A Midnight Clear

by Sam Hooker, Alcy Leyva, Laura Morrison, Cassondra Windwalker, Dalena Storm, and Seven Jane

Lindy Ryan (Editor)

Winner, Anthologies, 2020 International Book Awards

Six stories of not-so-merry Yuletide whimsy.

A woman so cold she hardens to ice on a winter’s eve. Risen from his grave before his time, a winter god alters the balance between seasons. A wolf’s holiday season is interrupted by a strange curse. From a murder at the Stanley Hotel to demons of Christmas past, present, and future, and a mad elf and Santa’s Candy Court, these authors share their love for winter holidays in this collection of dark winter tales, destined to chill your bones and warm your heart for the Yuletide season.

• ISBN10: 1733599444
• ISBN13: 9781733599443
• Publish Date: 5 November 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 22 June 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Black Spot Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 250
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

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This is a varied and dark collection of (as far as I can ascertain) previously unpublished fiction.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.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

This book was provided by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available on November fifth.

This collection of stories was full of dark humor, and more than a bit of creepiness, taking the usual Christmas cheer and turning it upside down. This collection would be as easily at home during Halloween as Christmas. Some of the stories hit the mark better than others, in my opinion. It’s a solid collection, but nothing to write home about.

There were two that stood out to me: The Dauntless, in which Snickerdoodle the elf has to defend Gumdrop (another elf) from murder charges. Yep, you read that right. It was odd and funny, and I couldn’t stop snickering every time I thought of a lawyer named “Snickerdoodle”.

My favorite story was The Poetry of Snow and Stars. I thought it highly entertaining that it takes place at the hotel from The Shining. The writing in this one was strong, and it was quite evident that the author, Cassondra Windwalker, was fully confident in her writing ability. There wasn’t a false step in her writing.

While obviously not written for everyone, this book would be a great Christmas gift for anyone who likes their holiday with a hint of the macabre.

[moraa]

I didn't particularly like this collection of stories. The first one was very interesting, I liked that it involved elves and took place in a court of law but I didn't really like the fact that the names were so difficult to grasp. It would have been easier for me as a reader if the names had been simpler. Granted, the names add a touch of authenticity to the story but I believe if it's a choice between the reader's attention and authenticity, the reader's attention will always take precedence.
I also liked the first two stories for the simple fact they featured non-human characters. This was a refreshing and a good break from the constant portrayal of human characters in today's literature.
Overall, I think this was a good book but I just didn't enjoy most of the stories.