It’s that time of year—when weeks and weeks of so much cuteness and cheer make you really want to read some good horror stories. Thankfully, editor Lindy Ryan and publisher Crooked Lane Books present us with The Darkest Night, an anthology of “chilling stories” about the holidays from some of the best writers of horror and speculative fiction working today.
There are lots of great stories in this highly recommended anthology, but a few stood out for me.
In Gwendolyn Kiste’s “The Mouthless Body in the Lake,” we empathize with the narrator’s forlorn existence, the icy chill of her world and, finally, hope as she confronts what’s keeping a deep part of her prisoner for so long.
I experienced a real growing dread as I turned the pages of “Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden” by Josh Malerman. Josh mines the terror of confused childhood Christmas memories and creates new alloys of fear and redemption.
In “The Vermin Moon,” Hailey Piper takes a mother’s grief and twists it until we feel it in our own hearts. I wanted a different ending for her protagonist Melanie, but sometimes even Christmas wishes don’t come true.
“I Hope This Finds You Well” by Eric LaRocca feels like a wonderful homage to refined horror tales of the 19th century, but then the horror keeps intensifying, and there’s that punch ending. Love this story.
M. Rickert’s “The Buried Child” carries you along like a fairy tale or a river, all mysterious depths and turns and revelations. Poor Marlene’s suffering is couched in Mary’s dreamlike writing, but we still feel the terrible poignancy of her dilemma.
Sometimes a good thing turns out to be bad, and vice versa. Rachel Harrison in her story “Thaw” giddily dances that fine line, as we realize with rising horror things aren’t going to end well for one of the characters. But sometimes that’s a good thing.
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Kristin Kirby 