Horror for the Holidays [Paperback]

Horror for the Holidays is the latest anthology of fiction from the enterprising team at Miskatonic River Press. It is a handsome trade paperback with 284 pages, and with the actual stories starting on page 9. The list price is $19.99, which seems rather dear to me. On the other hand, I proudly support small Lovecraftian presses (Huzzah!...or is that Ia!). The cover is an immensely attractive illustration A Krampus in My Stylus by Jeff Johnson. What a wonderful depiction of Krampus, the devilish companion of St Nicholas! Unfortunately I could not locate the artist's website to sample any of his other work. Editing and story selection were by Scott David Aniolowski. Mr. Aniolowski has edited other anthologies, including Return to Lovecraft Country and Singer of Strange Songs (part of the Chaosium Cycle series), and has had a hand in multiple products for the Call of Cthulhu rpg. I really enjoyed his introduction, discussing the origin of the anthology. In particular it made me nostalgic to see him write about the story Nackles. I read this story quite a few times in my early teen formative years; in fact, initially I thought the cover was a depiction of Nackles before I ever opened it up and read it. The premise of the book is just what the title says. Authors submitted new works riffing on a particular holiday for maximum horrific effect. Mr. Aniolowski has grouped them in chronological order for the year, from Rosh Chodesh to Christmas. Christmas and Yuletide have the most offerings but most major holidays get a nod or two. As far as I can tell, only the tales by Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti and Mollie Burleson have been published before. At least half the contents may be construed to be Cthulhu mythos or to be beholden to Lovecraft in some way. For the most part I was very impressed but before I move on to the individual stories I need to get my biggest beef out of the way. The book was crawling with typographical errors, misspellings and word substitutions. I didn't jot them down but there were one or two in most of the stories, enough so that it was noticeable. The most egregious set of errors was in Don Webb's story, where the words canon and cannon were freely substituted. A more careful read of the manuscript should have caught most of these.

Here are the contents and a few comments. There may be mild spoilers so skip to the end if you don't want to see.

Introduction by Scott David Aniolowski - Informative and entertaining

TALES OF ROSH CHODESH
The Tomb of Oscar Wilde by W.H. Pugmire - I actually wonder if this is a vivid fantasy of Mr. Pugmire, to actually meet one of his greatest literary heroes, to be anointed by his muse.

TALES OF VALENTINE'S DAY
Love and Darkness by Oscar Rios - Mr. Rios recently had a story appear in Cthulhu's Dark Cults. Love and Darkness was an engaging read, a love story of sorts with an appearance of an old creation of Ramsey Campbell. Get your mythos geek on and see if you can figure out what it is by the descriptions before you read the last paragraph.

Be Mine by Brian Sammons - Mr. Sammons has been very busy but he has not done nearly enough short story writing to suit me. He is quite gifted but I guess his passions lie elsewhere so we must take what we can get. As usual I was quite entertained by Mr. Sammons' latest offering. Interestingly, he also makes a nod in the direction of Ramsey Campbell.

TALES OF PASSOVER
Cthulhu Mhy'os by Lois H. Gresh - Ms. Gresh recently published a book of her horror and mythos fiction, Eldritch Evolutions. I still haven't finished it, although what I've read is mostly OK. I had a similar impression of this Cthulhian retelling of the Passover story; it was OK. I was happy to read it but I won't be re-reading it.

TALES OF EASTER
And the Angels Sing by Cody Goodfellow - Good lord, Mr. Goodfellow can always deliver a twisted and brilliant vision of the macabre. I think Polynesian mythology offers up rich opportunities for horror that have not been well exploited in the US. Here we get the best such story I have read, certainly better than the novel Dead Ground by Chris Amies. Anyway, if you don't know Cody Goodfellow's work do yourself a favor and buy copies of Radiant Dawn and Ravenous Dusk, his transcendent mythos novels. Also check out his publishing company, Perilous Press.

The Last Communion of Allyn Hill by Pete Rawlik - Mr. Rawlik is an up and coming mythos author. I am somewhat ashamed that I have not yet read Future Lovecraft or Dead But Dreaming 2, where his work has appeared previously. He also has a story coming up in Nightmare Cities. This particular story is a direct sequel to At the Mountains of Madness, but set in the US after the return of the Pabodie expedition, a rather unique perspective in this particular subsubgenre. I liked it well enough, enough to want to seek out Mr. Rawlik's other stories.

Mrs. Spriggs' Easter Attire by Joseph S. Pulver Sr. and Tara VanFlower - I don't know Ms. Vanflower but this story bears the stamp of Pulver's mad poetry all over it. For me it was the best story in the anthology, with a striking nod toward Lovecraftian ghouls.

Seasons of Sacrifice and Resurrection by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Mr. Tchaikovsky (any relation to the famous composer?) also has a story in Dead But Dreaming 2. This is a beautifully written story, a meditation on The Shadow Out of Time. If it weren't for the previous story it would have been my favorite.

TALES OF MOTHER'S DAY
Mother's Night by Ann K. Schwader - Ms. Schwader gives us another Lovecraftian sonnet, this one with the scheme ababcdcdeffegg. As is typical for her poetry I think it works best when read aloud, with proper attention to phrasing.

TALES OF THE FOURTH OF JULY
Free Fireworks by T.E. Grau - Mr. Grau is a highly regarded author who works in LA. He has an upcoming story in the Aklonomicon. Free Fireworks is story that uses the classic trick of indirection, much like Gaiman's A Study in Emerald. A religious war makes celebrating the 4th of July rather poignant. Nicely written, it is an enjoyable read.

Doc Corman's Haunted Palace One Fourth of July by Don Webb - Mr. Webb's collection When They Came is full of very engaging stories. Here he sets his story near Austin, TX, his old stomping grounds. Some survivors can never let go of their war dead. In its way, this was quite sad.

TALES OF VJ DAY
Translator by James Robert Smith - Mr. Smith co-wrote a story in Singer of Strange Songs, another anthology edited by Scott David Aniolowski. Translator is another wonderful piece, about strange goings on in a POW camp for Japanese soldiers in WW2. I really liked this piece; I wonder if the author has a story collection in print.

TALES OF HALLOWEEN
Hallowe'en in a Suburb by H.P. Lovecraft - Of course we have to include a work by Lovecraft! I appreciate that it was one of his poems, not just another reprint of one of his stories.

Moonday by Will Murray - I do not know much about Mr. Murray. He has been known to conduct walking tours of HPL's Providence and I think of him more as a Lovecraftian scholar than author. Moonday is set in witch haunted Arkham, except the witches are tired of just haunting...I was entertained.

The Trick by Ramsey Campbell - I wonder how long it takes Mr. Campbell to write a story. This is a crude analogy, but I always think of sculptures when I read his work, chipping away anything in excess until what is left is the bare bones of the rock, just enough to reveal everything as much by implication as explicitly. For me, the ending of The Trick was rather disquieting, no doubt the author's intention.

TALES OF THE DAY OF THE DEAD
El Dia De Los Muertos by Kevin Ross - Mr. Ross is a Consulting Editor at Miskatonic River Press. As such, we fans are in his debt for his contribution to the deluge of Lovecraftian fiction. That being said, this was not a mythos story, but it was tightly written and gave me the creepy-crawlies.

TALES OF GUY FAWKES NIGHT
Treason and Plot by William Meikle - Here we get into a section of the book where I was less enthusiastic. Some of Mr. Meikle's work I enjoy, other bits I am not enamored of. There was nothing wrong with Treason and Plot; in fact it was well written. The problem is I have largely lost my taste for retreaded occult investigator stories. This one features William Hope Hodgson's creation, Thomas Carnacki. Lately I find this sort of thing pretty formulaic.

TALES OF REMEMBERANCE DAY
The Dreaming Dead by Joshua Reynolds - Mr. Reynolds carries on with another occult investigator, Charles St. Cyprian, the successor to Carnacki after the Great War. Like Treason and Plot, The Dreaming Dead is a perfectly OK story. The problem is I need a break. Maybe I've read too many CJ Henderson stories.

TALES OF THANKSGIVING
Entrée by Donald R. Burleson - Mr. Burleson has some collections out Wait for the Thunder and Beyond the Lamplight, prized by connoisseurs but alas not widely read. Entrée was pretty good, pretty ghoulish. If you like it, by all means seek out the author's books because it is a pretty characteristic piece of Burlesoniana.

TALES OF YULE
Keeping Festival by Mollie Burleson - I have read a few of Ms. Burleson' other stories although I still have to read her contribution to Black Wings. Keeping Festival was actually a sentimental love letter to HPL and his Kingsport.

Wassail by Tom Lynch - Mr. Lynch is CEO of Miskatonic River Press. Maybe he should CEO less and write more, as I very much enjoyed Wassail, about a young man observing the rites of his people at the solstice.

TALES OF CHRISTMAS
Krampusnacht by Joshua Reynolds - The only thing I can recall by Mr. Reynolds is Nemo at R'lyeh, a pretty good read from Cthulhu Unbound 2. Did I like Krampusnacht? Yes. Was I a bit exasperated? Yes. This is another occult investigator story, this one also features St. Cyprian. I can understand the allure but a little goes a long way.

The Christmas Eves of Aunt Elise by Thomas Ligotti - Mr. Ligotti often puts a story within a story, part of his technique of creating layers of meaning and slowly ratcheting up the tension. Here he gives us another masterwork.

Letters to Santa by Scott David Aniolowski - Maybe you read Nackles too many times, Mr. Editor. Anyway the ending for this disturbing Christmas story was the most horrific in the book.

Keeping Christmas by Michael G. Szymanski - I mainly know Mr. Szymanski through Weird Trails, a humorous weird western anthology he edited. Here the author riffs on Innsmouth and Christmas for a provocative, entertaining story.

The Nativity of the Avatar by Robert M. Price - Alas, the book ends with a thud. Mr. Price writes a `newly found' gospel, mythos-izing the Bible. This has been done (and better) before in the novel The Drums of Chaos by Richard Tierney and in some of Mr. Price's own stories about Wilbur Whateley. I actually find this sort of writing pretty tedious.

In summary, this is a necessary purchase for any mythos geek. Mostly the stories are very good and the best are superb. I thoroughly enjoyed whiling away several hours celebrating all the holidays of the year with this creepy book.

This is a tough book sometimes as it takes sometimes what is special or even sacred and puts through the ringer turning it into something of the grotesque. And, that is sometimes what passes for horror of the Cthulhuian sort (note: I did not say Lovecraftian). For indeed, stories in this volume range from the good to superb with a few mundanes but fortunately no duds.

Each of the stories evoke a particular mood capturing both the holiday magic but also the magic of storytelling creating a pastiche of feelings. None are particularly scary or even horrific, just unsettling in true Cthulhuian fashion. As the publisher is also produces items for the Call of Cthulhu RPG, one might ask - is this gamer fiction? It most certainly is not. While many pieces could serve as a prelude to an investigation none of the pieces are set up to insert characters here. And, there in lies the genius of the selection and the writing. The writing inspires by beginning the creative process but does not substitute for it.

If the work is said to have any drawbacks, it is the drawbacks of individual authors. However, refreshing the amateur voice is...when it paired with luminaries of the genre - the effect can be jarring. That said, some of the amateurs tell a much finer tale than some of the established writers who can rely upon flowery pose but really did not get the story right.

I look forward to further MRP fiction releases and hope that these will continue to feed into the RPG line. For they are marking a trail of returning Lovecraft's creations to being Monsters of the Id and we ourselves becoming consumed by the Great Old Ones by becoming them ourselves. Keep up the excellent work, MRP!