Jingle Hel

Grabbed this for one final Christmas horror. It delivers in an almost urban fantasy way.

When Ada, Tor’s ex wife, shows up at The Black Bookmark—a novelty and collectible bookshop—with something from an estate sale, Tor has no choice but to dive right in. He begins translating a book, and right away, he can tell that this one is different. It’s retelling the tale of Hel and her battle with the dark elf for the underworld. But it’s anything but just a book, and anything but your typical Jul holiday.

It’s hard to do much more than summarize this one without spoiling it, but this was a dark and enjoyable little read. I feel like since the inclusion of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, things that include this mythology give me a real urban fantasy feel? Which isn’t a bad thing, this just came off as a mixture of UF and horror because of it.

The unleashing, and subsequent retribution, was a take on going after those deemed “guilty” in a way that felt akin to Silent Night, Deadly Night or Krampus. The idea that during the holidays those deemed greedy, those unworthy, have reached the end of your allowance. Have reaped what they’ve sown. And this was a unique and dark way to show that.

The split between husband and wife was a nice addition, for the addition tension in the beginning of the story, however it was a bit too short to really work itself out, although, maybe there’s more…?

I would suggest checking this one out! It works great as a winter read.