Have Yourself an Eerie Little Christmas

Eerie, Indiana #5

by Michael Thomas Ford

Marshall has found a great Christmas gift for his mother: an old-fashioned snow globe with a little village in miniature. But after Marshall shows the globe to Simon at midnight, a real blizzard starts. It doesn't take long for the boys to realize that they've become trapped inside the village, and lost in time as well.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Middle Grade, Christmas

137 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Michael Thomas Ford is the author of more than 75 books in genres ranging from humor to horror, literary fiction to nonfiction. His work for adult readers includes the best-selling novels What We Remember, The Road Home, Changing Tides, Full Circle, Looking for It and Last Summer, and his five essay collections in the "Trials of My Queer Life" series. His novel Lily was a Tiptree Award Longlist title and a finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. He is also the author of the Sickening Adventures series of books featuring popular contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race.

As a writer for young adults he is the author of the novels Suicide Notes, Z, and Love & Other Curses, and under the name Isobel Bird he wrote the popular "Circle of Three" series. His work has been nominated for 14 Lambda Literary Awards, twice winning for Best Humor Book, twice for Best Romance Novel, and once for Best Mystery. He was also nominated for a Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award (for his novel The Dollhouse That Time Forgot).

Reviews

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I liked the Eerie series books more. For me, they're just...fine. They don't quite capture the bizarre and special fun of the show. Although, I can see how every book would have made a good episode. Would have liked to see this one.

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how dark this entry in the Eerie series is, dealing as it does with haunted houses and heartbreak. But somehow it all works, and is almost the inverse of the plot of "The Dead Letter", which just makes you wonder and yes I am a total Eerie nerd. Plus Ford does a lovely Radford.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merry Christmas! Yep, time for the Christmas read. Just one once again. This time I picked something from the Eerie Indiana book series. I read one ages ago and enjoyed it. I’ve been meaning to read more, but I just caught up in other stuff. But in the spirit of Christmas, here is book 5 from the series. They had another Christmas one but I have no access to it so I settled for the other one. With how solid the other book was, let’s see how this one goes.

It’s Christmas Eve and Marshall is doing last minute gift shopping. He and Simon discover an old snow globe at World of Stuff and think it’s neat. But after shaking it, a blizzard hits the next morning. Things seem normal until they notice that Eerie has been transported to 1917. And then the day keeps repeating and it all seems tied to this mysterious sad woman who appeared in the Snow Globe and seems to live here.

They must get to the bottom of this odd time shifted mystery. This one was solid, almost on par with the Eerie Triangle one I previously covered. This one is more focused on emotion, as there is this Prudence lady who leads to this odd curse that the kids have stumbled into. It is on the predictable side, as I know where it was going once the pieces were laid out.

But kids won’t think about that too much. There is some tragedy here as we learn why she’s sad. The emotions hit and it stays engaging for most of it. There’s some decent humor as well, with good bits between Marshall and Simon. The Christmas vibe is strong, with carols and the emotional aspect tying into the season well. There’s even a nativity play that can’t quite say that it’s…that lol.

It does get started right away but is slow to explore what is going on. It’s more of a mystery in that way with the build up. The other one I read had some crazy moments and a tighter plot. But this has solid reveals that hit despite the predictability. Logic can be spotty as there are some questions as to how this works.

It’s meant to run on emotion and that works with the pay off, that just means it’s not always the tightest. That can be easily forgiven but it could have been better in that regard. The ending is abrupt but ends on a nice note at least. It can have some mild issues but it’s just a solid book.

The concept is well executed enough to forgive some cliches and it just ends up being rather nice. It’s a solid Christmas read even on its own. Neither book has been super exciting in the traditonal sense but are solid stories that fit rather well with the show. I’m into these and I do want to read more. There is a Halloween one too…

So yeah, a good pick for a Christmas read. I think that will end up doing it for this year . I wanted to fit another thing in but I guess that can for another time. I think my output this year will be about the same next year but we’ll see it. Either way, Merry Early Christmas. See ya.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was quite interesting to see more of the town as well as how it can be during the holidays, however knowing how odd and strange the town is, I did expect some more weirdness from the residence and traditions of the town.

That being said, I did enjoy the pot as well as the semi antagonist of the book. It was fascinating how they included history as well as an interesting yet somewhat rushed interpretation of grief