If you love horror anthologies, this is definitely the book for you! I love short, sweet, horrific reads because it doesn't boggle you down with long narratives (albeit great) especially when you just want a quick and satisfying read!! The book is the first in an anthology from Blood Rites Horror and brings together eleven talented horror writers. Oh, and the title is fitting, not only because we're in the middle of this crazy wintry weather but it certainly leaves you with chills!
This book contained stories of everything from Norwegian folk legends, grief, sorrow and regrets, breaks from reality, chilling entities like lost friends, snowmen, and burning boys; all the things that make for great bedtime (or anytime) storytelling.
The collaboration of all these amazing horror writers was brilliant and I truly cannot wait to read more from them. I especially loved that I was able to continue celebrating #WiHM (Women In Horror month) with the contributions of four women authors!! I also appreciated the inclusion of author bios at the end of the book; to get to know them better and showcase any other stories they may have written! Overall FIVE STAR rating!!!
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2021
•
Bitter Chills is a fantastic short story anthology with a little something for every horror fan. There are ghosts and goblins, folklore and legends, & gruesome and gory tales NOT for the faint of heart. Some stories are hauntingly real and a couple are creepy-as-fuck better not be real😱
•
It’s a perfect mix from some of the best and brightest up-and-coming horror authors out there and Nick Harper did an excellent job editing and choosing the perfect order to keep you turning the pages.
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I didn’t love every story, but they were all worth reading and a few really stuck out for me personally. My favorites, in order of appearance, are:
The Burning Boy
The Cold, The Grief
My White Star
Everyone to the Table
All of the authors here are worthy of your attention. Horror fans, check out Bitter Chills and everything else Blood Rites Horror has to offer!
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Fantastic horror anthology!
By @Bozzi1 on March 24, 2021
❄️🔪Spoiler Free Book Review❄️🪓By @Bozzi1 on March 24, 2021
•
Bitter Chills is a fantastic short story anthology with a little something for every horror fan. There are ghosts and goblins, folklore and legends, & gruesome and gory tales NOT for the faint of heart. Some stories are hauntingly real and a couple are creepy-as-fuck better not be real😱
•
It’s a perfect mix from some of the best and brightest up-and-coming horror authors out there and Nick Harper did an excellent job editing and choosing the perfect order to keep you turning the pages.
•
I didn’t love every story, but they were all worth reading and a few really stuck out for me personally. My favorites, in order of appearance, are:
The Burning Boy
The Cold, The Grief
My White Star
Everyone to the Table
All of the authors here are worthy of your attention. Horror fans, check out Bitter Chills and everything else Blood Rites Horror has to offer!
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
Steph
Bitterly chilling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2021Verified Purchase
Bitterly chilling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2021
I loved this anthology. It’s a perfect mix of scary, supernatural and the down right disturbing. Not being a fan of short stories I was a bit worried to how I was going to get on with this one. But I found I could not put it down. I actually lost sleep due to some of these stories.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2021
Now I didn’t enjoy all of them (my personal opinions) but the majority of them I loved. Especially The Wild Hunt and Everyone To The Table.
Also I found this a great introduction to these writers writing style and I’ve now found a few new authors I’m excited about reading more from.
Below are my personal opinions of each short (be warned of spoilers)
The Burning Boy
Definitely creepy detailed story of 3 friends covering up the accidental death of the 4th friend. And what happens in the anniversary of his death. Great setting, perfect time of year.
Snowblind
In this short we follow Neil who is on his way home from work to join his wife. On the way he is caught in a brutal snow storm which blows his car off course on causes a huge crash.
Neil escapes out of his car and tries to make his way to safety while the storm seems to be trying to stop him at every turn.
An enjoyable slightly supernatural story. Where you want Neil to get out and away from the storm then when he doesn’t you feel sorry for his wife.
The Wild Hunt
In this story we follow a grandma (bestemor) putting her granddaughter (?) to sleep and telling her a story to help settle her.
This story I found more on the mythical/legend side of the supernatural. And omg I loved it. I was fully gripped in the writing and the story telling I just couldn’t stop reading. I wanted more. It was compelling And heartbreaking at the same time.
The Cold, The Grief
In this heartbreaking supernatural story we’re with Dustin in his late fathers cabin ice fishing while mourning the recent loss of his son. While out drinking and fishing he sees an ‘apparition’ of his son come to take him away. Overall a short enjoyable read. For me I found it more centred on the grief aspect of life after a child’s death.
My White Star.
A story of obsession gone to far. And the victim finding a way to tell her side of the story through the gift of premonition through her would be lover.
I definitely enjoyed this one. Hits you hard and fast. Well paced thriller, even though it was a short. I feel like it would have made a great full length novel. I definitely would love to read a full length version of it with more paranormal aspects.
The Killer Snowman
Ok. I enjoyed this one too. But found it far to short. It’s like a dark retelling of The Snowman. I just would have liked more from The Killer Snowman. But my personal opinion.
Everyone To The Table.
In this, we’re with a young boy at Christmas time while he plans to kill his entire family over Christmas dinner.
This is one twisted short. But so well written I was shocked and nauseated while reading it. Which is all anyone wants from a horror book. I actually wanted more. I need to know what happens after. I want to know what happened on the lead up to Christmas Day. Does Aunt Sally come?? What’s the boys fate. Damn it I need answers.
The Christmas Eve
Another amazing short. More psychological thriller vibes to me. This one is split into sections and tells the story of Miss Delores ‘Dee’ Bates spending Christmas Eve alone when she gets a very unwanted phone call that will change her life. Even though it’s a short and I’m probably not supposed to, I loved Dee I liked her funny witty attitude and felt like she didn’t deserve how she had been treated in the past. But as the story continues it definitely gets weirder. And definitely ends in a shocking twist.
Realmer, Redeemer
Another mythicalesque type supernatural horror (based on the Minotaur legend) where we follow the main character having died and is being chased for his sins. Unfortunately this one didn’t grip me in the way the others did. But i still appreciate how well it’s written. With it being a short it’s very concise and none of the words feel wasted.
Every Hunt Is A Cold One
Set in a dystopian world where the polar caps have melted and unleashed hell on earth, we follow Hope and her quest to find food for her and her son. Wow what to say about this one? It’s sick. Twisted. I actually gasped in a few places and was disgusted in others. But it’s just that well written that it made you feel that way, and that ending. You definitely feel for Hope throughout but especially at the end. Plus your left wondering what happen next. Did she succumb to hunger or save off??
The Violent Snow
Great supernatural thriller set in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. We are with Ray on a ‘writing retreat’ where he is sent some mysterious artefact his friend found and 3-D printed re produced. And as soon as he examines it some supernatural creatures start to appear and terrorise him till he finds a way to prevail and then make the most of Of his situations. In this one I found I wasn’t that attached to Ray as a character, but I did appreciate the way he found ways to overcome these things happening to him.
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M. Dowden
Average Pulp Horror
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2021Verified Purchase
emma crossley
Fantastic collection of winter horror
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2021Verified Purchase
Fantastic collection of winter horror
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2021
I'll be honest when I started this i wasn't sure if I was going to like it because short story anthologys don't always hit the mark for me buuutt I LOVED THIS ONE.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2021
I'm not going to review each short story individually because I find it difficult without giving away spoilers.
This collection has a wide variety of winter based horror, you have some comic horror, some quite dark and grotesque horror, paranormal even some grief horror, there wasn't a story in here I didn't enjoy, the writing is phenomenal and I read about 3/4 of it in one evening because I just couldn't put it down.
Some standouts for me were, The Wild Hunt, Everyone To The Table, The Cold Grief and Every Hunt Is a Cold One...Every Hunt Is a Cold went to place I didn't expect it and I loved it 😂
Highly recommend this winter wonderland of horror 💜
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James Robert Wright, author of The High Realm Chronicles
A good first horror experience
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2021Verified Purchase
Dylan Butcher
This book will chill you to the bone...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2021Verified Purchase
This book will chill you to the bone...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2021
First off, I want to congratulate Nick Harper on his selection of the stories within this chilling anthology. The way they melt into each other is genius, considering they are unrelated, from various up and coming Indies. The common thread of 'the cold' - whether it be weather or cold hearts and places, is ever present. Bitter Chills will chill you to the bone, and Harper could not have conjured up a more appropriate title for this collection...Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2021
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I imagined myself sitting beside a roaring log fire, inside of a cold castle somewhere in Norway while reading this book! Expect the unexpected, ghosts and killer snowmen; all manners of monsters in cold, dark places. You will get closer to the workings of a stone-cold killer than you should ever ever wish to be...
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There is not one story that could ruin the experience for me. I hope to read more from every one of the authors in this book. Here are some of my favourites:
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The Burning Boy, by @degrineer for it's realism and Stand By Me vibes. Snow Blind by Kyle J. Durrant because Durrant makes the fear of being alone and helpless in the aftermath of a car-crash in adverse weather conditions progressively terrifying. The Killer Snowman by Cass Oakley - because it's a killer snowman! Everyone to the Table by Christopher Badcock, his confident writing style is truly inspiring, with mass murder on Christmas day gift-wrapped in a super satisfying narrative. My White Star by Carla Eliot for its haunting quality, complex characters, and the depth of the pain and heartache they both feel and inflict.
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