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michellehogmire's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Thanks to BookSirens for an advance copy of this anthology, which came out yesterday Dec 2, 2020 from Midnight Tide Publishing--
Halloween is by far my favorite holiday--it always feels like the spooky month of October passes too soon--so I was delighted to discover this anthology of haunted stories about other times of the year, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each holiday-themed piece is influenced to a varying degree by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
The nine tales in this collection, edited by Meg Dailey, run the gamut from sweet stories about ghosts uniting romantic couples ("Between the Quiet," the first story) to genuinely creepy writing about a malevolent creature that torments a Black family for generations, from enslavement to the present ("The Recipe for Cornbread," the last story). Between these two pieces are stories of different lengths and themes: "The Spirit of You" follows an anxious singer who must figure out how to go on after her partner--and bandmate's--early death, while in "I Saw Her Again," a queer actor is visited by the spirits of three exes who urge her to take a chance on a new relationship. In "Yesterday's News," ghosts reveal a newspaper from the future that predicts tragedy for a family--unless events can be stopped in time, and "Paw Prints" is an absolutely adorable narrative of nested pieces, all about cats, framed as an aunt talking to her niece. In both "Coffee Talk" and "Bound By What," invisible spirits and ghosts influence relationships--both romantic companionships and business partnerships between friends. Finally, "Charing Cross" is an old-school ghost story with a detective case about an inheritance murder, complete with a fun spiritual medium scene.
Some of these stories succeed more than others (I tended to gravitate toward the ones where the plot centered on more than a romantic relationship), but overall this anthology was an enjoyable read--especially if you're looking to keep that slightly spooky, but not outright terrifying, vibe around through the rest of the holiday season. I'd recommend reading with a blanket, something hot to drink, and a nice cuddly cat.
Halloween is by far my favorite holiday--it always feels like the spooky month of October passes too soon--so I was delighted to discover this anthology of haunted stories about other times of the year, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each holiday-themed piece is influenced to a varying degree by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
The nine tales in this collection, edited by Meg Dailey, run the gamut from sweet stories about ghosts uniting romantic couples ("Between the Quiet," the first story) to genuinely creepy writing about a malevolent creature that torments a Black family for generations, from enslavement to the present ("The Recipe for Cornbread," the last story). Between these two pieces are stories of different lengths and themes: "The Spirit of You" follows an anxious singer who must figure out how to go on after her partner--and bandmate's--early death, while in "I Saw Her Again," a queer actor is visited by the spirits of three exes who urge her to take a chance on a new relationship. In "Yesterday's News," ghosts reveal a newspaper from the future that predicts tragedy for a family--unless events can be stopped in time, and "Paw Prints" is an absolutely adorable narrative of nested pieces, all about cats, framed as an aunt talking to her niece. In both "Coffee Talk" and "Bound By What," invisible spirits and ghosts influence relationships--both romantic companionships and business partnerships between friends. Finally, "Charing Cross" is an old-school ghost story with a detective case about an inheritance murder, complete with a fun spiritual medium scene.
Some of these stories succeed more than others (I tended to gravitate toward the ones where the plot centered on more than a romantic relationship), but overall this anthology was an enjoyable read--especially if you're looking to keep that slightly spooky, but not outright terrifying, vibe around through the rest of the holiday season. I'd recommend reading with a blanket, something hot to drink, and a nice cuddly cat.
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