A Long December

By: Richard Chizmar

Narrated by: David Stifel

In 1996, Richard Chizmar's debut short story collection, Midnight Promises, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Publishers Weekly called it "a sterling collection" while singling out "The Silence of Sorrow" as "an understated masterpiece".

Two years later, Subterranean Press published a mini-collection from Chizmar entitled Monsters and Other Stories. In his introduction, acclaimed genre critic Edward Bryant said, "When all is said and done, this book should leave you in utter silence, giving you time and opportunity to contemplate what you just read. Tough storytelling from a tough writer; but a writer who is not calloused. Chizmar possesses a finely honed gift of empathy. With utter grace and loving kindness, he'll put you right inside the life (and soul) of the monster."

Now, nearly two decades later, Chizmar assembles 35 stories, including a previously unpublished novella, and presents us with A Long December. This massive new collection features more than 150,000 words of Chizmar's very best short fiction and includes 8,000 words of autobiographical story notes.

Eerie, suspenseful, poignant, the stories in A Long December range from horror to suspense, crime to dark fantasy, mainstream to mystery.

©2016 Richard Chizmar (P)2017 Journalstone Publishing

Chizmar's Short Stories

a good collection - some better than others. I'm more of a fan of the supernatural more than the suspense/detective genre, but in this case it was reversed. I very much enjoyed his intriguing crime stories, especially the final one from which this collection takes its name "A Long December." All in all a highly entertaining read.

The stories are not bad

The narrator tears me right out of the stories. His voice should not be reading anything out loud. Voice… timing… pronunciation.
Just, no thank you

Exactly What I Needed!! Great Stories & Narration!!!

I really enjoyed these stories! Very enjoyable stories filled with suspense. I couldn't stop listening!

okay

I was on the fence about whether to give this 3 stars or 4. In the end, it was the story After the Bombs that tipped the scales. Really well fine story with the Chizmar feel. Most the rest were good concepts with a body that started to form but lacked flesh. I think Chizmar is much better in longer works when a tale is fully fleshed out. With that said, there are some good dark concepts here.

Loved each and every one of these stories!

I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of these stories because I was unfamiliar with Richard Chizmar's work. The depth of the characters and plots was perfect imo. I think David Stifel's performance of the matters was flawless! one of my favorite.

Would rather have read the book

Overall the stories were good especially the last one. The narrator although having a good voice put no passion into the read, one story I found out half way through that it was a female he was depicting. He did do a good job on the last story the rest he just read in a monotone and just sounded bored. Love this author after reading the button box trilogy

Dark and Immersive

Wonderfully narrated, powerful, creepy-cool storytelling. Highly recommend this fast-paced chiller. Short stories built to last! This book won't leave me soon.

Great stories

If you love creepy short stories with a twist you'll really enjoy this book. The narrator was excellent and paced the stories very well.

Stories good, reading not so much

I really enjoy Richard Chizmar's writing. The stories in this anthology are varied enough so that they don't feel repetitive. Not much horror of the supernatural or monster variety. It's more human beings as monsters, and many of these stories showed humans at their worst. I wasn't too keen on the reader though, and only listened until the end because of the writing. The reader had a speech pattern, pronunciation and/or inflection style that was very off-putting and constantly took me out of the stories. I would have given up if not for Chizmar's writing. I don't think I'd read anything by this reader again. All in all, loved the book, didn't care for the reader at all.

I loved it

Richard Chizmar is a master storyteller. A Long December takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride. It is right up there with Stephen King’s Different Seasons. Both are must reads.