by Edward Lorn

This collection includes all three Christmas stories by Edward Lorn.

The Naughty List

In which we learn that Santa's elves have their evil counterparts at the North Pole, called Naughties.

Deck the Halls

In which we work out that these three stories are a continuing story and several Christmas myths are woven together to create an original alternative world where Santa, or Sinter Klaus, deals with Krampus, the Naughties, and a host of toys gone bad in Toyland. This one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but in the combined volume, the story continues!

Beyond the Gates of Toyland

Completes the series. I found believability stretched a little in this one but the mythology added to the mix was certainly an original idea.

The writing in these was good and the stories drew me in despite my trepidation of reading an author who is known for extreme Horror. While the content was undoubedly Horror, there was nothing in this to squick my boundaries so it was a good first Lorn read for me.

As alternative Christmas stories go, I would actually recommend this for fans of Horror fiction. Don't expect a nicey-nice Holiday story though, that's not the goal here.

by Edward Lorn

The author says in the intro that this is not a Horror story. I disagree. It's not a blood and gore Horror story, for which I'm grateful, but I would classify it under Supernatural Horror. And that's the kind of Horror I like!

A woman acquires an interesting book and the book engages her in conversation. Her first reaction is fear, but how she reacts is actually rather comical. I thought the naming of other recent books in the beginning was distracting and actually would have preferred imaginary titles, but never mind. I soon found myself drawn into the main plot of the story and might have read it all in one sitting if I hadn't been called away from my reading to make dinner.

I enjoyed the story, but felt that it could have been taken further. There was material there that actually could have made a good Romance story, albeit an unusual one. The ending came just a little too suddenly for me and left me with a feeling of wanting to know what would come next. Really hedging on the star rating, but let's call it 3.75.

Seriously enjoyable.

WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT

If you'd like to read the first chapter of my upcoming novel, The Bedding of Boys, you can do so here: 

https://edwardlorn.wordpress.com/2018/06/28/the-bedding-of-boys-chapter-excerpt/