Christmas Horror

Something festive is growing in the sewer... After last year’s tragedy, Douglas’ parents are ignoring Christmas. But when Douglas finds an eerie strand of lights slithering through the sewer, he unwittingly unleashes merry terror upon his neighborhood’s tacky lights contest. String lights spread like invasive kudzu, turning festive decorations into surreal, predatory nightmares.

“Terrific. A wild ride….I loved it. It hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.” —Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy "Brom is that rare breed: a person who is skilled in more than one area of artistic expression. Here's hoping that he will continue to share his dark and often beautiful...

Hugo Award-winning editor, and horror legend Ellen Datlow presents a terrifying and chilling horror anthology of original short stories exploring the endless terrors of winter solstice traditions across the globe, featuring chillers by Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, and many more. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.

Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth...when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Kal.

It is 1890, and in the days before Christmas, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are visited at Baker Street by a new client. Eve Allerthorpe, eldest daughter of a grand but somewhat eccentric Yorkshire-based dynasty, is greatly distressed, as she believes she is being haunted by a demonic Christmas spirit. Her late mother told her terrifying tales of the sinister Black Thurrick, and Eve is sure that she has seen the creature from her bedroom window. What is more, she has begun to receive mysterious parcels of birch twigs, the Black Thurrick’s calling card.

"Marley was dead to begin with...." These chillingly familiar words begin the classic Christmas tale of remorse and redemption in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Now R. William Bennett rewinds the story and focuses the spotlight on Scrooge’s miserly business partner, Jacob T. Marley, who was allowed to return as a ghost to warn Scrooge away from his ill-fated path. Why was Marley allowed to return? And why hadn’t he been given the same chance as Ebenezer Scrooge? Or had he?

Twelve nights. Twelve stories. One season of goodwill gone horribly wrong. From horror author Kevin Lintner comes a chilling Christmas collection where cheer curdles into terror and every light on the tree casts a shadow of its own. Under the Mistletoe of Madness unwraps the quiet horrors hiding behind holiday tradition—family dinners, nativity plays, viral kindness, and corporate gifts that bite back. When the carols fade and the snow begins to whisper, you’ll meet: 🎅 The Santa Games — desperate men compete for a mall Santa job, but only the last one standing earns the red suit. ...

The festive spirit of American holidays is twisted into nightmares. Each tale unravels the dark secrets hidden beneath the celebrations we cherish. As the calendar turns, so too do the fates of the characters, each drawn into a web of horror that forces them to confront their deepest fears. In this anthology, every holiday carries a warning: sometimes, the ghosts of our celebrations refuse to stay buried.

Nine friends meet at Casa D’Amico, a log cabin by Pine Lake, Colorado, for their annual Christmas vacation. One of them is there for a very different reason. Murder and mistletoe mingle in the secluded White River National Park, but Alfie Burstow, a seasoned San Francisco homicide detective, has no time for holiday cheer. His last case before Christmas vacation just happens to be the murder of his former lover, Paige Lo Pinto. With his partner taking the lead on the investigation, Alfie heads off to Colorado for some much-needed R&R, unaware that a sinister figure dressed as an elf is hot...

This Christmas, a hero will rise from the trailer park. Earl Frost isn't what most people would call a hero. He's indoorsy. He lives with his grandma in a 1970s single wide in the Misty Pines Trailer Park. He spends most of his time taking care of his pet fish and working nights at Cecil's Gas 'n' Stop. Earl Frost also hates Christmas, which is a cardinal sin up there with pride and greed in Holiday Lake. Holiday Lake is like a town on a Christmas card, or in one of those holiday romance movies that play non-stop on TV. Everyone here loves Christmas. Except for Earl.

★★★★★ "Creepy Christmas. I must be a sucker for punishment. I am not a fan of scary stories, but this one hooked me in, and having dealt with my own version of pre-Christmas horror, I'm kinda liking the idea of an anti-Santa dishing out punishment for those on the naughty list." ★★★★★ "His darkness is awake in full garb, down to his bag of skins. Terror grips those who almost expect him. He is well explained in this horror short." 'Before the first child took a breath, he already existed. Not as a man or a beast, but as a shadow swirling around forgotten stars and in ...

Silent Night. Not Calm. Not Bright. Reggie was alone for Christmas. He liked it that way. But when he goes to a secluded cabin in the woods, he encounters something sinister among the trees. A strange red velvet sack waits for him along his hiking path. Inside is the gift of terror. Soon, Reggie finds himself thrust into a bizarre and horrifying world where the trappings of Christmas are deadly perversions of what he's always known. The only question is: will he escape with his life, or will he become fuel for a dark entity's fire and sustenance for its meal? Walking in a Winter Terrorland ...

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. The hideous children - Want and Ignorance - beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Best-selling 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.

On Christmas Eve in a remote Montana town, a long-forgotten warning siren tears through the snowbound darkness. For decades, Grimlock Island has been off-limits, its old bridge fenced off and marked with signs that winter storms finally rip away. When an unsuspecting couple camps along the island’s quiet shoreline, they cross a boundary that should never have been touched. Their presence encroaches on sacred territory, and the Sasquatch that have guarded the island for decades surge toward the mainland with brutal force. What follows is chaos. Homes are attacked. Families are dragged into...

The diabolically clever first collection from USA TODAY bestselling author Nat Cassidy, featuring his unique blend of gleefully terrifying fiction, and including a brand-new introduction from the master of horror himself, Stephen King! "These stories are f*cking great. They rule. So read them."...

It's once again Christmastime at Marlow House and the mediums of Beach Drive have all decided to stay in Frederickport for the holiday. Surprises await for them when the true Spirit of Christmas comes for a visit. Do you believe in Santa Claus? 

The lights are strung. The gifts are wrapped. But for these families, the guest at the door wasn't Santa Claus. For most, December is a season of warmth, reunion, and joy. But for homicide detectives, the winter break is often a time of high stress, simmering resentments, and tragic outcomes. In TRUE CRIME - Holiday Horror, author Logan Carter pulls back the curtain on the dark side of the festive season. From frozen rural fields to the neon-lit panic of modern cities, this collection documents twenty of the most harrowing cases ever opened under the cover of the season. Inside, you will ...

It's hard to know who to trust when you're worth billions. Christmas brings uninvited family members to Marlow House, vying for Chris Glandon's favor. One of them may have already killed for it. In the midst of the mystery, Lily is distracted with one question - what isn't Danielle telling her?

On the eve of her resignation, Sheriff Sterling Marsh prepares for a bleak winter in Drybell, Connecticut, after a string of bad decisions leaves her life in shambles. Two weeks before Christmas and expecting a long night of paperwork and quiet celebration with the friends she’s grown to know and love, she’s surprised when an unnerving stranger appears in the form of a witch. A silent, menacing figure, the witch appears to be ripped straight out of a fairy tale, complete with a tall, pointed hat, and black clothing. But when strange things begin happening all over town, Sterling begins ...

Rick Scroogeman hates Christmas. He can’t stand the carols and the pageants. He can’t stand the lights and the mistletoe. But what he hates the most is having to watch the old movie A Christmas Carol every year at school. Since his name is Scroogeman, all of his classmates start calling him Scrooge. And he hates being called Scrooge. But everything starts to change when three ghosts visit him. At first, he thinks it’s a dream. But then he realizes that it might be a nightmare. A nightmare that could become real.