Hark! The Herald Angels Scream

by Christopher Golden, Joe R. Lansdale, Scott Smith, Michael Koryta, Sarah Pinborough Narrated by Charles Constant, Teri Schnaubelt

Overview

Eighteen stories of Christmas horror from bestselling, acclaimed authors, including Scott Smith, Seanan McGuire, Josh Malerman, Michael Koryta, and Sarah Pinborough.



That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. Marley untying the bandage that holds his jaws together. The hideous children-Want and Ignorance-beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The heavy ledgers Marley drags by his chains. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts.



Bestselling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/30/2018
Golden’s solid Christmas-themed anthology of 18 original stories plays on the darker side of the holiday season. Among the best are Michael Koryta’s haunting “Hiking Through,” about a brokenhearted man who finds an unusual solace along the Appalachian Trail, and Sarah Pinborough’s atmospheric novella “The Hangman’s Bride,” in which a young chimney sweep discovers horrors at the strange home of a gentleman hangman. Tim Lebbon’s “Home,” set in a postapocalyptic landscape, is a chilling meditation on memory and loss. Scott Smith’s superb “Christmas in Barcelona” is a wondrous and twisted take on “The Gift of the Magi.” In Seanan McGuire’s heartbreaking “Fresh as the New-Fallen Snow,” an unusual babysitter offers a new start for three children who have never known true parental love. Sarah Lotz’s darkly funny “Not Just for Christmas” is about an estranged husband and father who buys a genetically modified puppy for his family, with disastrous results. Stories by Joe R. Lansdale and John M. McIveen are straightforward horror while those by Elizabeth Hand, James A. Moore, and Josh Malerman rely on more subtle shivers, and Golden’s own “It’s a Wonderful Knife” is a pulpy treat. With few missteps, this lineup proves that the Christmas season can have plenty of thrills and chills. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

"Beneath the tree, the presents lie — a knife that vanishes, a crèche that lives, a house in London luring lonely tourists — each one wrapped with care, each one dripping venom. Every tale is unexpected and unsettling, leaving you enveloped in a shroud of Christmas dread.” —Grady Hendrix, Paperbacks from Hell

"Hark! The Herald Angels Scream is made of horror stories set at Christmas. The best of them have a wide range of tones: Joe R. Lansdale’s elegiac “The Second Floor of the Christmas Hotel” concerns aging and a long-unsolved mystery; Josh Malerman’s “Tenets” finds a disgraced cult leader awkwardly attending a holiday gathering; and Sarah Pinborough’s “The Hangman’s Bride” delves into history for a tale of a grieving husband, an orphaned child forced into a life of crime and a restless spirit roaming around a desolate home." — Polygon

"I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a creepy, chilly read for the holidays." — Sci Fi and Scary (.com)

"Hark! is a fun book filled with lots of interesting ideas and weird tales." — Dread Central (.com)

"I guarantee this particular Christmas stocking has some real gems lurking amongst the holly and mistletoe....Hark! The Herald Angels Scream is full of delicious and off-colour presents which are well worth unwrapping, or gifting to a horror loving friend." — Ginger Nuts of Horror (.com)

Hark! The Herald Angels Scream is a horror anthology perfectly curated by Golden to rip the wholesome holiday open and spill its blood on the freshly fallen snow." — iHorror (.com)

"The best part of the Halloween to Christmas time is that we get to take this time of ghoulishness to jolly celebration and make them all into something sinister if we want....Ultimately I will say that this was one of my favorite short story collections to read." — Where the Reader Grows (.com)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170215195
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	10/23/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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