Shivers for Christmas

by Amelia Edwards Roger John Richard Dalby (Ed.) / Richard Adams

Christmas is traditionally the season of season of carols, holly, mince pies and roaring log fires. It is the season of good will to all men. Gathered here, as an antidote to these heart-warming pleasures, is a selection of stories guaranteed to freeze you to the marrow. Ghosts, wolves, journeys into other dimensions, exorcism and rats are all set to transport you from the comfort of a warm hearth to a place where your bones will be chilled.

The stories in this collection range from classic tales by acknowledged masters of the macabre such as Saki, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Hugh Walpole to stories by modern masters such as Stephen Gallagher and Terry Pratchett. There are also stories which have been specially written for this collection. Notably, Richard Adams has written a spine-chiller, which tells the tale of a strange and alien encounter in the silent depths of the sea, and Stephen Gallagher reveals the perfect Christmas present to give a special friend.

You should also be prepared to be haunted by Joan Aiken's eerie tale of revenge set in bleak Ferry House, and to travel back in time, in Amelia B Edwards' Victorian tale, to a supernatural island. Allow Terry Pratchett to take you on a coach journey into his own nightmarish version of the Yuletide season, or be shocked by Jane Beeson's sinister tale set in the cold and unforgiving landscape of Dartmoor.

This collection of ghoulish delights is the perfect 'Christmas stocking' bulging with suprises, shocks and most important of all, shivers.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Crime, Collections, Christmas

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas and the uncanny go well together, and Richard Dalby's anthology of classic 19th and early 20th century Christmas tales of horror, crime or the uncanny brings together a wide variety of styles. There are the overtly supernatural tales, like "Bone to His Bone" and the haunting "Wolverden Tower," some tales of murder, theft and the usual human intrigues, such as "Red Lily," "The Citizen's Watch" and Arthur Conan Doyle's famous "Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," and other varieties. What stands out the most, however, are the uncanny stories. "The Shadow" by E. Nesbit is a truly haunting and ambiguous supernatural occurrence, as is "The Picture Puzzle" and the perplexing "Ganthony's Wife." Most of all, M. R. James's "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" creeps under your skin, raising more questions than it answers and employing some subtly unsettling imagery. Strongly recommended for a cold December's night.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should note before I begin that this review is for the 2014 ebook edition of Richard Dalby's SHIVERS FOR CHRISTMAS, which I believe has substantially different contents to the print copy anthologies of the same title originally released in the 1990s. This ebook appears to be a selection of stories taken from the original alongside a number of mystery additions from his companion volume CRIME FOR CHRISTMAS.

I can recommend the majority of the stories here, which are a good mix of classic familiar works and lesser-known but engaging stories. Stevenson's MARKHEIM is a famously chilly effort, while Swain ladles in the atmosphere in BONE TO HIS BONE and Nesbit proves herself adept at the genre in THE SHADOW. James' THE STORY OF A DISAPPEARANCE AND AN APPEARANCE is worth a look for being quite different to the rest of his oeuvre, and Walpole's TARNHELM is delightfully weird.

As for the crime stories, Conan Doyle's BLUE CARBUNCLE is totally over-anthologised, but stuff like THE BUOY THAT DID NOT LIGHT and RED LILY are more interesting. MR WRAY'S CASH BOX is a lengthy novella by one of my favourites, Wilkie Collins, and although not among his best, is worth a look for fans. The Saki and Thurston stories can both be considered minor classics.

Of the new-to-me tales, Jerome K. Jerome supplies a delightfully jokey introduction to the ghost story genre, while Le Fanu's THE DEAD SEXTON is a thoroughly macabre and atmospheric ghost story in the best tradition. Grant Allen's WOLVERDEN TOWER spellbinds with a fairytale atmosphere, while Baring-Gould's MUSTAPHE provides an exotic backdrop for a fitting tale of revenge.

Erckmann-Chatrian's THE CITIZEN'S WATCH is a good little crime story which plays with the 'wronged man' trope, while WHAT THE SHEPHERD SAW sees Hardy reprising some classic themes for an effective short. THE PICTURE PUZZLE, by Edward Lucas White of LUKUNDOO fame, utilises the jigsaw puzzle in a pleasingly novel fashion, and finally Amelia Edwards' THE DISCOVERY OF THE TREASURE ISLES is a castaway fable complete with evocative surrounds.

[jndemarta · Rating 1 out of 5]

It should have mentioned better that these were thrilling tales from the 1700 and 1800's I thought these were modern thrillers. I was disapointed with that.

[Bill Borre]

The Wolves of Czernogratz is also printed in the Big Book of the Masters of Horror

[Hanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know if it's just me or not, but this book was very very hard to get into. After trying to get into the third story after the previous stories being failed attempts, I gave up. So disappointed. Oh well!

[Nan Silvernail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling old tales. I enjoyed this over the holidays, 2014.