though be warned you may find one cup of your favourite beverage leads to another just as one story invariably leads to another ... and another.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... One of several bloggers participating in this Book Tour, no financial compensation was asked for nor given
Read
January 8, 2023Where did I stop? 46% in
Why? I’m not sure what’s going on with this book, but it doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with Christmas. I read half the book and only two stories were even set at Christmas, and that’s where that ended. The holiday was a mention, and then the story had nothing else to do with it. With the way it’s packaged, from the cover to the blurb, you’d expect something nominally holiday-like. That’s really not happening here. The stories are odd, and I think in another anthology I could have appreciated some of them, but they don’t really seem to be linked in any meaningful way. This just felt like a book of random short stories packaged as something to do with Christmas. It’s very misleading. I honestly think this book would do better not packaged as having anything to do with Christmas. That’s really what made me stop reading. I’d picked it up because I was expecting something creepy, maybe spooky, and left of center around Christmas. That’s not what I got. Creepy, spooky, odd, yes. But not Christmas. That’s literally the whole reason I bought this book, and I did not get what I thought I was paying for. To be clear: I was NOT expecting a cozy out of this book. It doesn’t come off as cozy at all. I was just expecting something vaguely Christmasy, and it’s not there.
Why? I’m not sure what’s going on with this book, but it doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with Christmas. I read half the book and only two stories were even set at Christmas, and that’s where that ended. The holiday was a mention, and then the story had nothing else to do with it. With the way it’s packaged, from the cover to the blurb, you’d expect something nominally holiday-like. That’s really not happening here. The stories are odd, and I think in another anthology I could have appreciated some of them, but they don’t really seem to be linked in any meaningful way. This just felt like a book of random short stories packaged as something to do with Christmas. It’s very misleading. I honestly think this book would do better not packaged as having anything to do with Christmas. That’s really what made me stop reading. I’d picked it up because I was expecting something creepy, maybe spooky, and left of center around Christmas. That’s not what I got. Creepy, spooky, odd, yes. But not Christmas. That’s literally the whole reason I bought this book, and I did not get what I thought I was paying for. To be clear: I was NOT expecting a cozy out of this book. It doesn’t come off as cozy at all. I was just expecting something vaguely Christmasy, and it’s not there.
October 31, 2021
I love Essex Witch Museum Mysteries, an excellent series that mixes mystery, humour and paranormal creating gripping and highly entertaining stories.
I read The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas and appreciated Syd Moore’s skill in writing short stories of different types: from humorous to creepy.
The Twelve Even Stranger Days Of Christmas is another anthologies of short stories I thoroughly enjoyed.
These stories are an excellent example of the author’s versatility as they are well written regardless of the genre: paranormal mystery, creepy, horror, humorous. There’s a very funny retelling of White Snow, there’s a very creepy story with some echo of Simon R. Green (please consider it a compliment as he’s one of my fav fantasy writers). There’s also a visit to the Witch Museum and it’s always a pleasure read something form the series.
This is a blog tour I couldn’t miss as I love the author and her style of writing.
I can’t wait to read another story in Essex Witch Museum, this anthology is highly recommended.
Many thanks to Syd Moore and Rachel's Random Resources for this digital copy, all opinion are mine
I read The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas and appreciated Syd Moore’s skill in writing short stories of different types: from humorous to creepy.
The Twelve Even Stranger Days Of Christmas is another anthologies of short stories I thoroughly enjoyed.
These stories are an excellent example of the author’s versatility as they are well written regardless of the genre: paranormal mystery, creepy, horror, humorous. There’s a very funny retelling of White Snow, there’s a very creepy story with some echo of Simon R. Green (please consider it a compliment as he’s one of my fav fantasy writers). There’s also a visit to the Witch Museum and it’s always a pleasure read something form the series.
This is a blog tour I couldn’t miss as I love the author and her style of writing.
I can’t wait to read another story in Essex Witch Museum, this anthology is highly recommended.
Many thanks to Syd Moore and Rachel's Random Resources for this digital copy, all opinion are mine
November 7, 2021
#booktours
#thetwelveevenstrangerdaysofchristmas
🌟🌟🌟🌟
I settled down to read this intriguing sounding Christmas book to try and get me into the festive season but boy was I wrong. The book was a collection of thirteen short random stories ranging from a few pages to way more than a few covering the strange and spooky and not all bells and tinsel.
While not what I expected, the book gave me the nightmare before christmas feels. Each story held its own and in the end I was hooked on every one.
Great for a stocking filler for the book lover in your life.
Thanks you @rachelsrandomresources and @sydmooreauthor for the part on the tour.
#bookworthreading #bookcommunity #freebookreviews #readerssupportingauthors #bookengagement #nurseswhoread #fortheloveofliterature #bookreviewersofinstagram #bibliophile #scotttishreader #somanybookssolittletime #scottishbookstagrammer #bookobsessed #allthegenres #honestreviews #paperbackbooks #alwaysreading #bookinhandatalltimes
#I❤️reading #womenwhoread #coffeeandabook #scottishbookblogger #glasgowbookaddict #expandyourmind #liveamillionlivesthroughbooks #escapewithabook #dontannoymewhenimreading #bookstagram
#thetwelveevenstrangerdaysofchristmas
🌟🌟🌟🌟
I settled down to read this intriguing sounding Christmas book to try and get me into the festive season but boy was I wrong. The book was a collection of thirteen short random stories ranging from a few pages to way more than a few covering the strange and spooky and not all bells and tinsel.
While not what I expected, the book gave me the nightmare before christmas feels. Each story held its own and in the end I was hooked on every one.
Great for a stocking filler for the book lover in your life.
Thanks you @rachelsrandomresources and @sydmooreauthor for the part on the tour.
#bookworthreading #bookcommunity #freebookreviews #readerssupportingauthors #bookengagement #nurseswhoread #fortheloveofliterature #bookreviewersofinstagram #bibliophile #scotttishreader #somanybookssolittletime #scottishbookstagrammer #bookobsessed #allthegenres #honestreviews #paperbackbooks #alwaysreading #bookinhandatalltimes
#I❤️reading #womenwhoread #coffeeandabook #scottishbookblogger #glasgowbookaddict #expandyourmind #liveamillionlivesthroughbooks #escapewithabook #dontannoymewhenimreading #bookstagram
December 26, 2021
“The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas” by Syd Moore is a collection of short stories (including a bonus thirteenth tale!), one for each night of Christmas. Ranging from a tale told by one of the inspirations for Snow White’s seven dwarfs, to the proprietors of the Essex Witch Museum, each story is quirky, mysterious, creepy and sometimes chilling – but also with humour spread throughout.
The book is part of the author’s Essex Witch Museum series (an earlier collection of short stories, “The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas” was published in 2019), and something I particularly enjoyed about both books were the subtle links between some of the stories; although all are independent, the odd place, character, or relation of a character, pops up in other stories, which makes a nice thread throughout.
I think short stories are perfect for Christmas; ideal to dip in and out of between the festivities, or to indulge in for longer if you’re taking some me-time. I enjoyed reading this, and would recommend it as a great Christmas gift, for someone else’s stocking or your own!
The book is part of the author’s Essex Witch Museum series (an earlier collection of short stories, “The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas” was published in 2019), and something I particularly enjoyed about both books were the subtle links between some of the stories; although all are independent, the odd place, character, or relation of a character, pops up in other stories, which makes a nice thread throughout.
I think short stories are perfect for Christmas; ideal to dip in and out of between the festivities, or to indulge in for longer if you’re taking some me-time. I enjoyed reading this, and would recommend it as a great Christmas gift, for someone else’s stocking or your own!
November 6, 2021
13 amazing short stories?? Yes please! 13 might be unlucky for some but I felt very lucky to get the chance to read these stories , they vary in length but I loved all of them!
These are stories that you can read one a day on the way upto Christmas.... or you can do what I did and absolutely devour them in one go... I couldn't help it the stories were just so good and got better and better ! Now this isn't your typical Christmas book so if you are looking for that then this isn't the one , if you are looking for books that will tempt you with their genres, they are a mixture of different ones , which gives something for everyone.
The stories are fast paced , they draw you in to them in many ways , they grip your attention and keep hold. This is my kind of short story book , brilliantly written and one which I will definitely be recommending to people! Love the authors style of writing I feel I could read up lots more of her writing !
These are stories that you can read one a day on the way upto Christmas.... or you can do what I did and absolutely devour them in one go... I couldn't help it the stories were just so good and got better and better ! Now this isn't your typical Christmas book so if you are looking for that then this isn't the one , if you are looking for books that will tempt you with their genres, they are a mixture of different ones , which gives something for everyone.
The stories are fast paced , they draw you in to them in many ways , they grip your attention and keep hold. This is my kind of short story book , brilliantly written and one which I will definitely be recommending to people! Love the authors style of writing I feel I could read up lots more of her writing !
November 23, 2021
This was mixed, as short story collections can be, but the good ones were interesting but not gripping, while the bad ones were quite forgettable. 'Journey of the Magi' was good, and being one of the longer ones had a bit more interest to it, but some of them were too brief, missing the line between leaving you with a hint of mystery and just leaving you mystified. 'Two Minds' was an odd and slightly pointless addition; there's no curiosity to it at all, and it's out of keeping with the tone of the other stories. The sole story featuring the With Museum characters was just a brief slice of life chapter in which nothing much happens. Definitely not an essential addition to the series.
January 31, 2024
The Twelve Even Stranger Days of Christmas by Syd Moore - Good
The next of my own bookish advent calendar (*)
Enjoyable set of short stories, but I feel the 'Christmas' label was a little misleading as some of them only had very tenuous links to the festive season. A nice mix of the weird and wonderful with some Christmas/Yule/Midwinter vibes.
(*) every year I collect interesting looking Christmas themed books, wrap them up and then pick them at random during December. I never know what I'm going to get and I have some sweet treats wrapped for non-book days. Works for me!
#review
The next of my own bookish advent calendar (*)
Enjoyable set of short stories, but I feel the 'Christmas' label was a little misleading as some of them only had very tenuous links to the festive season. A nice mix of the weird and wonderful with some Christmas/Yule/Midwinter vibes.
(*) every year I collect interesting looking Christmas themed books, wrap them up and then pick them at random during December. I never know what I'm going to get and I have some sweet treats wrapped for non-book days. Works for me!
#review
December 14, 2022
I adore this author. Genuinely. It is like a little treat I get every time a new one of these books available. I loooove these little stories.
Even the shortest of these stories is excellent.
I LOVE the mini novella in the middle of this book.
These books have the most delightful links to folklore and history that bring about some of the most wonderful realness and appreciation for English heritage.
Even the shortest of these stories is excellent.
I LOVE the mini novella in the middle of this book.
These books have the most delightful links to folklore and history that bring about some of the most wonderful realness and appreciation for English heritage.
December 29, 2023
A decent enough collection of loosely spooky and festive short stories, in my opinion let down by the final story which sadly has very poor characterisation. The Essex Witch Museum stories have so much potential, but are so frequent let down by the two dimensional main character (and most of the other characters as well). It’s a shame really as it has such a good foundation as an idea, and a poor final choice for this collection of otherwise mostly interesting stories.
December 19, 2024
Honestly I almost decided to give up on this one after the second short story. The first two were so ridiculous I didn’t know if I wanted to waste any more time with it. Decided to just carry on in order to complete my reading goal for the year. A couple of the stories ended up being okay, such as:
‘After the party comes the bill’
’Christmas Dates’
‘First Magus: The Friend’
Overall glad I only paid £1.99 for it in the charity shop and that’s exactly where it’ll be going back to 😅
‘After the party comes the bill’
’Christmas Dates’
‘First Magus: The Friend’
Overall glad I only paid £1.99 for it in the charity shop and that’s exactly where it’ll be going back to 😅
January 5, 2025
I struggled with most of the stories here, which weren’t as supernatural or as interesting as I was expecting. The Essex witch finale was hilarious and the journey of the magi tryptich was interesting if incomprehensible in relation to its theme. Most of the stories were filler like “Two Minds” and “Rogationtide”, a very predictable wicker man situation completely irrelevant to Christmas. I disliked most of the characters as well. Most of them seemed so shallow to me.
October 30, 2021
This is my first book by the author and I really enjoyed this spooky and weird yet very enjoyable read. This book is a collection of thirteen stories. Each story is different and very well written. I found it easy to follow and the writing style definitely made it an enjoyable read. If you are a fan of spooky stories, these short stories are definitely for you. Highly recommend.
November 3, 2021
Admittedly I was a little disappointed when I started reading the book only to find that they weren't all about Christmas as the cover suggests.
They were well thought out & cleverly written & as anthologies go this was a quirky, fun read with thirteen short stories varying from the supernatural, horror, mystery & so much more.
Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for my tour spot & gifted copy.
𝗜 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮 4 ⭐ 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
They were well thought out & cleverly written & as anthologies go this was a quirky, fun read with thirteen short stories varying from the supernatural, horror, mystery & so much more.
Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for my tour spot & gifted copy.
𝗜 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮 4 ⭐ 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
December 21, 2021
3.5 stars
This definitely lives up to its description as a collection of 13 odd tales for the festive period.
What at first is a bit of a false start, unfolds into a grotesque array of horrors centred around the Christmas period.
An enjoyable read for those that enjoy the ominous sensations of a dark Winter’s day.
This definitely lives up to its description as a collection of 13 odd tales for the festive period.
What at first is a bit of a false start, unfolds into a grotesque array of horrors centred around the Christmas period.
An enjoyable read for those that enjoy the ominous sensations of a dark Winter’s day.
December 29, 2021
Enjoyed it. Just right for the festive time. Nice easy read. My favourites were pantomime ( female dwarfs with dopey actually using etc) and after the party comes the bill( train to hell). Liked the nod at fairy tales eg red riding hood and wickerman. Even a good old fashioned murder and detective story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 17, 2022DNF - as always with books I didn't finish I won't be giving a star rating. I didn't enjoy these stories, I think partly because of the writing style (maybe my understanding of English just wasn't sufficient) and partly because I expected some Holiday-vibes which weren't there. This one just wasn't for me.
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