This short story collection peeked my interest when I saw one of the Authors was Seven Jane.

I tried to like all the stories but it was really hard to get through some of these. I’m not going to lie, but I skipped some parts.
Just not my cup of tea.

I received this ebook copy in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and the publisher.

I don’t often read short story collections, but once in a while, a book catches my eye and I can’t resist. I found A Midnight Clear through NetGalley and though I am little late in posting about it (it was published early November 2019), this collection is perfect to read anytime October-January! Spooky, moving, and thoughtful, find the meaning behind the holidays here.

Centered around the holiday season, in the heart of winter, with soft snow falling to the ground, A Midnight Clear brings together unique perspectives about the holidays, addressing the good and the bad. Through their stories, the authors transport us to a world with characters that we can relate to and learn from.

The collection brought so many lessons to my mind’s forefront, while at the same time, taking me to magical places. I was enchanted, a little terrified but warmed by the company that I had in each of the protagonists.

You can read the stories in any order but I would recommend reading them all. Check out my takeaways from each of the stories on my blog, Armed with A Book. Special thanks to the authors, publisher and NetGalley for providing me the advanced reader copy.

Unusual collection of 6 short stories set in fantasy/Science fiction genre. All are on the dark side. Sam Hooker; Alcy Leyva; Laura Morrison; Cassondra Windwalker; Dalena Storm; Seven Jane are the authors and this is the first I’ve read any of their work. Not your regular Christmas read. I received a copy of this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

These off stories are nice change of pace from the typical Christmas tales. None were corny. Moving on up should definitely make readers think when reading this interpretation of Christmas Carol. Each felt original

***I received an e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
A Midnight Clear is the best Christmas book I've ever read. It is a horrifying anthology of sinister, seasonal short stories that I can't see anyone not loving. From a reverse-werewolf case to a deadly Christmas Carol retelling to a winter solstice gone wrong, these stories were simply the best of their kind. I absolutely adored reading them, and you will, too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Spot Books for sending me a free advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. A Midnight Clear debuted November 5th.

I’ve made a concerted effort this year to read more short fiction; the vast majority of my weekly Short Tuesday series focuses on dark genre fiction. So I was intrigued by this short story collection from Black Spot Books, which has a dark holiday focus. Like a lot of short story collections, this one was kind of all over the place. I’m going to give each story a mini review, since there’s only six of them.

“The Dauntless” by Sam Hooker was a strong start to the collection. Great prose, fun details, and a gripping premise: the ensuing legal fallout when a ship of Santa’s elves is sent to deliver Christmas joy to one of Lovecraft’s monsters. If you’re a Lovecraft fan, I could see picking up A Midnight Clear just for this story. 4 stars.

“Tidings of the New Moon” by Alcy Leyva was well-written, but didn’t grip me–more a me thing, I think, than anything else. I’m generally a fan of werewolves in fiction, but this story was maybe a bit too on-the-nose for me in terms of some of the details. Nevertheless, Leyva is clearly a talented writer. 3 stars.

“Movin’ On Up” by Laura Morrison was a fun one for me, since I’m letting a Hell-themed project percolate in my mind right now, and that’s what this was: a trio of three inhabitants of Hell trying to persuade a woman destined for Heaven to venture downstairs instead. I wish this story had been given more room for growth, by at least a few thousand more words; it felt rushed. Yet it was tons of fun overall. 4 stars.

“The Poetry of Snow and Stars” by Cassondra Windwalker was a story that I unfortunately did not get along with. It has an adverb-soaked voice and tons of backstory that put me in mind of those romances you read where the author is trying to catch you up on all the previous characters in the series–I’ve never been a fan of that myself, and that sentiment counts doubly for a short story, where no word should be wasted. The maybe-murder-maybe-not plot didn’t catch me, and the Stanley Hotel setting felt wasted. 2 stars.

“Sleep, Sweet Khors” by Dalena Storm is actually the second work I’ve read by this author in 2019; I was introduced to her by her debut novel, The Hungry Ghost. Like Ghost, this story has a strong mythological spine, this time from the Slavic tradition. I didn’t like the mythology infodump in the middle of the story; I always prefer these kinds of details to get threaded through the narrative. As with Ghost, this author feels like she is currently developing her voice; she has some great ideas, and I’m digging the mythology threads she interweaves with her stories, but I’d like to see a bit more lyricism to her prose. 3 stars.

“Snow Angel” by Seven Jane was a weaker end to the collection, sadly. The prose felt overworked, and much of the narrative was spent in the main character’s head, which got tiresome for me as a reader because the MC was just bemoaning the holiday season the entire time–I didn’t want to spend any more time with her than need be! When we got to the big magical climax, I had a difficult time believing that all this was happening to the main character; was she really special enough to have all this magical attention lavished upon her? So this story and I sadly didn’t mesh. 2 stars.

In sum, this collection was a bit of a bumpy ride, but there were some fun, bright moments. If you’re looking for some Christmas-themed stories and you like your fiction with a dose of darkness, consider giving this a go.

A Midnight Clear is a new anthology of 6 winter holiday short stories. Released 5th Nov 2019 by Black Spot Books, it's 250 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. (For the release, the ebook format is on sale at a scandalously low price).

This is a varied and dark collection of (as far as I can ascertain) previously unpublished fiction. They are all very well written and poignant, humorously scary (Cthulu meets Santa's elves), and all around good stuff. I've always had a particular fondness for collections/anthologies because short fiction is spare and technically challenging, so you get a better feel for an author's expertise with the form. Short fiction is less of a time commitment as well, so if one story is not working for you, there's another piece readily available in a few pages. Anthologies are also a rich source for finding new authors so you can search out their other works. Most of the authors included here were familiar, but there were a couple who were new (to me).

It's unclear from the publishing info available online, but the eARC I received has a handy interactive table of contents. I hope the ebook release version does also. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. Presumably that feature will carry through to the final release version.

The stories varied between 3.5 and 5 stars for me with the average weighted toward the 4 star range. All were high quality and worth a read; nary a clunker in the lot.

Four solid stars. It would make a great holiday gift for your Christmas Book Flood recipients.

Christmas is seen as a time of cheer and joy, but not everyone enjoys the season. This collection of six short stories plays off the darker potential in the season, sometimes dipping into outright horror.

Santa's elves are faced with insanity in the Candy Court for the first time. The changing seasons determined by elder gods' exchange is interrupted by a young girl having a hard time understanding illness and death. A working wolf with anxiety is plagued with horrible dreams after being bitten. Demons of past, present, and future try to sway the choice for the afterlife. A woman disenchanted by the holidays hardens into ice.

My favorite tale by far is the opener. The idea of elves having the Candy Court is wonderful, and I laughed at the idea of meanie being the worst name an elf can call another. They're so sweet and hard-working, and taking on less than two jobs is a horrible thought. I don't want to spoil it, but it is a wonderful blend of the Santa mythos as well as that of unspeakable, unpronounceable and unnamed horrors that would drive creatures mad just by seeing a figure of it. (Horror fans likely will understand the reference just from that, and yes, I found it as horribly hilarious as it sounds.)

Our closer story is just as good, though it drags in the beginning because it's a Christmas story for our current times and very much a warning for us not to let consumerism take over our hearts.

A Midnight Clear has fun holiday stories that would probably be a lot of fun for readers who maybe aren't that big on Christmas or who think the Hallmark Christmas movies are too sweet. The stories in this collection can be funny and thought provoking, but in the end, this collection just wasn't for me.

Six stories that combine two things I never knew could work so well together: Christmas time and horror. It is the perfect read for November, for all of those torn between their love for Halloween and Christmas, or still caught in their memories about the former and their yearning for the latter.

An elf-society on North Pole has to go through its first ever murder trial when one of their own goes crazy. As the opening story, it sets a nice tone between sweet, wholesome, smiley candy-land and gory crime story. However, it manages to still be more amusing and nice than truly grizzly. But the contrast works well. The second story introduces us to a wolfish society with many parallels to our own, in which one of the wolfs is struck by a mysterious illness. This I found to be a nice twist on the usual and well-known stories. The third story plays on the ideas of heaven and hell, good and bad deeds, and death and the afterlife in general. It was an obvious, but nicely done spin on A Christmas Carol. I found it a tad bit too long, but otherwise enjoyable. The fourth story was the only one that did not quite fit, as it was not really supernatural, just a crime story with a difficult moral question. Still, that too was well done (overall, I was surprised by this collection as it undermined my usual saying that collections / anthologies always have a few gems next to a few bad apples - here, it was all good apples). The fifth story was a nice exploration of old Gods and myths, as well as children's imagination and dealing with death or grief. It set the inevitability of death analogous to the changing of the seasons in a thrilling tale. And the last story rounded everything up nicely, when a Christmas-hater who may or may not control the weather with her frosty mood is moved from her realistic, hectic, chore-filled, stressful Christmas to be reminded about what Christmas time is actually about.

A nice collection overall, with very different interpretations of a shared theme, more or less spooky, more or less in a Christmas spirit. Certainly recommendable and something you can pick up time and time again.

2.5/3 stars.

Unfortunately, none of these stories really gripped me. They are all well written, I just didn't connect with most of them, they didn't draw me in or leave me on the edge of my seat.

I think the only one I truly enjoyed was Movin' On Up by Laura Morrison which I found to be quirky, witty and fun. I enjoyed the dynamic's between the characters and the underlying moral story.

A whimsical collection of Yuletide stories with a darker edge, A Midnight Clear is definitely something different for the festive season. The collection comprises six stories, each by a different author, and while all have the seasonal setting in common, the styles are very diverse, ranging from a courtroom drama featuring elves and Cthulhu, to a different take on a werewolf story and even a budding romance set at the Stanley hotel. Each of the stories felt fresh and original and I loved the idea of a collection offering something a little different than the usual sweetness and light. I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own,.

Dark short stories are my jam lately. I enjoy short story collections as an introduction to new to me writers, as well as in this case to set the mood for the changing season and holidays to come. The challenging part of reviewing a collection of stories is always that some are going to resonate more so than others, Thankfully this was a strong collection of 6 stories full of decidedly not merry seasons greetings.

We start off in candy court, where Santa's elves are tasked with a case of horror they have never seen before. Used to typically trying elves for not being up to their usual cheer, it's a challenge when they have to face a murder charge. Then we move to a twist on a werewolf story with some incredible nightmare visions before we get a demons instead of ghosts version of A Christmas Carol.

For the latter half of the book we get a story set in the Stanley Hotel. Most famous for being the setting for Stephen King's 'The Shining'. There was a lot of mystery and suspense in this tale. It's one of my favorites from the book. Up next was a story of a little girl that didn't want to allow the sun god to take his rest. The big finale was my favorite of the whole book. It was a good reminder to slow down and enjoy each season as it comes as it followed each of the seasons.

I really liked reading one story at a time, then sitting with it for a moment or a day before moving on to the next. To me it felt like a better way to adsorb the differences in each dark twisted tale. It was an unusual take on the usual Christmas cheer which is something I adore. I don't want happy cheesy perfect endings, there's a certain channel I will watch when that's what I'm in the mood for. When you want something to take you out of the usual stories of the season, this is just the book for you.

This ain't your mama's holiday short story collection. Not by a long shot. A Midnight Clear gathers six horrifying holiday season tales. Every story is different and adds a delightfully creepy edge to the holiday festivities.

I loved every story in this collection! The tales are wickedly varied and fun. Demons, Werewolves, insane Elves, winter gods, curses and general Yuletide mayhem. My favorite story of the collection is Sam Hooker's The Dauntless. An elf is on trial for murder because he was part of the annual expedition to deliver holiday coal to Cthulhu in R'leyah. The trip did not end well. Other stories in the collection are provided by: Aley Leyva, Laura Morrison, Cassondra Windwalker, Dalena Storm and Seven Jane. This is my first experience with all of these writers, and I am definitely reading more by each and every one of them!

Usually with story anthologies, I find I like most of the tales, but find a few that just aren't for me. This time I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed each story. All are well-written, interesting and incredibly creative. A werewolf bitten by a human? A holiday murder in the Stanley Hotel? I didn't expect fun stuff like that! Dark humor. Creative horror. Madness all around! Happy holidays!

This is the one time I can say I happily read a Christmas theme book before Halloween. It fits right in with the season.

Lovely story collection! Full marks from me!! Not a bad tale in the bunch!

**I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book from Black Spot Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. No elder gods, monsters or demons were angered in the writing of this review. I hope.**

As with any short story collection some are better than others but all in all this is a really strong collection. The stories are tied together by supernatural/horror elements and a winter holiday setting. They are all fairly short, quick reads which I think helps lift the ones that are less engaging because in the end, you haven't invested all that much time. My favorites of the bunch were Tidings of the New Moon, which is a really creative and interesting look at the werewolf legend and Snow Angel which closes out the collection by examining the true meaning of the holidays.

A Midnight Clear
by Sam Hooker, et.al
due 11-5-2019
Black Spot Books
4.0 /5.0

#netgalley #AMidnightClear
Thanks to netgalley for sharing this e-book ARC for review.

Six yuletide tales that are dark as well as whimsical. The madness, humor and craziness of the season are represented here. These are all unique and imaginative, and share some of the not-so-jolly spirit of the season.
These stories by authors of Black Spot Books are fun to read, creepy, macabre and I enjoyed them all.

Six deliciously dark, twisted tales that are perfect for the holiday season. Six different authors gives a variance of style that keeps you glued. A quick, enjoyable read.

**Thank you to Black Spot Books, the authors, and Netgalley for providing an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Written in the format of six short stories, all with a holiday theme or twist, A Midnight Clear brings six authors who reimagine the holiday season - sometimes in less than ideal ways. From Santa's elves to Satan's demons, human like wolves to a religious Solstice dilemma, A Midnight Clear questions what would happen if some of our fairy tales and traditions were turned upside down.

A Midnight Clear was a quick and easy read, likely because it was split into short stories. I certainly had my favorite of the stories and one's I did not like as much - but I won't bias you, dear reader, towards or against any. The writing in all short stories is well done, and the plots do make you think twice about the holiday season and what it all means. There was go cohesiveness to all the stories as well, which allowed the book to flow well through them.

As we move into the holiday season, anyone who likes to read holiday or Christmas inspired works should pick this up for a quick read.

Okay so this book had six very original Horror/Christmas stories. Each with its own theme and own feeling to it.
honestly, not all stories were that good but the overall was pretty great.
It had some fun and very interesting plots, and probably also something for very different tastes, which mean I can share this book with my husband and he will enjoy some of them too.
The book was a perfect start for the upcoming Holiday season, since it contains some Horror aspects that makes it perfect for Halloween. honestly only one of the stories had a true Christmas feeling to it - which I guess is great since there is a lot of people wanting Christmas books that aren't all romance and too ''Christmasy'' if that makes sense.

Black Spot Books tapped six of their authors to pull together this short story anthology under the overarching theme of “not-so-merry Yuletide whimsy.” The result is truly a mixed bag [insert lame Santa’s sack joke].

<b>The Good:</b> The opening story by Sam Hooker is far and away the best of the lot. Who knew you could combine a sugary cute version of the North pole (reminiscent of what it’s like in the movie Elf) with a visit to R’lyeh? Laura Morrison’s hellish (yet humorous) riff on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is imaginative and entertaining as well, and Dalena Storm’s dive into Slavic mythology wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t take my theology from any of these stories, but they were a lot of fun to read.

<b>The “Meh”:</b> The other three stories left me cold. In a couple, the Christmas element felt shoehorned in, and they all had the kind of pacing that I associate with lousy Christian fiction: the majority of the page count taken up with the protagonist moping, sulking, or mooning around followed by a burst of action at the very end that may or may not connect well with all the repetitive morbid introspection that came before it. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Overall, the oft repeated descriptor for short story anthologies is “mixed bag,” and that holds very much true here. If nothing else, you need to read Sam Hooker’s cutesy elf/Cthulhu mythos mashup.