Goals for 2019



As the new year looms in front of me I think about the things I wish to accomplish.

I already have a lot on my plate for the coming year but there are things I want to try, things I want to dip my toes into.

Several Halloween events that I have enjoyed going to year after year have either switched hands or closed out so organizers can move on to other projects. 

That leaves empty spots in my Halloween calendar. I've played with the idea of launching my own event for awhile now. This probably will not be the year it happens but it could be the year I put those plans in motions for 2020.

Little know fact about me is that I love planning parties and events. Growing up I planned birthday parties for myself every year. They always had a theme. I did the same for my kids. When my oldest was little we also had a Halloween party every year full of games, costumes and food. 

In college I worked in the Office of Student Life, which pretty much handled all campus events. I also was the assistant to the Campus Cultural Liaison. That was an awesome job. I got to plan and attend the Chinese New Year Celebration, The Latino Heritage Dinner, and a Native American Pow Wow. 

After college I became a floral designer and wedding planner. So not only did I plan weddings I also made decor, centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and cake toppers.

Eventually I came back to my true calling which is the publishing world. I love writing and I love working with authors.  

But I bounce back and forth with creative projects to flex my skills, learn new skills, and not get stuck in a rut. 

In 2018 I played with learning more about graphic design and photography. I plan to continue doing that because I really enjoy it.

Yet event planning is something that keeps tickling me, teasing in the back of my mind, little whispers "why don't you plan a Halloween party?", "why don't you do some kind of Halloween event?".

Maybe I'll start listening to those whispers. Maybe not. Who knows? We'll see where 2019 takes me creatively.

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - Uncle George December 30th, 1926


Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

Uncle George
December 30th, 1926

Recently paroled from Jackson prison for attempted murder charges, George Abdella moved to Flint to be close to his family.

His brother Samuel, lived on Jamieson Street in Flint with his wife and daughter Grace. Grace, a hormonal teenager, quickly fell in love with her uncle and George retuned the feelings. The two had been secretly dating for a month, and just after Christmas they announced to Grace’s father, George’s brother, that they planned to marry.

Samuel found this to be quite disturbing, and told them that he would not allow it because it was morally wrong. George tried to convince his brother that it was an old Syrian tradition to marry a family member and that they would be doing their parents, who still lived in Syria and proud. Samuel refused to listen to his reasoning and forbid them from ever seeing each other again. He even went as far as disowning his brother and not allowing him to enter his home.

This sent George, who was already unstable, into a rage. George decided to send a note to Grace asking her to run away with him and get married.

Grace replied with a refusal and stated that she did not want to disobey her father. In her note she ended the relationship with her uncle. George was heartbroken.

On Thursday afternoon, Grace spent most of her day watching her neighbor’s eight year old child, Nellie. The two were having a great time until Uncle George showed up.

He begged Grace to run away with him.

Grace once again refused and asked him to leave. When he refused Grace started screaming for her father.

George pulled out a gun. He told her if he could not have her no one else would. He then pulled the trigger shooting her in the jaw. He ran out of the house when he heard his brother coming. Samuel ran to his daughter’s aid.

As George ran down the road he was met by a mob of Samuel’s Syrian neighbors who heard the gunfire. George was trapped in a vacant yard when the police arrived. He feared going back to prison and figured that he would not get off as easy this time since he was still on parole for an attempted murder charge.
He put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger dying instantly.


Grace was rushed to Hurley hospital and received surgery. She was lucky the bullet did not hit her brain. She survived the incident. 

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Season of Darkness




There is a reason the old stories of winter holidays are filled with darkness, monsters, and ghosts.

Winter is the season of death.

People gathered to celebrate near the beginning of the season because they knew not everyone would make it to see the light and warmth of spring. Ghosts of the past would be remembered and the ghosts of the future fretted about as everyone knew the very young, the very old, the weak, the sick…were likely to die.

The animals on the farms would either be killed for food or die from cold or starvation. The herds would be culled. The populations would dwindle.

Modern people have no idea how devastating winter was. Entering winter people knew they were likely to starve or freeze to death before spring came.

Winter was cold, dark, and harsh, its cruel fingers not likely to leave anyone unscathed.

The solstice marked the longest night of the year when the demons of darkness came out of hiding and took what they wanted from the living.

The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century and technological advances of the twentieth and twenty-first brought about major shifts- most of all they brought light and warmth to long winter nights. First with gas that brought light and heat, then with electricity that created the modern world as we know it. Lighting the nights with bright and flashing lights and screens that shine brightest during the winter holidays.

People created beauty to drown the darkness. Christmas became a light show. A season of cheer, a time to be thankful, a time to share, a time to give, a time to gather and show loved ones how much you care.

Then came rampant consumerism- buy, buy, buy. Give, give, give. It was all about money and gifts.

And the darkness crept back in.

Stress to make your family happy with flashy gifts instead of heartfelt presents became the norm.

Little by little more and more people started feeling the darkness. Suicides, seasonal depression, loneliness, deaths around Christmas…the rates skyrocket each year.

Lately the old stories have made their way into to pop culture- Krampus and his French Counterpart Père Fouettard ; Gryla, The Yule Lads, and their giant cat, Jólakötturinn;  Frau Perchta; Mari Lwyd; and La Befana just to name a few.

The old Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve is being resurrected by many.

The twenty-first century is a whirlwind of change. While some try to fight to hold onto their outdated points of view so hard they scratch and claw each other to death. The whole world is a mess. People are as cold and cruel as the old winters. Perhaps the old ways are being honored again because so many feel the pull of darkness and wish to honor it in hopes of keeping it at bay.

The holiday darkness touched me early in life taking my father a week before Christmas when I was four years old. This devastating event altered the path my life could have taken. It changed everything inside me right down to my core. My entire being was twisted, a giant hole created inside me, an emptiness nothing can fill. Not family, not friends, not success. An eternal sadness no light can brighten. Not even the twinkling of holiday lights or the flicker of candles during a bright and merry holiday season.

I have always tried so hard to have holiday joy, to give my children a proper Christmas full of traditions, beautiful gifts, memorable moments, and family time they will remember always and hopefully share with their own children one day.

Throughout December carols play on the radio and Hallmark movies are on the television. Hot cocoa fills our mugs as we nibble on candy canes and bake Christmas cookies.

Yet the darkness always lingers, just around the edges, threatening to destroy our happy little holiday. Like a specter peeking in the window, watching, waiting for the right moment to join us. Holiday spirit keeps the specter out, and keeps our home and family safe while others in the community or my circle of friends and family are touched by the cold hands of tragedy and death. Year after year someone is touched- losing a father, a mother, a sister, a spouse, a child, a beloved pet…I feel their pain, shudder at their loss, and thank the gods the loss was not mine, not this year... but always knowing eventually it will be.

This year the darkness has been ever-present. I can’t shake it. Perhaps it is the state of the world. Perhaps it is because I’m broke and can’t purchase the gifts I want to. Maybe it is the crippling pain my body is usually wracked with.

Or the hole inside me has grown.

I know that time ticks by faster every day, and too soon those I love will be gone.

I’ll be gone.

The ghosts of Christmas past beckon to me and tease me with the ghosts of Christmas future.

I look into the darkness and feel it. It is a sentient being and we are intimately acquainted.

He whispers to me like a lover. “Come with me, I will keep you warm. You will never want, you will never hunger, the pain will be a distant memory.”

I turn on more twinkling lights, light more candles and tell the holiday darkness to go away. 

I wrap presents and plan the family feast. I know the darkness is still there, just over my shoulder out of sight but he’s no longer whispering to me. He has given up on me this year.

But I know he’ll come courting again. One day I might not be strong enough to resist his seduction.

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - Family Feud December 27th, 1927


Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

Family Feud
December 27th, 1927
              
After the birth of their youngest child, Jennie Herman left her husband Paul because of domestic problems that had been going on throughout her pregnancy.
Jennie left Detroit, where the couple lived, and moved her and her children into her mother’s apartment in Flint. Jennie then filed for divorce. Her husband Paul was contesting its merit.

Paul had recently been let go from his factory job in Detroit, and obtained anther factory job in Pontiac.

During Christmas dinner, Jennie and the kids were celebrating at her sister’s home on Coldwater Road in Flint, when Paul showed up uninvited and demanded that Jennie and the kids move back to Detroit with him. Jennie refused and the couple argued for some time until Jennie’s brother-in-law had enough, and made him leave.

The next day, everything seemed to be going good. Paul for the first time since the separation had made no contact with Jennie. The following day, December 27, was to be the divorce hearing. Jennie went to bed hoping the drama would soon be over.

Mary Malloy, Jennie’s mother had a three bedroom apartment. Jennie slept in the small room with the baby, Mary slept in another with two of the children, and the older children shared the third bedroom. With hopes of a better new year, the family went to sleep.

Around three in the morning on December 27th, Mary was woken to the sound of broken glass coming from the front room. She rushed to the bedroom door. There she was met by her son-in-law Paul who was holding a shotgun. He fired two shots, killing her instantly.

One of the two children was hit in the head with a buckshot and the other rushed to her grandma’s aid. Paul then took the butt of the gun and hit the child in the head, knocking him unconscious. Paul then saw Jennie and fired two shots. One missed her and the other blew off her left hand.

The neighbor who lived in the apartment above was woken by the gun shot. She quickly ran to the window and saw Paul get into his car and speed off. She called the police. The police arrived and found Mary dead and Jennie and two of the children in critical condition. The three were rushed to the hospital and treated for their injuries. All three survived.

The police then went on a chase for Paul. They arrived at his address on Cope Avenue in Detroit, where they found him intoxicated and having no recollection of what had happened. In his apartment, the police found the shotgun that matched the bullet casing found in the apartment in Flint.


They arrested Paul and he was charged and convicted of the murder of Mary Malloy, three counts of attempted murder, and violation of prohibition laws. He spent the rest of his life in prison.

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Sensitivity and Ghostly Encounters, New Theories on Hauntings and More

If you are interested in a scientific approach to ghosts that is not overly techy or bogged down by boring details then you want to read The Ghost Studies by Brandon Massullo.

Easy to understand science combined with accounts of ghostly encounters is used to explain a new theory on haunted places. 

Massullo believes that one explanation for ghostly encounters is that energy created as the result of interactions between people during emotional distress manifests as a haunting. This “telepathic distress call” can be stored in any environment but perhaps not everyone can access it. Some people may be more sensitive to encounters and apparitions than others.

This would explain why there are so many hauntings in places where they are no records of people dying...because they didn't die there. But maybe someone they cared about was in that location when they sent the psychic distress call at the moment of their death.

Example- Joe is an accident. His mom is at home. As Joe dies he calls out to his mother. She hears his voice, sees a vision of him in front of her. That energy is imprinted in that location where Joe's mom is, not the location of his death. 

Michael Jawer's Feeling Too Much blog on the Psychology Today site did a series titled "Unimagined Sensitivities" which describes a similar concept in relation to prodromal dreaming and telesomatic perceptions.

He goes over several examples-

"There are certainly many accounts of such ‘distress signals’ occurring during waking hours. Despite their seeming strangeness and intangibility, it’s striking that they involve such palpable physicality. Some examples: 

A mother was writing a letter to her daughter when her right hand felt as though it were burning and she dropped the pen. Less than an hour later, she received a phone call telling her that her daughter’s right hand had been severely burned by acid in a laboratory accident. (Dossey 2001, p. 253) 

A man felt himself choking inexplicably, only to learn later that his father had been choking at the same time thousands of miles away.  

A man and his wife were attending a football game when the man got up and announced they had to return home because their son had been hurt. Once home, they discovered that the boy had shot a BB into his thumb, which would require emergency surgery. (Dossey 2001, pp. 253-4)


A nurse received a call after midnight concerning a patient she had been seeing.  The patient’s daughter had already called 911. The nurse went to the patient’s home and found her looking terribly ill, with low blood pressure, chest pains, and breathing difficulties. After the ambulance left with the patient, the nurse returned home to try to sleep. She was suddenly awakened by “a violent jerk that went through my whole body.” As she was trying to figure out what had happened, the phone rang. The patient’s daughter was on the line, saying that her mother had just experienced cardiac arrest but that the doctor was able to “shock her back” to life. (Dossey 1999, pp. 136-7)"

Jawer connects Massulo's theories in Part 11 of his series:

"In my book with Dr. Marc Miocozzi, The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion, I discuss the way a life-threatening emergency marshals the complete attention of body and mind – and how the energy involved may, in some cases, upend the normal convergence of space/time so that anomalous perceptions result...

This theory is elaborated upon in a soon-to-be-published book by Brandon Massullo, a therapist practicing in suburban Cleveland.  According to Massullo, it’s plausible that “traumatic events trigger conscious and unconscious processes [that] seek to alleviate our distress or communicate it to others.” (Massullo, p. 67)   A person who is dying or facing the threat of death may – especially if the circumstance is sudden or unexpected – experience “a myriad of…volatile emotions” ranging from fear to sadness to regret to anger.  These feelings may emanate, like a distress signal, to certain others. (Massullo, p. 119) "

I do find it interesting that Jawer never uses the term empath or connects any of his theories to people being empaths (at least not in what I've read so far). He just mentions that some people recognize their sensitivities. One woman he discusses said "I've been overly sensitive for as long as I can remember….If someone walked into the room with a headache, I would get a headache. If they pulled their back, mine would begin aching the minute I made eye contact…I was definitely more in tune with my environment and the feelings of others than almost everyone else I knew…." Which is a perfect example of an empath. I did find one use of the word empathetic in a blog post titled "Do Some People Sense the Unseen? Part 1 Allergic to ghosts? Strange but possibly true"

Jawer and Massullo's work and theories have much in common. 

Massullo's dissertation, Environmental Sensitivity and Paranormal Experiences actually quotes Jawer's theories and research. You can read the entire dissertation here.

Abstract:

"The physical environment affects every individual differently, however past research suggests that certain individuals exhibit a greater susceptibility to environmental factors than the general population (Jawer, 2006). According to Jawer (2006) these environmentally sensitive individuals are also significantly more likely to report paranormal experiences than non-sensitives. The current study set out to test the hypothesis that environmentally sensitive individuals will report more past paranormal experiences as well as more haunt-type experiences in a natural setting. The study also looked at whether subtle differences in electromagnetic fields (EMFs) led to an increase in reported haunt-type experiences among sensitives. Methods: Participants (N=251) completed a questionnaire which categorized them as either environmentally sensitive or non-sensitive and were then led on a guided tour of an allegedly haunted location where they reported any unusual phenomena that they experienced. EMF readings were taken of the rooms visited on the tour and based on those readings the rooms were either designated as ‘High EMF’ rooms or ‘Low EMF’ rooms. Results: Sensitives reported significantly more past paranormal experiences and haunt-type experiences in a natural setting. Overall there were significantly more haunt-type experiences in ‘High EMF’ rooms than ‘Low EMF’ rooms suggesting an association between increased EMFs and reports of haunt-type experiences. Further analysis showed that sensitives reported significantly more haunt-type experiences in ‘High EMF’ rooms than ‘Low EMF’ rooms; however there was no significant difference in reported experiences between rooms among non-sensitives which suggests that sensitives could be picking up on subtle EMF differences leading to an increase in reports of haunt-type experiences."

I am utterly fascinated by both Jawer and Massullo's theories, especially in regards to how they connect to me.


Jawer created a survey. It "drew 62 self-described ‘sensitives’ along with 50 individuals serving as controls who did not profess any outstanding forms of sensitivity. Persons in the former group were 3.5 times as likely, on average, to assert that they’d had an apparitional experience (defined as perceiving something that could not be verified as being physically present through normal means). Sensitive persons were also 2.5 times as likely to indicate that an immediate family member was affected by similar physical, mental or emotional conditions.

Overall, 8 of the 54 factors asked about in the survey were found to be significant in the makeup of a sensitive personality:

Being female
Being a first-born or only child
Being single
Being ambidextrous
Appraising oneself as imaginative
Appraising oneself as introverted
Recalling a plainly traumatic event (or events) in childhood
Maintaining that one affects—or is affected by—lights, computers, and other electrical appliances in an unusual way."

I fit 7 of the 8 criteria. The only one that doesn't fit is that I'm not single.

He discusses his theories in his blog series titled "Do Some People Sense the Unseen?"

"Ghost stories, of course, have persisted across every age and every society, no matter how modern or scientific. Something so pervasive, so characteristically human, deserves not to be put down or waved away but seriously investigated. In my estimation, the correspondence of apparitional reports with environmentally sensitive people gives us a significant new way to begin unlocking the puzzle."

I live an overly sensitive life (sensory issues, fibromyalgia, etc.) and have had many ghostly encounters throughout my life though I have never "seen" anything with my eyes. All my other senses have experienced things I can't explain away by household creaks, cats, or anything else that makes "sense" in a rational way. Noises, voices, music, scents, being touched by an unseen hand, things disappearing or being moved in my home...and I identify as an empath. I plan to dive into this more in future blog posts.


But for now this blog post is here to simply to introduce these theories and the works of these authors.  I sure plan to dig deeper into their research.


The Ghost Studies: New Perspectives on the Origins of Paranormal Experiences  
Brandon Massullo

Book Description:

You've just laid down for the night when suddenly doors slam and the curtains shift. The lights begin to flicker and a white mist forms in front of you. You shut your eyes and keep muttering, "ghosts aren't real." But then you open your eyes and realize that "harmless" mist has shifted into the form of a man, staring intensely at you, as he floats above your bed.

What causes ghostly experiences?

Are ghosts real?

Why do certain people report numerous ghostly encounters and others none?

For centuries these questions have intrigued, puzzled, and bedeviled science, skeptics, and even believers. Based on cutting-edge research and new theories, The Ghost Studies provides insight into some of life's greatest mysteries.

This fascinating book is far more than a compilation of ghost stories. The Ghost Studies provides scientific explanations for paranormal occurrences, including:

New and exciting scientific theories that explain apparitions, hauntings, and communications from the dead.

The latest research on the role of energy and electricity in hauntings.

The role that emotions, bioenergetics, and the environment play in supernatural phenomena.

New research into why some individuals are more prone to ghostly encounters.



The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion: How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense

Michael A. Jawer, Marc S. Micozzi 

A cutting-edge examination of feelings, not thoughts, as the gateway to understanding consciousness 

• Contends that emotion is the greatest influence on personality development 

• Offers a new perspective on immunity, stress, and psychosomatic conditions 

• Explains how emotion is key to understanding out-of-body experience, apparitions, and other anomalous perceptions 

Contemporary science holds that the brain rules the body and generates all our feelings and perceptions. Michael Jawer and Dr. Marc Micozzi disagree. They contend that it is our feelings that underlie our conscious selves and determine what we think and how we conduct our lives. 


The less consciousness we have of our emotional being, the more physical disturbances we are likely to have--from ailments such as migraines, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and post-traumatic stress to anomalous perceptions such as apparitions and involuntary out-of-body experiences. Using the latest scientific research on immunity, sensation, stress, cognition, and emotional expression, the authors demonstrate that the way we process our feelings provides a key to who is most likely to experience these phenomena and why. They explain that emotion is a portal into the world of extraordinary perception, and they provide the studies that validate the science behind telepathic dreams, poltergeists, and ESP. The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion challenges the prevailing belief that the brain must necessarily rule the body. Far from being by-products of neurochemistry, the authors show that emotions are the key vehicle by which we can understand ourselves and our interactions with the world around us as well as our most intriguing--and perennially baffling--experiences. 

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DIY Wine Cork Reindeer - Winter Holiday Craft Tutorial



OK so this craft isn't originally dark, or spooky, or Goth...it is just a cute holiday craft for someone who has  extra wine corks lying around (I have a big bowl of them). 

But you can easily Goth these guys up a bit- black or silver pipe cleaners for the antlers, black ears instead of brown, maybe some tiny skulls instead of buttons... and end up with something like this guy below.


Materials Needed
  • 3 wine corks (per reindeer)- use the longest, best looking cork for the body, a smaller cork for the head, and the remaining cork for the legs.
  • 2 black sewing pins or 2 googly eyes
  • Brown felt or foam paper (black if you want to Goth it)
  • Red Faceted flat round acrylic cabochons
  • pipe cleaners in shades of brown, tan, black or silver
  • Accessories- buttons, bells, ribbon, etc. (tiny skulls for Goth version)
  • Glue gun
  • Knife
Craft Instructions

Step 1: Cut the legs
  • Cut one wine cork in half- use the knife to saw in half like a log.
  • Flip each half piece and cut them lengthwise in half. You should have four equal sized pieces of cork with a flat side and a round side.
Step 2: Cut the head
  • If you have corks that are shorter than the others you can use these for the head, or you can cut an end piece off to make it a little smaller. You’ll want to cut a sliver off the back, like sawing a log, take off a round slice.
Step 3: Glue legs and head to the body
  • Now go back to the four pieces of cork from the first cork you cut. Make sure the flat piece faces in- the rounded sides should face outward.
  • Glue these four pieces to the bottom of the body cork. This will make the deer’s legs. Make sure they attach in a way that the deer can stand upright on its own.
  • Glue head on to the top of the body.
Step 4: Add eyes, antlers, accessories.
  • Create eyes by using two black head sewing pins with the sharp part cut to a small point, leave just enough to stick into the cork and hold them in place. Optional and safer for kids – glue on small google eyes.
  • Create antlers with 2 pieces of brown or tan pipe cleaner. Twist and shape them into antlers. Glue both antlers to the back of the reindeer’s head.
  • Cut two small pieces of brown felt or foam paper into rounded triangle shapes. Glue to next to the antlers to make the ears.
  • Glue one red flat bead to the front of the head to make the nose.
  • Add accessories such as bells, buttons, bows, beads, or ribbon. I had tiny buttons, jingle bells and small pre-made ribbon bows that we added to the reindeer.

If you want to Goth them up pull out some of you leftover Halloween accessories, like tiny skull beads.


#Creepmas Day 13 - Gremlins


And on the 13th Day of Creepmas I give to you....Gremlins.

If you get a mogwai for Christmas just remember: don't get him wet, don't expose him to bright light, and never....I repeat never feed it after midnight.

I don't think any American child that grew up in the 80s escaped their childhood without watching Gremlins at least once. Gizmo is the cutest thing. 

Released in June 1984, the movie is set during Christmas, which makes it a holiday movie in my book. I've always watched it during the Christmas season.

A Christmas Horror Story may be my favorite holiday horror movie but Gremlins is a classic to watch with my kids (who love horror movies more than I do).

Do you consider Gremlins to be a holiday movie?

Movie Description on Google:

A gadget salesman is looking for a special gift for his son and finds one at a store in Chinatown. The shopkeeper is reluctant to sell him the `mogwai' but sells it to him with the warning to never expose him to bright light, water, or to feed him after midnight. All of this happens and the result is a gang of gremlins that decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve.

#Creepmas Day 12- A Christmas Horror Story


My favorite holiday horror movie is A Christmas Horror Story. I think it is basically the Christmas equivalent to Trick 'r Treat. 

I'm not much for slasher flicks or overdone gore. I like a nice creep factor but not too many jump scares in my horror movies. For me, it's all about the story. I guess that carries over from being a book lover.


A Christmas Horror Story features a series of four interwoven tales that take place on Christmas Eve in a small town. Dangerous Dan, played by William Shatner, is a radio DJ stuck pulling a long shift at the radio station on Christmas Eve. During his broadcast the four stories take place. 

A bit predictable at times, a little campy, but the movie is done well and the makeup, effects and CGI and terrific. 

I think the Krampus is the best I've seen in a movie. And the surprise ending makes it all worth while.




High school students investigate a mysterious homicide that occurred the prior holiday season, a couple notices their young son is acting strangely after a snowy forest trip to cut down a traditional tree and one family are stalked through a winter wonderland by Krampus, the Xmas demon. Meanwhile at the North Pole, Santa is fending off zombie elves. Written by Fernando Pascussi

In the first story kids break into their school to investigate the deaths of two students. They found more than they bargained for and the results were deadly.

The second story demonstrates why stealing is not a good idea. Keeping elves hostage to do your bidding isn't suggested either.

The third story features a family with ties to Krampus.

And the fourth story has Santa fighting Mrs Claus and all of his elves that have been turned into zombies.

This leads us to the disturbance at the mall that Dangerous Dan has been mentioning through his broadcast.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas anthology because it was different than all the holiday slasher flicks I've seen and I was really surprised by the ending (which doesn't happen very often). I also enjoyed the Krampus storylines (which came before the Krampus movie and the release of all the very bad Krampus horror films that followed). 

Escape from the normal holiday dazzle and saccharin sweet story lines and have some fun with A Christmas Horror Story.