This is a nice collection of spooky wintry tales to chill your bones and give you goosebumps. Many of the stories are Christmas themed. Ho-ho-horror!

Tim Waggoner really tapped into my own personal nightmare of driving at night and realizing there's someone or something running alongside the car:

"Despite yourself, you turn your head to the right and look out the passenger window . . .

The thing is white, has four legs, and generally resembles a dog, although it's larger, as large as a horse, and has a large rack of antlers like an elk . . .

It's smiling at you."*

Yikes! And, brrr . . .

* from Cold as Ice

This one felt okay. I mostly requested it because Nat Cassidy had a story in there, but I felt like none of them really hit what I was looking for.

Christmas horror is one of my favorite things ever, I don't know why, but I'd rather get a new Christmas horror story than jewelry or new clothes. And this book feels like a Christmas gift. Lindy Ryan is a master at what she does, and she has collected stories by some of the people I always read, and it's such a wonderful, delicious, fun, dark collection of Christmas horror. It's so fun seeing all the different takes on Christmas from a horror perspective.

𝒜 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝒸𝒶𝒷𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈-𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓋𝒾𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇.

This was definitely an interesting anthology. As with most short story collections there was a varying range of quality of each individual story but overall it was enjoyable. A few of the tales were simply confusing or unnecessarily gruesome and thus less appealing, while several stories were quite witty and almost comical though still adhering to the horror aspect of the anthology as a whole. Overall, the works were moderately creepy and suspenseful with only minimal gore or violence but still scary enough to remind you that it is a collection of horror stories.

Complete with killer snowmen, flesh eating monsters, abandoned houses, and vivid nightmares, this one is just right for readers who appreciate an eclectic mix of horror sub-genres, from campy to psychological. Pairs well with a cozy fire, hot cocoa, and a blanket to hide under.

Like most anthologies, this was definitely a mixed bag for me. While there were some real gems, there were also an unfortunate number of stories that left me wanting more. I'd rather focus on the standout pieces, though, so I have to shout out a few favorites: 'Mr. Butler' by Clay McLeod Chapman, 'Nice' by Nat Cassidy, 'Thaw' by Rachel Harrison, and 'Ghosted' by Mercedes M. Yardley.

I'm not sure this anthology will stick out in my memory much overall, but I enjoyed my time with it enough to recommend it to any readers looking for some chilling, wintry horror tales.

Unfortunately this collection did not leave a great impression on me. I think 22 stories is difficult to fit in this length - they're all so short and left me not feeling much.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

I love an anthology just as much as the next person. This one’s full of brilliant short stories by some brilliant writers. Some of these stories hit more than others, but this is well worth a read!

This is such a perfect winter horror read. It’s a collection of scary short stories set in the cold, and I waited until it got properly chilly in upstate NY to read it—which definitely added to the atmosphere! Most of the stories were really strong, and I loved how each one brought something different to the table while still fitting that eerie, wintery vibe. If you’re a fan of horror anthologies, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This is a horror anthology that is all about winter. We have some major horror writers in this anthology like Josh Malerman, Rachel Harrison, and Darcy Coates.

Unfortunately, I don't think anthologies are really for me. I always tend to give them three stars because I usually like some stories and hate others and it all just washes together for me.

I think this anthology was one of the better ones that I have read though. I still will be giving it three stars because I don't feel like a lot of the stories really stood out for me.

I do think that winter is the perfect time for horror and this book had a lot of fun vibes throughout. I would recommend this to people who like anthologies, however, it was not totally for me.

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books for the eARC of THE DARKEST NIGHT!

It’s not very often that I feel confident in recommending an anthology — anthologies tend to be very hit or miss for me & I prefer longer form fiction. However! THE DARKEST NIGHT was so good & I was invested in pretty much every. single. story!

THE DARKEST NIGHT is a terrifying anthology of 22 winter horror stories featuring Josh Malerman, Eric LaRocca, Rachel Harrison & plenty more! Literally, so many of my favorites are included in this book.

THE DARKEST NIGHT is a wonderful addition to any spooky winter TBR; all stories are very solid making this perfect for anthology lovers & those who are a bit more hesitant to pick up a collection.

This was an amazing compilation of stories from some of my favorite authors! I can't even choose a favorite because I enjoyed all of the so much. They were atmospheric, creepy, gory, and adding in Christmas made them that much better! I have always loved compilation books, especially those with horror stories, but I think this one has to be my favorite so far!

Winter is perfect for getting cozy with a book which reminds you of what you’re (not) missing in the cold darkness (or dark coldness). What I love about this one is the variety. Even though these are all respected horror authors, they bring such distinct voices that we are getting an eclectic mix.

The Darkest Night: 22 Winter Horror Stories is overall a solid collection. As with any book of short stories, some entries worked better for me than others. Featuring stories with creatures, hauntings, and gory violence, as well as more introspective tales about grief and family, nearly every subgenre of horror is represented.

I really enjoyed "Mr. Butler" by Clay McLeod Chapman, "Thaw" by Rachel Harrison, and "Bruiser" by Jamie Flanagan, but my top two in the collection were "Nice" by Nat Cassidy and "Eggnog" by Kristi DeMeester. "Nice" was such a deliciously nasty story and really scratched my campy Christmas horror itch. "Eggnog" was perfectly executed and had me rejoicing for tired new moms everywhere.

This collection is bursting with big names, and I will admit that a few of those big names' stories disappointed me, but I'm not calling anyone out. I highly recommend this collection for those long, dark winter nights...preferably with a glass of mulled wine or a hot toddy. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

The Darkest Night edited by Lindy Ryan was an intriguing collection of horror short stories with brilliant authors and a beautiful collection of narratives and points of view. Pretty brilliant!

I read a little over half the stories but I got bored. I wanted to like this one because I like some authors, but I couldn't get through them. I wish it was a little scarier and something more.

Thank you Netgalley

I wanted to like this book so badly. While there are some new-to-me authors in this collection, many of these stories were written by some of my favorites. I think I struggled most with the amount of authors and the lengths of some of the stories. I think this collection would have been stronger with fewer stories, as some of them felt like they weren't quite fleshed out enough and could have benefitted from being a little longer (in my opinion).

While this wasn't the collection that I'd hoped it would be, I still recommend readers to give this one a try. if it sounds appealing. You might end up enjoying it!

i’m normally a big fan of anthologies and short story collections but this one felt mostly mediocre and pretty bland.

there’s a lot of big names in there and several authors that i generally enjoy reading, so i don’t think it’s necessarily the chosen authors that made it feel meh to me? maybe it just wasn’t the right fit for me 🤷‍♀️

i do think there’s some stories that stand out more than others and maybe i’m biased because it’s also specifically authors i’ve loved everything i’ve read from them so far — but in general most of the stories with some oomph definitely was in the latter part of the book imo

in general it’s an okay collection of winter horror stories that are mainly depressing and grim to read. if that’s your thing, you’ll most likely enjoy this collection though.

/// ARC courtesy of Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley.

🌗Book Review🌗
*
Thank you so much @crookedlanebooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this Christmas/holiday horror anthology that Stephen King himself would be proud of. I loved this one so much! Some of these stories actually kept me up at night, I haven’t been that scared in a minute ! It was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me! Some of my favorites were:
Mr Butler- about a man whose box haunts him, his stepfather introduced Mr Butler the box as punishment and it will actually terrify you.
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Eggnog- which follows a disgruntled new mom who attends her husband’s work party, only to discover a self proclaimed “work wife” has quite the crush on her husband.
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Cold as ice- a man who is trying online dating finishes another unsuccessful date. Only to discover what it actually means to be described by a woman was cold as ice.
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Nice- a child is told he’s being too nice from Santa’s elves who are being worked in labor camp/sweat shop conditions. He shows the elf how naughty he can really be.
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QOTD- do you like winter/holiday themed horror books or movies ?! Personally I just love them! 😍 I included some recommendations in the graphic for other books like this one!

Some of these short stories were absolutely amazing! And some were just not for me. I found quite a few authors that I'm going to read more from, including Darcy Coates, Lee Murray, Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, Kristi DeMeester, Sara Tantlinger, and Mercedes M. Yardley. Their stories were my favorite. I especially enjoyed "Threads of Epiphany" by Sara Tantlinger. It reminded me of Katherine Arden and Naomi Novik in the way she handled the mythology. I would read an entire book based on this story! Same for "The Ladies' Society for the Dead" by Darcy Coates. I was gripped by this story and absolutely loved the ending. The last story, "Bruiser", by Jamie Flanagan was really good. I wish it were novella-length so we could dive deeper into the story and the paranormal aspect of it.
Like I said, there were some stories that just weren't for me. Some were just not my taste content-wise or thematically. Some were a little bit of a mess and reminded me of bad creepy pasta on reddit.
I would recommend this collection to anyone who loves horror and is looking for a good December read.

The Darkest Night is a delicious collection of creepy and spine-tingling stories. I mostly wanted to read this book for Rachel Harrison's short story, but quickly fell in love with ALL of them. This was a fun collection with the biggest and best names in horror. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this ARC!