Christmas and Other Horrors

An Anthology of Solstice Horror

By: Ellen Datlow - editor

Narrated by: Carrie Coello, Andrew J. Andersen

Hugo Award-winning editor, and horror legend Ellen Datlow presents a terrifying and chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, and many more.

The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.

From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry . . .

©2023 Ellen Datlow (Introduction) (P)2024 Tantor

Mostly good

Different authors, so some stories are better than others. I the better part of them, and the ones I liked I really liked. Performance is fine, mostly just occasional lines read with the wrong tone.

Some people on other sites complained that the collection was more focused on the solstice than Christmas. That’s true, but I liked it.

It has both gory and psychological horror, but the emphasis is on psychological. That was a plus for me, but if psychological isn’t your thing then most stories probably won’t be a good fit.

Good narration on some okay stories

Grabbed this for a seasonal read on audible’s cyber Monday sale and dove right in.

This is an enjoyable anthology that features different holiday creatures, traditions, and locales. From the Christian Christmas, to folkloric creatures and the winter solstice. I particularly enjoyed that each story was finished with a small snippet of the author describing where they came up with the story idea. Which read like little behind the scenes inclusions.

But with a lot of these large anthologies, I have to wonder if creating them just for a large chunk of them to go to invited authors is the best move. Especially when many of these were just okay. My wonder is if the authors are writing just to be included off the invite, rather than a desire to write the story…which I could be entirely wrong, and enjoyment is subjective. That’s also not to say that I disliked any of them outright, and I appreciated how well rounded it was with its diversity of traditions, but maybe I was just looking for more of a Christmas-centric horror collection, which would be on me!

Stephen Graham Jones, Josh Malerman, and Gemma Files are a few standouts, with stories that I particularly enjoyed, as well as their reasonings for writing.

it was just ok

I got pretty bored as the book continued. it really didn't keep me interested. I found it hard to keep up with the story because my thoughts often wondered elsewhere as the boredom crept in over time.

Excellent and Eclectic

This was a great assortment of horror short stories from a very talented collection of authors, with or without the unifying theme of "Christmas".
I can't wait to revisit it year after year as part of my holiday traditions.

Uneven

There are some interesting stories here, especially the first and last ones. Sadly, the collection is uneven, and some of the stories are hard to follow or not particularly satisfying. A bigger problem, perhaps, is the narration. While some stories are read well there are stories that are set in places like Wales or Australia that would be far easier to like if the performance was read in an appropriate accent. Worth a listen, but uneven.

Aimless and Banal overall

The first three stories here were exceptionally well written and interesting while promoting a dark and festive atmosphere that this collection targets. Unfortunately, this momentum comes to a shuddering halt with the dull and incongruous scarecrow story. Having nothing to do with any form of solstice theme, a man driving through the South becomes obsessed with a "slow" little girl that hangs out in a field. She says she will build a scarecrow but never gets around to it. The end. The next few hours are full of this nonsense, off-theme plots and boring stories. There's a few decent stories mixed-in but it's mostly a meandering mess until it ends smartly with John Langan's witch story. Not one of his best but still pretty good, though not good enough to raise the average past a 5/10 overall.

Very Droll

All stories are flat out boring. The narrator clearly tries but it's just not there.

NOT CHRISTMAS STORIES

The first few stories are good, then it nose dives, worst of all is they many aren't Xmas stories, some publisher has lumped a few mediocre stories together called it Christmas Stories & then waits to rip you off with a Christmas book cover. Not worth it.

1 good story

Besides the opening first story which was great, the rest of the book either bored me or just flat out sucked. I was hoping for some great Christmas horror and this was a huge letdown.

Not worth my time

I had to horse myself to finish this book. A few stories were ok, most were boring. Don’t waste your time or credit on this book