Christmas, the year's most revered holiday, has long been associated with joy, peace, and gift-giving. But for just as long, though largely forgotten or overlooked to maintain a positive festive mood and to keep the holiday "kid-friendly," were depictions of the season's darker side that could also encompass tales of horror. This volume includes legendary Christmas nightmares from folklore and classic literature descending upon unwitting victims and giving them the worst, most bloody holiday experience imaginable in four original short stories that you should most certainly
not
read during the family gathering beside the hearth. Not only has the Krampus returned for more seasonal mayhem, but you will also run afoul of two other horrors from Germanic folklore to haunt the Christmas season: the human-eating winter ogress Gryla and the man-slaughtering feline known as the Yule Cat. And what volume of Christmas terror would be complete without a certain famous trio of Ghosts to teach harsh lessons to those who need it most for the holidays? As in Volume 1, these short tales of holiday horror are brought to you courtesy of Christofer Nigro, the author of the teen werewolf novel series
Nero
(beginning with
Nero: The Beast Emerges
), also published by Wild Hunt Press. As a bonus, this volume reprints the short story "Nero: A Holiday Haunting," featuring the young lycanthrope Mike Nero dealing with a holiday-based horror of his own; and a new flash fiction from the pen of Dustin Dreyling, author of Wild Hunt Press's
Primordial Soup
kaiju horror series. Rated Ex (Explicit) for Graphic Violence, Strong Language, Intense Themes, and Disturbing Imagery. Some of the material in this book may not be suitable for sensitive readers, so reader discretion is strongly advised.