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Santa of the Dead
Santa fighting Zombies… I mean do I really need to write more?
Fine… then hold on to the nearest hard reindeer cock, things are about to get red jolly suit tinselly weird.
On a routine Christmas eve, after a fight with the new Mrs. Claus, who I’m obligated to point out has a great rack… boobs I mean not reindeer, Santa finds himself drunk, cranky, and living in his past… did I mention he’s cranky? And grumpy as shit, and preloaded will the latest Christmas profanities.
After a poor start to his only real day working all year, Santa against his analytic department’s best-laid plans, overrides the sleighs autopilot and makes a pit stop at the only house whose cookies he’s ever loved.
A poor landing and ironman-like entrance into the house later, Santa stumbles into something he had no desire to be part of… at least that he knows of. See Santa isn’t who you think he is… not that he really knows either.
Did I mention the thing he stumbles drunkenly into was zombies? Because it is. Zombies on Christmas eve… Santa Claus fighting fucking zombies.
This surprisingly emotional and frightening vulgar novella will be on the top of every Zombie and Christmas loving readers list. Snuggled deep in the Aurora Wasteland, Vaughn Ashby’s literary universe, this is a stand alone novella that fits into the larger narrative.
Fine… then hold on to the nearest hard reindeer cock, things are about to get red jolly suit tinselly weird.
On a routine Christmas eve, after a fight with the new Mrs. Claus, who I’m obligated to point out has a great rack… boobs I mean not reindeer, Santa finds himself drunk, cranky, and living in his past… did I mention he’s cranky? And grumpy as shit, and preloaded will the latest Christmas profanities.
After a poor start to his only real day working all year, Santa against his analytic department’s best-laid plans, overrides the sleighs autopilot and makes a pit stop at the only house whose cookies he’s ever loved.
A poor landing and ironman-like entrance into the house later, Santa stumbles into something he had no desire to be part of… at least that he knows of. See Santa isn’t who you think he is… not that he really knows either.
Did I mention the thing he stumbles drunkenly into was zombies? Because it is. Zombies on Christmas eve… Santa Claus fighting fucking zombies.
This surprisingly emotional and frightening vulgar novella will be on the top of every Zombie and Christmas loving readers list. Snuggled deep in the Aurora Wasteland, Vaughn Ashby’s literary universe, this is a stand alone novella that fits into the larger narrative.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2021
25 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Vaughn Ashby
19 books44 followersVaughn Ashby is the bestselling horror author of Tethered, Brightness Falls, & The Axe. He’s also a multi-view YouTube creator, & wannabe Podcaster.
Ash, or Uncle Ashby to you, holds degrees in Body Head Separation, Spacial Realignment, & Family Member Seducing Time Travel from the schools of Netflix, Blockbuster, & The Local Cinema. Vaughn also recently completed his Masters in Sci-fi Horror writing from the school of YM, better known as Your Mom.
Before being dragged into the world of writing kicking and screaming, he was a simple bearded human male with poor spelling skills. He was, and this is just true, not a robot, definitely not a human killing robot, with plans of wiping out the human race through writing complex plots that involve adult humor and sexiness.
Vaughn has watched multiple Masterclasses by Aaron Sorkin, Neil Gaimen, Margaret Atwood, & Gordon Ramsey, though not all the way through. He’s also the Winner of the Aurora Wasteland award, for being the only writer to write in that Literary Universe, which he created.
His passions include Whiskey, Tattoos, Movies, Writing, & Horror.
Find out more about Vaughn at VaughnAshby.com
Ash, or Uncle Ashby to you, holds degrees in Body Head Separation, Spacial Realignment, & Family Member Seducing Time Travel from the schools of Netflix, Blockbuster, & The Local Cinema. Vaughn also recently completed his Masters in Sci-fi Horror writing from the school of YM, better known as Your Mom.
Before being dragged into the world of writing kicking and screaming, he was a simple bearded human male with poor spelling skills. He was, and this is just true, not a robot, definitely not a human killing robot, with plans of wiping out the human race through writing complex plots that involve adult humor and sexiness.
Vaughn has watched multiple Masterclasses by Aaron Sorkin, Neil Gaimen, Margaret Atwood, & Gordon Ramsey, though not all the way through. He’s also the Winner of the Aurora Wasteland award, for being the only writer to write in that Literary Universe, which he created.
His passions include Whiskey, Tattoos, Movies, Writing, & Horror.
Find out more about Vaughn at VaughnAshby.com
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 20, 2022
This was everything that I didn’t know I needed from a Christmas horror story. Chris, AKA Santa, is an absolutely hilarious, gruff version of the beloved holiday figure. Every time he speaks, it’s some sort of vulgar, Christmas-themed proclamation, every one of which made me laugh. Even his internal monologues are amazing in their crude nature and ability to provide increasing levels of depth to this entity. There is ton of action, zombie elves, ghosts, a smokin’ hot Mrs Claus, and even some time travel. Did I mention that Santa is totally different here than you could ever imagine? If you hadn’t guessed that already. So the author navigates this fine balance between action, drama, horror, comedy, and science fiction, all wrapped up in a nice, pretty holiday bow. And the ending just spins out of control and leaves you with a lot of questions. But it was all extremely fun and creative. This one, folks, is one sleigh ride adventure that you don’t wanna miss out on.
December 13, 2025
In Santa of the Dead by Vaughn Ashby, a drunk Santa makes a pit stop on Christmas Eve at the only house whose cookies he’s ever loved, and stumbles upon zombies intent on adding him to the menu. Will he survive the night? The blurb effectively captures the author's unique storytelling technique.
The book definitely has an interesting concept, though the execution is not particularly special. As the blurb clearly indicates, it is a very vulgar novella packed with profanities, so its content was no surprise. The story features a combination of alcoholism, excessive vomiting, emotional breakdowns, a little gore, and zombies!
If you are looking for a quick, aggressively profane, middle-of-the-road, zombie-fueled holiday novella, you can give this bizarre ride a go.
December 20, 2023
'Kids are fucking magical. It's why Christmas is what it is. It's never been because of him. It was always them.'
Exactly what I needed to release the inner Grinch and acknowledge that Christmas is one of the most tinsel ball, reindeer cock irritating consumerist fest-fucks of the year. Happy Holidays!
Exactly what I needed to release the inner Grinch and acknowledge that Christmas is one of the most tinsel ball, reindeer cock irritating consumerist fest-fucks of the year. Happy Holidays!
December 16, 2025
I enjoyed it
This one was very interesting. All of the ones in this series have been very interesting. If you like zombies you should give this one a try.
This one was very interesting. All of the ones in this series have been very interesting. If you like zombies you should give this one a try.
November 20, 2021
A couple of times in this story, the term “rewind time” came up. I can’t stand that shit. People seriously need to update their vernacular. I’m not going to sit here and pretend to understand how time works. But I’m pretty goddamn sure it’s not a tape that can be rewound and that term, in general, should have died 20+ years ago. Along with all the outdated tech that used tapes.
Ranting aside, I was a bit nervous about this story at first. I loved Brightness Falls and Tethered, I didn’t enjoy The Axe as much because of all the future-themed techno bullshit. My worry was unwarranted, however. This is probably my favorite story so far. I loved this story. It was hard to concentrate as I was choking back laughter at all of Santa’s holiday-themed swears and puns.
Vaughn Ashby has a way of telling a compelling story while also keeping it humorous at the same time. Despite laughing my way through dangerous scenes with the characters of this story, I never felt any less enthralled or interested. I really like how you occasionally get some backstory at the end of chapters and how characters address the reader by talking to them. It adds a lot of charm and character that a lot of other novels couldn’t get away with.
I will admit that one of my favorite movies growing up was Bad Santa. So the idea of an alcoholic, swearing Santa was already something I was very fond of and amused by.
The narrator did an excellent job. His character voices are top-notch, especially his Santa. The audible narration was clean and clear. There weren’t any instances of repeated dialogue or changes in the narrator’s voice.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
Ranting aside, I was a bit nervous about this story at first. I loved Brightness Falls and Tethered, I didn’t enjoy The Axe as much because of all the future-themed techno bullshit. My worry was unwarranted, however. This is probably my favorite story so far. I loved this story. It was hard to concentrate as I was choking back laughter at all of Santa’s holiday-themed swears and puns.
Vaughn Ashby has a way of telling a compelling story while also keeping it humorous at the same time. Despite laughing my way through dangerous scenes with the characters of this story, I never felt any less enthralled or interested. I really like how you occasionally get some backstory at the end of chapters and how characters address the reader by talking to them. It adds a lot of charm and character that a lot of other novels couldn’t get away with.
I will admit that one of my favorite movies growing up was Bad Santa. So the idea of an alcoholic, swearing Santa was already something I was very fond of and amused by.
The narrator did an excellent job. His character voices are top-notch, especially his Santa. The audible narration was clean and clear. There weren’t any instances of repeated dialogue or changes in the narrator’s voice.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
October 27, 2022
Santa Claus, zombie slayer!!!!
Do you like Santa Claus?? Do you like zombies?? Do you like reimagined, over exaggerated, amazingly funny and up to date characters??
Then this one is just for you!!
Vaughn Ashby made something here that I'd never seen before... He grabbed our favourite chubby white bearded character, loved by everyone, and turned it upside down... Multiple times!
We find a Santa that's very different than the usual... Yes he's still Santa, but not a very cheery one... Lost in his life, resorted to drinking like there's no tomorrow and full of raunchy swearing with a mix of Christmas terms, that's how Chris (Santa's name here) is presented to us...
You'd think "how depressing"... It's a bit, but it's mostly hilarious to imagine a drunk Santa flying through the world giving gifts!!
But, in his drunken state, he goes on to look for his favourite cookies... Alongside those, he finds a horde of zombies and the story takes a turn!
Can't go much into detail, since it's a short on and so fast paced you'll be grabbing your sled tight!
So it's just zombie killing?
Naaah
It's about love, about family, about repent and mostly about moving on after something terrible! It's... About life really... But with very outrageous funny droplets all over!
Santa is not who we think he'd be!
Thank you StoryOrigin and Vaughn Ashby for the opportunity to read and review this awesome story as an ARC in exchange for a review!!
Do you like Santa Claus?? Do you like zombies?? Do you like reimagined, over exaggerated, amazingly funny and up to date characters??
Then this one is just for you!!
Vaughn Ashby made something here that I'd never seen before... He grabbed our favourite chubby white bearded character, loved by everyone, and turned it upside down... Multiple times!
We find a Santa that's very different than the usual... Yes he's still Santa, but not a very cheery one... Lost in his life, resorted to drinking like there's no tomorrow and full of raunchy swearing with a mix of Christmas terms, that's how Chris (Santa's name here) is presented to us...
You'd think "how depressing"... It's a bit, but it's mostly hilarious to imagine a drunk Santa flying through the world giving gifts!!
But, in his drunken state, he goes on to look for his favourite cookies... Alongside those, he finds a horde of zombies and the story takes a turn!
Can't go much into detail, since it's a short on and so fast paced you'll be grabbing your sled tight!
So it's just zombie killing?
Naaah
It's about love, about family, about repent and mostly about moving on after something terrible! It's... About life really... But with very outrageous funny droplets all over!
Santa is not who we think he'd be!
Thank you StoryOrigin and Vaughn Ashby for the opportunity to read and review this awesome story as an ARC in exchange for a review!!
November 3, 2021
I am a big fan of this author’s mostly hilarious books. This story is a collection of unexpected but well developed characters revolving around Santa Claus and zombies. I’m not a huge fan of zombie literature but I thoroughly enjoyed reading and reviewing this book. The world building is well executed but not diverging from our own reality by much. There are many ways this story could develop and following the author’s path I found an unexpected destination.
Due to language etc. this is an adult’s only book. That being said I recommend this book to all adults with a sense of humor.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Due to language etc. this is an adult’s only book. That being said I recommend this book to all adults with a sense of humor.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 13, 2022
I have listened to several books by Vaughn Ashby. I am declaring this one as my favorite. Maybe it's because I love Christmas, Santa Clause and reindeer.
So funny. So vulgar. So many zombies. So full of Christmas cheer. Love of family. Love of cookies. Love of booze. All in Aurora Wasteland.
I highly recommend the audio version of this book. The narrator really nails these characters. Thomas Gloom has many voices and knows how to use them! 5 stars plus for him.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Story Origin.
So funny. So vulgar. So many zombies. So full of Christmas cheer. Love of family. Love of cookies. Love of booze. All in Aurora Wasteland.
I highly recommend the audio version of this book. The narrator really nails these characters. Thomas Gloom has many voices and knows how to use them! 5 stars plus for him.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Story Origin.
November 1, 2021
This Santa is one of a kind, from hilarious to vulgar and back. His memory is playing tricks on him when he gets stuck in a house full of zombies.
A Christmas novella like you never read before: filled with profanities, alcohol abuse, excessive vomiting, rage attacks, emotional breakdowns and… zombies! I think the author had lots of fun thinking up new swear words. Just let your mind go blank, and enjoy.
A Christmas novella like you never read before: filled with profanities, alcohol abuse, excessive vomiting, rage attacks, emotional breakdowns and… zombies! I think the author had lots of fun thinking up new swear words. Just let your mind go blank, and enjoy.
November 1, 2021
This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
November 3, 2021
On a routine Christmas eve, after a fight with the new Mrs. Claus, who I’m obligated to point out has a great rack… boobs I mean not reindeer, Santa finds himself drunk, cranky, and living in his past… did I mention he’s cranky? And grumpy as shit, and preloaded will the latest Christmas profanities.
Santa fighting Zombies ,bizarre but it works.
This is a unique and different horror worth a read.
Do you laugh cry or hide under the blankets.....it depends?
Santa fighting Zombies ,bizarre but it works.
This is a unique and different horror worth a read.
Do you laugh cry or hide under the blankets.....it depends?
April 20, 2024
Santa of the Dead
Funny in a very gross way. Definitely not a sleigh bell ringing, tinsel slinging, Christmas Tree Lights flickering, cookie and milk Christmas story. Well there are cookies but with bourbon instead of milk and there are a lot of zombies. I mean just as the story gets started the zombies eat the reindeer.
Totally NSFW and packed with every Christmas profanity possible enough to make a snowman blush.
Funny in a very gross way. Definitely not a sleigh bell ringing, tinsel slinging, Christmas Tree Lights flickering, cookie and milk Christmas story. Well there are cookies but with bourbon instead of milk and there are a lot of zombies. I mean just as the story gets started the zombies eat the reindeer.
Totally NSFW and packed with every Christmas profanity possible enough to make a snowman blush.
April 28, 2022
Another wacky and hilarious addition to the Aurora Wasteland series. Santa of the Dead is a novella that does not disappoint! If you have liked any of the previous titles, you'll love this "holiday cheer". Santa, zombies, and holiday cheer abound in this funny horror book. Audio Version: Thomas Gloom does a fantastic job narrating this title!
May 20, 2022
I have read several novels by this author and all they do is get better and better. I was hooked from the first page. The descriptions of the land and the horrors that dwell within added so much to the intrigue of the story line. A vulgar, intense hilarious read. I received this novel from the author. I gave my true and honest review.
November 9, 2021
Santa of the Dead is amazing! 5+ stars
Mr Ashby is right...only Christmas makes putting up with winter. But add Zombies and Krampus and you add all the bells and whistles!
I love this story and so will you! So much fun!!
Mr Ashby is right...only Christmas makes putting up with winter. But add Zombies and Krampus and you add all the bells and whistles!
I love this story and so will you! So much fun!!
November 17, 2021
Exactly as bizarre as you'd expect in the Aurora Wastelands. Santa, zombies, and Krampus; oh my! There is an adventure, laughs, horror, and some mighty finely colorful language in this holiday short that's sure to be a hit with Ashby's fans.
August 18, 2022
Santa Claus taking on the horrors of zombie of black infection plagues of zombies on Christmas Eve.
Like it in all horror you have to deal with a little gore. Strong language for a Santa but then it was fitting to the story. Love twist an turn in story. Well done keep me involved until end.
Like it in all horror you have to deal with a little gore. Strong language for a Santa but then it was fitting to the story. Love twist an turn in story. Well done keep me involved until end.
November 19, 2021
This is an interesting take on Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" or "Shaun of the Dead" with a holiday slant. I think that this would be an excellent book/novella to release around Xmas.
December 2, 2021
Santa vs. zombies with some krampus mixed in. That's it. You don't need more.
December 31, 2021
A fun Holiday read! As usual, Ashby wrote an exciting and ridiculous story that nicely pairs the strange and unusual with complex human emotions and experiences. Very well done
September 17, 2022
Love it!!!
December 5, 2022
Great, often hilarious story well written by Mr. Ashby. This is actually one of my favorites by the author. Loved it!
January 3, 2023
Well this certainly was nothing short of entertaining. Lots of crude humor, blood, gore and zombies...And, of course, Santa.
Read
December 28, 2024DNF
May 25, 2022
Loved the early chapters and the way Santa entertains the reader with his humorous asides but I felt that the plot lost it's way towards the end.
The author has a real way with dialog that I found very amusing. A tighter plot would've merited 4 stars
The author has a real way with dialog that I found very amusing. A tighter plot would've merited 4 stars
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews