Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas Ghosts: “The Governess’s Story” by Amyas Northcote

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“The Governess’s Story”
Amyas Northcote
available in Winter Ghosts: Classic Ghost Stories for Christmas
ebook only $0.99

There’s an old English tradition of sitting around the fire on December evenings, especially on Christmas Eve, and telling ghost stories. I’m not sure when or how this tradition got started, but I like it.  The practice never caught on here in the States, which makes me think it started in the late 1700s or early 1800s. I’ve always associated telling ghost stories at Christmas with the Victorians, probably because Charles Dickens had some success with them.

But I digress.  I’m going to attempt something here, and that’s to post a review of a ghost story set at Christmas every day until Christmas.  (I’m writing this on the 17th.)  We’ll see how it goes.  I’ll be drawing from a number of different books and will try not to review stories from the same book two days in a row.  I will also try to avoid spoilers as much as I can. Continue reading →

Merry Christmas 2018

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Everyone here at Adventures Fantastic wishes each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas.  May your holiday be filled with love, laughter, family, and faith.

The staff and I have included our Christmas pictures.  Everyone seems to be sending Christmas photos these days, so I and my helpers have decided to do the same.

Enjoy!

The Night Before Christmas at the 87th Precinct

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And All through the House
Ed McBain

I was going to post this over at Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams.  Silly me, I downloaded WordPress 5.0.  Big mistake.  The entire interface is different.  Rather lose my Christmas spirit, I decided to post this here.  I hadn’t gotten around to updating here or at Futures Past and Present, and now I’m not going to.

It’s been a while since I read any of the 87th Precinct books.  This one is an illustrated short story that was first published in 1984.  Sadly it is long out of print and there is no electronic edition.

The story opens with Detective Steve Carella alone in the squadroom on Christmas Eve.  It’s quiet and he’s having trouble staying awake.  He is wishing for something to happen.  He should know that he needs to be careful what he wishes for.

Soon the room begins to fill up with the other detectives.  Accompanying them are a couple of drug dealers, a burglar, and a kid who stole a sheep from the zoo as a Christmas present for his kid sister, sheep in tow.

Then a detective brings in a young couple, Maria and Jose, from Puerto Rico who have squatting in an abandoned building.  Maria is quite pregnant.

Of course you can see where this is going.  This isn’t a major 87th Precinct story, but it’s a good seasonal tale.  The illustrations by Victor Juhasz help set the mood, as does the dialogue.  If you can get your hands on a copy, this is a nice little holiday tale.

Christmas Spirits from Paul Finch

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In a Deep, Dark December
Paul Finch
ebook, $1.49

I’ve always enjoyed Paul Finch’s work, but somehow I missed this collection when it came out a few years ago.  And while the afternoon of Christmas Eve may be a tad late for some of you to enjoy these stories, you should keep it in mind for next year.

In a Deep, Dark December contains four short stories and one novella.  I took a detailed look at the novella, “The Killing Ground”, a few years ago.  You can read the review here. I’m not going to rehash what I said.  I did reread the story, and it held up quite well.  Instead I’ll discuss the other stories.
Continue reading →

Christmas in Detroit, Grimnoir Style

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9781451638622“The Grimnoir Chronicles: Detroit Christmas”
Larry Correia
A Cosmic Christmas
Hank Davis, ed.
Baen Books
paper $12.00
ebook $8.99 Baen Kindle Nook Kobo

I’ve been intending to read Larry Correia’s Grimnoir Chronicles for a while now.  After having read the short story “Detroit Christmas”, that series just moved up the list.

In this story, Jake Sullivan is hired by an attractive young woman to find her missing husband two days before Christmas 1931.  He’s a powerful healer and had served in the War in the same unit as Jake, although as a high ranking Healer, Jake had never met him. Continue reading →

Merry Christmas 2014

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santa be goodMerry Christmas to all.  Rather than try to have a Christmas greeting on all the blogs, I’m just going to post one here.  (I’ve got a sick kid, so things have been hectic the last day or so.)

Anyway, other than a pair of reviews of Christmas stories, I’m keeping it low key this year.  The reviews will be up some time on Christmas afternoon.  One will be here, and the other will be a Futures Past and Present.

I hope you all have a peaceful and joyous Christmas filled with family and love.

Merry Christmas

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Barbarian_santa_by_NuMioH

Merry Christmas!  Santa the Barbarian will cleave from pate to navel anyone not being festive today.  If you like the image, go to the Diablo Fan Art page.  There are a lot of cool images similar to this one.

So raise a flagon of mead, join a dancing girl in a spin about the room, and pardon your enemies.  You can crush them and see them driven before you tomorrow.

And have a Merry Christmas.

Different Christmas posts are up at Dispatches From the Lone Star Front, Futures Past and Present, and Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams.

Christmas Ghosts

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FR-Christmas-Ghosts-ebook-cover-webChristmas Ghosts
Krisitne Grayson, ed.
WMG Publishing
trade paper $15.99
electronic $6.99

It’s good to read outside your comfort zone from time to time. I’m not really the target audience for this anthology. But I found it a nice, enjoyable collection of ghost stories that are a perfect fit for the season.  I meant to have this posted a little earlier, but things have been hectic enough that I didn’t finish the book until last night.

The stories here cross a variety of genres, but at heart they’re all romances. Now there are certain conventions of the romance genre that can’t be violated if the story is to be considered of that genre. Editor Grayson (the romance author persona of Kristine Kathryn Rusch) explains this in her introduction.

The main thing is that the two lovers have to end up with each other. While I like an upbeat ending, I prefer a little more suspense in the outcome of the relationship. I guess you could say I’m not that much of happily ever after kind of guy. I find unrequited love more interesting thematically.

Of course, knowing things won’t work out every time is just as unsatisfying.

Anyway, you aren’t here to read about me. You want to know about the stories. They’re all worth reading. They span a variety of time periods and encompass a number of other genres. All of them involve ghosts in some form, although the ghost isn’t as central to the story in some of the tales as in others. Continue reading →