Christmas Horror & Thriller Book Recommendations | 2024

[@Yvette.T]

Yay, it's that time of year when Rachel's wooly hat comes out 😁🎄💙

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yes!

[@Agostoic]

I came for the books, but stayed for the hat 😁

[@TheShadesofOrange]

🤠

[@josephiyeke8946]

Ohhh, adding The Hollows to the list! Thanks for the vid!

[@coughcool3]

I love horror in the snow. The feeling of isolation and dread. It the most wonderful time of the year. 🖤🖤🖤

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yes!

[@MokeleMbembeLives]

I look forward to the addition of the hat 🤣

[@Killerboi69]

😂

[@sophieasbury1379]

Finally! Someone who reviews book properly!!!! Thank you so much. Will be reading quite a few of these 💖🎄

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks. I'm pretty basic

[@tylerb.-hq7fq]

Nice Hat! I have one like that. Didn't know you were Canadian; the hat is a giveaway. I haven't heard of any of these books. Thanks, Tyler

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Nice!

[@katiejo2494]

I loved Ararat!! It really sold me on Christopher Golden. I’m really excited to finally read Road of Bones and he has an exciting new one coming out in May that I already preordered. Ty for the recs! I bought 4 that you recommended lol 🎄

[@LeppardLadyRN]

OMG, your hat is perfect!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks!

[@sueture]

The movie The Snowman is soooo good...the scenery is breathtaking. Highly reccomend if not just for that alone!

[@EFergDindrane]

I loved ROAD OF BONES. I understand why some people would find it dull and slow actually, but you have to be ready to read it. ❄☃

[@maxturgeon89]

I think I'll check out the Dark Iceland series, it sounds really good!

[@smartbookworms]

Hi Rachel I just wanted to stop by and say how much I admire your dedication and passion for books. Your content is always so engaging and inspiring! In fact, I recently featured your channel in a video on my own BookTube channel, highlighting some of the most amazing creators in the community-and, of course, you had to be on that list! 😊 Thank you for everything you do to make BookTube such a vibrant and welcoming space. Keep up the incredible work-you’re making such a difference in the bookish world! Warm regards, Kris (from SmartBookWorms)

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks for the kind words

[@caramcnulty8129]

The Shuddering by ania ahlborn is very wintery scary. Also, Jo Nesbo's protaganist is pronounced "HOO-leh".

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Appreciate the pronunciation help

[@meganfedoruk1437]

Haha, I had no idea either!! I've been saying "Harry Hole" forever 😂

[@velvettrance3173]

Thank you! These sound like just the thing for a long winter's night. I think I will pick up The Hollows, Lucky Girl and Road of Bones, but really they all sound good!❄

[@Millie.C]

While my December TBR is full, for January and February I had a big gap, so thank you for this list. ❄

[@CarolinaBury]

Great timing! It is snowing for 2 days where I live (in Canada) and I'm finishing Snow Blind and looking for the next reading

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yeah just finished shoveling the driveway

[@isam.2653]

No one ever talks about Jónasson, thank you for mentioning him! So good and the Icelandic setting is the best 😊 I met him and Katrín Jakobsdóttir for the release of Reykjavik last year and they were so nice!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I worry I tall about him too often

[@Zugzug386]

Thank you for the recommendations particularly curious about the Jonasson series.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I hope you enjoy it

[@salomegreeneyes1542]

❄️⛄️ Love the Scandi books!📕 Thanks for the recommendations

[@meganfedoruk1437]

Quickly putting all on my holds list 😂 I'm also Canadian and find there is nothing better than cozying up to a good, cold weather, horror/thriller while staying inside, lol!! Great recommendations 👌 ❄️❤

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Hello to a fellow Canadian. Yeah it's freezing here so lots of indoor reading time

[@Already-Overbooked]

The snowman sounds intriguing

[@clancyconnolly495]

❄I read Ararat last winter and that definitely fits the theme to a T! Cold Mourning and The Hollows have been added to my TBR. I love wintery/snowy reads- and I know I have a bunch from your other lists that are on my TBR for this winter! I hope to read one you haven't already gotten to, so I can recommend one back to you! :)

[@jakobwetzel7065]

Definitely checking out Hollows and Lucky Girl

[@glenfairen2996]

I didn’t know you are Canadian! One of my people!!!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yes!!

[@ReadingwithRylanne]

thank you for these recommendations! road of bones sounds very interesting

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@rae_arcana]

So many good recs once again! And the hat made me smile 🥹😊❄️ Another wintery horror I've been meaning to read is The Terror by Dan Simmons

[@TheShadesofOrange]

It's a good one

[@sbjuliana]

Yay, that's exactly the kind of video I was looking for! Road of Bones and Lucky Girl picked my interest, I'll add those to my Christmas TBR! =D

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Glad this was helpful

[@SprinGiddinessify]

Ooo so many to add to my tbr. Thank you Rachel ❤

[@gaylequick3383]

Christmas and Other Horrors - it's a short story collection by various authors set around the special days celebrated around the world in December and early January. Only a couple are set at Christmas and several around the winter solstice.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

You'll see that coming up in a future video!

[@HamsavahiniVajraasthra]

Amazing books, would definitely be checking out Ararat , The Hollows & The SnowMen. Thanks for sharing!🎄❄

[@grey_wulf]

The Hollows is a fun read. Also, I think The Snowman was made into a movie.

[@Nixx0912]

Yes, but it's apparently very bad movie.

[@Moco_Cork1]

Yeah, the movie is really bad, and i don't know how they managed to do that as the book is so very good.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Good to know... too bad everyone says the movie is bad

[@grey_wulf]

@TheShadesofOrange After having watched the movie , I would give it 5/10. Average at best. I have no idea how similar the movie is to the book since I haven't read it.

[@radiatorpasta]

Lots of new books to me here, thank you!

[@socaltoobie8984]

You’re so cute with your hat Rachel! 😁 I’m going to read an interesting non fiction - The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures. Then follow it up with An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Aw thanks

[@theresatruitt1167]

Great list!

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

The Terror…Dan Simmons

[@Eric.Taylor.1962]

I love the contrast of researched historical accuracy and the imagined fate of the crew by Simmons. It really makes you appreciate the hardships of arctic exploration and the type of men who signed up for it.

[@lesleyspear7933]

I feel proud, i've read some of these books but added two of them to my list

[@JohnSaxon-vw5vi]

Another amazing video of adding to my huge tbr list and I love your hat 🎩 too prayers and blessings for you and your family love 🥰 your Aussie family friend John xxx

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Cheers John! Glad I could help your TBR list grow!

[@JohnSaxon-vw5vi]

@ yes thank you very much

[@MtnXplorr]

An anthology worth checking out is Taaqtumi. It’s a collection of indigenous arctic horror stories.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Love that collection!

[@shanemcdonald8766]

Love from Australia and unfortunately we never need to wear such a woolly hat. Keep up the great work.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks. I wish I didn't need this winter toque

[@danielyeatts491]

If you haven't read them yet, definitely read PHANTOMS by Dean Koontz and MISERY by Stephen King, both excellent winter horror novels.

[@Nina_chitchat]

yet another great rec video!! love all the suggestions and will def try some of them. 🥶🐻‍❄⛷🧣🧦🌨❄☃

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yay! Thank you!

[@jessicanewmom1018]

I just finished Dark Matter by Michelle Paver and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the scariest book I ever read but it definitely had moments where it made me look over my shoulder. It’s set in the arctic during the “months of night”. The isolation of the main character is just as terrifying as the ghost story aspect. 🎄 ❄️

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I have that one on order from the library! It sounds good

[@Jzscrstsprstr]

I think the last winter horror story of sorts that I've read was "The Things" from Peter Watts' "Beyond the Rift"; told from the Thing's POV.

[@jtru0]

Love the hat 😊

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks

[@sueture]

****Oh, wanted to let you all know that there's a new thriller out called 25 Days, written like an advent calendar starting on the day of Dec. first, going through to the end of December. It looked good, so I ordered it (it got decent reviews, too)! The author is Per Jacobsen. You might want to check it out before 12/1 gets here 😀

[@TheHammy1987]

Great list, I will pick up Road of Bones by Christopher Golden! I also recommend Return of the Living Elves by Brian Asman. It was a lot of fun, crazy but tense and adventurous, a funny zombie-like story with slasher elements set during Christmas time...Yeah, might sound like a strange mix, but written by Asman it really worked for me - and it's only about 150 pages, so it is a quick read in any case :D

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks for the rec

[@candicebarbata5028]

Sign me up for The Hollows, ARARAT and I found the Winterkill series on Kindle! Can’t wait to read them as it’s finally getting chilly in Northern California!✨

[@Nixx0912]

I've read "The Hollows" thanks to Jess on youtube. I really enjoyed that, the author has another book out, as I loved The Hollows I had to buy it too.

[@saraevans9284]

Reading Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Takes place (mostly, so far) in the Swiss Alps in the fall/early winter. One of the narrative voices is annoying, but I'm plowing through to the end because the concept is interesting, and the prologue is intense, and I want to know what happens.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Oh that's another good winter read

[@half-caffcrochet]

I'm not sure if you've read these so just in case, I love Michelle Paver's winter horror: Thin Air and especially Dark Matter.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Dark Matter is currently on hold in my library system. I hope it comes in soon

[@Noodles2239]

I would highly recommend At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft. It’s very similar to the Carpenter film The Thing (although the thing is based on the novel “Who Goes There,” I would argue that it’s an adaptation of the original Lovecraft story).

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks

[@epiphoney]

I think I saw The Snowman movie version. Also The Terror tv show. The Winter's Bone movie. The Smilla's Sense of Snow movie. I haven't finished Dana Stabenow's Breakup. I'm an Arliss Cutter fan. Unicode snowman for you. ☃ Maybe I should check out Rucka's Whiteout graphic novel which was also a movie.

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

Cute cap⚛❤

[@toniblessing4624]

❄️ 🎄 ❄️

[@teslagoth9401]

Krampus gonna eatcha

[@nailpolishnook7373]

❄🎄

[@Octobig]

🌨❄☃

[@ValerieHowell-ly6of]

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

[@Unpotted]

Interesting choices, Rachel. Thanks. I’ve been watching True Detective: The Night Country (season four.) It features First Nations actors and characters, and is a spooky story. Very enjoyable. 😺✌️

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Ooo that sounds awesome. I need to stop sleeping on True Detective

[@mina-ala]

🥶

[@roanokebrooks]

🛸

[@EricBowersTrekkie]

🌨❄☃⛄🎄

[@GoranCK]

No Near the bone?

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I believe it was on my year last year. I try not to repeat

[@AntisocialAuntie]

🥶❄️🎄☃️

[@danhamilton7990]

Read The Stupidist Angel by Christopher Moore It’s actually a funny book about Christmas with zombies

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I've been eying that one up

[@jeanninethompson6243]

⛄️

[@lesleygrant6393]

🥶🌲❄

[@bookmarcreads]

🥶❄️🤧

[@marmarci510]

❄

[@candaceshook5313]

❤

[@JohnSmith-x8s5g]

☃️❄️

[@jjnewbold]

❄️

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

Nosferatu…Joe Hill

[@Nixx0912]

🥶🌨❄️🧊🦭🐻‍❄️

[@zubaerchaudhari8267]

Hello there hey there hey Hello hi there there

[@johnnythepillpopper1974]

Look up Santa Steps Out forgot author

[@dustintbrproblems]

As much as I enjoy people saying "Harry Holes", his name is pronounced "Harry Ho-lay"

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Appreciate the clarification. I had no idea

[@klemonster58]

🥶🧣🧤

[@theresepazell7875]

The Snowman was not gor me DNF ugh...

[@toffer9613]

There's the hat... but all I see are her teeth.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

😟

[@TronForlox]

Best thumbnail since the one where you posed like a robot.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Aw thanks

[@Tetsujin-28]

I'll try to get to Voices in the Snow (Darcy Coates) in December. Motherthing (Ainslie Hogarth) is at the library and I'm reading The Memory Theater (Karin Tidbeck) now. ☃🏂🌨❄

[@garyredman892]

❄

[@micheller4440]

❄️