Christmas Short Stories Anthology

It's the most wonderful time of year...or is it? Christmas Eve is a night of mystery and magic, but not always in ways we expect. Things lurk in the shadows, and they're not the least bit jolly or merry. Let's just say some presents are better left unopened. 'Tis the season to be screaming along with our 13 tales of holiday horrors. Ghosts. Monsters. Demons. And more! This Christmas, be careful what you wish for....

Left to rot in the king's jail, and nearly forgotten, Captain Rob and his crew seize an offer to deliver Yuletide cargo to the Town of Dryden by Christmas Eve, in exchange for their release. But to reach their destination in time, earn the king's pardon, and ensure their freedom, they will have to chart a course straight through pirate-infested waters - a fool's errand while sailing under the king's colors.

If Beth can't figure out a way to seduce her love's picky appetite, she fears her relationship is toast-burnt. She cooks up a plan only to have it boil over. What's a terrible cook to do? Can Beth brave a winter storm in search of a Christmas dish to save her relationship - or will the holidays be a distasteful disaster?

Each Wednesday morning they take the bus--the lonely graduate student, the marine trying to start a new life in the corporate world, the elderly woman on her way to the senior center, and the exhausted single mother and her daughter--but they never interact. Not until the day tragedy strikes and brings these five strangers together.

Here is a charming Christmas tale about a young woman staying with her aunt in rural New England. When Sophie invites her high-society friends to visit her and Aunt Pemy, they quickly - and much to their delight - discover that there's much more to country life than they had ever imagined.

Jessie lived with her family on their homestead and had helped the family build a successful farm raising crops and animals. Her greatest joy and passion was for training her young mare and galloping across the plains. To her shock and dismay, her family agrees to an arranged marriage with a wealthy family who traveled from back East to do business in their town.

This short story, "El Espejo de Navidad", is in Spanish. It is about a father, who is having a hard time letting go of his daughter, as she comes to the point, where she no longer believes... in Papa Noel(Santa).

Henry n’est plus le même depuis que sa petite amie Sheridan a quitté la cage. La retrouvera-t-il? Gregory adore les cadeaux; et plus particulièrement en faire aux autres. Oui mais voilà, Gregory va apprendre que rien ne vaut un cadeau qui vient du cœur.

Paget Murphy doesn't expect to find love in Paris for the holidays, until she bumps into a handsome stranger at the airport. He is everything she has ever wanted in a man - kind, generous, and he loves art as much as she does! Christopher Paris can't believe his luck when he bumps into a beautiful stranger. He is a curator at the Louvre, and that is where Paget intends to spend most of her time in Paris. He plans to occupy every free moment with her - running, eating, and making love.

Maria has left everything she knows to travel to French Gulch, California, to find a husband, but none of the potential matches seem to work out. Adam is focused on his job and has no intentions of finding a wife among the women who traveled to French Gulch to find love. Together, they learn that the Christmas is full of surprises that can overcome personal intentions and rescue those in need.

Fourteen-year-old Vicki Gray loves Christmas, and this year's will be special indeed. Still, she has a dilemma. Her long-distance friendship with Chase is great, but she enjoys being with her classmate and friend Danny as well. On winter break with her BFF, Jess, by her side, Vicki tries to balance the two. Will she ever feel as comfortable around Danny as she does around Chase? Join Vicki for a fun-filled school holiday as she and her friends discover that Christmas holds many surprises!

Let the magic of Christmastide in regency England warm your soul. Curl up with these three must-listen romance novellas in one heartwarming collection and transport yourself to another place and time. This audiobook collection features three books: How to Kill a Rogue, Christmas in the Duke's Embrace, and One Wicked Christmas.

On the surface Norman is not the perfect Christmas tree, but just because he is different to the other trees, he is no less special and no less deserving of a happy home full of love.

This collection of short stories by notable Australian author Mary Grant Bruce (1878-1958) reflects on Australian experiences of summertime. Infused with the smells, sounds, and textures of Australian life during the Christmas season, these stories also highlight the strengths and yearnings of their characters.

American writer William Dean Howells delights us with his cautiously cynical yet endearing telling of the night before Christmas at the Fountain household. Published in The Daughter of the Storage and Other Things in Prose and Verse in 1916, Howells’ sense of realism and social criticism hides behind the humorous banter between Mr. and Mrs. Fountain, as well as relatives passing by. Raging consumerism, New Year’s resolutions, lovingly marital insults, reflections and memories, and a whole bunch of bathrobes!

Vasilisa had not seen her daughter for four years. Her daughter, Yefimya, had gone after her wedding to Petersburg, had sent them two letters, and since then had seemed to vanish out of their lives; there had been no sight nor sound of her. And whether the old woman was milking her cow at dawn or heating her stove or dozing at night, she was always thinking of one and the same thing - what was happening to Yefimya, whether she were alive.... Read in English, unabridged.

Seven contrasting short stories, all set at Christmastime: 'Mr. Huffam' by Hugh Walpole, 'A Strange Christmas Game' by J. H. Riddell, 'The Christmas Tree and the Wedding' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 'The Snow' by Hugh Walpole, 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry, 'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 'The Cop and the Anthem' by O. Henry.

This collection follows on from Australian Christmas Yarns Volume I and consists of 10 stories by notable Australian author Mary Grant Bruce (1878-1958). These stories sketch challenges of landscape, relationship, loss and hope.

From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come 12 never-before-published stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena. With returning characters from the Essex Witch Museum series and a weirdly wonderful tale for each day of Christmas, these spooky stories are the perfect companion for long, dark winter nights.

Alle Jahre wieder macht sich die halbe Republik kurz vor den Feiertagen auf den Weg zur buckligen Verwandtschaft. Als ob der Besuch bei Tante und Onkel nicht schon schlimm genug wäre, quälen wir uns stundenlang durch den Stau, fluchen über den ICE in verkehrter Wagenreihung oder sitzen auf dem verschneiten Rollfeld fest, während unser Airbus zum wiederholten Mal enteist wird. Und das alles umgeben von nicht minder nervigen Nichten, Neffen, Omas und Opas, die sich ebenfalls nicht vor dem Besuch bei der Familie zu drücken wussten.