by Ellen Datlow
First published 2024
This collection presents seventeen original horror tales that transform beloved winter celebrations into sources of terror. Writers like Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, and Alma Katsu contribute stories that explore the dark folklore lurking beneath seasonal festivities. The anthology draws from global traditions, featuring the menacing Austrian Schnabelperchten with their beaked masks and the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd that visits homes during the dark season. Characters encounter hungry golems that devour more than expected offerings, neighbors whose holiday cheer conceals sinister motives, and visitors who arrive uninvited through winter storms. Each story reveals how the longest nights of the year have always harbored fears alongside celebrations. The collection examines what happens when family gatherings turn dangerous and familiar rituals become deadly. These tales capture the primal dread that winter darkness brings, showing that the fire meant to provide warmth and comfort can become something far more threatening.
Genres: short-stories, christmas, horror
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: dark-folklore, family-secrets, holiday-horror
Setting: Austria, Wales
Period: Winter
440 pages · Paperback · Titan Books
Content warnings: gore, violence