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Thriller fiction and Non-fiction

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Spooky Flash Fiction For Advent 2025

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In Victorian England, it was common practice to tell supernatural stories around Christmas. A Christmas Carol is probably the best example we all know of today.

 

In the 1963 Andy Williams song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” there is a line that says “There’ll be scary ghost stories, And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.”

That tradition faded 100 years ago, but in Victorian England, it was common practice to tell supernatural stories in front of the fire around Christmas. A Christmas Carol is probably the best example we all know of today. 

My friend Loren Eaton puts together what he calls Advent Ghosts with the challenge that every story must be “100 words, no more no less.” With flash fiction, the challenge is what you leave out as much as what you put in.

Below are my three submissions for this year. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

And visit Loren’s I Saw Lightning Fall website to read even more of them.

And visit my Free Fiction page to read even more spooky stories from Advent Ghosts gone by! 

 

Tree topper

Your Christmas decorations are just amazing. The lights just glow and everything is so warm and inviting. 

It’s all because of the fairy on top of my tree. 

It’s very special but I think it’s just one element isn’t it? And don’t most people use an angel as a tree topper? 

That’s not just any fairy. I caught it in the toadstool circle in the forest. It’s a Wood Fairy and…

Wait, you have a real fairy living on top of your tree? 

That’s what’s giving everything that special glow. I think everyone will want to have one next year.



Their names are Mary and Joseph

Doug and Nancy joked they were in church more than their pastor. It was mostly a joke, anyway. 

“Come on, honey, we’re going to be late for Christmas eve service,” Doug said. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Nancy yelled. Her curling iron had malfunctioned. 

At the main road, Doug skidded the car to a stop. A young couple stood close by. It was raining and they looked lost. 

“Doug, she looks pregnant.” 

“Not my problem. They’re probably junkies looking for a place to sleep tonight. That’s all. I don’t want to miss the story of Mary and Joseph. It’s my favorite.”

 

Get what you pay for

All the “elfs on the shelf” were sold out. Bill finally found one at that super cheap store from overseas. It was almost free. He couldn’t believe his luck.

Bill opened the plastic bag it was sealed in and was sure he heard a sound like someone taking a deep breath. 

Bill set the doll on a shelf to surprise his kids the next morning. He was already planning places to put it around the house. 

The elf looked at Bill with cold, dead eyes. It decided even though Bill had released him, he would be the first to go.

Dreaming of a White Christmas: Advent Ghosts

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Each year at this time, my friend Loren Eaton organizes Advent Ghosts. It’s simply an opportunity for writers to have a little fun and continue the very old tradition of telling “scary ghost stories” around the yule log during the Christmas season. 

There are no prizes, and it isn’t a contest. The catch is this is flash fiction. As Loren says, “100 words, no more, no less.” The challenge is telling a complete story using a word count novelists would consider their opening paragraph. 

On the free short fiction page on my website, you can read previous efforts. (I took a couple years off during COVID.) Below are my stories from this year. 

 

White Christmas

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…” plays on the radio. 

“I don’t know why they play that silly song here. It’s not like it’s ever going to snow.”

Announcer interrupts the music. 

“The first nuclear missiles have already exploded in the now white-hot war between nuclear powers India and Pakistan. It’s unknown if other countries will get involved, but fallout from the blasts is expected to cover the globe.” 

“That’s on the other side of the world. It doesn’t matter to us,” Momma says. 

Momma come to the window! It’s snowing outside!

How can that be? We live in Miami!

 

Krampus goes up town

Ted sat at the bar dejected. All of his investments and real estate deals collapsed. He lost everything. 

They wouldn’t stop playing Christmas music. 

“Who cares if it’s Christmas eve? The markets are closed and I can’t fix things,” he slurred at the bar. 

A distinguished man entered and sat beside Ted. 

“Why so glum?” 

Ted laid out his tale of woe. 

“Ted, were you honest in your dealings?”

“I might have cut corners. Everything was only going up and then it just collapsed today!”

“Have you ever heard of Krampus?” The man’s smile didn’t reach his dark, cold eyes.

Everyone loves a Christmas ghost story…

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Have you ever wondered about the line in the song “Scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago?” People used to gather around the hearth at the winter solstice, days before Christmas, and tell ghost stories to each other.

For several years running now, Loren Eaton has organized the Advent Ghosts collection. (He did take a year off, but the birth of a new child will do that.) He coerces as group of writers to submit original scary Christmas/Solstice-themed stories. The catch is, the stories must be 100 words, no more, no less.

Writing flash fiction is always an interesting exercise in telling a story, with the intent of making someone’s skin crawl using only 100 words. It is just as important what you leave out as what you put in.

Below are my submissions to the effort this year. If you want to read more, go to the Shared Storytelling: Advent Ghosts page on Loren’s I Saw Lightning Fall page and follow the links. There are already a bunch there and more will come throughout the day.

You can also see past year’s submissions on my Free Fiction page.

Enjoy!

Roasting Over an Open Fire

Nothing says the holidays for me like the smell of fresh meat cooking over an open fire in the fireplace. There is just a magical feeling that comes with it. I have so many family memories of hunting with my father and grandfather. And for them, generations before that. I can’t wait to eat.

This year we are going to have a special treat, too. As soon as we get those eight reindeer butchered.

But first, we have to decide what to do about the fat man in the chimney. He should’ve known there was a fire in the fireplace.

Costume?

“That’s a great costume, very realistic. But what are you doing here?”

“I’m Krampus. I take bad children and whip their parents for letting them be ill-mannered.”

“We don’t celebrate that way. We believe in free-range parenting and never discipline our kids. They learn better that way and don’t believe in things that will hurt them. We want them to have a safe space to grow up.”

“You know the real world isn’t like that, right?”

“It’s our choice to protect them and shield them from bad things. Well, anyway, that’s a nice costume.”

“Who said it was a costume?”

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