Here's a great book for your Advent devotional reading--not! In A Christmas Horror Story, Sebastian Gregory tells the story of Santa Claus's alter-ego, der Kinderfresser or Child Eater. Rather than bringing a sack full of toys to children everywhere, the Child Eater grabs children and carries them off in his sack--so he can eat them!
The main characters are three siblings whose mother is stuck at a long shift at the hospital, then is unable to get home due to a snow storm. With the three of them home alone, the power goes out, and the precocious little brother speculates that the sounds on the roof might be the Child Eater, which he read about in his Tome of Dark and Mysterious. When the Child Eater grabs the two younger children, the intrepid big sister sets out to find them and defeat the Child Eater. The story is a bit creepy, but more in the vein of a campfire ghost story than a real horror story. Gregory includes some flashbacks to the Child Eater's victims in the past, tying the stories together with dreams that bode ill for the dreamers. Altogether it's a bit disjointed, mildly amusing, and a little disturbing.
I would say if your children are OK with the Santa Claus legend, and [spoiler alert!] understand that there really isn't a jolly old elf who comes down the chimney to deliver those toys (which they actually saw last week on the shelf at Wal-Mart), then they are old enough to hear the story of the Child Eater without fear. But if they open their gifts, only to find the boxes contain only coal, they'd better beware that it's not Santa coming down the chimney, but the Child Eater, and he's very, very hungry.
Thanks to NetGalley and the ulisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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