Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology

Christmas and Other Horrors (edited by Ellen Datlow) is a competent but ultimately disappointing anthology. The contributors are talented, and most of the stories are perfectly serviceable. The problem is not quality so much as category.

This is not a Christmas horror collection. It is, for the most part, dark fantasy and modern folklore.

Many of the stories rely on traditional folkloric figures or ritualized rules transplanted into the present day. In theory, that should be fertile ground for horror. In practice, too many of these pieces ask for an uncomfortable level of suspension of disbelief. Modern settings—touristed cities, contemporary social systems, public visibility—are treated as if they could still operate like closed show more folkloric worlds. The result is a persistent logic gap: who knows the rules, how are they enforced, and how are the consequences quietly absorbed in a modern society? The stories rarely engage with these questions, and the tension collapses once you start asking them.

Compounding this, a surprising number of the stories end well. Conflicts are resolved, lessons are learned, order is restored. That narrative shape belongs to fable or fantasy, not horror. A Christmas horror anthology should leave some residue—unease, consequence, contamination. Too often here, the stories reassure instead.

There are standouts, and they highlight what the collection could have been.
“The Ones He Takes” by Benjamin Percy, “Our Recent Unpleasantness” by Stephen Graham Jones, and “The Lord of Misrule” by M. Rickert all feel genuinely original. These stories use the Christmas or seasonal framework in ways that engage the modern world rather than ignoring it, and they allow the unease to linger. They understand that horror isn’t about rule-following—it’s about what happens when the rules fail, or when they are enforced unevenly.

Unfortunately, those successes are the exception. Most of the remaining stories are competently written but forgettable, resolving too cleanly and leaning too heavily on inherited folklore without interrogating how it functions now.

In the end, this is not a bad anthology—but it is a misfiled one. Readers looking for Christmas horror may find themselves underwhelmed, while readers interested in dark fantasy or modern folkloric tales may be more satisfied. For me, the mismatch between promise and execution made this a solid but unmemorable read. show less

Christmas is a magical time of year. It's often exemplified by whimsical happiness, merriment, and goodwill towards your fellow humans. Music and food abound, and people feel less burdened by their worries as the holiday magic and cheer overwhelm them, and often, it's a happy time to visit with friends and family.

Christmas horror - or at least, holiday horror - tends to be a mixed bag of "decent" to "not really that good", and often follows simple plots revolving around Krampus or an inversion of the Santa mythos. What makes "Christmas and Other Horrors" so fun, though, is that they're not really exclusively CHRISTMAS themed, but rather, all themed around the winter solstice as well as different parts of the winter season and the show more traditions people follow.

Sure, there are some that include Santa or some sort of gift-giving element. But it's more than that. It has stories about monsters that punish people for not keeping their houses clean during the new year. It has family trauma that goes back generations. It has Jewish mythology around Hanukkah. It has a ritual that must be done around the height of the winter solstice. It's a literal grab bag of stories of traditions, and what happens if we deviate from those traditions, or don't give them the proper respect they deserve.

So because of that, I loved this book. Plus, the cover is one of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen. It's embossed, and just feels amazing when I crack it open to read.

This one is certainly going into my favorites shelf show less

Very uneven collection of stories. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed one of the authors, of whom I am not a fan, and disappointed by another, that I usually enjoy.

I know I am among the minority of horror fans who don't enjoy Christopher Golden's stories. It's a style thing. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by the first story in the book, The Importance of a Tidy Home. I loved it! So much, that it persuaded me to set up a cleaning schedule for the coming year and vow to become a better housekeeper. Excellent short story!

After beginning and abandoning a few books by Stephen Graham Jones, I typically avoid his books. His story in this collection, Our Recent Unpleasantness was a delight. It begins with plain characters and a simple show more story. Then it then veers off course into a strange Lynchian universe. Trippy!

Alma Katsu's story His Castle is also a great read. There's something edgy and different to the lore that Katsu dredged up from the ancient days.

A little Lovecraftian noir with a NYC accent pops up in The Blessing of the Waters by Nick Mamatas. Good story with an authentic flow.

All the other stories were readable and fun. Except for the last two.

When I heard “climate change” in No Light, No Light my brain switched to the off position. I know I'm supposed to care deeply about the subject, but I'm sick of it. It doesn't scare me. It makes me tired and bored. At the first mention of the subject, I rolled my eyes and scrolled. I didn't read past the first mention of the premise.

Then there's John Langan's story After Words. Normally, I dig Langan's writing. Not this time. I couldn't finish the story. Dude. Don't compel me to read about your blow job in order to get the story. It's vulgar and creepy. show less

An anthology of horror and dark fantasy stories set around the winter solstice and its associated holidays. (Mostly, anyway. There is one story set in Australia where it's the summer solstice.) I really liked the idea of this one, as the longest night of the year seems like a great setting for some dark fiction and I figured a little creepiness might be a nice break from the more usual, rather sappier and more sentimental holiday fare. But I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I expected to.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the conceit, and I like the variety of approaches and the way the authors draw inspiration from a fairly wide array of traditions and folklore. And there are a few things here I did quite enjoy. M. Rickert's show more "The Lord of Misrule" is something of a standout, Stephen Graham Jones' "Our Recent Unpleasantness" was entertainingly weird, and Tananarive Due's "Return to Bear Creek Lodge" was well-written and engaging, even if the ending was perhaps not entirely satisfying.

But, I don't know. Too often I just kept finding things that annoyed me, or didn't quite work for me. Too much telling-instead-of-showing, too much unrealistic dialog, too slight, too obscure, too long getting to the point, a great idea the prose doesn't quite do justice to, etc, etc. Maybe I was just in a picky, hard-to-satisfy mood, or maybe I raised my expectations too high. It's not a bad anthology, really, and there were only a couple of pieces I actively disliked, as opposed to just feeling a little disappointed because they weren't quite all I thought they could have been. But, well... I am still a little disappointed by things not being all I thought they could have been. And only one or two of them even came close to giving me the pleasant shivers I was really hoping for. show less

I have a friend who reads a lot more than I do, definitely much faster than I do, and often he reads through a collection of short stories and tells me which are the best. And since I'm a slow reader, I'll just hit his highlights and then move onto my next book. This year, I bought this collection, looking forward to reading it leading up to Christmas (I almost finished on time) and I wanted to recommend certain stories to him. But since he's going to read this next December, I needed to take some notes to make sure I didn't forget.

So I've classified these 18 stories in the following way:

5 are stories I definitely want him to read. The best (imo) in this collection.
7 are stories that are still good and worth reading if he wants to try a show more few more, but not as good as the five above (one of these is somewhere in the middle of these top two categories).
6 are stories I suggest he skip. This is a strong collection, and even these are not bad, per se. They just didn't work for me.

Anyway, here are my recommendations:

The Importance of a Tidy Home, by Christopher Golden (good enough to read if you want more)

Nicely done, Ellen Datlow. Start this collection out with a story about the Schnabelperchten. Nothing I've ever heard of, and this really emphasizes the "and other horrors" part of the title of this collection. This isn't the strongest story in the collection, but it's solid. No real complaints. And as I knew nothing about the Schnabelperchten nor the details surrounding this Austrian folklore before I started, I felt it was worth the time spent reading it.

The Ones He Takes, by Benjamin Percy (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

Blissfully short, but not very original. Honestly, I've got not much else to say about this story.

His Castle, by Alma Katsu (definitely read this one)

I'd at least heard of the Welsh tradition of The Mari Lwyd, where festive revelers go door-to-door with a horse head on a stick (and hijinks ensue, presumably). This clever little story nicely subverted my expectations and surprised me in the end. Definitely worth a read.

The Mawkin Field, by Terry Dowling (good enough to read if you want more)

For me, something as bizarre as the image in my head of a refrigerator in the middle of a large field was enough to hook me, but the added component of imaging what it must be like to celebrate Christmas in Australia (early in their summer) added an extra bit of intrigue. I enjoyed this one.

The Blessing of the Waters, by Nick Mamatas (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

The Greek blessing of the waters tradition, at least as it is written of in this story, is interesting enough, but the tale told here wasn't enough to keep my interest. Skip this one if you'd like.

Dry and Ready, by Glen Hirshberg (good enough to read if you want more)

This 32-page story should probably have been 2/3rds the length, but it's written well and the creepiness builds throughout to what (I felt was) a satisfactory ending, even if I got a little impatient in the middle. I'm not sure what Jewish tradition is represented here, but it has shades of the golem to it, which fascinated me.

Last Drinks at Bondi Beach, by Garth Nix (definitely read this one)

It's only six pages. Yes, it's as predictable as you think it will be when you start reading it, but it's well written. Unlike the last entry, it's exactly the length it needs to be. A nice study in brevity, if not exactly the most original story told here.

Return to Bear Creek Lodge, by Tananarive Due (definitely read this one)

I really wanted to read more about these characters, such a rich backstory only hinted at here. The author says she's building on another story she published in a different collection, so I'm definitely going to seek that out, and she says these both might serve as the basis for a novel, which I would love to read. Also, as an aside, I keep hearing good things about Tananarive Due, so I'm going to look for more of her writing soon anyway. (definitely read this one).

Edit: A few days after I wrote the above, I sought out the first story, Incident at Bear Creek Lodge, and read it. It's good, but more importantly I think it needs to be read first. She said, in her note in this volume, that she sought to write a separate story here that could stand on its own. It almost does. But having the complete original story in mind adds so much detail that, without it, makes parts of the second story confusing, and even weaker. After reading "Incident" I re-read "Return" and, wow, I whole-heartedly recommend reading both back to back, if you can find them. And let's keep our fingers crossed that she writes that novel one day.

The Ghost of Christmases Past, by Richard Kadrey (good enough to read if you want more)

I enjoyed this one because I didn't know where it was going and when I thought I'd figured it out, it flipped the plot on me, and it was a fun ride. Not the strongest writing but a good and scary story.

Our Recent Unpleasantness, by Stephen Graham Jones (definitely read this one)

I'm a SGJ fan. I've read many of his stories and novels. I knew I would like this one. I ended up loving it, especially the little nuances that he adds to his writing, like how the main character (Jenner, his name is Jenner, another great weird little touch) worries throughout the story that he will come across as a peeping Tom. Or how the title references something barely mentioned in the text but by the time you've finished, it feels 100% relevant to the entire story. One of the longer entries here, but it doesn't feel like it.

All the Pretty People, by Nadia Bulkin (good enough to read if you want more)

I can't put my finger on why I liked this one. Maybe it's because I've been to parties like this (minus the horror element). Maybe it's because there's a lot going in here and the author, Bulkin, does a good job of keeping the characters distinct. I also think the writing is strong. It works for me. But something about it makes me think this is one of those entries that might work better for me than others. I almost marked this as a definitely read entry, but I backed down at the last minute. If I had a half-way mark between those two, I'd place it there.

Löyly Sow-na, by Josh Malerman (definitely read this one)

Not only was this a good story (clever and, at least in my limited opinion, quite original), but I loved how the author created an atmosphere that had me cringing through a very visceral reaction to what was happening to the main character. The writing style added an immediacy to what was going on that I found fascinating. I felt more involved with the story, as if I was there, than just reading it. I want to read it again to try to figure out how he did that.

Cold, by Cassandra Khaw (good enough to read if you want more)

Not bad. I liked the idea of the story, perhaps a little better than the actual delivery. I very much wanted to read more about what happened to this world and more detail about how it became what it had become, more explanation of the violence merely brushed up against to give the saint's purpose more meaning. It was a little too detached for me, but at only 10 pages maybe it was as long as it needed to me. I liked it. To complain that I wanted more isn't really a complaint.

Gravé of Small Birds, by Kaaron Warren (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

The author, Warren, says she wrote this because she "stumbled across the wonderful Newgrange monument" (wikipedia can tell you more about this) and it's clear she forced her story into this setting to take advantage of whatever mysteries lay therein. For me, it didn't work. Your mileage may vary. Also, at the longest story in this collection so far (tied for longest with the Langan story below), it dragged on too long for me.

The Visitation, by Jeffrey Ford (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

From the get-go, this felt like a parable and, sure enough, as it ended, it slaps you on the face with that parable message. Not a terrible story, but definitely skippable.

The Lord of Misrule, by M. Rickert (good enough to read if you want more)

I started out really liking this story, and midway through when the main character (Darla) confesses her big reveal I thought, "Oh, this is getting good." And then it didn't. I don't mind the way it ended. It just felt like unsatisfying ending, even though the first two pages of the story tell me, right up front, how this is going to end. The journey to that ending didn't do it for me. Not completely. But I wonder if maybe I missed something. It might be worth a re-read on my part.

No Light, No Light, by Gemma Files (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

I wanted to like this one, but it just didn't click for me. Don't start with a fascinating character like Tom the Liar and think I'll be so bedazzled by Ragnarök that I will forget about him. Just too much going on in these 20 pages. I don't even mean I wish it had been fleshed out to a longer format. Well maybe, but I don't think this writer has the chops to pull that off.

After Words, by John Langan (skip if you just want to read the better stories)

I'm so sad. Langan has written one of my favorite collections of short stories and one of my favorite novels that I've read in recent memory. But lately... what is he doing? This was a perfectly decent story, with a nice twist at the end, that he felt like spinning around a bit of erotic fiction because it "tickled (his) fancy" to mix the Christmas theme with erotica? Look, I'm no prude, but this didn't need to have the eroticism. I'm all for the shock value, but I didn't think it worked here. This would have been an equally compelling story if the plot didn't revolve around the Kama Sutra but just about any other spiritual journey these two young people could have gone on, and when the shock value doesn't actually add value, I have to wonder why it's even there. Plus, a story told by one character talking to another is a tricky thing. You have to tell the entire story in dialog that is believable. You, the writer, can't introduce your own voice in there at all or it makes what is coming out of the mouth of one of your characters feel foreign. Langan didn't pull that off 100% of the time. His own voice crept in more than a few times. Ultimately, for me, this was a disappointment. show less

Very grim and horrific in places, with a few well into the "deeply disturbed" spectrum.

And yet, all among the bustle and business of Yuletide or Christmas, so Ellen Datlow delivers another solid anthology as we've come to expect

A solid anthology with a number of very good stories. Very creepy stuff.