Late last month I heard of the Christmas Evil readathon happening this month that is right up my alley. It’s a Christmas themed, month long readathon, that focuses more on the horror and/or thriller side of the holiday. All of the books on this list (minus the group book that I’m not a hundred percent sure that I will get too) are holiday themed. And most of them are horror but some are mysteries or suspense novels.
Group Book
1979. Somebody has been abducting children in Fairbanks, Alaska. One of the victims was fourteen-year-old Curtis Black’s best friend Todd.
Curtis saw it happen. He knows exactly who did it.
But he can’t prove that it was his neighbor Gerald Martin. The authorities find no evidence of the crime. There’s nothing they can do.
So he’s going to confront Mr. Martin himself.
And this is just the beginning of the terrifying story…
From the author of PRESSURE and MY PRETTIES comes a nerve-wracking coming-of-age thriller.
Black Christmas– Black Magic or Occult
From USA Today Bestseller L.A. Detwiler comes a disturbing paranormal horror story that will bring hell to the holidays and chilling fear to the festivities.
Some Christmas ornaments should be left in the attic.
When Candace Mills, 26, heads home for the holidays to visit her mother and ailing grandmother, she’s expecting a peaceful, dull Christmas. She has no idea, though, that a single Christmas ornament is about to send her into a whirling chasm of evil.
It starts with the Christmas bell, scratched and worn in one of Grandma Anne’s boxes in the attic. Once they put it on the tree, Grandma Anne starts to say terrifying things and act strangely. Candace and her mother assume it’s her dementia talking—until they start to have dangerous encounters with a fiendish being.
As the secrets of Anne’s past involving her twin sister rise to the surface, the women face sinister horrors from a dark force looking for revenge.
Will any of them be able to survive, or will they fall prey to the malevolent secret Grandma Anne is harboring from her past?
Krampus- creature feature or monster
The Office meets Stephen King, dressed up in holiday tinsel, in this fun, festive, and frightening horror-comedy set during the horror publishing boom of the ’80s, by New York Times best-selling satirist Andrew Shaffer.
Out of work for months, Lussi Meyer is desperate to work anywhere in publishing. Prestigious Blackwood-Patterson isn’t the perfect fit, but a bizarre set of circumstances leads to her hire and a firm mandate: Lussi must find the next horror superstar to compete with Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Peter Straub. It’s the ’80s, after all, and horror is the hottest genre.
But as soon as she arrives, Lussi finds herself the target of her co-workers’ mean-spirited pranks. The hazing reaches its peak during the company’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange, when Lussi receives a demonic-looking object that she recognizes but doesn’t understand. Suddenly, her coworkers begin falling victim to a series of horrific accidents akin to a George Romero movie, and Lussi suspects that her gift is involved. With the help of her former author, the flamboyant Fabien Nightingale, Lussi must track down her anonymous Secret Santa and figure out the true meaning of the cursed object in her possession before it destroys the company—and her soul.
A Christmas Carol- haunting or ghost
It’s Christmas in the Holiday Mansion and Juniper has this years party gift-wrapped and under the tree!
Christmas at the Holiday mansion is always a festive affair. The residents of Crescent Cove look forward to Juniper’s yard decorations almost as much as an invitation to one of her parties—and this year everyone has been invited. What could possibly go wrong with a mansion full of people and non-humans?
Murder of the ho-ho-ho variety, that’s what. Santa’s not so jolly anymore and Juniper can’t help but be suspicious of Mrs. Claus. Detective Mallard is convinced one of the elves is responsible. Victoria thinks it was an accident. Nobody can be sure, however, because there was no witness—not even the ghosts saw what happened.
Juniper is determined to discover the murderer before Christmas Day, which doesn’t give her much time. Will she manage, or will Santa’s murderer go free to sleigh again?
A gifted book
From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Valerie Hansen
Is she a mistaken target…
or next on an enemy’s hit list?
Sandy Lynn Forrester’s Christmas holiday takes a terrifying turn when someone breaks into her home and attacks her roommate…thinking it’s her. But no one believes that an imprisoned man from Sandy Lynn’s past is behind the attacks—except for her high school heartbreak, ex-cop Clay Danforth. Can she trust Clay to keep her safe in the Ozark wilderness long enough to stop a ruthless criminal’s vengeance?
From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
Mood Read
Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night?
The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages’ grand family home. This year’s prize is to die for–deeds to the house itself–but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn’t been back to Endgame since her mother died, twenty-one years ago, and she has no intention of claiming the house that haunts her dreams.
Until, that is, she receives a letter from her aunt promising that the game’s riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to its darkest secrets, including the identity of her mother’s murderer.
Now, Lily must compete with her estranged cousins for the twelve days of Christmas. The snow is thick, the phone lines are down, and no one is getting in or out. Lily will have to keep her wits about her, because not everyone is playing fair, and there’s no telling how many will die before the winner is declared.
Including additional scavenger hunts for the reader, this clever murder mystery is the perfect gift for fans of classic mysteries, festive Christmas books, and armchair detective work.
Slay Bells Slasher
SOMEONE EVIL IS DREAMING OF A RED CHRISTMAS
What would happen if the world of Hallmark Christmas movies collided with slasher movies like Black Christmas, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Scream?
Mary Classen is the successful CEO of a booming tinsel company in the quiet town of Tinselvania, Maine. Perpetually single and surrounded by quirky friends and townspeople, her world is flipped upside down when Bright Harmon, a rising star in the competitive world of tinsel-selling, arrives from a New York City Christmas conglomerate to discuss a potential partnership.
Meanwhile, the town of Tinselvania is under attack by a bloodthirsty, maniacal serial killer dressed as a reindeer. Why are they here? What do they want? Can Mary and Bright balance a blossoming romance and stop a deranged murderer before it’s too late?
Winter Wonderland- set in winter
As the snow begins to fall, the body count begins to climb…
DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey.
But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow.
As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next….
Can James stop the killer before they strike again?
The first in a new series, Alex Pine has written a dark, atmospheric crime novel, set in a snowed-in Cumbrian village, for fans of Val McDermid, Ross Greenwood and LJ Ross.
Santa’s little helper- middle grade
Rick Scroogeman hates Christmas. He can’t stand the carols and the pageants. He can’t stand the lights and the mistletoe. But what he hates the most is having to watch the old movie A Christmas Carol every year at school. Since his name is Scroogeman, all of his classmates start calling him Scrooge. And he hates being called Scrooge.
But everything starts to change when three ghosts visit him. At first, he thinks it’s a dream. But then he realizes that it might be a nightmare. A nightmare that could become real.
Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story is a funny, scary middle-grade send up of A Christmas Carol, about a boy who hates Christmas, from bestselling Goosebumps author R. L. Stine.
Reindeer Ride- translated or written by a non U.S. author
In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.
Christmas Eve, and the Lee family’s reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.
When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. . . .
Books With Cassie 