Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsYou will never look at Christmas the same way again (an audio review)
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2018
This is an anthology from one of my favourite horror short story writers. Roma Gray’s imagination just scares me. This audio begins with the warning that celebrations are a day where we put an ‘x’ on the calendar and plan to enjoy the day with family and friends. But what if something bad happens that day?
My best friend died on Christmas Day, BTW.
As Roma Gray points out – life is random.
There are five holidays addressed: Mother’s Day, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day. I loved Ms. Gray commenting that Valentine’s Day is “the most brutal holiday and that more people have a bad day rather than a good day.” In fact, she titles the story, “All Roads Lead to Hell”.
What could possibly go wrong?
If you have read Ms. Gray’s “Love Letters”, you’ll know that love letters are not always welcome.
Ruth is a nurse working in a nursing home. Most of the residents are quietly going off into that good night, accepting of their fate. Not Emily. The nonagenarian woman is fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. Even though the cancer has almost won the battle, Emily is not willing to give up. It isn’t until Ruth comes across Emily’s trove of love letters that she understands why the older woman is so terrified of death.
Since this is Roma Gray, there are elements of the supernatural, and of course, the very disquieting. If I were facing Emily’s potential fate, I would fight tooth and nail as well. And the ending was disturbing.
All the endings in this anthology are disquieting. If you never loved Christmas, ‘A T-Rex for Christmas’ is not going to change your mind. Halloween freak you out? An old house in Maine might not be the best place to stay during All Hallows Eve. Bad things are bound to happen.
These stories create a nice little collection and Ms. Gray promises there will be more. I can only imagine what she can do with New Year’s Eve and the Summer Solstice.
Terry F. Self does another great job bringing first the right tension, using volume, tone, and pauses in perfect combination to make a terrifying story. Horror isn’t my fave, but I will always listen to Roma Gray.
