Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

"Wolfsbane and Mistletoe" is short story collection from well-known authors who have been asked to write stories with two elements to them: Werewolves and Christmas, an unusual combination that is meant to provoke some even more unusual tales.

This is a re-read for me, to get me into the Christmas mood. This time I'm trying the audiobook version.

The collection opens with "Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris, a Sookie Stackhouse story. This was a fun piece where Sookie has a surprise encounter on Christmas Eve. The essentials of Sookie's character are all there and the plot elements reflect the structure of the books. Then Charlaine Harris adds a twist at the end that sets the story in a different light and explains the title. Good fun. My show more only stumbling block was with the way the narrator pronounced Sookie's name. I've never heard it read aloud before, but in my head she's always been SUE KEY. The narrator called her SUCK EE. That just sounds like an entirely different person to me.

"The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews is a tale of magic a Christmas that you can imagine being written with a truly wicked smile on the author's face. The idea is novel and the story is told with a lightness of touch that fans the dark humour without getting bogged down in unnecessary distractions like ethics and the nature of wickedness. It's rare to find an author who handles humour well so I've decided to check out her Meg Langslow series, starting with "Murder With Peacocks" which won the Barry Award for debut novel in 2006.

"Lucy At Christmas" by Simon R Green just passed me by. He has many fans and is in most of the anthologies I buy but what he's good at and what I want just don't seem to intersect.

"Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron is a story of two Fangborn siblings, a vampire psychologist and an ex-cop now PI werewolf, fighting an unexpected evil in present day Salem in the days before Christmas. The Fangborn concept is a trope twisting one which I won't spoil by revealing here but which I greatly enjoyed. The werewolf seemed more human than most of the characters I read in Urban Fantasy and I found myself hoping he'd get exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

I read the first Fangborn book "Seven Kinds Of Hell" back in 2014 and it didn't gel with me, mostly because I couldn't get behind the plight of the main character. I'm thinking that I should give the second book a try, in case I missed something.

"Werewolf Before Christmas" by Kat Richardson starts with a wayward werewolf, lost in the North Pole on Christmas Eve, eating a reindeer with a very red nose and then having to take his place. Over the course of Christmas night, Kat Richardson draws out the German Santa myths, together with his evil companion, Black Peter, punisher of children on the naughty list. It's a playful tale, that occaisionally descends into Christmas Carol style rhymes and rhythms and ends with a dark twist.

"Fresh Meat" by Alan Gordon is an original, tense, tightly written tale of an attack-dog trainer with a unique bond with the animals he trains. I'd never read Alan Gordon before but, after sampling this tale, I'll be seeking him out. He knows how to structure a plot and how to reveal it for maximum tension. His characters, including the dogs, are strongly written and not a word is wasted.

"Il Est Ne" by Carrie Vaughn is a Kitty Norville Christmas story. It takes place after book three in the Kitty Norville series, when Kitty has been exiled from her pack and her home city of Denver and finds herself so alone at Christmas that she eats a Pancake House just to have some company. Just when "It's A Wonderful Life" starts to play, she finds something completely unexpected.

I enjoyed this story tremendously. It's well told and well plotted. It shows Kitty in a good light without making her the centre of attention. It looks again at what is monstrous and what is human and how we become the choices we make. Most of all it interweaves all the traditional things you expect to find in a good Christmas story: kindness to those facing adversity Christmas spirit reaching past isolation, the importance of family and, as the title suggests, a miraculous birth.

"Perfect Gift" is an edgy and slightly devious werewolf story from Dana Stabenow. If you can guess the nature of the gift before the last couple of pages of the story, then you're more astute than I am.

"Christmas Past" by Keri Arthur is an urban fantasy rom com that was witty enough but a little too heavy on the romantic clichés for my taste.

"SA" by J.A. Konrath is a comedy on such a completely over the top scale that it makes "The Rocky Horror Show" seem like a Hallmark movie. I found it too loud and too long but that's just me.

"Star Of David" by Patricia Briggs is remarkable. She's crammed a whole novel's worth of entertainment and imagination into this short story. It feels complete and fully conceived, not just a Christmas idea wrapped in verbal tinsel. I'd like to read more about the werewolf at the centre of the this story but I feel like I've already been given a chance to get to know him and his family. I've had Patricia Briggs' "Moon Called" in my TBR pile for a while now.This story made me want to get to it soon

"You'd Better Not Pyout" by Nancy Pickard is a globe-spanning piece of humorous fantasy that pitches vampires against werewolves and gives us a Santa you really wouldn't want to leave cookies out for. The dialogue between the two Russian vampires is fun and the ideas are original but the werewolf is very loosely drawn. Still, the story made me smile and the ideas were interesting.

"Rogue Elements" by Karen Chance. There's a whole world in this story of treachery amongst the Weres in Las Vegas. The plot is satisfyingly twisty, the action scenes work well, the world is clearly drawn without massive info dumps and the main character is someone I want to cheer for. Karen Chance is a new author for me so I was delighted to see that there are a couple of series of books for me to explore. I'm going to start with "Touch The Dark", the first book in the Cassandra Palmer series.

"Milk And Cookies" by Rob Thurman caught me by surprise. It's a high school tale that is well-grounded in an unromantic understanding of what life in school is like. This makes the supernatural parts of the story even more effective. It also wraps itself around the idea of a family Christmas in interesting ways. This is a clever story that is also an engaging read.

"Keeping Watch Over His Flock" by Toni L. P. Kelner. This was the perfect ending to the anthology: a story of a teen werewolf having his first, angst-filled Christmas with his adopted pack. The story feels real, from the anger and frustration of the teen werewolf, through to the dynamics of the werewolf pack. The plot unwound at a pace that kept me wanting to know more and the tale itself was one that brought out a feel-good-Christmas spirit, despite the dark setting. Very nicely done, especially by someone who normally writes mysteries rather than fantasy. show less

I read this book because it has a Sookie Stackhouse story in it. Aside from the Sookie story, I only liked about half the stories in this book. Actually, I didn't care much for the Sookie story, either. Sookie has a one-night stand, and even with her grandfather's magic involved, that's just not her style. I did discover a couple of new authors from this anthology, including J.A. Konrath, who wrote my favorite story in the book, so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.

Happy Hair Raising Howl-idays! (5 stars)

A collection of Christmas tales with werewolves as central characters? Count me in. I'm a self-proclaimed Halloween freak. I look forward to it all year. But there's just something appealing about the idea of werewolves and Christmas stirred together. What's next from the clever editors though? They've done vampires and birthdays and now werewolves and Christmas... maybe witches and Valentine's or ghosts and graduations? Whatever Harris and Kelner come up with let's hope they can find authors with contributions as good as most of these turned out to be!

But let me break each short story down for you individually:

[GIFT WRAP] by Charlaine Harris, A Sookie Stackhouse tie-in this short story must take show more place pretty deep into the series. On the outs with her brother and just having met her great-grandfather she's spending her holiday alone until a hunky injured werewolf pops up on her property. Though rather short and a little anticlimatic it has a cute twist very suitable to Christmas surprises. (I'd also like to note that if you've not read the series and are currently watching True Blood it is a bit spoilery). 4/5 stars

[THE HAIRE OF THE BEAST] by Donna Andrews, When a brother's Christmas wish to become a werewolf gets his sister to translate a magical werewolf spell things get a little hairy. This one surprised me. I didn't really like it at first but I couldn't help but appreciate the hilarious ending. 4/5 stars

[LUCY, AT CHRISTMAS TIME] by Simon R. Green, A Nightside tale of love lost. Most likely the shortest in the book and actually one of my favorites. Highly romantic but tragic. 5/5 stars

[THE NIGHT THINGS CHANGED] by Dana Cameron, Claudia and Gerry are Fangborn, a vampire sister and a werewolf brother. It's their job to protect the world from bad guys but what if one of them turns out to be a fellow Fangborn? This story was okay but didn't really feel like a Christmas tale. It felt like it belonged in a full length novel. 3/5 stars

[THE WEREWOLF BEFORE CHRISTMAS] by Kat Richardson, Matt's been a bad little werewolf and eaten a certain red-nosed member of Santa's team. Where will Santa find a new guide for his sleigh on such short notice? This story has every great element I could have asked for and was the PERFECT story for this anthology. I LOVED it! 5/5 stars

[FRESH MEAT] by Alan Gordan, Sam Lehrmann trains guard dogs but this Christmas Eve he may need some guarding himself. This one will definitely appeal to dog lovers! It was an enjoyable short story that could have happened any time of year but was better for being set at the holiday. 4/5 stars

[IL EST NÉ] by Carrie Vaughn, A Kitty Norville story set before Kitty Takes a Holiday. Spending her Christmas at a Waffle House, Kitty meets a newly turned werewolf with no pack of his own and no idea how to control what he has become. This one really dissappointed me as a Kitty fan. It felt kind of forced and no one questioned she and David's odd behavior considering there was a murderer on the loose. 3/5 stars

[THE PERFECT GIFT] by Dana Stabenow, A family of murderers are brought to justice and a Christmas Eve born man fulfills a prophecy. This story had nothing to do with Christmas and was an overall dissappointment. 1/5 stars

[CHRISTMAS PAST] by Keri Arthur, A Christmas-time murder investigation brings exes back together. Just the sort of story the PNR fans are looking for, hunky hero, sassy heroine, sexual tension and a happy ending. 3/5 stars

[SA] by J. A. Konrath, Robert Weston Smith has been having... tummy trouble. Could his bowel troubles be explained by lycanthropy? And what does the Salvation Army have to do with it all? I don't think I've laughed so hard reading a werewolf story... ever! This definitely isn't for everyone, bring a very irreverent sense of humor and enjoy. 5/5 stars

[THE STAR OF DAVID] by Patricia Briggs, Can a father and daughter divided by his werewolf mistakes be brought together to save a young man's life and for a Christmas celebration? Is it so terrible of me to say that I liked this one better than Cry Wolf? I also loved the fact that Stella and her father were noted as not being caucasian which we just don't see often enough in urban fantasy! 4/5 stars

[YOU'D BETTER NOT PYOUT] by Nancy Pickard, Another Santa Claus tale with a wicked paranormal twist. Pretty funny and entertaining but hard to love after Richardson's better contribution. 3/5 stars

[ROGUE ELEMENTS] by Karen Chance, Set in the same realm as her Cassie Palmer and Dorina Basarab series, this holiday story centers around the Silver Circle and the werewolf clans. There wasn't a Christmas element to this one either really which was, yet again, problematic for me. I normally very much like Chance's work but this one didn't win me. 2/5 stars

[MILK AND COOKIES] by Rob Thurman, A story somewhat akin to the classic holiday film A Christmas Story. A big brother had to not only protect his sister from the school bully, but give her the perfect Christmas too. So cleverly crafted and subtle it was delicious, like my grandma's traditional "Snowball" cookies (Russian Tea Cakes) I devoured this one with childish delight. 5/5 stars

[KEEPING WATCH OVER HIS FLOCK] by Tony L. P. Kelner, Bringing Christmas back to its Christian roots this is a tale of a young werewolf and the family that has adopted him. When he breaks the rules and goes running in the woods he proves that perhaps the wolf is the most noble animal of all. This was absolutely touching and next to the melancholy offering from Simon R. Green it ended up being my favorite. 5/5 stars

Overall there were a few duds as far as my taste goes. When I bought the anthology I expected strong Christmas themes in them and was admittedly not happy to find that some were set around the holiday and didn't have a lot to do with it. But to anyone looking for a great holiday gift for a werewolf fan this IS perfect. And as an aside... there wasn't really any sex that I recall so it would be an appropriate read for even some teens. Now someone tell the editors I want a volume two for next Christmas!!! show less

I wrote this review at the time of reading this book, although I am adding it to my GR review over a decade later.

Read: December 2008

Last year two authors Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner decided to combine two traditional themes that never usually appear together to create a unique set of short stories. They decided to combine birthdays and vampires and invited other best selling authors to write for the aptly named anthology ‘Many Bloody Returns’.
This year Harris and Kelner decided to edit another anthology, again with two traditional themes that never seem to appear together and this year the theme was werewolves and Christmas, leading to ‘Wolfsbane and Mistletoe’.
An even wider range of authors sent in their stories for show more this year’s offering and the result is fifteen sci-fi and paranormal stories written by best selling authors from all over the UK and USA.
Several authors deserve special mention for their wonderful stories. In particular The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews, The Werewolf before Christmas by Kat Richardson, SA by J. A. Konrath, Milk and Cookies by Rob Thurman and, my personal favourite, Fresh Meat by Alan Gordon. Their stories were the best of the bunch, combining dark humour and plot twists with entertaining characters.
The two editors both started and ended the anthology with their own take on werewolves and Christmas. Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris kicked off the anthology with a sweet and simple addition to her Sookie Stackhouse series and Toni L.P. Kelner’s Keeping Watch over his Flock provided a feel-good ending that rounded off the book nicely.
Other writers who contributed their work include Carrie Vaughn, who wrote a short story entitled Il Est Ne as an addition to her Kitty the werewolf series, Karen Chance’s stand alone story Rogue Elements, Keri Arthur’s entertaining Christmas Past and lastly Patricia Briggs’ The Star of David.
Some of the writers were new to me but for the most part I really enjoyed their writing. Most notably among these were You’d better not Pyout by Nancy Pickard who wrote a dark tale about Russian vampires meeting Father Christmas and his nemesis, the werewolf tribe of Zimbabwe, Africa, and The Night things Changed by Dana Cameron.
Lucy, at Christmastime was one of the stories that let the whole anthology down for me. Simon R. Green’s offering was extremely short – only four and a half pages long – and lacked any tension, plot or memorable characters.
The Perfect Gift was another let down for me, although Dana Stabenow had clearly tried to create a good plot with drama and tension, the story felt flat and uninteresting.
Overall this anthology is definitely worth buying if your taste runs to paranormal fiction as the good outweighs the bad by a mile. show less

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Our December book for the Roadside Reads Bookcast, Wolfsbane and Mistletoe edited by Charlaine Harris was a wild ride. Not necessarily a great ride, but wild nonetheless. It seems my trouble with anthologies continues as there were more misses than hits in this book. Sure, there were a handful of authors that really hit the mark and made me laugh or feel something. Simon R Green had a great writing style that immediately made me run to goodreads to check out more of his work and add stuff to my TBR pile (here’s hoping I’ll get to his first Nightside book in 2017!) Carrie Vaughn‘s Kitty Norville short story seemed cute and I definitely added her series to my TBR. And Keri Arthur has so show more much stuff out, I don’t know where to begin!

All that said, the rest of the stories left me fairly unimpressed. The book starts off slow, peaks in the middle, and dribbled off at the end. It could have used better editing and perhaps looked at other authors that may have done a better job at creating holiday stories given the constraints. Some of the stories barely felt like werewolf stories, while others felt like it had nothing to do with Christmas.

To be honest, I think Wolfsbane and Mistletoe edited by Charlaine Harris would be better off being borrowed from the library or given as a white elephant gift than to be purchased by a serious werewolf story collector.

// I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title. // show less

**** Star of David by Patricia Briggs - read on 11/15/10

After accidentally killing his wife and her lover in front of his own daughter (Stella), David Christiansen understood why she was scared of him especially in his werewolf form. Getting a call for help was something he would never ignore, he would do anything to be a part of her life again. The help she wanted wasn’t for herself as much as it was for one of the foster kids that she was responsible for. A werewolf might be the only way to help Devonte Parish with his particular problem.

- What a sweet and tender story - from David’s point of view. A short story that shows exactly why Patricia Briggs is so good with her werewolf characters. I really enjoyed the vulnerability of show more all the characters, from the small child that had been beat up by a vampire to the werewolf that was there because he too is a monster in his own daughters eyes. show less

This was a great quick read. Most of the stories were upbeat, a couple were creepy, only skipped through one that was dragging, and reading it outside of the holiday season wasn't much of a problem. Yes, each story dealt in some way with a warewolf and the holiday, but these writers were very creative with the guidelines. Actually, the only one I didn't really like was the Charlaine Harris story. Big spoiler, but how is it ok that Sookie's grandfather essentially bought her a one night stand for the holidays? The whole thing was kinda icky.