A review by rosemarieshort
Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus by

3.0

This is the sixth in my #12daysofChristmas read-a-thon! Each day I will post a review of a Christmas / Winter related book. Hopefully this will give you some Xmas-Inspo and give your holiday reading a boost!

After reading countless holiday romances, I was definitely in the mood for something…different. So I delved into the world of Christmas horror. As it turns out, a lot of Christmas horror is erotica – who knew?! But hidden amongst it all was this – twelve short stories about Krampus, Santa’s devilish counterpart.

I honestly hadn’t heard of Krampus until the 2015 Universal Pictures movie came out. But after watching it I have to admit I was interested in the lore. Krampusnacht was a good read because of its variety – stories of varying length set in a multitude of time periods and lots of different takes on the beast of lore.

There are some really great little tales in here – and some not so great. I think for me Ring Little Bell Ring was a story I wish had been longer, it was such an engaging idea, and Santa Claus and the Little Girl who Loved to Sing and Dance was so outrageous it was brilliant. I was also particularly drawn to Raw Recruits – one of the darkest stories in the anthology and definitely my kind of Yuletide horror. However I felt the weaker stories were so weak as to pull down the whole anthology.

If you’re a bit tired of the syrupy sweet, Cliff Richard themed Christmas cheer then Krampusnacht is certainly something you might want to indulge in. It’s a dark hot chocolate (with a healthy splash of something stronger!) kind of book – ideal for those dark (but not too dark!) winter nights!