Christmas Short Stories Anthology

A Cinnabar Moth Publishing anthology, A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters is a collection of short stories with themes that range from sad to dark to horrifying. Each story is set during Christmas or in Winter. Many talented authors worked to create these short stories, and we are proud to present them to you in this anthology.

Flagged down by Inspector LaStrade of Scotland Yard as they walk through the icy winter streets, Holmes and Watson are transported to the home of the aristocratic Lady Whitebread. Once there, she tells them her traditional holiday centerpiece has vanished in the midst of the Christmas dinner - right under the very noses of her guests. The decoration? An enormous work of the jeweler's art centered upon a three inch round emerald called...the Christmas Jewel.

Paxton Peterson’s favorite day of the year is his annual Gay Boy Christmas dinner. He’s checked and double-checked his to-do list, because nothing stresses him out like the unexpected. Confident everything will run smoothly, Paxton embarks on his yearly snowshoed hike through the Rocky Mountains near his home. His perfectly planned evening is cut short by Logan Charles’s careless enjoyment of his brother’s snowmobile, and Paxton is stranded in the woods. It’s the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to him - or maybe the best.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," the old song tells us. But that doesn't mean the people celebrating it are always so nice. Criminals get the Christmas spirit, too! In this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays...and it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story.

Originally published in an 1896 edition of The Home Monthly, "The Burglar's Christmas" tells the story Crawford, a homeless man in Chicago who has not eaten recently and considers stealing food on Christmas Eve. Reminiscent of the parable of the prodigal son, this tale reflects on the nature of forgiveness. This recording of "The Burglar's Christmas" was recorded as part of Dreamscape's Classic Christmas Stories: A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales.

Dive into a world of enchantment with Twinkling Tales of Christmas, a delightful collection of 30 captivating short stories that will transport children and parents to the wondrous spirit of the holiday season. Join our young heroes as they embark on thrilling adventures, discover the true meaning of Christmas, and share in the joy of giving.

B.D. Anklevich, the jolliest old elf, brings you his collection of twisted Christmas short stories for the holidays. Filled with the strange, the creepy, the unusual, the nasty, the heartwarming, and the jolly, this holiday collection is sure to become an annual staple of your Christmas traditions. The book is packed full of stories, with one novella, four novelettes, and three short stories to brighten...or darken your Yule. It even includes one novelette co-written by the Dunesteef's Rish Outfield. No holiday is complete without Christmas Creatures.

Five entertaining audio readings of best-loved children’s festive stories for children of three years and over to enjoy at Christmas.

From the creator of Dalziel and Pascoe comes a fantastic collection of crime stories complete with a foreword by Mick Herron.

In a small town in the American South, it is night in the middle of the 20th century. Carter, a high-school teacher and football coach in the newly desegregated schools, is awaiting news of two of his students who have been in a serious altercation. Outside the building where Carter has kept his vigil, a crowd of townspeople have also gathered to keep watch. Carter must choose how much he wants to participate in the spectacle and how much he can afford to keep his distance.

Twenty stories were originally published in the Christmas editions of the magazines “Household Words” and “All The Year Round”. Some of the stories have little holiday sentiment and exhibit much of the indignation Dickens felt at the social and economic injustices of his day. Some of the stories were written in collaboration with other authors.

From the internationally best-selling author of The Alchemist comes The Pine Tree at St. Martin, a never-before-published Christmas parable for the ages. Fans of Paulo Coelho will immediately recognize the master storyteller's incomparable voice, and will treasure this story's simplicity and poignancy for many Christmas seasons to come.

Rev. Dr. Steve Burt, the Congregational minister known as The Christmas Story Pastor, has been sharing his emotional holiday stories - modern parables revealing the true meaning of Christmas - for 40 years in print and in read-aloud programs. Millions have heard him read his stories on radio and television, with millions more seeing them in Family Circle or the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

Megan Jenkins isn’t looking forward to Christmas. The holidays will forevermore remind her of what she had and lost. Her husband, and love of her life, died a few days after Christmas the year before, leaving her a young widow with a fatherless son to raise. During the course of this Christmas Eve, Megan experiences her own Christmas Miracle as she learns the true meaning of giving with the help of Kevin Murdock, a long-time friend who’s always been there for her.

Here is a collection of 25 short stories for the Christmas season to make you laugh, smile, and just feel good about this magical time of year. These delightful stories, written in a variety of genre, all reflect Christmas love, hope, and charity.

In Christmas at Red Butte, Theodora, the jolliest, bravest girl of 16 in all Saskatchewan pawns a precious locket so she can afford to buy toys for the poor family that has kindly taken her in after her own parents died. A heartwarming Christmas story for all generations by Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

A holiday classic by Charles Dickens. Originally published in 1843, Dickens worried about the disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished, and it was his attempt to bring this disparity into the light of day, to appeal to the die-hard capitalists to take care of the downtrodden masses. Since this inequity continues, this story is still popular, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

From horror master Rick Wood, author of The Sensitives and This Book Is Full of Bodies, comes 12 horrifying stories to spook up your Christmas season! From a sadistic secret Santa gift, to a murderous telekinetic fairy, to a nativity full of the undead, you’ll find a horror treat for all 12 days of Christmas.

Cosy up for Christmas with this festive story, starring everyone's favourite Victorian foundling, Hetty Feather!An unexpected gift leads to trouble for Hetty on Christmas Day at the Foundling Hospital, and the dreaded Matron Bottomly is delighted to have an excuse to exclude Hetty from the festive celebrations. Poor Hetty is distraught - but just when it seems that all is lost, a dear friend arrives to whisk her away for a Christmas unlike any other....

Christmas is the season the Gingerbread Café was made for, and Lil has every recipe down, from gingerbread men to cinnamon muffins. So when gorgeous outsider Damon opens a shop opposite the Gingerbread Café in the lead up to Christmas, Lil refuses to let him steal her customers without a fight - no matter how much he makes her heart flutter. When it comes to love, Lil’s never quite got the method right! But as the snow begins to fall, it looks like this time deviating from the recipe might just lead Lil to the magic ingredient she’s been missing all along.