This beautiful, Phantom of the Opera inspired cover was created by Marcia Dye for my recently released Kindle ebook.
In this collection of eight winter themed short stories there is romance, mystery, horror, ghosts and fantasy based on classic literature, myths and fairytales.
In A Christmas Carriage Ride (The Phantom of the Opera), Christine Daae finds herself locked out of the Opera House on a freezing cold night. Before the singer becomes an icy statue, a mysterious cloaked stranger bundles her into a carriage and takes her around Paris. Could he be the Angel of Music, who has been teaching her these past few years?
The Schoolroom Ghost (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) begins with Ichabod Crane destroying a doll his students made of the teacher before him. But when Ichabod hears the tale of the lovelorn teacher, who committed suicide on Christmas Eve, he has a ghostly encounter...
In A Christmas Carriage Ride (The Phantom of the Opera), Christine Daae finds herself locked out of the Opera House on a freezing cold night. Before the singer becomes an icy statue, a mysterious cloaked stranger bundles her into a carriage and takes her around Paris. Could he be the Angel of Music, who has been teaching her these past few years?
The Schoolroom Ghost (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) begins with Ichabod Crane destroying a doll his students made of the teacher before him. But when Ichabod hears the tale of the lovelorn teacher, who committed suicide on Christmas Eve, he has a ghostly encounter...
(The Schoolroom Ghost is also a prequel to my supernatural mystery series Ichabod Crane and Headless Horseman Mysteries)
The Dream (Dracula) has Mina fretting over Jonathan, after months without a letter from him. As she tries to go to sleep, lulled by the violent crash of the Whitby waves, a mysterious force whisks her from her bed. She awakens on the back of a monstrous wolf, riding up to Count Dracula’s castle and, oddly enough, she can hear Christmas carols.
Christine Daae’s story is revisited in Reveillon. The champagne is flowing and the party has only just begun, but when she becomes lost in the Opera House cellars and frightened by the unnerving rat catcher, she stumbles into a passage. Blindly wandering in the dark, she comes across a dwelling in the catacombs. Will she bring some Christmas cheer to a lonely soul?
In Lone Spirit, set in the wild, desolate marshlands of the Norfolk Broads, Damson sets out in search of her lost lover. When she is caught in a blizzard, about to give up, the legendary ghost dog known as Black Shuck leads her to what she seeks, finally bringing peace to years of misery.
The Christmas Tree (Frankenstein) follows the creature as he tries to survive the winter. Throughout the cold, pain and hunger, one thing has kept him from returning to the death he was born from. A little cottage in the forest shows him a glimpse of human kindness and Christmas cheer, yet will he ever experience such happiness?
The Twelve Dancing Snow Princes has been inspired by The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale, with the setting moved to a Victorian workhouse. Twelve sisters are made miserable by the cruel woman who cares for them, but when they hear a mysterious song, they are led to new beginnings.
The last story, The Final Dance, is set several years after the events of The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul and Christine are invited to a party at the Opera House. However, there are phantoms still haunting Christine, and she must say goodbye to one.
The Dream (Dracula) has Mina fretting over Jonathan, after months without a letter from him. As she tries to go to sleep, lulled by the violent crash of the Whitby waves, a mysterious force whisks her from her bed. She awakens on the back of a monstrous wolf, riding up to Count Dracula’s castle and, oddly enough, she can hear Christmas carols.
Christine Daae’s story is revisited in Reveillon. The champagne is flowing and the party has only just begun, but when she becomes lost in the Opera House cellars and frightened by the unnerving rat catcher, she stumbles into a passage. Blindly wandering in the dark, she comes across a dwelling in the catacombs. Will she bring some Christmas cheer to a lonely soul?
In Lone Spirit, set in the wild, desolate marshlands of the Norfolk Broads, Damson sets out in search of her lost lover. When she is caught in a blizzard, about to give up, the legendary ghost dog known as Black Shuck leads her to what she seeks, finally bringing peace to years of misery.
The Christmas Tree (Frankenstein) follows the creature as he tries to survive the winter. Throughout the cold, pain and hunger, one thing has kept him from returning to the death he was born from. A little cottage in the forest shows him a glimpse of human kindness and Christmas cheer, yet will he ever experience such happiness?
The Twelve Dancing Snow Princes has been inspired by The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale, with the setting moved to a Victorian workhouse. Twelve sisters are made miserable by the cruel woman who cares for them, but when they hear a mysterious song, they are led to new beginnings.
The last story, The Final Dance, is set several years after the events of The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul and Christine are invited to a party at the Opera House. However, there are phantoms still haunting Christine, and she must say goodbye to one.
Preview (A Christmas Carriage Ride):
I can feel his touch, but I cannot consider him a man. I do not see his face. His entire body is hidden by his cloak. I doubt there is truly anything underneath, only starlight and snow. Angels, although men have sculpted them into voluptuous women with dove wings, must be able to take many forms to pass by undetected. My night angel prefers to be breezes and shadows.
I look back at Liberty. “Have you ever looked this way?”
He laughs, but it is not one I wish to join in with. It is harsh and dark, like the crumble of stones. I tilt my head curiously.
“When I am returned to heaven,” he tells me, hand disappearing into the darkness of his cloak, “I shall be as other angels are.”
I can feel his touch, but I cannot consider him a man. I do not see his face. His entire body is hidden by his cloak. I doubt there is truly anything underneath, only starlight and snow. Angels, although men have sculpted them into voluptuous women with dove wings, must be able to take many forms to pass by undetected. My night angel prefers to be breezes and shadows.
I look back at Liberty. “Have you ever looked this way?”
He laughs, but it is not one I wish to join in with. It is harsh and dark, like the crumble of stones. I tilt my head curiously.
“When I am returned to heaven,” he tells me, hand disappearing into the darkness of his cloak, “I shall be as other angels are.”
Amazon.com link: A Christmas Carriage Ride And Other Stories
Amazon.co.uk link: A Christmas Carriage Ride And Other Stories
Already my fifth book from Kitty-Lydia Dye! Another great story to read. Kind Dementor !
ReplyDeleteThank you, Claude, hope you enjoy it :)
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