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Book: “The Darkest Night: 22 Winter Horror Stories” by Lindy Ryan (ed.)
Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, September 2024
Where Did I Get This Book: The library!
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year. Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone.
From New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box Josh Malerman, a story of a dark Christmas past in “Children Aren’t The Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden.” From national bestselling author Rachel Harrison, “Thaw,” in which a couple spends their first Christmas together in a cabin—but are they alone, or does something else watch them from the tree line? New York Times bestselling authors, Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon’s “Wintry Blue” sets an innocent child on the road with a strange and monstrous creature. Bram Stoker Award®-winning screenwriter of Netflix’s Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher, in Jamie Flanagan’s “Bruiser,” something sinister stalks the chilling hallways of a nursing home at night. Author of Such a Pretty Smile, Kristi DeMeester, tells a tale of “Eggnog” a Christmas party, an over-friendly female coworker, and an angry wife are the recipe for a deadly cocktail party. Plus stories by Nat Cassidy, Darcy Coates, Clay McLeod Chapman, Tim Waggoner, and many more, with an introduction by George C. Romero and art by renowned British horror artist Mister Sam Shearon.
Review: I am the weirdo during the winter who absolutely LOVES the darkness that comes with the season. It’s probably because I adore the Winter Solistice, as it always feels so eerie and peaceful and filled with wonder, the shortest light day of the year creeping up and enveloping me in the darkness that I so love. I also really love horror stories that match up with a holiday theme, whether it’s Christmas or Hanukkah or Solstice or what have you, so “The Darkest Night” by Lindy Ryan has been on my radar for awhile now. And with Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice upon us in the next week, I thought this would be a great horror anthology to really get into the spirit of the season.
As usual I will highlight my three favorite stories, and then showcase the collection as a whole.
“Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are” by Josh Malerman : I really need to read more Josh Malerman, because whenever I read anything by him I am almost immediately blown away, and “Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are” was no exception. This one REALLY freaked me out, and it’s because Malerman knows how to build up a scare. A woman who hates every holiday is driving through the desert, only to find a door that leads to a closet and a horrific memory from her childhood she had long suppressed. Said memory involves what her mother had thought was a mistress skulking through the house, but was something else…. There was just something so unsettling about Malerman’s device as well as the descriptions of the supposed ‘mistress’ that was found inside a closet long ago. It really freaked me out.
“The Warmth of Snow” by Cynthia Pelayo: We all know that I really enjoy Cynthia Pelayo and her talent to bring out the eerie and the beautiful in her writing, and this story really reflected that. A woman lives fairly isolated in a home with her mother, rarely going outside due to a skin condition and fully immersing herself in Shakespeare. With a lot of obsessive tendencies towards “Hamlet”. This one was so strange and felt almost dreamy, with Pelayo’s slow build to a fairy tale that feels like it’s from the darkest of forests and nights. I was just struck by this one and the ending.
“Thaw” by Rachel Harrison: And I also really love Rachel Harrison, and I was most looking forward to her story because of a promise of an isolated cabin in the woods and something skulking in the trees! I mean, YES PLEASE! A couple has taken a vacation to a romantic cabin based AirBnB for Christmas, but the woman can’t stop thinking about certain things he does that may be a little untoward. Oh, and the fact that there is a snowman outside that seems to be moving. Harrison is a guarantee to bring in some feminist themes to her stories, and this one is about red flags in relationships, gaslighting, and also perhaps a killer snowman lurking outside that only the woman is taking seriously. It’s exactly what I would expect from Harrison and it hit on every level.
As a whole, there were a few other stories that really stood out to me, including “The Ladies’ Society for the Dead” by Darcy Coates, “The Body of Leonora James” by Stephanie M. Wytovich, “Eggnog” by Kristi deMeester, and “Being Nice” by Jeff Strand (which was a black comedy for sure and had me cackling AND cringing). The rest of them were a pretty mixed bag, from ones that I thought were fine to ones that really didn’t work for me. I did like seeing how all these authors approached the theme of ‘winter holiday horror’ and came up with some really varied and unique tales for the season.
“The Darkest Night” had some really high ups as well as some downs, but I think this collection has something for everyone. Don’t sleep on this one if you want winter solstice horror reading!
Rating 7: The stories that worked REALLY worked, while there were a few clunkers to make it a bit uneven. That said, it’s great horror reading for the darkest night of the year.
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Darkest Night” is included on the Goodreads list “HO HO HOrror”.
The Library Ladies 