Hark! the Herald Angels Scream

Christopher Golden — 2018

Eighteen stories of Christmas horror from bestselling, acclaimed authors including Scott Smith, Seanan McGuire, Josh Malerman, Michael Koryta, Sarah Pinborough, and many more. That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. Marley untying the bandage that holds his jaws together. The hideous children--Want and Ignorance--beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The heavy ledgers Marley drags by his chains. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Bestselling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.

Reviews

C. J. Daley @cjdscurrentread

Dec 30, 2024

Grabbed this on Audible’s end of year sale. With a title like that, it had been on my radar for a while.

A collection of Christmas horrors from some of the leading names in the genre. These were certainly more along the lines of what I was looking for compared to Christmas and Other Horrors, but still had a mix of Christmas and holiday traditions in it, making it somewhat similar.

As is usually true with me, Josh Malerman’s short was a particular standout. TENETS features a group of college friends meeting up for the holiday, but one friend brings someone with them that has a shaky past. Another standout was THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE CHRISTMAS HOTEL by Joe R. Lansdale. An old hotel, now derelict, but two friends remember the parties of old and one particular guest that stood out—a unique and creepy Christmas hunting. And lastly THE HANGMAN’S BRIDE by Sarah Pinborough was a mix of haunting and the supernatural, which to me still felt somehow A Christmas Carol-y.

Several of the other stories I personally could have done without, but that seems to be the way I lean on these big anthologies. Still, I’m glad I picked this one up when I did. While again, not exactly what I was looking for, another Christmas read down.

Kim@skullfullofbooks

Nov 15, 2021

This is probably averaged out from the stories in the anthology. You star out with a banger, and it drew me in, but there were maybe a handful of good stories coupled with those that didn't make the cut. There were way too many "and then X screamed," type of twist endings. Some were so weird that it wasn't even close to horror. There were so many times that I wanted to just be done with a story so I skimmed it or needed to put the book down for a bit. I finally got the audio but that was even worse, because even at 2x speed the stories were so slow. 😅 It is worth a read if you want Christmas tales mixed with horror. Just don't expect bone chilling, teeth chattering, throw the book in the freezer horror. It just doesn't deliver that.