Haunting Christmas Tales

by Joan Aiken, Garry Kilworth, Robert Swindells

A COLLECTION OF NINE ORIGINAL STORIES FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON

It's Christmas Eve and a group of friends have gathered round a fireside. As a hushed anticipation falls over the group, the only sound is the hiss of logs on the fire. Warmed by their intimacy, the friends begin to tell tales - eerie tales of restless spirits eternally condemned to walk the earth. Tales that will haunt you long after you have closed the pages of this book...

The authors
Joan Aitken, Dave Belbin, Jill Bennett, Garry Kilworth, Tessa Krailing, Anthony Masters, Susan Price, Ian Strachan and Robert Swindells.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Christmas, Childrens, Holiday, Young Adult

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first saw Haunting Christmas Tales on Facebook through a group I was in and really fell in love with the cover.I love thematic related books and this one really spoke to me. This was also a buddy read with a good friend so I knew this would be fun.

Jingle bells- The first story is about this girl that continuously has nightmares about bells ringing and the room getting excruciatingly hot.She thinks this is because of where she lives at like maybe the house is haunted.But when she moves to a new location and her sister starts hearing these bells.Things get weird.Things slowly unravel when she discovers something in the attic.I really liked this one it was super sad.The only complaints I had would be the parents.That's all I'm going to say.I give it a four out of five stars.

The Woodman's Enigma- This one starts with two kids at a train station waiting on their uncle to come see them.On the way they play a game Which is basically riddles called enigmas.The first one is about Romeo and Juliet being on the floor with water and glass around them only to be revealed to be fish.I'll admit I've never heard this so I liked it.As the story progresses their uncle no shows,so they get a taxi and it takes them to his house.The taxi driver knows the uncle and tells them the key is under the mat.They enter the warm house and notice they need firewood.They get it off of a Yew tree. I have no idea what that is and they hear a knock at the door.It's their uncle and he gets on to them for burning the tree saying it sparks bad.He tells them this story of a woodman that can only get past ghost life if they can solve his death.The death is basically the guy climing a tree to retrieve something and getting strangled.This story was really slow but the descriptions of cold and the warm house were really good.The riddle was good but way to slow for my taste I give it a three out of five stars.This story is also the one that starts a trend of bad dialogue with the uncle speaking english but barley.

The Weeping Maid- this is a story about a kid staying with a family member and learning of The Weeping Maid, a ghostly lady that appears in the house she's staying at.She discovers this maid and she basically gives her visions of how she died.And how to make things right.This one had a decent idea but was really slow.The ending was good but unfortunately, this wasn't super entertaining.I give it a three out of five stars but barley a three.

The Investigators-This one is about this guy staying at this house for I think college?And very quickly these two investigators come by and tell him of a ghost that died when the stair case fell from under him.This one was really good.I feel like it was predictable but I didn't predict it,if that makes sense.It was honestly a little heartbreaking.I will give this a five out of five stars.Trust me this book needs it.

The Cracked Smile-This story has another kid stating with as relative.I believe it's his mom and sister that dies, so he stays with his aunt.He climbs an attic that his aunt forbodes him to enter to uncover these weird dolls that he hears giggling.Okay that's awesome.On the way home from school one day he sees a doll hospital.And I think he remembers this from when he was a kid.He enters and sees something inside the house and this story actually surprises me with what happens next.He basically enters a ghost world trying to solve a death.I liked this one I give it a four out of five stars.I only took away a point because it kinda gets a little repetitive and it's a little long like most stories in this book could've just been cut down to a few pages.I also have to point out the dark theme of this one dealing with family drama.

The Other Room-This one is about a kid seeing a room appear and disappear.Do you see how I summarized this book ?The story itself is around 20 pages and two paragraphs of this story is a kid eating a sandwich and watching a wall.This one sucked.One of the worst short stories I've ever read.The ending made zero sense.And I didn't bother trying to figure it out because by this point I was so done.

The Chime Child- This one is about this girl who is a chime child ,a child born on a certain day that has special powers where she can see ghosts and stuff.Her family is staying in this old house for vacation and sees this wall that has cracks along it.She ends up hearing of a ghost that got trapped inside the wall from her crazy uncle that wanted her inheritance.This one took a turn that I actually didn't expect.Basicilly this girl must stop the ghost girl's uncle from coming back with a special Christmas prop.This honestly reminded me a little bit of harry Potter .It was weird.I gave it a three out of five stars.

Chrespain And Clairain- This story is told in the perspective of a guy that is telling a story from a school of troubled children.He tells the story of when he was a kid he used to stay with his aunt and uncle I think and there daughter Becky.Becky has a godfather that also sends her gifts occasionally.And when he does they are all better than his.One Christmas she gets these dolls that are animatronic.They have ice skates and can skate by themselves.I should also mention that the guy has this ability to make faces and get people to do what they want.The guy tries to steal the dolls by taking them to an actual ice pond and pretends that they fall inside by using a rake to knock a hole in the ice and hiding the dolls.This leads to a very tragic ending that I absolutely hated.A person dies in this that shouldn't have.And to top it all of the person that deserves punishment isn't exactly satisfying.I give this one a three out of five stars.I wanted to like it but agian i don't think the risk was worth the reward.

Across The Feilds- This anthology ends with a bang with this short story.This story takes place in the 1920s or so.These group of guys are working in a coal mine when one of the characters named Jon has his little sister show up.She tells him they must leave to get a Christmas meal for the family.The other guys tease the little girl about a local ghost named Grace.This ghost apperently died after falling in a hole and drowning.They head home get a Christmas goose but end up taking a shortcut through a field much to the little girls dismay.They end up running into this guy that tells them to stop by and watch a wrestling match.Ok.Jon ends up wrestling and losing and says he can win only to discover something about these people.This one was really fun.I liked how tense it got.The only thing I didn't like is the writing and that's the case for most of these stories.I give this one a four out of five stars.

I know most of this review seemed really positive but I have to be honest.Most of these stories are super bloated and either had really sad endings or terrible endings.But that's not the worst part.The worst was easily the writing.Atleast for me it was.Most of the dialogue was written of people from long ago.I feel like if this was modernized it would've been an easier to read.There were also words and phrases that I just wasn't used to.Im Not using that against the book because that is not the authors fault.It was just hard for me to read I give Haunted Christmas Tales a three out of five stars overall

[Georgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of creepy stories set around Christmas.

Jingle Bells by Tessa Krailing - a girl who is haunted by the mysterious jingling of bells and a terrifying sense of suffocation every Christmas hopes moving house will put an end to her terror. However, the haunting follows her, and she has to find out why.

The Woodman’s Enigma by Garry Kilworth - two children are sent to their uncle’s for Christmas. Arriving late on Christmas Eve to his dark, empty, and decidedly creepy house, they learn it is haunted by a woodman who mysteriously died in the nearby spinney years before,

The Weeping Maid by Robert Swindells - a girl staying with her grandmother for Christmas is determined to meet the ghost of a weeping maid who haunts the house and find out what happened to her.

The Investigators by David Belbin - a young man goes to live in a flat on the top floor of an old house during his first year at university. One day, two young paranormal investigators turn up and enlist his help in finding evidence of a ghost who has driven previous residents of the flat away. One of my favourites in the collection.

The Cracked Smile by Anthony Masters - a boy finds a doll with an eerie cracked smile in his attic, and this leads to a haunting and a mystery from his past.

The Other Room by Jill Bennett - a lonely boy becomes fascinated when a ghostly room appears on the other side of his living room wall, giving him a glimpse in World War II Britain at Christmas.

The Chime Child by Ian Strachan - a girl who was born on the last stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve is not happy when her father packs her and the rest of her family off to a parsonage in the middle of nowhere for a ‘traditional’ Christmas. She finds out that children like her, born as the clock strikes the ‘magical’ hours of three, six, nine, and twelve are called ‘Chime Children’. All have unique powers and abilities, and those born on the stroke of midnight can see and talk to ghosts. And there are rumours that the old parsonage is haunted....

Crespian and Clairan by Joan Aiken - a rather unpleasant boy who steals a cousin’s Christmas gift gets a nasty shock and his just desserts. Another favourite, truly creepy.

Across the Fields by Susan Price - My absolute favourite of the collection. The story of thirteen year old Emily and her older brother Jon, set on Christmas Eve 1924. Jon’s a miner, and Emily comes to walk him home on Christmas Eve and accompany him to get the family’s goose on the way. The other miners tease them with tales of various ghosts that haunt the area, which frighten Emily. On the way home, they discover the miners’ tales are not just fiction.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a rule I am not a fan of short stories. I never find there is enough in them and a lot of times the seem to finish when they get interesting.

This book was a hit and miss. The first three stories (Jingle Bells by Tessa Krailing, The Woodman's Enigma by Garry Kilworth and The Weeping Maid by Robert Swindells) were actually very good and entertaining for short stories and were quite enjoyable. But after that the book seemed to go downhill. The Investigators by David Belbin and The Cracked Smile by Anthony Masters were mediocre. The Other Room by Jill Bennett was quite good. But The Chime Child by Ian Strachan, Crespian and Clairan by Joan Aitken and Across the Fields by Susan Price were disappointing to say the least.

Overall 3 stars. Some good some bad.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me far too long to read this - I wanted to finish it by Christmas Day and it lasted me until well into the new year! Some stories were really good - I loved Robert Swindles’ and a few others but a fair majority were forgettable . Recommended by my mother but not something I’d pick myself .

[Suzan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, it's nostalgic for me as I've read it a few times as a child! A few stand outs were 'Jingle Bell's', 'The woodman's Enigma', 'The weeping Maid', 'The Chime Child' and 'Across the fields'.

[Jeff Goostrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories

[Gabe Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If you were a child shut out by your family, wouldn’t you try to get back to them at Christmas?”

This is a book that will always have special significance for me. It’s a collection of nine British short stories that are all ghost-centric and Christmas-themed. I read the book when I was 10-years-old and the stories all resonated with me for years afterward. Despite being ostensibly a “children’s book,” many of them were very dark and psychological.

In my early-twenties, I set out to hunt down a copy of the book, though it was difficult as I didn’t remember the title, or the titles of the individual stories, or the authors themselves. All I remembered was that the back of the book had the tagline "Ho ho ho! Boo!" I must have Googled "Ho ho ho boo" about a hundred times trying to track it down, and I began ordering other books online that were collections of Christmas-themed ghost stories, buying at least two. Eventually when I was 25, I finally found HAUNTING CHRISTMAS TALES via eBay, thanks to recognizing the front cover. Since then I rediscovered the stories, having read them several times since.

Here are my individual reviews of each one:

“Jingle Bells” by Tessa Krailing

My personal favorite, this is easily the story in the collection that has resonated with me the most since childhood.

Anna is a little girl who, every Christmas, is haunted by a ghostly figure who appears outside her window, leaves the sound of bells, taps on the glass, and makes her feel like she is suffocating. As she tries to figure out why this is happening, she overhears a conversation between her mother and aunt that suggests this might be tied to a memory from her past she has long suppressed, since the presence of this ghost also brings out a feeling of shame, as if her parents blame her for something.

This story deals heavily with psychology and trauma, but has a surprisingly emotional resonance that ties in with the gravitas of Christmas. And at just the right length, it’s a perfect short story.

“The Woodman’s Enigma” by Garry Kilworth

Probably the most juvenile story in the series, Colin and Jill are two kids who love solving riddles, and are spending Christmas with their elderly Uncle Giles. When he isn’t there to meet them at the train station, something happens that leads to them having to solve a certain ghost’s riddle.

The overall tone of this story is much more cutesy, and feels like it’s trying to be topical by making references to computers and video games.

“The Weeping Maid” by Robert Swindells

A young girl named Laura meets a weeping ghost in her grandmother’s old house and listens to her sad story, while reflecting on the nature of murder and forgiveness.

This is a meh entry, and it feels like some mild Christmas references were shoehorned into the story after it was written.

“The Investigators” by David Belbin

A college student named Mark is approached in his flat by two paranormal investigators who believe there might be a ghost in his stairwell. They keep making more and more visits, and you’ve probably already guessed the twist-ending.

This was always the weakest story in the anthology. It’s just a pointless story where the big twist doesn’t actually amount to anything or give the story any new emotional weight. Mark also doesn’t really have an arc nor grow as a character.

Furthermore, Christmas is never mentioned even once, making this story an outlier in the book. I’m not saying that tying the story to Christmas would have automatically made it better, but it’s something that the author could easily have done with just one single revision.

“The Cracked Smile” by Anthony Masters

A run-of-the-mill story about a boy named Ian who one day discovers a ghostly bus with his dead sister and mother, and so he rides with them, forced to relive their premature deaths every day.

Of all the stories, this is the only one that feels rushed and like it would have worked better as a novella or even novel. As it stands, it feels like a skeleton of a good idea. And once again, although Christmas is mentioned in passing once, it feels shoehorned in.

“The Other Room” by Jill Bennett

A very powerful and tragic story. Martin is an adolescent boy who has had a harsh upbringing. He has never had a father, only a single mother who means well but is a bit difficult and at times neglectful, paying more attention to her selfish boyfriend. When they move into a new flat, Martin starts to see a vision through his blank wall into “another room” of a family during WWII. At first he’s just left in a trance by these visions, but slowly he starts to get attached to these people and wishes to be part of their family, even starting to think of their father as "his dad."

His obsession and even addiction to peering into the “other room” and seeing his other family builds and builds as Christmas approaches, until we get a shocking and tragic ending on Christmas Eve.

I really like how the narration slowly hints at Martin’s abandonment issues without spelling them out. Overall, one of the most moving stories in the book, and my only criticism is the ending feels a bit abrupt. I honestly think making the story maybe 10 pages longer would have benefited it just a tad.

“The Chime Child” by Ian Strachan

The longest and most well-rounded story in the collection, building its own lore, complete with a scary action showdown.

Christy is a 13-year-old girl who’s family is staying in a country cottage for Christmas. She learns that the cottage is centuries old and has a horrible reputation; a young girl named Rachel was supposedly buried alive in one of the walls back in the 1600’s, and her evil uncle was apparently possessed by the Devil before dying in an insane asylum. On top of this, because Christy was born on Christmas, just as the clock was chiming midnight, she appears to have some clairvoyant abilities of her own. All of the supernatural occurrences build and build, until something happens on Christmas Eve that comes down to her finding a piece of mistletoe.

This is a pretty badass story that deals with very dark subject matter. I like how it combines mistletoe’s modern role as part of Christmas with its supernatural significance in Druidic mythology.

My only slight criticism (and maybe this is due to it being aimed at young readers) is that the exposition is often handled in clumsy ways. At one point, Christy reads a travel guide that just conveniently happens to tell her the entire history of the cottage including a very detailed backstory about Rachel’s murder that likely wouldn’t be in a travel guide. At another point, she meets a shopkeeper who delivers a large info-dump about the significance of being a chime child. At yet another point, she meets a stranger who just identifies himself as “one of an Ancient Order of Druids,” and gives her something she’ll need. Maybe if this had been a novel instead, some of this world-building could have been more fleshed out.

But overall, the climax of this story is so creepy and cathartic and it makes this a worthwhile read.

“Crespian and Clairan” by Joan Aiken

The darkest and most psychologically traumatic story in the collection, it’s also probably the most mature and adult-themed.

John is a bitter and resentful boy who must spend every Christmas with his cousin Becky and her parents, due to his own parents being neglectful and barely caring for him. The first-person narration coming from such an obnoxious and entitled character may remind readers a bit of Holden Caulfield, but we clearly understand from his cold upbringing why he is like this. When Becky is given two mechanical ice-skating dolls on Christmas morning, who seem almost supernatural in how gracefully they skate and dance once batteries are put in, John begins obsessing over how he can steal them from her. His plan works, but it ends up unintentionally causing Becky’s death.

What a dark story, that really “goes there!” Joan Aiken really makes us feel John’s bitter and selfish nature, makes us feel the hypnotic power of the skating dolls, makes us feel the cruelty of the trick John is planning to play on Becky, and ultimately leads us to a creepy payoff where everything comes full circle. It’s an ending that may or may not be supernatural, depending on how you interpret it, but we definitely feel why it will leave John with a lifelong trauma.

And just like “Jingle Bells,” this is just the right length, making it a perfect short story.

“Across the Fields” by Susan Price

Jon and Emily are a young brother and sister struggling to get home in the dark on Christmas Eve, and so choose to cut across the fields, encountering a group of ghosts who wish to gamble for their souls. After an unsuccessful wrestling match, Emily challenges them to a riddling contest. From this point on, the rest is pretty predictable.

I would say that, while the plot itself is not the strongest, the highlight of this story is the use of language and the written word. The story is set in the 1920's, and so the vernacular is full of old countryside English, with the characters saying "thee" and using a lot of slang and colloquialisms. Susan Price clearly loves old riddles and the way they play with language, and put a lot of care into crafting her own original riddles.

So while not a great story, the payoff is worth it.

--

I will always have a soft-spot of nostalgia for HAUNTING CHRISTMAS TALES. With "Jingle Bells," "The Chime Child," and "Crespian and Clairan" having become three of my favorite short stories of all time and the rest all being of varying quality, I'll always love this collection and the resonance it has with me.

“At that moment, the church clock struck midnight and the bells began to peel.”

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haunting Christmas Tales has gotta be one of the most longest reads of my life. A lot of this book was a total bore, and as a collection, the stories got super repetitive, and they’re probably gonna blend in my memory within a few years. I set out to read this for the holidays as I’d hoped it would be a great anthology, but it’s just eh/fine overall, and definitely not something I’d recommend due to the sheer length of this novel—as it’s one of the longest kids horror novels I know of, clocking in at 269 pages (dear god). Hear are my ratings and reviews per story:

Jingle Bells (by Tessa Krailing) - 7/10.
I liked the attempt with this one. It had great foreshadowings that I didn’t catch onto (though I was able to call the twist when the lead screamed “ANDREW” for seemingly no reason), and it was well-written. The characters are good too, but it was kinda boring.

The Woodman’s Enigma (by Gary Kilworth) - 8/10.
I loved the ending of this one. Build-up… not so much. It takes a minute to get to the meat of the tale, but I quite liked the mood-building and the goods in the final four-sevenths (roughly; I don’t fucking know) make up quite a bit for me. Worth a read.

The Weeping Maid (by Robert Swindells) - 5/10.
Rather bland in my opinion. The backstory with the maid was okay but nothing riveting, and the reason for her weeping has me mixed. Not much to say on this one.

The Investigators (by David Belbin) - 7/10.
The character dynamic between the investigators and Mark was neat; I liked the central plot and the flow of this one. Twist is fine, but becomes extremely obvious when the protag has trouble contacting Ruth and Ian. Mildly overstayed its welcome. Reveal is drawn out.

The Cracked Smile (by Anthony Masters) - 8/10.
I quite liked this one. It’s got a bittersweet tone all-throughout and I enjoyed the unfolding story. Well written, well paced—a solid read for sure. Only big takeaway is the kind of non-ending we get.

The Other Room (by Jill Bennet) - 8.5/10.
This was a super slow one, and was the first to kind of not be about ghosts and more so memories. I like the switch and the idea was there, and the character dynamics are good, BUT the real kicker from fine-to-really-good was the ending. Believe me, I wasn’t anticipating it, and it came like a freight train. One of the most brutally toned endings to a kids horror story ever. There’s also, in retrospective, some great progression to that ending I didn’t catch onto. Wowzers.

The Chime Child (by Ian Strachan) - 4/10.
A yawner of an entry. I liked what the name of the story entailed, and the villain was kind of interesting, but that’s about it. It’s a bore with a dumbass father character and overstayed its welcome.

Crespian and Clairen (by Joan Aiken) - 3/10.
This is the cover story, and it’s the worst. It’s basically a brat’s retelling of how he got his cousin killed. It could’ve been a neat “haunted doll” story but that didn’t happen. Main sucked, the story was boring, and I just wasted my time.

Across the Fields (by Susan Price) - 6.5/10.
A slow first two-thirds, but when the riddles kick in, the story gets fun. Reminded me of that scene in The Hobbit lol. I liked the characters too and the use of older English, hence the time frame. Kinda boring until the riddles, again.

Overall, 5/10. Couldn’t recommend this for the life of me; at most check out The Woodman’s Enigma and The Other Room. It’s far too long for its own good, even if there’s some decent stories in here. A very unpleasantly long read of repetitive ghost stories even if some favor well individually. Merry Christmas and all that Yuletide stuff.

[Ms Eclectic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book as a child and found it again a few years ago. I enjoy reading the short stories at Christmas time, they are haunting both in their ghostly nature but also the atmosphere. Some of the stories stayed with me a long time, half remembered, which is why I sought the book out.

The Other Room is probably my favourite, followed by The Investigators, Crespian and Clairan, and The Cracked Smile. These have great atmosphere, an interesting approach to ghost stories and a haunting nature. They evoke a feeling of winter, loneliness and melancholy that gives them more poignancy than I would think a child’s short story collection could be capable of.

I like all the others as well, although the Chime Child is too childish now (I think it was a favourite at 8 though). Overall, a lovely Christmas tradition and I am grateful to all these authors for their contributions.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful collection of diverse tales to suit all tastes.
From old to modern, ghosts, haunted dolls, time slips, myths, legends, even a baby coming back to protect a sibling.
As far as I know I've read all in these haunted Christmas tales now and every story has been a good one, some better than others or some by favourite authors but all were a good read.
Which is quite rare in story collections.
Read all these books aloud with my niece and we loved them.
There really is something for everyone in these books.

[Lizzie the Book Hoarder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories were entertaining but overall it was not my favorite.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few of the stories were great. The rest were a slog.

[Anne-sophie Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

De første par historier er ikke ret gode, men efter den historie der hedder Forskerne bliver det væsentligt bedre.

[Angel (Bookn.All.Night) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another short and sweet review. I saw this one while looking for Point Horror books and had to get it. I loved this one. Short stories that have to do with ghosts and hauntings?? Done deal for me 😁😁😁

[The Endless Unread · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of stories that kept me gripped from beginning to end. I have read this multiple times throughout the years and make sure to read it at least once a year. A true classic.

[Madame Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eerie stories with a touch of heart.

[Kristin]

DNF 45%. All ghost stories.

[Harriet Conde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly for children, but I found it in a box from my childhood and nostalgia won out. I recall being terrified by the one with the doll.

[Julie Eastlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice collection of short ghost stories good for most age groups. They were all well written. I enjoyed this book.