I'm not a fan of winter, but I do like spooky stuff and this book delivers. We're getting into the cold weather here and I am now burning to mull some wine and open my doors to mummers with an animal head on a stick! There is so much information here about all the various Christmas traditions and where they might have come from. Lots of angry letters from religious leaders, plus some really nice nature scenes.

Thanks to netgalley and publisher for this arc. It does give some insight into history and international celebrations which was interesting. I was expecting more straight forward historical facts mixed with mythology but also got a first hand account traveling around world for the different celebrations such as carnival in Venice.

The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg is a journey through the historical characters and monsters that have shown up in Christmas law throughout the ages. Presented in the form of a travelogue, as author, Sarah Clegg travels throughout Europe and experiences the festivals and monsters for herself.

The intro and epilogue are narrated by Hannah Curtis, who has a very complementary voice for the primary narrator and author, Sarah Clegg. I’m not quite sure why we needed a separate narrator for these parts of the story but she does a good job setting the stage and wrapping up this book.

The narration by Sarah Clegg ads a personalized feel to her storytelling. Her history and experiences are told firsthand and the narration from herself ads credence to her storytelling. I didn’t realize when I started listening to this book that the author was the narrator, but I did think well, listening that the narrations voice and accent fit the vibe of the story and was nice to listen to. Sarah Clegg has one of those voices that you can just listen to and get lost in.

Look, if you're going to read a Christmas book during Halloween week, make it one about Christmas monsters. I love learning about the darker side of Christianity traditions that stem from European cultures. This book is a fascinating look at everything from the Mari Lwyd horse headed monster of Wales and other horse-headed Christmas beasts to Krampus of central Europe to scare away the evil spirits and frighten children into better behavior to the upending of social order of Carnival and Saturnalia.

The Dead of Winter is travelogue and historical research, and the author cites research as experiences across Britain, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, and Italy. Some of her research is tied to the popular thesis of modern Christmas season traditions, even those of monsters, relates to pagan mythologies, but she also indicates that a lot of that is folk speculation without scholastic sources. This doesn't diminish the frightening yet joyous celebrations, however, and this is a fun (and a little terrifying) trek through tradition.

I really appreciated that the author reads the introduction and epilogue: this is a nice touch to make a nonfiction book more personal while still having a professional read the majority of the book.