Holiday Madness

Collection | YA & Adult | Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi

ISBN: 978-1946874344 Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0984213658 Trade paperback
ISBN: 9781481213257 Special Limited Trade Paperback

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Hardcover

Special Edition

13 Dark Tales (15 in the Special Limited edition) for Halloween, Christmas, and All Occasions The holidays have never before been more spine-tingling or more fun for Tweens, Teens, and Adults alike than in this anthology of 13 supernatural tales. All of the stories were originally written and then read on the radio by author Fred Wiehe, primarily at Halloween and Christmas, for KKUP-a nonprofit, public radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the Halloween stories were later separately published in a trade magazine or in an ezine. The Christmas stories in this anthology include A Gremlin for Christmas, Holiday Madness, The Three Wolf Men, Run, Run Rudy: A Zombie's Not Too Far Behind, Santa's War, and Christmas-Time Gremlins: A Sequel. The Halloween stories include Trick or Treat: It's the Puppet People (published Halloween 2007 in Sinister Tales), Trick or Troll (published Halloween 2008 at ShadeWorks), The Uglies, The Halloween Box, and Ghosts, Inc. Raven Mocker and Bad Moon round out this collection-two stories for all occasions.

REVIEWS:

"Fred Wiehe proves Halloween is no longer the scariest time of year. Holiday Madness is weird, spooky, wild and outrageous. Very highly recommended!"
Jonathan Maberry, NY Times Bestselling Author

"Wiehe's tales will shock and thrill you to the bone. Teens and adults alike will love the twists and turns....NOT A WORD WASTED. GREAT STUFF!!!"
Nate Kenyon, Award-Winning Author

"Ghouls and Santa, Ghosts and Aliens—a stocking full of bloody holiday stories hung with care. Scrooges of all ages will shriek with delight!”
Del Howison, author, editor, part-time actor, and owner of Dark Delicacies Bookstore in Burbank, CA

“Holiday Madness is a chilling collection of madness and despair that will turn your insides out.”
Lee Pletzers, author of over 40 short stories and editor of four anthologies.

"5 out of 5 Stars, Great Collection of Scary Stories.
What a great collection of twisted short stories. Great read for a Christmas Eve scare. Really enjoyed it. Good job, Fred."
James Wm. McMillen, Amazon Review

"5 out of 5 Stars, It's dope
Dopest dope"
Martin Santos, Amazon Review

"4 out of 5 Stars, Santa Claus battles the Gremlins!
Halloween and Christmas; are there two more opposite holidays? The former commemorates death, the latter celebrates birth -- not an ordinary birth but a particular world-changing one. Melding these two disparate themes of holiday cheer and chilling horror into a baker's devilish dozen of thirteen supernatural tales and poems may not be your idea of an "under the mistletoe" kind of story. But it certainly takes a reader along some scary and strange paths. San Francisco Bay Area author and teacher Fred Wiehe shares good company with among aothers, Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol' certainly blends the season's joy with haunting episodes of ghosts and other dimensions) and film director Tim Burton, whose musical fantasy 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is an unusual excursion into both realms.
Do the stories succeed? Being an avid reader of horror stories myself, I say a resounding YES -- but you better watch out! Wiehe's wit sends his yams twisting in unexpected directions with the title story 'Holiday Madness' being a good example, where overwork and stress take their toll on a helpless victim as the Christmas season progresses. I appreciate Wiehe's new-wave take on tales of terror, especially now, in autumn, when it's believed that the curtain between an earthly world and the other side becomes less distinct, and communication between the two worlds is possible, more than any other time of the year. Tales of gloom and doom work well in most any season but admittedly there's an extra buzz when October makes its appearance and tree leaves stage their annual display of fall color. And 'Holiday Madness' delivers! Not only rousing excitement and thrills but likable protagonosts engaged in combat against overwhelming forces of evil make for consistently compelling reading throughout.
The Uglies, Raven Mocker, and The Three Wolf Men were a few favorites. The Uglies brought to mind Daphne du Maurier's short story, The Birds, though in this case it's large, bat-like creatures that wreak havoc in a small town. On the other hand The Raven Mocker nemisis IS a bird-like monster. But is it a hallucination in the mind of an elderly Cherokee Charlie Two-Lives? Father Joseph Christy, a lapsed priest, grapples with new-found doubts about G-d's existence -- and with forces from hell in The Three Wolf Men. College students band together as paranormal investigators and battle an intransigent apparition to rescue a captive 10-year-old boy in Ghosts, Inc. And of course there's Santa Claus himself who puts in several appearances, clashing with various gremlins and alien threats. To read about jolly old Saint Nick firing rounds from a Glock 21 pistol or defending himself with an M16A1 Assault Rifle almost made me feel as if I was having an OBE myself (no, not Order of the British Empire but Out-of-Body experience) -- a truly dippy feeling is the only way I can describe it!
WARNING! Wiehe writes wildly, weirdly, and well. Some of these stories are bloody and gory; shock value is used to full effect. In other words, it's NOT your traditional Christmas fable. So as the days draw in and the nights grow longer, you might want to sit in a comfy chair, read a few of these mind-bending stories and "get into the holiday spirit" (!) instead of enjoying a hot, spiced mug of apple cider, perhaps consider imbibing a glass of whatever Oktoberfest beer suits your fancy. No, I'm not plugging anything other than this book, but a beverage more bracing seems better suited to a book like 'Holiday Madness.'
Fred Wiehe appears regularly, reading his stories on radio station KKUP, 91.5FM in Cupertino, California. Holiday Madness is a compilation of those he's written over the years.
I first became aware of Fred back in '07. I was on my way to work one morning and he was reading from his chiller novel Strange Days; I was so mesmerized I just sat, transfixed, 'til the broadcast ws over. Needless to say my boss wasn't too happy (I'd never done anything like that before) but I was thrilled -- in a happy sense -- to make a new reading discovery! Keep 'em coming, Fred!"
Lisa M. Hawkins, Amazon Review

"5 out of 5 Stars, So Scary!!!!!
I received this book for an honest review. Fred Wiehe is an excellent writer of horror stories. This book is filled with short stories that are scary as hell. Lucky for me I'm not afraid lol. Love the Santa one hell I loved them all. If you want to read and be scared this is the book for you. Awesome, Fred!"
Roostermama, Amazon Review

"5 out of 5 Stars
Love this stuff. I was at a book signing in 2010 picked this up ... love horror shorts."
Yup, Amazon Review

"5 out of 5 Stars, Fun, creepy and just the right amount of scare
This book was great and fun. I loved the writing style, the characters come to life and stick with you long after you've put the book down. It's an easy one to want to read every year, and I'm glad I have it. Love this author and his titles ... highly recommended if you like the horror genre."
Shaun Taylor, Amazon Review