‘The Darkest Night’ is a chilling collection of wintry horror and thrillers that delivers spine-tingling stories perfect for cold, dark evenings. The authors skillfully create an eerie atmosphere, with snow-covered landscapes that amplify the isolation and dread of each tale. The strength of this collection lies in its variety—some stories lean into psychological horror while others embrace supernatural elements, providing something for every thriller fan.

The character development in many stories stands out, with complex protagonists facing terrifying unknowns. However, a few entries feel a bit underdeveloped or predictable, which slightly diminishes the overall impact. Despite this, the collection consistently offers suspenseful, atmospheric narratives, making it an engaging read for fans of the genre.

A solid 4 stars for its creativity and immersive storytelling.

I love seasonally themed short story collections and The Darkest Night is a winter/holiday themed collection full of 22 good but some very dark stories with tons of popular modern horror authors like Josh Malerman, Gwendolyn Kiste, Clay McLeod Chapman, Darcy Coates, Rachel Harrison, Cynthia’ Pelayo, Eric LaRocca, Jeff Strand, Christopher Golden, and a lot more I loved that each story has a different narrator.

As with all anthologies some stories I liked more then others but overall it’s a very good collection perfect for reading/listening on a stormy winter night. Now that I’m finished here are the stories that I’m still thinking about. Mr Butler by Clay McLeod Chapman will have me looking at cardboard boxes very strangely for a long time. I Hope This Finds You Well by Eric LaRocca is what I always imagine secret societies and men’s only clubs are really about. Father’s Last Christmas by Lee Murray is like Game of Thrones in a short Christmas story. Nice by Nat Cassidy….probably my favorite, when Mitchell is told to be bad by one of Santa’s Elves, let’s say he does an extremely good job. Thaw by Rachel Harrison makes me extra glad we don’t have snow in Florida. The Ladies Society for the Dead by Darcy Coates is her specialty…spooky ghost story. Being Nice by Jeff Strand made me lol and be horrified at the same time.

I recommend this collection for anyone looking for a good wintry or holiday collection of horror tales. Not all are set at Christmas but all are wintry tales. I’m glad I got the audiobook,it was very well done and includes a wide variety of narrators with my fav January LaVoy included.

**Thanks to the editor Lindy Ryan and Spotify Books for the audiobook I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

This is a lovely gem of a book- the short stories are perfect for short spurts of reading (or listening to the audiobook). I was perfectly appalled by some of the stories. It’s a book to help you terrify yourself and wonder what is real and what is in the author’s mind only.

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. The audiobook was narrated by Andi Arndt, Imogen Church, Helen Laser, Lisa Flanagan, Jennifer Aquino, January LaVoy, Joe Hempel, Cary Hite, Gary Furlong, Matt Godfrey, and Stephanie Németh-Parker. The narrators really enhanced my enjoyment and kept me engaged with the stories. ALC was provided by Spotify Audiobooks via NetGalley. I received an advance listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"The Darkest Night" is a solid dose of excellent writing by some of today's best horror authors and will satisfy both newcomers and aficionados alike. I'm a fan of audio books and the various narrators kept the prose lively. Some of the stories are melancholy, others thought-provoking, some downright chilling (yeah, I'm talking about you, Eric LaRocca!) and all made for a deeply satisfying read. Pour yourself a warm cuppa and snuggle down into a dark night.

This was a fun collection of winter themed horror short stories. With 22 stories there is something for everyone. The narration was great with a full cast of narrators! There was one that really stood out to me, Mr. Butler. It’s about a boy and a cardboard box and it totally creeped me out. The Thaw and Eggnog stories both really grabbed me too. These stories were all atmospheric, creepy and will cause you to sleep with the light one!

If you enjoy horror and short stories, then I recommend checking this book out. You might not like all the stories, but I guarantee you’ll find at least a few you really love! There something for everyone horror lover.

This was a really strong short story collection! With there being 22, there were some stories that felt stronger than others, but each story delivered on the horror vibes. This would be a great collection to start at the beginning of December and read a story a night till Christmas. Looking forward to check out more works from the authors to my favorite stories!

Loved the audiobook! It has a lot of great narrators in here!

This is an absolutely incredible audiobook! I honestly loved each of the stories within this collection (which shocked me)! A truly perfect spooky read, that will chill your bones!

5/5

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! In the audio version, the stories are read by some of the top voice actors like January Lavoy and Helen Laser.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Spotify Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a great spooky season book!! This had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!!

This audiobook is great! Just in time for the spooky season. Some stories really set the mood because of the narrator, made my skin crawl at times. Our patrons that enjoy these types of stories will be excited to listen to this audio! Thank you for this ARC, it's such a treat to be able to recommend a next read for someone!

This was the perfect mix of Halloween and Christmas. A perfect, festive story collection for the end of the year. With all anthologies, I liked some stories much more than others, but overall this was great and the audio narration was fantastic.

The Darkest Night is now being released in audiobook form as a Spotify audiobooks production with multiple narrators. It's being advertised as an advent calendar of holiday short stories and it really feels like it. There are 22 winter horror stories to keep you company.
Some of the stories that stood out to me were:

"The Body of Leonora James" by Stephanie M. Wytovich is the 5th story and up until then the stories had a sort of calm bleak vibe but then this hit and the imagery was so disturbing. It gets a mention because it was the first one that felt scary and painted ugly pictures. It's a revenge tale.

"I Hope This Finds You Well" by Eric LaRocca is one of the more straightforward stories but it definitely has a sinister edge to it. At the end when I realized what was going on I got chills. It definitely makes you question peoples motives.

"The Buried Child" by M. Rickert is about a psychopathic manipulative mother and the atrocities that happen. This gets a mention because it was just sad and messed up.

"Father's Last Christmas" by Lee Murray is one of my favorites. It is more a fantasy horror and has to do with siblings and the gifts they present to the king.

"The Warmth of Snow" by Cynthia Pelayo felt like the stillness of winter. It gets a mention because it felt so melancholy and you could just feel the atmosphere. It's about a mother and daughter who find solace in reading and you get hints about what they could be.

"Wintry Blue" by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon felt like the first action horror in this collection. It's about a father and daughter who help someone on the road and what happens because of that.

"Carol of the Hells" by Kelsea Yu got me because of the last sentence. It’s about what you would do if you could change the past.

"Nice" by Nat Cassidy is one that stands out for sure. The Elf Twinkle Bottom enlists the help of a kid he really knows nothing about. This one felt very eerie.

"Being Nice" by Jeff Strand had the most dark humor. It's about a guy just trying to be nice and Santa witnessing it. Of course nothing goes to plan.

The other 13 stories were also good in their own ways. I will say that "Ghosted" by Mercedes M. Yardly about a widowed woman trying to get over the death of her husband had me gasping at the audacity of one of the characters. That one might actually be my favorite just because it made me so mad. I think the narrators really added to the stories. Not one was bad. Here is a list of some of them for those familiar with narrators : Andi Arndt, Imogen Church, Helen Laser, Lisa Flanagan, Jennifer Aquino, January LaVoy, Joe Hempel, Cary Hite, Gary Furlong, Matt Godfrey, Stephanie Nemeth-Parker.

This is my first horror anthology so I don't know what's the norm. I enjoyed it and there were indeed supernatural elements in most of the stories but many were about trauma and grief. I would say that the collection seems to veer more towards grim than spooky.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

The Darkest Night was just what I needed after the resurgence of summer when I’m already feeling and longing for a chilly spooky season. What was said in the introduction rings true, gather a bunch of jolly holiday-makers in a room, and they will gather around a fire and tell ghost stories.

I’m not entirely sure how to sum up my feelings for this compilation of winter horror stories, because there were some that were just okay, and there others that sent a chill down my spine. To be fair, I am new to short stories, as they are not typically in my wheelhouse. But despite that, I had a blast with this audiobook. I love the thrill of being safely spooked.

I was unable to put this one down. With incredible authors, there is something for everyone. Through these 22 stories, the winter horror element is the only commonality. These vary from holiday horror, beasts, vermin, monsters, the evil of humanity… This was a very solid collection. There wasn’t a single story I didn’t enjoy, which NEVER happens.

Some of my notable favorites:

Mr. Butler - Clay McLeod Chapman
Wintry Blue - Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon
Nice - Nat Cassidy
Eggnog - Kristi Demeester
Being Nice - Jeff Strand
Ghosted - Mercedes M. Yardley

Honestly though, each story in this collection is great. Winter and horror go so well together. The isolation, the cold, the dark… You cannot go wrong with the audiobook because there is a plethora of FABULOUS narrators that breathe more fear into each story.

🎧🎧 Book Review 🎧🎧 Told with a beautiful introduction sharing the tradition of Yuletide ghost stories, The Darkest Night shares this beloved tradition from around the world with those of us who might have missed this delightfully macabre guilty pleasure juxtaposed amidst the merriest time of the year. These twenty two horror stories are bone chillingly exquisite, written and told in a charming and inviting narrative that draws the reader in and then absolutely terrifies them. Short stories are a true treasure and Lindy Ryan has compiled a collection that will enchantingly haunt readers this holiday season!

Review is on Goodreads and will be on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

I’m not usually a fan of short stories, but this collection of short horror stories gave me serious chills. Written by some of the biggest names in the industry, this is one book of scary stories that does not disappoint.

So this is two separate five star reviews. First, the audiobook is fantastically produced and all of the narrators do an amazing job bringing the stories to life. I wasn’t sure how a story collection would work as an audiobook, but this is very impressive.

So, as for the stories themselves, all of these writers brought their A game to this collection and it’s hard to even highlight a couple because they are so incredibly good, but as I think about them I would have to say Nat Cassidy’s pitch black comedic “Nice” will probably be a Christmas tradition to read, and Hailey Piper’s “Vermin Moon” is a great example of grief horror. Honestly this is just a superb collection all around.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for this ALC!

I really enjoyed this chilly set of stories. My favorite were Mr Butler, Nice and Thaw! Although I liked all of the stories. I also enjoyed that there were separate narrators for each story, they all did amazing 🤩

I loved getting in the winter cozy spooky mood with these horror stories. There was a great variety of different scary story styles which I really appreciated. The narrations were great too.