Daniel Pyle

A book consisting of 24 quick, tiny, mean Christmas-themed horror stories, one for each day of advent, as an Advent calendar, if you like - and one more lengthy novella.
The 24 advent stories were fun, however a bit too unsubstantial for me at times. I wanted more from them, they sometimes felt like foam subsiding.
That's mainly because of the shortness of the stories, I guess. Each story only consists of a few 100 words which makes them easy and quick to consume but doesn't provide much depth/background. Some I found forgettable because of that, some I quite enjoyed.
Last Christmas, The Bear, Bylaws & The Snowman especially were very nasty little pieces of fun horror fast-food.
The novella The Snowbirds I enjoyed a lot, because it is a bit more 'meaty' in the storytelling sense and the more lengthy format adds some substance to it which it benefits from.
A nasty little high-school drama cum gory monster story set in the Florida Christmas sun.

I received this eARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program - Thanks, LT and author! - in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

You better watch out! In this collection of not so merry stories, you'll find that Santa is not always the jolly old guy with the beard, and the red on his suit may come from the blood spilled.
I love Advent calendars and was really happy to find this book, which offers one scary story for each day up until Christmas (if you can be patient) and, if you made it that far, an additional bonus novella. While all stories share the Christmas theme, each one is a delicious treat of its own flavor and I was positively surprised by how many different faces Santa shows, like the one on the gorgeous book cover.
This will definitely go to my re-read pile of Christmas books for years to come. Thank you Mr Pyle!… (meer)