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Book Review: Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology edited by Ellen Datlow

Cover art for Christmas and Other Stories: An Anthology of Solstice Horror

 

Christmas and Other Horrors:: An Anthology of Solstice Horror edited by Ellen Datlow

Titan Books, 2023

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1803363264

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy:    Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

 

Many people think of the Christmas season as a cheerful time of year, but it’s always been a time where sprits, gods, and terrifying creatures roam. Ghost stories set at Christmas abound: Charles Dickens and M.R James both published them every year. Coinciding with the winter solstice, it’s also a time of sacrifice. Christmas and Other Horrors draws on this tradition, with a wide variety of stories, ranging from folk horror to apocalyptic clifi.

 

There are several stories I found especially enjoyable.

In “The Importance of a Tidy Home,” ,by Christopher Golden, grotesque creatures local to Salzburg, Austria murder residents of homes that haven’t been tidied for the new year;

“The Ghost of Christmases Past”, by Richard Kadrey, describes Christmas Eve with Laura, who boards herself into her house every year to prevent the return of a cannibalistic witch who ate her brother in front of her, to her husband’s disbelief;

“All The Pretty People” by Nadia Bulkin, describes a Festivus party reuniting college friends, who are surprised when their friend Sam, who ghosted them months ago, arrives

“Cold”, by Cassandra Khaw, is an apocalyptic clifi story in which a saint, Brede, arrives every year on the winter solstice, asking if she can stay and sleep until spring… but what happens when spring doesn”t come? The figurative language and world-building in this story were fantastic.

In “Löyly Sow-na”,by Josh Malerman, Russell visits his Finnish girlfriend Hannele’s family, where he is trapped in a sauna with her father. I had no idea how this story was going to play out!

“Grave of Small Birds”, by Kaaron Warren, is a folk horror tale in which a bad-tempered reality show chef specializing in medieval cookery takes a job on a small British island with strange Christmas traditions. While it was fairly predictable, the setting was well-done. The main character was unlikable, so I found the ending very satisfying. This was a very atmospheric story, and descriptions of the island and its unusual traditions were excellent..

 

While the winter solstice and the Christmas season have passed, I can recommend this book for any time of year.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror Vol. 3, edited by Paula Guran

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror Volume 3 edited by Paula Guran

 

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, Vol. 3, edited by Paula Guran

Pyr, 2022

ISBN: 978-1645060345 

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition  (pre-order) ( Bookshop.org Amazon.com )

 

Now that British editor Stephen Jones has discontinued his long-running annual series Best New Horror, the burden of choosing and collecting the previous year’s supposedly best short stories in the genre remains exclusively in the capable hands of two American ladies, Ellen Datlow and Paula Guran.

 

Guran’s  latest anthology includes twenty-three stories published in books and magazines during 2021. I haven’t seen Datlow’s forthcoming anthology yet, but, according to the provisional table of contents, this time there are no repeated titles featured in both volumes.

 

Among the authors collected in Guran’s book are some of today’s most celebrated and popular horror writers, but if these stories represent the best of their recent production, I must admit that 2021 was not a great year for horror, at least according to the editor’s choices.

 

But never fear, amidst various run-of-the-mill tales, there are some pieces standing out and providing engrossing reading and actual shivers.

 

“The God Bag”, by Christopher Golden, is an insightful, gentle story featuring a woman trying to get her wishes fulfilled by means of an unusual system. In  “Refinery Road”,  penned by Stephen Graham Jones, past family tragedies return to haunt the present.

 

Alison Littlewood contributes the subtly horrific “Jenny Greenteeth”, where an evil creature hunts its victims by a pool, and  Alix E. Harrow provides “Mr. Death”, a perceptive piece about a recalcitrant professional reaper trying to save a little boy from his lethal destiny.

 

My favorite pieces are the outstanding, atmospheric “For Sale by Owner” by Elizabeth Hand, taking place in a mysterious, abandoned house where three women decide to spend the night, and the superior post-apocalyptic novella “Across the Dark Water” by Richard Kadrey, where a guide and a thief take a long and perilous journey to get to a target which is actually not what they expect.

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Book Review: The Twisted Book of Shadows edited by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore

The Twisted Book of Shadows edited by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore

Twisted Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1949140156

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Christopher Golden and James A. Moore, inspired to create a diverse and varied horror anthology, teamed up with Haverhill House’s Twisted Publishing imprint to create a collection that did not include the heavy hitters of horror. They wanted to highlight stories by new authors, and give as many authors as possible a fair chance. They also wanted to be able to pay the authors more than a pittance. To that end, the editors created a GoFundMe crowdfunding project in October 2016, asked for submissions, and required a blind submission process. Out of the 700 stories they received, 19 were selected, also by a unique and diverse editorial committee, for the anthology. I noticed that ten, over half, of the stories are written by women.

In Melissa Swensen’s “The Pale Mouth”, the world must remain vigilant in constant lighting, and no shadow may be permitted indoors or out. Layla, as the Primary of her household, has responsibilities in taking care of the home. Every lightbulb is monitored and has a life counter. If any light is found to be out or defective, it is her fault. But the darkness is so tempting.

“Cake” by M.M. De Voe tells the story of a frazzled mother in second-person perspective. You can’t seem to get your spouse to help keep an eye on the children, and your beautiful toddler daughter has a knack for obtaining sharp objects. Surely, your two sons are to blame. Who could accuse that perfect blonde child who can’t even reach the counter of doing such a thing as getting the butcher knife, or getting a hold of the sharp cleaver, or locking the front door with you on the other side?

Eóin Murphy’s “The Birthing Pool” gives us a tale of Lovecraftian folk horror. A couple is expecting their firstborn child. Jim takes Sarah to the small fishing community of Danog to see his Aunt Sylvia for her final birth class. What happens is beyond Sarah’s comprehension. A town of cultists, ready to sacrifice their own firstborns at the birthing pool, is also ready to welcome Sarah’s sacrifice. However, Sarah isn’t one to back down, and Jim certainly deserves his comeuppance.

I have a soft spot for stories that include Alaska as a setting since it is my home state. In “Midnight Sun” by Andrew Bourelle, Alginak is the last of his people. Oil pipeline construction are destroying the land. He always seems to run into the same camp of white construction workers who don’t stop at the destruction of land, but also in killing the local wildlife, some of which he has befriended. Bourelle’s rich use of the Alaskan landscape is superb, and Alginak’s story is intense.

P.D. Cacek’s “Mirror, Mirror” centers on a mother’s obsession with watching over her terminally ill baby and her husband’s concern for her wellbeing. When he is finally able to convince her to rest, he makes a series of terrible mistakes.

That’s only a handful of the great stories in this anthology. I would like to see more collections curated in such a way where lesser known writers have the opportunity to publish their work. There are so many new voices, at least to me, in this volume that I want to continue reading. I do hope they all continue their craft. I’m glad to see that this has been nominated for a Stoker Award.

Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: The Twisted Book of Shadows  is a nominee on the final ballot of this year’s Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievment in an Anthology.