"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."

Advent Calendar 2025

Every December, I get the itch for two things: candlelit cosiness and the delicious shiver of a good ghost story. So this year the blog is hosting an Advent Calendar of spooky Christmas tales.

From December 1st onward, a new short story will appear here each day. Some are classic winter-gothic pieces, some are sly mysteries, some drift into folklore or quiet horror. All of them share that peculiar seasonal tension I love: the warm glow of celebration pressed up against dark windows, long shadows, old houses, wishes that curdle, magic that comes with a price.

Think of this calendar as a nightly walk through snow that keeps changing underfoot: we’ll meet cursed objects and stubborn spirits, strange visitors, unsettling gifts, and the kind of winter magic that doesn’t always mean well; there will be famous names, rediscovered voices, and a few tales that I can’t believe aren’t read more often at this time of year.

If you feel like keeping pace, check back each day — or save this post so you can binge later with a blanket, a hot drink, and a pleasantly lowered sense of security.

Welcome to the Advent Calendar. Let’s make December a little spookier, together.

architecture, engineering and construction

The Digital Ghosts

In Letters to Milena, Franz Kafka tries to name a specific distortion he believes is introduced by mediated communication, such as letters, then (already, in 1922) telecoms. Kafka writes this after a long, anguished correspondence in which he repeatedly doubts what writing letters is doing to him and

Read More »
books and literature

The Bicentennial Man (and other stories)

If not for the single story where they cure depression by blasting jazz against brainwaves (not how depression works, I’m afraid), one of the best collections I’ve read so far. It has the sequel of “Marooned off Vesta”, one of Asimov’s the best stories of

Read More »
books and literature

Rebecca Ferrier’s The Salt Bind

Rebecca Ferrier’s The Salt Bind is a historical fantasy novel, set on the storm-lashed Cornish coast and steeped in folklore, sea magic, and women’s lives on the edge of the sea. It follows Kensa — daughter of a smuggler and with a regularly-complicated relationship with

Read More »
Share on LinkedIn
Throw on Reddit
Roll on Tumblr
Mail it
No Comments

Post A Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS

The Digital Ghosts

In Letters to Milena, Franz Kafka tries to name a specific distortion he believes is introduced by mediated communication, such as letters, then (already, in 1922) telecoms. Kafka writes this after a long, anguished correspondence in which he repeatedly doubts what writing letters is doing to him and

Read More

The Bicentennial Man (and other stories)

If not for the single story where they cure depression by blasting jazz against brainwaves (not how depression works, I’m afraid), one of the best collections I’ve read so far. It has the sequel of “Marooned off Vesta”, one of Asimov’s the best stories of

Read More

Rebecca Ferrier’s The Salt Bind

Rebecca Ferrier’s The Salt Bind is a historical fantasy novel, set on the storm-lashed Cornish coast and steeped in folklore, sea magic, and women’s lives on the edge of the sea. It follows Kensa — daughter of a smuggler and with a regularly-complicated relationship with

Read More