Creepmas Reading

Ghost stories have been a part of Christmas for a very long time. If you're looking to carry on that tradition and/or inject some horror into your holiday, here's a few suggestions.

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“O Horrid Night” revives the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve, when it is said that the barrier between the living and the dead is thinnest, and spirits may walk the earth. Such tales were in vogue in Victorian England (remember good old Jacob Marley), but the origins of the tradition stretch back in time, in celebrations of the Winter Solstice, Yule, and Sol Invictus. Gather your friends and loved ones together, get cozy with warm drinks or a roaring fire, and give them the gift of a spine-chilling ancient holiday tradition.

FunDead Publications is near and dear to me. Literally near, they're based in Salem MA!I support them not just because they're local but because they do great stuff.

This collection of 9 twisted tales of Christmas horror brings together weirdo literary talent from around the world, all with the sole purpose of turning the most sacred of holidays on its head, and making sweet, sweet love to its defenseless ear holes!

I just finished this recently and it was my first trip into the realm of StrangeHouse Books. There are two solid horror stories and the other seven are...interesting. They definitely have horror elements but they also have a large dose of sex...sleaze is the best way I can describe it! I mean that in a good way. If you found this in a video rental place, it would be in the back room of the back room. If you're not used to this level of weirdness, it may be shocking to see icons of Christmas getting themselves on the naughty list. The $3 Kindle version is worth it for the last story alone.
But don't say you weren't warned about the rest of it!

The living dead love Christmas. Whether they're hanging their entrails like garland, using severed heads like stockings, or hanging body parts like ornaments, even zombies enjoy the most wonderful time of the year. Santa Claus isn't immune to the walking dead, either. Zombie elves, killer reindeer and undead hordes, all seek to share in the joy of the holiday . . . and tear Santa apart and feed on his flesh!

 This has a good variety of zombie Christmas stories. My favorite being "How Slappy Ended Christmas" which is about one of Santa's elves that finds out what really happens to the elves that aren't up to par and accidentally unleashes a zombie virus at the North Pole.

Matt Shaw has called upon some of the biggest names in horror to put together an anti-Christmas anthology of horror and weirdness!

I haven't read this one but it's only a buck on Kindle and all the proceeds go to charity. How can you say no to that? he asked as he clicked on the 1-Click Order button.

During the Victorian era, it became traditional for publishers of newspapers and magazines to print ghost stories during the Christmas season for chilling winter reading by the fireside or candlelight. Now for the first time thirteen of these tales are collected here, including a wide range of stories from a diverse group of authors, some well-known, others anonymous or forgotten. Readers whose only previous experience with Victorian Christmas ghost stories has been Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" will be surprised and delighted at the astonishing variety of ghostly tales in this volume.

If you're looking for tales that are more on the spooky side and maybe not so gory, this is a great place to start. There are three volumes in the series.

There are plenty books to be found looking for Christmas Horror.
Do you have any favorites?