A good mix of some really great short stories and others that I didn’t really care for. Favorites were the stories by Malerman, Harrison, Pelayo, and Cassidy

I love anthologies for a multitude of reasons, and find that they’re great for when you’re really busy (like the holidays) or for busting you out of a reading slump. This one was so much fun and included so many of my faves in horror. As always, I liked some more than others, but I didn’t really find myself skipping over anything in this one so I would say it’s pretty solid. Perfect for the busy holiday season coming up, or any cold winter’s night if you’re a planner or aesthetic reader like me. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for my eARC. The Darkest Night is available now.

When asked to recommend a new author or genre, I always recommend an anthology or two. These books showcase the skills of many authors at all stages of their experiences. The books typically center a theme, this one is winter horrors, and each author gives the reader a taste of the horror most authors need a much longer venue to reach. With the apt editing and guidance of Lindy Ryan, these stories will give you thrills, goose bumps, creep you out or leave you jumping at noises. Every one of them is a small jewel so of course, you'll love some more than others. But that's the point, to find new authors to love.

This book consists of 22 spooky short stories from authors we know and love!

Especially with the popular names on the cover I thought this was going to be a killer read for spooky season! It unfortunately didn’t hold my interest and I found myself just trying to get through it. There were only 1-2 stories I really enjoyed and I really don’t remember much about them now.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Lindy Ryan, and Crooked Lane Books for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This published on September 24th.

I have posted my review on Goodreads, my Facebook book club, and will make a TikTok.

I loved this collection of spooky short stories. I discovered some new authors and read some from ones I love. My favorite story was Thaw by Rachel Harrison. Thanks NetGallery!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars rounding up to 5 stars for GoodReads. I was a bit skeptical about this collection. The last winter horror collection I picked up, I really didn't have the best time with and I thought maybe I was not a big fan of the combination of winter and horror. But alas I thoroughly enjoyed most of these stories. There were a couple that had less to do with the theme/setting of winter than others but for the most part, all twenty-two tales stayed in the correct lane. Some were spookier than others. I don't think Mr. Butler by Clay Mcleod Chapman will ever leave my head. I'm not sure why that story struck such a visceral cord with me, but it did. Another really good one from this collection was Nice by Nat Cassidy. I was familiar with a bulk of the authors in this collection but I am also glad that some of these were first time reads for myself. It put even more authors on my list that I need to check out in the future.

Winter and horror go together almost as well as Halloween does with terror. When we think of winter weather, we think of long, stormy nights, blizzards, and lots and lots of snow. All these conditions are conducive to strange things lurking just beyond our field of clear sight. Winter is also the Christmas season, and horror writers have long engaged in effective counterprogramming as we enjoy the seasonal festivities. Thus, we have the legend of Krampus. Lindy Ryan has produced a seasonal anthology, “The Darkest Night,” containing 22 tales of chilling (pun intended) horror in winter. As in any anthology of this nature, readers get a few lumps of coal. However, most of the tales will earn a high ranking on readers’ scary lists.

About half the stories in “The Darkest Night” are Christmas-themed, and several other tales feature stormy nights and barely seen people or creatures in the snow and ice. Those that don’t tap into either of these themes are often the weaker entries in the anthology. Although the editor undoubtedly had many classic winter horror stories she could have included, these 22 tales were all newly written for this collection. In considering what to include here, Lindy Ryan has a relatively broad definition of “horror.” However, I won’t quibble about including a comic or fantasy tale here that’s entertaining but not strictly horror.

Several of the anthology’s Christmas stories are among my favorites. Two involve the traditional “naughty or nice” lists, and they feature different comic styles. In “Nice,” by Nat Cassidy, a lazy elf named Twinklebottom tells a six-year-old boy that the large number of children on the nice list is having terrible repercussions in terms of stressful working conditions at the North Pole. He suggests young Mitchell “not be nice” (quoting Patrick Swayze in “Road House”). Twinklebottom thinks his scheme will mean less work for him this season. However, the result is a classic case of unforeseen circumstances. The narrator in Jeff Strand’s “Being Nice” is a 17-year-old who just got a lump of coal from Santa for not doing enough nice things to make the nice list in his last year of childhood eligibility. He tries to change his rating by doing enough nice things before Santa completes his yearly rounds. However, the narrator finds it tough to do nice things while wandering the neighborhood at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. The humor here is broader than in “Being Nice” but equally effective.

Another Christmas staple is the holiday party. The protagonist in “Eggnog” by Kristi deMeester is a new mother coping with the stress of motherhood while trying to survive her husband’s office party. Unfortunately, she winds up next to her husband’s gorgeous co-worker, who does not try to disguise her desire to get closer to hubby on business trips. The wife’s scheme to get even is one I’ve never encountered before in decades of reading similar stories. Josh Malerman’s “Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden” looks at another Christmas “tradition,” kids’ annual search for gifts their parents have stashed away. The protagonist of this story had an experience so bad that she’s hated all holidays ever since. Here, the finale takes place in the least likely Christmas locale, the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. This story is just as chilling as the more familiar snowbound tales, though. The most bizarre Christmas story is Clay McLeod Chapman’s “Mr. Butler.” The title character here is an empty box (I’m not kidding). This box originally housed a Black & Decker microwave that the protagonist Albee’s abusive stepfather gave his wife as a Christmas present decades earlier. Mr. Butler became the “personification” of all that was bad in the family relationship back then. The box now shows up on the adult Albee’s doorstep, giving him a fresh wave of bad old memories. This story could easily have been ridiculous, but the author makes it plausible (within the fantasy horror realm).

Things that go bump in the night are another common theme in “The Darkest Night.” In “Thaw” by Rachel Harrison, a couple goes on a winter weekend getaway in the country. However, an uninvited guest “shows up.” The woman sees a snowman, complete with a red scarf and top hat, in the distance. As the night goes on, the snowman keeps reappearing, ever closer to the cabin. It’s a familiar horror trope, but one the author handles very well. “Candy Cane” by Thommy Hutson is another example of a mysterious visitor on a winter night, but the story owes a great debt to Stephen King’s “Misery.” The year is 1974, and a best-selling horror author who specializes in detailed novels from a serial killer’s perspective gets a knock on his cabin door from a man who claims his car broke down. (Non-spoiler: it didn’t.) Instead, the man is armed, unhinged, and familiar with the author’s work. In the anthology’s first story, “The Mouthless Body in the Lake,” the wintry apparition isn’t off in the snow but just beneath the surface of a frozen lake. The story is written in the second person, so the main character, referred to as “you,” first spots the thing on a Christmas morning walk when she’s eight. The body in the lake resembles “you” but has no mouth. Over the years, she returns to the lake to find the body still there, only aging just as “you” does. This story may be the creepiest tale in the entire book and an excellent way for the anthology to start.

Some readers may quibble with including some stories in “The Darkest Night.” “Father’s Last Christmas” by Lee Murray seems like an episode from a TV series like “Game of Thrones.” A dying king summons his 13 children to tell them whoever gives him the “most princely” gift will succeed to the throne. Most of the gifts are more symbolic than practical, and a good bit of blood is spilled along the way to an enjoyable conclusion. “The Ladies’ Society for the Dead” resembles Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story.” Instead of four older men swapping supernatural tales in Straub’s novel, here, a dozen women hold their annual get-together on a winter night to relate their stories of ghostly apparitions. This tale has the best twist ending in the book.

In any anthology of this nature, some stories are duds. Unfortunately, they include the last pair in the book, so “The Darkest Night” concludes on a disappointing note. “Ghosted” by Mercedes M. Yardley describes a woman’s efforts to get past the sudden death of her husband two years earlier. It has supernatural elements but, overall, comes off as a bad “Lifetime” movie. “Bruiser” by James Flanagan takes place in a home for dementia patients. The story has tremendous potential but goes off the rails in a discussion about one patient’s plan to deface the Mona Lisa. The book’s most disappointing story started out great but fizzled about halfway through. In “Cold as Ice,” a woman tries to drive home in blizzard conditions after a bad dating app date. She spots strange creatures running through the snow beside her car, tailing her. The setup and atmosphere are great, but the eventual revelation of what the creatures are and what they want is a ridiculous letdown.

For those willing to judge these stories on merit and not whether they fit into preconceived notions of what is or is not horror, “The Darkest Night” is an excellent read. About 75% of the stories are very good to excellent, and they all fit within the book’s winter theme. As a bonus, “The Darkest Night” contains an introduction by George C. Romero, son of the legendary horror director George A. Romero. In it, the younger Romero discusses his literary route and the allure wintry conditions have for him. I would question the book’s marketing blurb that states it is “perfect for Halloween.” This is a great anthology for horror fans at any time of the year, but it can best be savored like an Advent calendar, reading one story at a time as they wend their way through December.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the book #TheDarkestNight by #LindyRyan. I loved this collection of short spooky stories and all they included. They were short enough to read quite a few at a time but also creepy enough with all that goes bump in the night.

I was really worried when I read the first two stories and they were both in 2nd person. I really don't like stories in 2nd person. But then it got much better. Some of my favorite authors and a few new ones. Just get past the first two.

*Thank you Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Anthologies can be a real mixed bag sometimes, you know? Some stories are good, and some are not as good. Occasionally you find an anthology were every story is so good! Well… The Darkest Night is none of the above. D:

I was honestly a little bummed out with this book. It is filled with so many great horror authors! Maybe my expectations were too high? I don’t know… but this was just a huge let down.

Normally you start off with one of the better stories right out of the gate. I don’t want to just dog on the first story being “bad”… but let me tell you… after I read it, I was just like “OH BOY.” D: If this is one of the “better” stories to kick off the book, what are the other stories going to be like??

I’m sorry. I tried to look for the good in this one, I really did. But story after story was just a chore to get through! Everything was so….. mediocre. :/ I felt so disappointed. I’m not sure what happened here? These authors are normally much better!! Sadly, I just did not like this book at all. 😦

The Darkest Night is a gripping anthology of Winter Horror Stories by Lindy Ryan.
This collection features an array of 22 horror stories from some big name authors.
I was excited and delighted to open this book up.
And let me tell ya it didn’t disappoint!
These chilling winter tales will captivate and intrigue you till the very end.

Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Release Date: 24th September 2024

A unique selection of ghost stories to enjoy in the darkest nights, that you could use as a horror advent of 22 unique stories.

There is a great mix of stories and styles from some brilliant authors (Nat Cassidy, Clay McLeod Chapman, Eric LaRocca and Darcy Coates), which I would rate from a solid 3 up to 4.5 stars (out of 5)

I really enjoyed being able to dip in and out of these reading one story an evening, especially as the nights are drawing in and I'm reading myself for spooky season, this book certainly helped get me in that mood.

If you like short horror stories then this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Whenever I read a collection of short stories, it seems more often than not to be my luck that there are some stories I truly enjoy and others I don’t. This book is one of those! Some stories gave me the spooky (and in some cases humorous) vibes I was looking for, while others were just more weird than spooky or I was let down by the ending. 😕

Here are some of my favorite stories in this collection:

❄️ Father’s Last Christmas by Lee Murray
❄️ Nice by Nat Cassidy
❄️ Thaw by Rachel Harrison
❄️ Threads of Epiphany by Sara Tantlinger
❄️ The Ladies’ Society for the Dead by Darcy Coates
❄️ Being Nice by Jeff Strand

I still would recommend checking this collection out, as I would say it has a little something for every taste! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

These are stories for the holidays, but think more ghost stories and gore than carols.

Each story is different and unique to the author that wrote it, but the mash up well as an anthology. They each have that holiday atmosphere turned on it’s head.

Stand outs were:

the Vermin Moon-lots of grief in this one, but leads down a strange path.

I Hope this Finds You Well-A club for men to deal with their urges for other men and a letter from a club member draws us to the club

Nice- what does being nice mean and would you do naughty things to be nice to help Santa and his elves

Eggnog-what you feed mom you feed baby

I couldn’t wait to see what horror surprises were in it. It’s packed full of 22 short stories by some great horror authors. I guess I would say I was expecting a bit…more out of it. I believe they should’ve picked stronger stories to open the book with. Some didn’t give off winter vibes other than mentioning it was snowing or chilly. Some I would LOVE to see turned into a novel while others I wish I could unread. This is probably something I would read once and leave out for décor on the table during the winter months. A lot of the stories felt like they were missing the passion.

The Darkest Night edited by Lindy Ryan is a fantastic anthology of winter horror stories. It has twenty two small slices of horror from some of my favorite authors including Nat Cassidy, Clay McLeod Chapman, Eric LaRocca and Darcy Coates. It’s a strong collection of tales involving ghosts, grief, snowmen, Santa Claus, elves, horror writers, seances and other stuff. It’s a cornucopia of horror. Recommended for horror readers as it’s a peak into the twisted minds of these creative authors. ARC was provided by Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a hard one to review, being a collection of 22 short stories from some big names in horror as well as some that may only be known within the community, and it was even harder to get through. My main reason for requesting this one was because I'll read anything Rachel Harrison writes, and her contribution was surely a highlight, but there were also several authors whom I've not read yet but own some of their books, like Clay Macleod Chapman, Nat Cassidy, and Darcy Coates, that I wanted to get a feel for their writing style. I did end up liking their stories the most in this collection, and felt like I would enjoy their full length work. I thought Macleod had a similar way with descriptions as Grady Hendrix, who I liked, Nat Cassidy's writing was punchy and fun, and Darcy Coates nailed the creepy Gothic, even if I was very confused by the message received at the séance. I loved Rachel Harrison's message that you're better off alone than with an idiot man who condescends you and treats you like a servant. My surprise favorite in the collection was Eggnog by Kristi DeMeester, an author I'm not familiar with, which follows a new mother out for the first time since giving birth at her husband's holiday party, where she has to deal with the woman who is her opposite in every way trying to make a move on her husband. The claws came out in this one, and it was a lot of fun. Many of the stories in this anthology were not particularly scary and dealt with themes of family trauma and grief, which are always stirred up during the holiday season. A few had historical settings, and felt more like medieval or Grimm type fairy tales, and of those Father's Last Christmas by Lee Murray was the standout, with strong feminist vibes. Candy Cane by Thommy Hutson was a fun concept about a horror writer whose art imitated life, and received poetic justice in the end. The rest, I fear, were largely forgettable or just not my cup of tea.

Of all of the many subgenres and tropes that you can split horror up into, my favorite by far, is winter horror. So when I heard about this collection I KNEW I had to get my hands on it. And while typically I save my snowed-in reads for the snowy months, I had no problem making an exception and reading this one a bit early.

This collection features an array of stories from some big name authors, and these tails vary from supernatural to psychological, from gory and violent to unexpectedly sweet. I always find it a bit difficult to rate a collection of short stories, since inevitably I'm bound to feel differently about each addition, so my approach is to look at the overall vibe of a collection. And in my opinion, The Darkest Night hits the exact vibe I was looking for. This collection made me feel cold despite the 80 degree weather. It really captured the melancholia of winter. There are so many standout stories that I struggle to pick just one favorite, although if I really must, I absolutely adored Nat Cassidy's addition.

All in all, I'd say this is a very solid selection of stories, perfect for a future snow day.

"From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short holiday horror stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year.

Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan and with contributions from masters of horror like Josh Malerman, Eric LaRocca, and Clay McLeod Chapman, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone.

From New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box, Josh Malerman, comes a story of a dark Christmas past in "Children Aren't the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden."

From national bestselling author Rachel Harrison, in "Thaw," a couple spends their first Christmas together in a cabin - but are they alone, or does something else watch them from the tree line?

New York Times bestselling authors Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon's "Wintry Blue" sets an innocent child on the road with a strange and monstrous creature.

From the Bram Stoker Award-winning screenwriter of Netflix's Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher, in Jamie Flanagan's "Bruiser," something sinister stalks the chilling hallways of a nursing home at night.

Author of Such a Pretty Smile, Kristi DeMeester, tells a tale of "Eggnog" a Christmas party, an overfriendly female coworker, and an angry wife are the recipe for a deadly cocktail party.

Plus stories by Nat Cassidy, Darcy Coates, Clay McLeod Chapman, Tim Waggoner, and many more, with an introduction by George C. Romero and art by renowned British horror artist Mister Sam Shearon."

I mean, I was sold at Christopher Golden, but Jamie Flanagan!?! Hell yes!

A short story collection from some of horror's top authors. All these stories feature Christmas in some capacity and they are extremely bone-chilling. Get ready for the eeriest time of the year! Authors include Rachel Harrison, Josh Malerman, Kristi DeMeester, Hailey Piper, Clay Macleod Chapmand and Christopher Golden. There's even an introduction by George C. Romero, Jr. Edited by Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart, this collection of 22 short stories is not to be missed!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this e-arc.*