Book Review: "Sunless Solstice" ed. by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk

Full Title: Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk

Of course I knew there was a story about the blue tapestry room. Everyone knew that, though the old Laird had given strict orders that the subject should not be discussed among the servants, and always discouraged any allusion to it on the part of his family and guests. But there is a strange fascination about everything connected with the supernatural, and orders or no orders, people, whether gentle or simple, will try to gratify their curiosity

- The Blue Room by Lettice Galbraith

Yes, I know I am a bit late for reading Christmas-esque books but honestly, I could not resist a bit of The British Library's Tales of the Weird because I never really can, be it about Christmas or not. The title Sunless Solstice is a curious sibilant headline for a book which holds so much darkness. Appealing to the winter emotions of darkness coming earlier and earlier in the day, the book's own stories are compiled to become darker and darker as they go on. Stories by writers who are very well-known such as: Muriel Spark and Robert Aickman stand alongside writers whom we know very little or even nothing about such as: Lettice Galbraith.

I will have to say that there are some stories that are slightly more frightening than others in this anthology and some, which I have to say are simply depressing. For example: the story entitled On the Northern Ice by Elia Wilkinson Peattie is simply upsetting. About a man who seeks to get to a friend's wedding in order to tell the maid of honour how much he loves her meets with a strange and uncanny tragedy when he arrives. Yes, it is pretty haunting and has all those dangerous sublime images of ice and snow. But honestly, the ending is just really really saddening. I was not expecting that for a Christmas Story even if it is supposed to be part of the horror genre.

One that I really enjoyed was the opening story called The Ghost at the Cross-Raods by Frederick Manley. He's another one of those authors we seem to know nothing about and have no other writings from. However, that does not make the story any less chilling. A great way to open the anthology, it is filled with an almost paradoxical Dickensian atmosphere: first the great joy felt from the charity within A Christmas Carol and then, the brooding terror felt from the ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Both warming and chilling, this story creates the most perfect Christmas Ghost Story ambience for a great windy night. It's not just that it reminds me of the urban legends surrounding blues musician Robert Johnson, but there is a stranger who encountered what he believes to be the devil. Leaving it up to the reader to believe whether he did is one of the great things about 19th century short stories.

The story The Black Cat by W.J Wintle was also a curious one that seems stuck in my memory. It features a man named Sydney who is deathly afraid of cats, so much so that he cannot actually stop himself thinking of them. Ultimately, he ends up thinking himself into a nightmare to begin with and the reader is unmoved by this - but then these dreams become reality and all too real at that. Things break, footprints are seen and cuts appear on Sydney, all likening themselves as done by a cat. He starts seeing hallucinations and nightmares of a giant black cat with large green and yellow eyes. He starts coming to the conclusion that if he is to continue this way then maybe, it will all end in horror. It is a very short story but it is fantastic at pace.

All in all, I thought that this anthology was very well put together. There was a great range of stories focusing on pace, character, atmosphere and more. I honestly don't know why I left it so long to read as I have had it on my Kindle for about a month or so. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a Christmas read or even want to keep yourself in that dark, brooding winter mood.