When the weather outside is bad and the holidays are coming up, anthologies are the way to go. Yule, the ancient winter festival, has begun. This celebration lasts from Christmas week until the first day of the New Year. At a time when days are often hectic and stressful, anthologies can provide a temporary distraction from the daunting list of holiday tasks.
So what are anthologies and why do we read them? Let’s talk about it. First of all, what is an anthology? It is a collection of short stories by different authors and is edited by multiple people before finally publishing the selected collection. For those of you who are familiar with anthologies, or who are interested in digging deeper into anthologies, let me explain a little more about what makes anthologies appealing to readers.
I’m reading a lot of books now. Anthologies are one of my favorite types of books to read because you can experience so much in one book. Read different writing styles. Maybe you’ll discover a new author. It’s also great if you’re short on time or focus due to holiday chaos at home. And there’s no better time than the holidays to take a much-needed break from the craziness going on outside.
The books on this list may not all be holiday-inspired, but they’re sure to provide some bone-chilling fun during the winter solstice. So here are the top 5 anthologies you need to get your hands on this Yule.
Publisher: Greymore Publishing
A collection that pays homage to the supermarket paperback shelves of the 1980s. There are many possibilities…creepy dolls, parasites, werewolves, vampires. That rack had everything. Edited by Tom Dead, this book includes 20 stories by authors such as Stephen King, Clay McLeod Chapman, Philip Fracassi, and Laurel Hightower, just to name a few. You can order a copy directly from . tom dead’s site.
Publisher: Bad Hand Books
Some of the darkest minds in horror are at work. The stories of Chuck Palahniuk, Zodje Stage, Ai Jian, and others offer a glimpse into a world that loses sight of the bonds that unite us and then debates what divides us. This collection is edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey. You can order directly from bad handbook site. This press was also featured in our Cat’s “8 Indie Horror Publishers to Buy This Holiday Season.”
Publisher: Titan Books
from titan books Introducing this anthology filled with chilling stories compiled by horror legend Ellen Dutlow. This book features new stories from heavyweights like Stephen Graham-Jones, Tanariv Due, Cassandra Coe, Josh Malerman…the list goes on and on. You can order this book directly from Titan Books using the link above.
Publisher: Roland Books
It focuses on stories of American history reimagined with a cannibal twist. Edited by Rebecca Rowland, this collection features 20 stories by some of the most prominent authors of modern horror fiction. Gwendolyn Kiste, V. Castro, Ronald Malfi, Lars James Wright, Jeff Strand…the list is full of outstanding contributors. You can order through Rebecca Rowland site.
Publisher: Penguin
A wicked collection you don’t want to miss. Many indigenous peoples believe that you should not whistle at night. This is because legend has it that if you whistle at night, evil spirits may appear and chase you home. Edited by Shane Hawke and Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr., the collection includes a foreword by the iconic Stephen Graham Jones, as well as works by Indigenous authors such as Tommy Orange, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Nick Medina. Contains stories and many other works. Both editors have had their work published in this book, and a sequel is in the works. You can order this collection by: Shane Hawkes site.
Found: An Anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories
Publisher: Vermilion 2 One Press
This collection includes 18 stories by horror writers who disappeared between April and August 2021 while they were writing the stories. What makes epistolary and found footage stories so effective is that they make the reader an intimate accomplice to the horrors unfolding on the page. There are stories from Tim McGregor, Angela Sylvain, Alan Baxter and more. This collection is edited by Andrew Cull and Gabino Iglesias and can be ordered below. Andrew Cull’s Website. Found also has a sequel. Found 2available from the same website.
The list is now complete. It’s a list that Krampus himself would be proud of. If you want to give yourself a present this season, why not choose this anthology? All of them are so full of different horrors that they remind us of the snowflakes typical of the Yule season. Although they are all very similar, they are also very unique and worth a closer look.
Images provided by each publisher
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