CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY SUGGESTED READING LIST XIII (2025)

We’ve now reached Horror Delve’s Thirteenth Annual Christmas Horror Story Suggested Reading List. Seeking out these festive terror tales every year has added so much to my love of the season. In regards to this year’s list, I’ve not previously read anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald before, so finding one that’s a Christmas ghost story by him was a great introduction! I was also pleasantly surprised to discover “A Fall of Snow” by James Turner. I’d never heard of him before but reading that story made me want to look for more. Lastly, a know any list which includes stories by Ramsey Campbell, Paul Finch and Jim Moon can’t help but be a strong one.

On a side note, I assembled a list of my 13 favorite Christmas horror stories of all-time for the most recent installment of my regular column, Matt Cowan’s Horror Delve, in Nightmare Abbey magazine (issue #9). Here’s the U.S. Amazon order link if you’re interested:

And, if you’d like to listen to the great Jim Moon read a short Christmas horror story I wrote, follow this link to The Great Library of Dreams podcast for “Christmas Wine”. https://www.hypnogoria.com/gl_christmaswine.html . Also, check out out Jim’s Hypnogoria podcast for a whole host of Christmas horror-related goodness: https://www.hypnogoria.com

THE LIST:

“A Short Trip Home” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1927) – A young man who pines after a classmate named Ellen is disturbed when she suddenly leaves school, skipping out on a Christmas dance she had planed to attend. Angered by the news she had left, Joe Jenkle, a popular suitor for her attentions, along with the story’s narrator both follow her. They find her getting into a coupe with a shady-looking man as the driver. When Joe goes to confront the man, he gets punched out by the brass-knuckle-wearing fellow. Ellen implores them not to interfere, but they persist anyway. Something seems to have overcome her with the creepy, mystery man apparently the cause. This is a well written, ghost story by an iconic author. You can listen here for free: https://pseudopod.org/2023/01/27/pseudopod-850-a-short-trip-home/

“Tarnhelm” by Hugh Walpole (1929) – A shy, young boy is sent to stay with his two uncles at their estate at Christmas time. Kind and loving Uncle Constance stays in the main house with the boy, but the rather nasty Uncle Robert resides in a tower nearby. Uncle Robert seems to delight in frightening his brother and professes to have a magical skullcap called a Tarnhelm which can transform its wearer into the form of an animal. Soon, they begin seeing an evil looking yellow dog lurking about. (Found in the Horror For Christmas anthology edited by Richard Dalby)

“A Fall of Snow” by James Turner (1974) – A man’s lifelong melancholy regarding snow stems from a traumatic event he experienced at age fifteen during a visit to his aunt and uncle’s East Anglian house at Christmas. During that visit he struggles to deal with his overconfident cousin David but finds himself instantly infatuated by a lovely girl he encounters there. This is an exceptional story – beautifully written, with great characters, evocative setting and a pervasive feeling of ominous dread. (Found in Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales For the Longest Nights anthology)

“The Santa” by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (1988) – A little girl gripping her stuffed animal on Christmas Eve is both fearful and excited when she glimpses Santa Claus moving about her house. This Santa proves to be a much darker presence than expected in this very brief, grim Christmas tale. (Found in the Chillers For Christmas anthology edited by Richard Dalby)\

“The Mummers” by Paul Finch (2000) – Phil and Eric are two of the few holdovers from a locally owned publishing company after it was acquired by an out-of-town company, turning it into a place run by corporate bullies. They decide to host a Christmas Eve party for the higher ups at Holker Hall, a large manor house built in 1793 which is reputed to be haunted by the bloodthirsty ghost of murdered mummers who kill those present on Christmas Eve night. Paul Finch is a true master at crafting the terrifying Christmas horror tale! (Found in the collection In A Deep, Dark December by Paul Finch)

“The Advent Reunion” by Andrew Klavan (2011) – A college student jumps at the chance to join his small group of friends who are spending Christmas in a large house in upstate New York together. His girlfriend attends as well, but amidst the festive celebrations darkness falls as one of their group meets a terrible fate there. Seven years later all of those who attended decide they must return at Christmas time again to come to terms with the memories which has tormented them ever since. This is a very spooky ghost story! (Found in The Big Book of Ghost Stories anthology edited by Otto Penzer)

“Yankee Swap” by John McIlveen (2018) – A pregnant woman is knocked unconscious and kidnapped on her way to her car from an office Christmas party. She wakes up to find herself chained to a chair with four other people she doesn’t know. A madman wearing a Santa’s helper outfit with a garish mask makes each of them partake in a Yankee Swap (also known as a White Elephant Exchange). Figuring out how they are all connected and who their deranged captor is fuels the mystery in this entertaining, non-supernatural Christmas Horror tale. (Found in Hark! The Herald Angels Scream anthology edited by Christopher Golden)

“That’s The Spirit” by Kurt Newton (2019) – In a world where celebrating Christmas has gone by the wayside, a young girl is determined to find the spirit of the holiday. This leads her to seek it out in an underground homeless community where it’s said people still celebrate. This decision turns out to take a much darker turn than she expected. (Found in the A Tree Lighting In Deathlehem anthology edited by Michael J, Evan’s and Harrison Graves)

“But Once A Year” by Ramsey Campbell (2021) – A bank administrator reflects on why he’s so horrified by the thought of having to kiss anyone under the mistletoe and how it traces back to a childhood crush he had on his slightly older cousin Alice that he only saw during their family’s extended gathering for Christmas. Strangely enough, a Christmas card was delivered to their house every year at that time with a brief message so badly scrawled it was hard to make out. During that extended holiday gathering, enjoying their host of family Christmas traditions, he also begins to hear ominous whispers. This is an absolute banger of a Christmas horror story. It has everything I look for in them: a wintery setting, family gatherings and all the festive adornments with a spooky, supernatural presence interjecting itself into the mix. The characters are great and very relatable. It feels very nostalgic and ultimately horrifying in the end. (Found in Ramsey’s story collection, Fearful Implications)

“The Everlasting Lights” by Jim Moon (2024) – A yew tree by a house neighboring a rural church has displayed warm lights every year for as long as anyone can remember. When a young man takes over ownership of the church, he demands to know who is lighting it as he can’t find the source of it. His angry determination to extinguish those lights turns out to be a very bad idea in this M. R. Jamesian tale of Christmas horror. You can listen to it here for free:

https://hypnogoria.blogspot.com/2024/12/from-great-library-of-dreams-128.html?m=1

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Previous Christmas Horror Reading Posts:

2024: https://horrordelve.com/2024/12/21/christmas-horror-story-suggested-reading-list-xii-2024/

2023: https://horrordelve.com/2023/12/04/christmas-horror-story-suggested-reading-list-xi-2023/

2022: https://horrordelve.com/2022/12/13/christmas-horror-story-reading-list-x/

2021; https://horrordelve.com/2021/12/13/christmas-horror-story-reading-list-ix-2021/

2020; https://horrordelve.com/2020/12/07/christmas-reading-list-viii-2020/

2019: https://horrordelve.com/2019/12/09/christmas-horror-story-reading-list-vii-2019/

2018: https://horrordelve.com/2018/12/10/christmas-horror-reading-list-vi-2018/

2017: https://horrordelve.com/2017/12/11/christmas-horror-story-reading-list-v-20170/

2016: https://horrordelve.com/2016/12/04/christmas-horror-stories-reading-list-4-2016/