Anna From Gustine’s Reviews > Chill Tidings: Dark Tales of the Christmas Season > Status Update
Anna From Gustine
is on page 148 of 219
* Green Holly by Elizabeth Bowen. One star. I think this is a story about a small group of British government employees doing something secret during WWII. For their work, they move to a small rustic village. There is a romantic triangle between three of them, all rather unpleasant people. I guess the cottage is haunted but I don't really understand what is happening and why. It's a confused mess of a story. Boo!
— Jan 12, 2026 03:17PM
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Anna From Gustine’s Previous Updates
Anna From Gustine
is on page 165 of 219
*** Christmas Re-Union by Andrew Caldecott. It's Christmas and a family is stuck with an unpleasant house guest. They try to celebrate by hiring a department store Santa. The story was fine. Nothing surprising but it kept my interest.
— Jan 12, 2026 03:20PM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 135 of 219
**** The Crown Derby Plate by Marjorie Bowen 4 stars. An older woman visits a recluse who may have the missing piece of a valuable plate collection. I liked this one simply because the main character was a sensible older woman dealing with an odd situation. The ending was a surprise. Not a ground-breaking story but entertaining.
— Jan 12, 2026 03:14PM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 114 of 219
**** The Festival by HP Lovecraft. 4 stars. A problematic but reliable author for me. The streak continues with this story. The protagonist must visit an old New England village for some ritual to which is family is tied. Do I totally understand what happened? No, but the Necronomicon makes an appearance and the atmosphere was great. And, yes, it does take place during Christmas!
— Jan 10, 2026 12:32PM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 101 of 219
***. The Fourth Wall by AM Burrage (1915) Three stars. A group of friends decide to spend the Christmas holiday in an old cottage with a reputation for being haunted. This story was soooo close to being four stars but it just didn't stick the landing.
— Jan 03, 2026 11:43AM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 82 of 219
** Transition by Algernon Blackwood (1913) Two stars. Algernon Blackwood wrote one of my favorite stories ever. The Wendigo was written in 1910, three years BEFORE this mediocre story. It's about a man on his way home to his family for Christmas who narrowly misses a car accident crossing the street. Very predictable for our times, but maybe not for the time it was written.
— Dec 29, 2025 11:21AM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 72 of 219
*** Old Applejoy's Ghost by Frank R. Stockton (1900). Three stars. This is not scary at all. It's cute though. A ghost and his (living) great-granddaughter convince a manor's owner to stop being a miser and throw a Christmas party. It has "The Canterville Ghost" vibes.
— Dec 24, 2025 10:21AM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 55 of 219
** The Old and the Counterfeit by Louisa Baldwin (1895). Two stars. A trio of friends spend Christmas at a manor supposedly haunted by a Cistercian monk. One of the friends is a skeptic and tries to play a trick on the others. The story meandered but I will say the ending surprised me. Still, it was not enough to rise above two stars.
— Dec 24, 2025 10:17AM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 32 of 219
**** (four starts) The Old Portrait by Hume Nesbit (1896) Artist buys a mysterious painting and decides to investigate it on Christmas Eve. Effective!
— Dec 21, 2025 11:09AM
Anna From Gustine
is on page 23 of 219
A Strange Christmas Game (1868) by Charlotte Riddell
*** Three stars. A brother and sister inherit a mansion in which an ancestor disappeared on Christmas Eve. Entertaining.
— Dec 20, 2025 11:02AM
*** Three stars. A brother and sister inherit a mansion in which an ancestor disappeared on Christmas Eve. Entertaining.
