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While darkness descends upon the Earth at harvest time, and reigns during our late October celebrations, the darkest night of the year falls on December 21st. Many cultures celebrate the “return of the sun” with subsequent solstice festivities, but for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the long days of winter are yet to come. When considering a winter anthology, I knew I wanted to do something other than “Black Christmas/Krampus” style stories that I’d seen previously published. I wanted to do something that would capture that eerie silence on a winter night, the isolation of snowy days, and the deep foreboding worry that spring may never come.
Like the frigid wind, Bleak Midwinter came forth, but what took me by surprise was the evolution of a double feature. This was perhaps one of our longest submissions calls, so we received more stories than ever before. As we sorted through hundreds of tales, it became clear that there were two distinct types of stories: unpleasantly dark horror and fiction with a lighter, more hopeful tone. I thought, what if we did two anthologies to feature both styles?
I’m sure you can guess what happened next, as you hold the first volume of another one of my crazy ideas. I do have to warn you: a few of these stories are extremely grim, so please take note of the Trigger Index we’ve provided for you at the end of the book. But if you like your literature as dark as I do, I hope you will find some enjoyment in the dreadful tales you are about to behold.
Dreadfully Yours,
Cassandra L. Thompson