On a dark and snowy Christmas evening at the mountaintop cabin in the woods, you are enjoying the holiday vacation. After putting the children to bed, you decide it’s time to read. The holidays have been filled with so much glitter and joy that you want to immerse yourself in something much darker. Thankfully, you have brought some of the best Christmas horror books to read.
You smile as you skim some of the titles, appreciating the author’s “punny” sense of humour despite the theme of the novels. However, once you begin to read, the cabin transforms into a vortex that pulls you into a different dimension of your imagination. The part that sends chills down your spine and makes the hair on your arms stand up straight.
No, Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore, and there is no Wonderful Wizard of Oz to send you back home. Here in this place, there are only the Ghosts of Christmas Past and the Silent Screams of Christmas on a cold winter night at the cabin.
If those books are not enough to get the wine flowing and your heart pumping two times faster, here are some of the best Christmas horror books available now.
The Fright Before Christmas written by Jeff Belanger
Long before Santa was a holly jolly fellow, creatures like Krampus, witches and other Yuletide monsters watched over children. It was a time when Christmas was dark, and misbehaving was almost unheard of. After all, you did not want to get a Krampus card. It was worse than being on the naughty list because horrible things happened to those who did not listen. Belanger takes a deep dive into the traditions of yesteryears in his 2023 novel, “The Fright Before Christmas,” which is horrifying because most of the Folklore is true. Imagine Christmas being something that you feared rather than celebrated.
Silent Night: A Christmas Horror written by Dinesh Deckker
Reading this novel in a remote cabin in the woods might be more realistic than you expected, but it certainly enhances the drama. Deckker’s Silent Night: A Christmas Horror follows Mia and her friends on vacation in a cabin that turns out to be anything but festive. Together, they must put aside their differences to confront the unknown, that is freezing around them, leaving them with no way to escape.
The Snowman written by Andie J. Fessey
Nothing embodies a winter storm like building a massive snowman in your front yard, followed by sipping hot chocolate to admire your creation. However, for someone like Charlie, snow only serves as a reminder of the coldness he feels inside his heart. Driven by his anger, Charlie sets out to create the scariest snowman imaginable, one that takes on a life of its own. He must find the courage to confront his demons and end the revenge he has unleashed, or the holidays will be ruined by this terrifying snow monstrosity.
If Krampus and snow-driven demons are not enough to add a bit of coldness to your bones this holiday season, UnHoly Night, Humbug and many other Christmas horror novels are yet to be published. They will be coming out in December, just in time for the holidays, and will likely go on sale for Boxing Day.
Image by Boyan Minchev from Pixabay
Writing has always been her passion and a voice for those who cannot speak. She considers herself fortunate to write every day and says her mantra is, "I drink coffee, write, and I know about people and technology." Her writing is diverse and can be found online on websites like LifeHack, You Have a Calling, Medium, TechCrunch and, She Knows.
