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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

 

Posted on January 3, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Serpent’s Shadow by Daniel Braum

Cover art for The Serpent's Shadow by Daniel Braum

 

The Serpent’s Shadow by Daniel Braum

Cemetery Dance, 2023

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1587679322

Available: Paperback

Buy: Bookshop.org

 

Daniel Braum’s writing is always intriguing. His NIght Marchers and Other Strange Tales was an outstanding collection of dark fiction. The Cemetery Dance release of his first novel departs from quiet horror to regale readers with a chilling story that is well worth the read.

 

David and his family land in Cancun, circa 1986. He and his sister are looking for adventure, hoping to escape their parents. They find it in a nightclub where he meets Anne Marie, a beautiful young woman to steal the eighteen-year-old’s heart. Yet she isn’t seeking to kill him, only to befriend him. Her innocence and ties to the city only ensnare his attention even more.

 

The true adventure begins as they explore a Mayan temple. The cab driver informs them that not everything is ancient history. The teens discover the pyramid holds a group of natives, many of the modern sort, who ache to bring Cancun back to the olden days when magic ruled the land.

 

What ensues is a blistering dark fantasy story that brings the horror. Braum knows how to deliver solid horror: how to build the tension, slowly tightening the noose on the readers. The setting is rendered beautifully, both the tourist trap of the city with its saccharine glitz, and the rich culture of the Mayans and Mexicans, struggling to reclaim a culture lost

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David and Anne Marie are fascinating in the depth of their characterization, as both stretch out in intriguing manners. The plot twists and turns, via the dive into the cultural dichotomy of past and current, as even the slightest characters contribute to the story. The less said, the better about this short novel, as the surprises creep off the page.

 

Braum paints a bizarre tale that leaves readers aching to read more of the writer’s work. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on January 1, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Through the Witches’ Stone by Scott A. Johnson

Cover art for Through the Witches' Stone by Scott A. Johnson

 

Through the Witches’ Stone by Scott  A. Johnson

Timber Ghost Press, 2023

Available: Paperback

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

 

12 year old  Hadley and her younger twin brothers are stuck for the summer on her grandma’s isolated farm. It isn’t as boring as she expects: she learns she is descended from a long line of witches, and her grandmother starts teaching her magical spells. Hadley’s grandma has only three rules: stay out of the locked rooms upstairs, stay out of the woods, and don’t invite strangers into the house. But while the twins have each other, Hadley has no one her age to talk to, until one night she spots a girl in a white dress and sneaks out to meet her.

 

Although her brothers are uneasy, Hadley keeps it a secret from her grandma. There’s a magical barrier that prevents the girl from crossing between the house and the woods, so she lets the girl lead her into the woods, and they become friends. Then Hadley makes the mistake of inviting the girl into the house. She turns out to be a changeling, who kidnaps Hadley’s brothers and grandma. Hadley must go into the inhospitable woods alone and attempt to find and defeat the changeling to rescue her brothers and grandma. She saves a pukwudgie (a short creature with hedgehog quills down its back and a large nose that originates in Native American mythology) She is also accompanied by a duo of brownies she calls Tom and Jerry. Despite the unfriendly folk and forest, Hadley wins them over and eventually, after some really creepy and compelling adventures, rescues her family.

 

There’s a lot of grief work going on. Hadley’s father was killed in a car accident she blamed her mother and herself for. Her mother is grieving her sister, husband, and father. The pukwudgie is grieving his family. Much of this is about making peace and letting go of grief and fear, but it does not overwhelm this fantastical, scary tale reminiscent of Mary Downing Hahn’s books, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and Outside Over There.

 

 

Posted on December 31, 2023 by , Reply
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