‘When I was little, I wanted people to listen... Some did, but they were no help. I told a story. Not one I made up, though everyone said I did. I convinced myself I had made it up. A thing couldn’t have happened, so I decided it hadn’t. I tried to figure out how it got into my head, then gave up. I thought it was done with.' [loc. 790]
Seasonal novella: Angie and her teenage son Russell ('it's Rust, Mum') live in an isolated cottage. Angie is a best-selling author of self-published thrillers: Rust has a podcast about strange phenomena. They share a fascinating array of Christmas customs: Christmas cruels (like carols but nastier: 'Away in a Mangler', 'The Worst Noel'); putting down rotten biscuits for Santa's reindeer so he won't visit Angie's childhood frenemy; mince pies are too-much-mince pies...
Come December 1st, the chocolate in the advent calendar tastes mouldy, and Rust receives a card with an ominous-looking robin and an unseasonal 'pinch, punch, first day of the month'. He thinks it's weird: Angie thinks it's a nightmare. She remembers a TV series called 'The Cards', which started in much the same way and became thoroughly horrific -- but there's no evidence that such a show was ever broadcast.
Snappy prose peppered with real and made-up pop culture references, an excellent depiction of a mother-son relationship, and the ghost of a mysterious pet: I was hoping for a chilling-yet-cosy read, but A Christmas Ghost Story lost me in the final third, and I'm not sure it ever lived up to the promise of the premise.
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