Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Gingerbread Men

Rate this book
Eric abandons his fiancé, Eleanor, at the Edinburgh Christmas market, following a mysterious woman back to the hotel she owns in the Highlands. Here he meets the men that staff the vacant rooms. Men like him. Men with something to hide…

By day, the men carry out their domestic chores in the hotel, cut off from the rest of the world by the snow. At night, they tell horror stories beside the fire, hoping to entertain the woman they serve. They do not ask why there are no guests, why it always snows, why they can't go home. Seeds of doubt begin to plague Eric and, as he delves deeper into the lives of the men at the hotel, secrets are uncovered.

The Gingerbread Men mixes Shining-esque mystery with dark fairy-tales, serving up a perfect Highland hotel horror. Joanna Corrance’s nightmarish novel explores the quiet corridors of desire that pull us, and the places occupied by men and women in the tales we’re all familiar with.

297 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2022

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Joanna Corrance

3 books8 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
31 (22%)
4 stars
51 (36%)
3 stars
47 (34%)
2 stars
6 (4%)
1 star
3 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for K.J. Charles.
Author 68 books12.6k followers
Read
September 16, 2025
Scottish horror novel. A selfish prick is out with his girlfriend at the Edinburgh Christmas market when he sees an attractive woman and goes off with her. This proves to be a mistake.

It is, in effect, a feminist revenge fantasy told from the other side, with Eric's unspooling life and psyche played out for us. The shifts in reality/hints of wrongness are done subtly and with unsettling effect. Occasionally something of a tendency to tell not show, which gives the writing a workmanlike feel at points, and by its nature the story is fairly static, but it's imaginative and creepy and the Gothic nightmare quality keeps you reading. Plus, you know, seeing awful men get theirs is just *satisfying*.
Profile Image for Willow Heath.
Author 1 book2,286 followers
Read
June 28, 2023
Published by the fine folks at Scotland-based indie publishing house Haunt, Joanna Corrance’s novel The Gingerbread Men is a fantastically gothic fairy tale for adults.

We begin at a Christmas market in Edinburgh, where protagonist Eric is suddenly and inexplicably drawn away from his fiancee by the allure of a woman named Delia.

Showing no regret for his actions, however uncharacteristic, Eric is taken in a taxi to a remote hotel in the Scottish highlands; a place that never sees any guests and the snow never stops falling.

My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/modern-horror...
Profile Image for Petra.
434 reviews38 followers
December 12, 2023
I spent the whole novel wanting to slap the main guy so the plot twist and ending were so satisfying. It was a great buddy read because we were all hating on the guy and joking how Delia took him out of female solidarity... And then it ended up being true.
It was a real page turner and I had fun the whole time. It also made me crave Christmas cookies
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
210 reviews9 followers
August 22, 2024
I'd say a solid 4.5 rounded up

I really enjoyed the creeping sense of 'not rightness' that oozes through the book here. It's not a fast-packed and action-paced horror, it's an atmospheric and creeping Gothic that weaves together folklore and fear with the almost mundanity of a daily life in stasis.

I kept saying reviews where people talked about the 'twist' being predictable. I'm not sure what twist they were referring to. This felt to me like a pretty tightly plotted creepy Gothic work which slowly peels back enough clues for you to work out what's going on well before its fairly clueless and self-involved protagonist.

A little heavy on the landing re. the feminist undercurrents of the book (it felt a little like it held your hand a little too much for the explanations) but a really enjoyable read with plenty of layers to peel back through for an enjoyable second read
Profile Image for Susy.
1,444 reviews161 followers
February 1, 2026
3.5 stars
The first half had me wondering where it was al headed but in the end I liked the overall story and how it all came together. The pace was quite uneven though, at times it dragged.

Characters 7
Atmosphere 8
Writing Style 7
Premise 8
Plot 7
Pace 6
Length 7
Structure/Setup 8
Enjoyment/Engrossment 7
Narration 7
Profile Image for Logan.
273 reviews
December 18, 2025
I really tried, but despite liking the premise, the pacing, repetitive story beats, and telling rather than showing just made this a nope for me.
Profile Image for Katrina.
394 reviews29 followers
April 21, 2026
The Gingerbread Man by Joanna Corrance and published by Haunt Publishing who are sadly closing their doors within the next couple of months was truly a delightful find.

The novel begins when shortly after the main character, Eric, proposes to his long-term and long-suffering girlfriend at a Christmas market. Less than an hour or so later, when the couple are browsing the stalls looking at decorations, Eric's attention is completely captured by a mysterious, gorgeous woman beckoning him from a short distance.

With barely a word to his fiancée and without even looking back, Eric leaves the market with the glamorous stranger. After summoning a taxi, the woman tells him she owns a hotel up in the highlands.

Despite being staffed entirely by men and currently bereft of any guests due to the bitter winter, there doesn't seem much wrong with hotel. But even if there was, Eric is far too smitten with his new beau to notice. It's upon Eric's arrival at the hotel that the story truly begins.

First of all, I want to say how much I loved the premise and the execution. I'm a complete sucker for cursed places, otherworldly locations, and suchlike, so this book was completely up my alley.

The little hints of wrongness throughout were superbly creepy and I also enjoyed the little stories within the stories peppered throughout the book.

Eric was very recognisable as a character and despite his many, many flaws he was easy enough to root for and pity when his predicament became much clearer.

Admittedly, the novel is not without its flaws, I did wish there was a bit more emotion shown given the circumstances and when the actual horror of the situation revealed itself. However, the novel was crafted in such an interesting and unique way, it was easy to overlook.

Will definitely keep an eye out for more from the author on the back of it.

Highly recommended if you can find a copy.
Profile Image for Deea MC.
195 reviews2 followers
December 10, 2025
This book was quite the disappointment unfortunately. I understand what the author's intention was, but for me it failed to deliver. I would have wanted more despair, more angst, or more infatuation, more obsession. Neither was well done.

The book is also tagged as horror, but the only horror thing about it was the incredibly slow pace. The ending was predictable and unsatisfying. The stories told throughout the book were interesting and underdeveloped, I would have liked them to be linked more to the characters themselves.

I did appreciate the feminist undertones, I appreciated the villain's intentions, I just wanted more.

Men forget what the truth is and then they turn it into a story that suits them. We are always to blame.
Profile Image for Kirsty.
293 reviews30 followers
February 26, 2026
A brilliant new voice to horror genre and I agree it was giving off The shining vibes, along with Under the Skin and a dash of Nos4r2. I was enthralled to learn what was going to happen next but the revelation when it came was anti-climatic, it definitely needed some injection of drama to offset the brooding dread and aura of futility.
Profile Image for Mhairi Maclennan.
18 reviews
January 2, 2023
“The Gingerbread Men” seamlessly marries gothic horror with Scottish fantasy and takes you on a journey through the wintry Highlands that is at once recognisable, yet the uncanny is ever present.

I read this book in days; the characters cast a spell on you that propels you to keep reading. Phenomenal.
Profile Image for Holly.
269 reviews2 followers
December 10, 2025
I Listened to this on Audiobook and the narrator did an amazing job. This was a horrifically wonderful story, set like a fairy tale with lessons to be learned. I am so glad I was introduced to this book, it is one that will stay with me for some time and I will revisit in the future! So enjoyable and a great winter/Christmas read!
Profile Image for Algirdas Kraunaitis.
158 reviews12 followers
May 4, 2026
I want this book to be... better.

First of all, I like the story. I think the premise is interesting, creative, there is lots to work with, lots of possibilities. But in execution I felt there were a lot of missed opportunities. For example, the main antagonist could have been more interesting. Or the Hotel could have been described a bit better. Or maybe there could have been more events going on. The whole thing came out a bit shallow, lacking flavor.

Secondly, gender dynamics - a sort of crux on which the story is build on - could be read as subversive, but fundamentally I think are quite dated. If one thinks of vampires and their early historical portrayals: usually powerful male figures, hunting for submissive women. And here we have a woman - a witch of sorts - collecting men for her own pleasure. But I sometimes wondered: a bunch of men stuck in one place, surely some of them will turn out to be bisexual, or just sexually bored. I understand that they are supposed to be under a spell, but as, the book makes clear, that spell does not take over completely and is contingent on certain conditions - so, how would it work if two men fell in love with each other? What I am trying to say, is that the novel hinges on a certain gender bynary'sm, that I just found frankly old-fashioned - once again, a whole lot of missed opportunities.

Then, there is the ending. As sometimes happens while reading a book, an ending could salvage my opinion of this book. And this book came close to doing just that. I appreciate that the author did not chicken out and decided not to go with a happy-clappy ending. I found the explanation of the antagonist for her actions surprising, not because of what was said, but because her reasoning was mentioned in the blurb and hardly came about in the entire book. Still, it was convincing. But I decided that going through over 90% of the book kinda resenting it or being frustrated by it, just to be appeased by the ending is a cop-out and it should not affect my rating.
Profile Image for Paula Gilfillan.
54 reviews
January 18, 2025
This book is like a great Scottish BBQ pack you get at the supermarket: filled with the staples of link sausages, bacon and burgers, but then maybe a random pepper and black pudding thrown in. In other words, it has the flavoursome food that are the mainstay of a BBQ, but then a few wild cards that will have your guests hovering over the grate as you cook.

Even if you're not into BBQs, but like horror, this book is worth a brown sauce dip. It's a mystery (as good as the ingredients of Scottish brown sauce) and a creeping dread horror, but Corrance throws in gothic and dark fairy tales too. And just when you've settled in nice and cosy in front of the fire, there's a supernatural streak served up as good as the bacon.

Corrance has the novel piercing the cling film wrap when she adds an unreliable narrator who I grew to dislike as the novel sizzled on, leaving me with the subversive opinion of did I really want the narrator to have a happy ending? And like link sausages, there's a small but essential twist at the end.

I read it mostly at night before sleep, and at the time of the storms that hit the UK. And so this slithered into the creepy and foreboding atmosphere and setting Corrance so adeptly creates - to the point that I too felt stuck in a snow globe, but resisted to make any gingerbread.

So if you like traditional Scottish horror that has a claustrophobic and oneirophrenia feel that will have you greedily eating from page to page, then treat yourself to a copy of this novel from Haunt Publishing.
Profile Image for Entazis.
172 reviews
December 31, 2023
Holiday spirit but make it creepy!
It's the perfect combination of winter atmosphere, nightmarish Christmas mood, that timeless moment that feels it will never stop, and melancholic gothic horror. All set in a strange isolated hotel, somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, where our protagonist, an ✨️aspiring author✨️, gets trapped. Because he followed the beautiful, mysterious woman there... and it seems he can't figure out that something is wrong with the hotel... or the woman.

This was a lot of fun, and by that I mean it was a lot of fun to hate the main character and roll my eyes while he explained how he's the best while everyone else is so very basic. There's a lot of discussion about relationships and all the ways that men can dominate, manipulate, control and suck the life out of their female partners, so the story is also feminist horror. I also loved stories-inside-stories which were dark fairy tales that hold hints for the characters in the main story. But I have a whole video talking about the book, spoiler free, which you can check out if you understand Croatian at the Morina kutija YT channel - @morinakutija, which is why I'm keeping this review short.

The important thing is that if you're looking for Christmas horror, filled with snow, cold, dark nights, and creepy but alluring women, consider checking this out.
13 reviews
December 11, 2023
Really engaging! The Gingerbread Men had me hooked the whole time. I really enjoyed following the very flawed protagonist, it was perfectly written to make me get caught up in the dread of his situation and hope for his realization and escape, until he muses about how he views himself and the rest of the world. At which point I remember that, wow, this guy's a jerk. The premise of the book is delightfully sinister and watching what happens to the men is both frightening and intriguing. The revelations at the end of the book really sealed the deal for me, There's some heartbreaking stuff in here, and I enjoyed the dynamics of how people can be both victims of cruelty and cruel to others themselves.

My favorite part was I enjoyed the pacing and the way Eric's feelings about an old acquaintance changed through that section was super compelling. The scene planted just enough red flags that you may not catch at first, but they gradually build up into what you realize is the worst outcome for our protagonist. And then the last sentence of dialog in the chapter brings it expertly to fruition, and made me groan "Ohhhhh, noo!" out loud.
Profile Image for isha.
118 reviews
December 16, 2023
the premise for this was interesting. i found the protagonist exceptionally infuriating and though that is intentional, it doesn't make the reading any easier! i enjoyed picking up on the small details throughout the book that hinted at what exactly was wrong, even if the main character didn't detect them.

the first 20% of the book is nothing to be honest, it picks up a bit after but the pacing could be better. certainly does a good job of evoking the feeling of eternity in this story...

of course i loved the relevance of Scent and perfume to this story as well hehe. but other than that i got soooo bored. we saw the ending coming, it just took so long to get there, and the protag was so navel gazey and tedious with all the self reflection in his life. it was just not as thrilling of a read in terms of its own mythology/lore, like so many random plots and characters go nowhere.

yawn. seasonal read at least
194 reviews
December 22, 2024
Yule/Winter Solstice read while I rest and recover.

When I heard this was a dark feminist fairytale, my interest was piqued since I love all three of those things. I am happy to say this novel delivered on all three. Main character Eric is deeply flawed and willfully oblivious to it. Part of this novel's arc is his growing self-awareness, which irritated me slightly as I personally don't like horror and trauma as the catalyst for self-development. My interest waned in the middle, but came back with the twist when pacing increased and certain narrative structures started to make sense. I was particularly taken with Corrance's ability to subtly render characters psychology and shifting mental states. throughout the narrative. I also enjoyed the ending.
Profile Image for Jelena.
Author 24 books140 followers
February 13, 2025
Eric abandons his fiance at the Christmas market to follow a mysterious woman - Delia - and ends up in a hotel in the Highlands staffed only by men. At first he thinks he's Delia's new boyfriend and enjoys a free holiday before realizing the hotel has no guests, it's always winter, and each member of the staff has a dark secret.
"The Gingerbread Men" is a fast, creepy read about bad men facing dark justice. I loved the first half, where Eric's character was portrayed in detail and where the setting progressively got creepier and the mystery deeper. Then the story got a little fuzzy with Eric's breakdown, but it picked itself together and delivered a nice, if a little heavy-handed, ending.
Overall, a really fun book, I'm glad a friend mentioned it.
2 reviews
January 24, 2023
A must for any Angela Carter fans! Joanna Corrance crafts an entirely new corpus of fairytale folklore within the narrative of an eerie gothic horror that I devoured in a few sittings and will be thinking about for a long time.
Profile Image for Daynnah.
113 reviews5 followers
December 7, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up. This was a great pick for December and I absolutely loved the ending. I think a change in point of view would have boosted the story for me a bit because it drug out a little, but definitely worth the read.
80 reviews1 follower
December 19, 2025
Wow! I hope to come back and add to this review since I try to write a few words immediately after finishing a book.

This one is in my top 25.

So strange and awesome - I loved it.

“Once there were no more parties, there was no more friendship.”

“Everyone uses everyone.”
Profile Image for Erin.
1 review
January 22, 2023
honestly nothing happens, horrifically predictable and i was so bored the entire time.
Profile Image for Bryngel.
2,008 reviews14 followers
February 7, 2025
OMG, this took way too much of my time. It just took oh so long to reach the finale. Not recommended. At least it was fairly long, and that's always something with a pissy read.
Profile Image for Nadia.
155 reviews2 followers
Read
October 4, 2025
I just didn't like the origin story. It was too on the nose. Other than that - a nice Christmas horror story.
Profile Image for Michelle.
16 reviews
December 23, 2025
Overall it was an enjoyable story and the narrator was wonderful. It did feel too long and dragged in some places but I liked the premise and the stories within stories.
Profile Image for Becky.
10 reviews
December 26, 2025
Quite good story, but just dragged on way longer than it needed to.
Profile Image for kat ✨.
91 reviews2 followers
July 14, 2024
5:

See, it was written in the stars that this book would come into my life, because I just love::

1. Stories where men get what's coming to them
2. Gingerbread houses
3. A good ol' fairytale
4. Women

And this little story had all of them. It also got me out of a months long reading slump, so I give it points for that. Thank you Joanna Corrance.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews