1 Nov 2021

THE TWELVE EVEN STRANGER DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

 One of several bloggers who over seven days will be participating in this Blog Tour (the full list of which can be found in the Schedule at the bottom of the post). Today {the 5th day of the Tour) its my pleasure to be sharing my thoughts on ...

THE TWELVE EVEN STRANGER DAYS OF CHRISTMAS by SYD MOORE.

Genre: Crime / Thriller

Publication Date: 28th October 2021

Publisher: Point Blank  (Crime Imprint Of Oneworld)

Standalone Book of Short Stories

Estimated Page Count: 272

From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come twelve (or maybe thirteen?) stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena.

As the dark winter nights get longer, prepare to lose yourself in the world of the strange. With a tale for each day of Christmas and a rather unlucky 13th, Christmas is not the only spirit in these pages. ‘Tis the season for sacrificial feasts, cultish communities and a train with a rather final destination. So wrap up warm and let yourself get lost in the world of the strange, the scary and the supernatural… ... Synopsis 

{Please note because this is a collection of short stories I won't as is customary be sharing either the First Sentence or my Memorable Moment. FGT}

MY THOUGHTS ... Whether written by a number of writers or, as is the case with this book, one author, as is usually the case with these collections of short stories there are some that are enjoyable and some less so; some that hit the mark and others that, well, don't quite.

For myself it was probably the first story I enjoyed the most. I mean who could fail to be anything other than intrigued to discover that the seven dwarves were not in fact ...?

Ha! As if I'm going to tell you. You'll have to read the book for yourself in order to find this out.

Strangely enough a series of not twelve but thirteen short stories from 2 to 48 pages long; ranging from the quirky to the downright weird, whilst there is a story {plus a bonus one} for every day of Christmas many of them aren't explicitly Christmas themed ... indeed, several of them classic ghost stories and tales of the supernatural {to say nothing of Rogation, the blessing of a community's crops and animals, that takes places a few weeks after Easter}, the twelve Stranger Days Of Christmas is just as well suited to Halloween as it is to Christmas. 

Ideal to read whilst putting your feet up and enjoying a cuppa as the nights darken, though be warned you may find one cup of your favourite beverage leads to another just as one story invariably leads to another ... and another.

ABOUT SYD MOORE ... SYD MOORE is the author of the Essex Witch Museum Mysteries (Strange Magic, Strange Sight, Strange Fascination, Strange Tombs and Strange Tricks) all published by Point Blank. The series was shortlisted for the Good Reader Holmes and Watson Award 2018. She has been shortlisted twice for the CWA Short Story Dagger for The Strange Casebook (2018) and The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas (2019). Her debut screenplay, Witch West, which she developed from an original idea, has been optioned by Hidden Door Productions for production in 2021. Syd is a founder member of the Essex Girls’ Liberation Front which successfully got the term ‘Essex girl’ removed from the Oxford English dictionary. She lives in Essex.
FOLLOW SYD MOORE ... ~ Twitter ~ BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE ... 28th October: Curled Up With A Good Book ~ Books and Me ~ Bookshine and Readbows ~ 29th October: Bobs and books ~ The Photographer's Way ~ Plumbobmummy ~ 30th October: My Reading Corner ~ Books, Cats, Etc. ~ @fantasybookcraz_mum ~ 31st October: Zoe’s book Nook ~ Books_from_the_shed ~ Snowphiethebookworm ~ 1st November: sharon beyond the books ~ Felicity Grace Terry ~ Twoladiesandabook ~ 2nd November: Scrapping&Playing ~ Book Blogging Bureau ~ Nicki`sLifeOfCrime ~ 3rd November: Chez Maximka ~ Stacey Hammond ~ wee_glasgow_bookworm ~





  












5 comments:

Kelly said...

I normally like to leave my "spooky" for Halloween, but this might be one I'd enjoy. I guess I'd just have to thumb through a physical copy to be sure. I do like the cover!

nightwingsraven said...

Felicity,
I am uncertain if I would enjoy
these stories. And I do not dislike
ghost stories. But I will keep this
collection in mind.
Raven

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

I have taken to reading short stories a bit more this year then I have in the past, so "never say never" for this collection.

This is one of those books that I would probably read at any time of the year and not necessarily seasonally.

From how you describe them alongside the premise, they seem a little reminiscent of the old 'Tales Of The Unexpected' series!

A lovely Blog Tour spot, thanks for sharing! :)

LL Cool Joe said...

I try and avoid anything supernatural but it sounds like a fun blog tour!

DMS said...

Sometimes short stories really work for me. Especially when the sky is darker earlier. :) Glad you enjoyed many of these short stories. Thanks for sharing.
~Jess