In the Foreward to “We Bleed Red & Green,” author Jeff C. Carter warns, “Halloween delivers both tricks and treats, but winter knows no such mercy,” asserting that in his follow up to the Halloween short story collection “We Bleed Orange & Black” you won’t find any family-friendly tales. A promise kept by shrouding stories of the holiday known for tinsel and lights with a darkness that’s a bit too fitting for 2020.
“We Bleed Red & Green” is a collection of a dozen chilling tales for Christmas, each more twisted and unrelenting than the last. That’s not to say there’s no holiday fun to be had in this collection. Carter includes a playfully twisted take on “Tempus Adest Floridum,” more commonly known as “Good King Wenceslas,” shares a letter from one of Santa’s elves that needs decoding, and gives us a humorous but painfully accurate social commentary in “Blacker Than Coal.” But even these slightly more lighthearted tales are tinged in darkness, and that’s ok because that’s clearly what Carter set out to do with this collection.
“With Their Eyes All Aglow” was my favorite story in the book. A tale of a family separated during the Christmas holiday, a world apart, but a surprising twist ending finds they are more connected than they know. This story was so well written that, at times, it made my skin crawl (arachnophobia sufferers beware).
What’s interesting about this collection is that while there is a fair share of traditional horror complete with monsters, murder, and mystery, there are some tales where the horrors are simply the despair and dread of life itself. While I personally enjoyed this book’s darkness and its contrast to the holiday used as a backdrop, I think some of the more direct themes of despair and anxiety could be triggering for some folks.
In fact, the book’s last story, “He Spoke Not a Word,” is less horrific and more heavy as it explores themes of death and what impact our character in life has on it. It’s a story so poignant that when I finished reading it, I just let out an exasperated, “Fuck…”
“We Bleed Red & Green” is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a damn good book. If you’re looking for a Christmas read that is anything, but traditional I highly recommend it. The book comes out today and is available in paperback or for Amazon Kindle.
*I was provided a digital advance copy of “We Bleed Red & Green” by the author for this review.
About the Author:
In addition to being a lifelong Halloween fanatic, Jeff C. Carter’s stories have been featured in dozens of anthologies, translated for international markets, and adapted for podcasts, including the Reedsy story prompt contest (winner), “Transmissions from Punktown,” “Delta Green: Extraordinary Renditions,” “A Mythos Grimmly,” “eFiction” and “Nightland” magazine and the “Tales to Terrify” podcast, among others. He lives in Los Angeles with a cat, a dog, and a human.
His hobbies are legion, including but not limited to, making props and costumes, special FX makeup, Japanese art, calligraphy and language, climbing, Surfing, travel, escape rooms, and survival skills.
His previous collection, “Between the Teeth,” hit #4 in sci-fi and #11 in horror short stories on the Kindle lists. You can find more of his work at JeffCCarter.com.
