Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by tobin_elliott
The 12 Frights of Christmas: 12 Seasonal Tales of Chilling Horror by Lenore Butcher
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
I've known Lenore Butcher for many, many years. We met at a Muskoka Novel Marathon, and we've been crossing paths at various writerly things in person and online ever since. It's always shocked me that, for someone who's so incredibly prolific, I've never really seen any of Butcher's stuff in print.
And a writer of horror with the name Butcher? Yeah, you should be in print.
So, I was very happy when she presented me with this, her first collection of short stories. Now, I am absolutely not a fan of Christmas in any way, shape, or form. Just not my favourite. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's a holiday that's ripe for a horror makeover.
Yes, I will admit to feeling a touch weird reading it in mid-March...but this was my first opportunity to get to it. Put me on the naughty list, I don't care.
I love that the stories are broken into "Countdown to Christmas" then "Christmas Eve" then "Christmas Day"...four stories to each section.
And I was also seriously impressed with the variety of stories as well, some quite short, some longer, with both supernatural horrors (and seriously, the damn nutcracker got to me) to far more realistic horrors (I kinda loved the Magical Wishing Squid). There's sex, there's death, there's love, there's hate...and it's all centred around that horrible time of year, Christmas. And it's a lot of fun. Butcher's glee at putting her characters through their horrifying paces shines through on every page.
Love Christmas or hate it, this is a fantastic seasonal collection.
And a writer of horror with the name Butcher? Yeah, you should be in print.
So, I was very happy when she presented me with this, her first collection of short stories. Now, I am absolutely not a fan of Christmas in any way, shape, or form. Just not my favourite. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's a holiday that's ripe for a horror makeover.
Yes, I will admit to feeling a touch weird reading it in mid-March...but this was my first opportunity to get to it. Put me on the naughty list, I don't care.
I love that the stories are broken into "Countdown to Christmas" then "Christmas Eve" then "Christmas Day"...four stories to each section.
And I was also seriously impressed with the variety of stories as well, some quite short, some longer, with both supernatural horrors (and seriously, the damn nutcracker got to me) to far more realistic horrors (I kinda loved the Magical Wishing Squid). There's sex, there's death, there's love, there's hate...and it's all centred around that horrible time of year, Christmas. And it's a lot of fun. Butcher's glee at putting her characters through their horrifying paces shines through on every page.
Love Christmas or hate it, this is a fantastic seasonal collection.