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The Fright Stuff

There’s No Place Like Horror for the Holidays

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Emily Martin

Contributing Editor

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.

Horror fans, inside of you there are two wolves: one who wants to embrace the joyous holiday spirit and one who just wants to be spooky all year round. It might feel like they are pulling you in two directions, but you can have both!

Embrace your true creepy nature while also having a festive holiday season with these books.

the visitor book cover

The Visitor by Sergio Gomez

When five strangers find themselves stuck in the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas, they all take shelter in a nearby roadside diner. The storm is raging outside, and the snow is piling up all around them. But that’s not the worst of their troubles. When a sixth visitor appears seemingly out of nowhere, the five will have to fight for their lives if they want to have any hope of surviving the night. This is such a quick, edge-of-your-seat horror read that will get you in the Christmas spirit.

cover of My Darling Girl

My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon

This is not the Christmas that Alison had imagined for herself and her family. But when she gets the call that Mavis, her estranged mother, has cancer and is left with only a few weeks to live, Alison welcomes Mavis to their Vermont home. Alison’s relationship with her mother has been fraught with abuse and alcoholism in the past, but Alison is hopeful this might be their one final chance to make amends. Then Mavis shows up and strange things start happening. Alison suspects Mavis is not at all what she seems.

Christmas and Other Horrors anthology book cover

Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow

Why read one holiday horror story when you could read 17? Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Hugo Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow, features new horror stories about Christmas and the winter solstice by many of your favorite horror authors, including Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Josh Malerman, Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Cassandra Khaw, and more. The weather outside might be frightful, but these stories are even more terrifying.


Hope your holidays are absolutely horrifying, spooky friends! May your days be merry and your nights be scary!