The Office meets Stephen King, dressed up in holiday tinsel, in this fun, festive, and frightening horror-comedy set during the horror publishing boom of the ’80s, by New York Times best-selling satirist Andrew Shaffer.Out of work for months, Lussi Meyer is desperate to work anywhere in publishing. Prestigious Blackwood-Patterson isn’t the perfect fit, but a bizarre set of circumstances leads to … bizarre set of circumstances leads to her hire and a firm mandate: Lussi must find the next horror superstar to compete with Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Peter Straub. It’s the ’80s, after all, and horror is the hottest genre.
But as soon as she arrives, Lussi finds herself the target of her co-workers’ mean-spirited pranks. The hazing reaches its peak during the company’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange, when Lussi receives a demonic-looking object that she recognizes but doesn’t understand. Suddenly, her coworkers begin falling victim to a series of horrific accidents akin to a George Romero movie, and Lussi suspects that her gift is involved. With the help of her former author, the flamboyant Fabien Nightingale, Lussi must track down her anonymous Secret Santa and figure out the true meaning of the cursed object in her possession before it destroys the company—and her soul.
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Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer is a twisted tale about the dark secrets that are being covered up in a failing publishing house.
When our main character, Lussi Meyer, arrives to the dark and spooky building for an interview, she is hoping this goes well as she’s on her last lets. But she’s immediately put off when the man interviewing her dismisses her without asking any questions. As she goes to leave the office, her temper flares and she ends up tripping and catching herself on a bookshelf, knocking free a very creepy doll.
But of course, this isn’t just any doll. From there, the story takes off and my gosh…
This author created a very eerie atmosphere early on that set the tone for the rest of the read for me. It felt a bit like watching a movie with a lot of dark scenes during the day time, where everything was a bit hard to make out, but you still strained to see into the shadows as you anxiously awaited a jump scare.
On top of that, I also really enjoyed the fact that I could never quite pinpoint a single one of the characters. I really wanted to trust them and see things work out. One second I would think that a specific person was all right, but the next, they were pulling a gun or drugging someone!
This story had many twists and turns and I had so much fun as I kept trying to guess what was going to happen next. Of course, I was never correct!
If you’re looking for a spooky tale set in an office around Christmas that will keep you on your toes, then this is the book for you!
I love holiday horror. Secret Santa is an excellent entry into the unique genre that is Christmas horror. Set in the 1980s, it’s the story of a new hire at a horror publishing company who receives a strange gift in the company Secret Santa exchange. When her coworkers start to die in unusual ways, she believes the gift is to blame.
Great ’80s read. I love anything set within the decade of hairspray and Oceanspray, and this book doesn’t disappoint. Lussi Meyer takes a job at a prestigious publishing house as a senior editor. Her dream job so it seems. But things quickly go sideways when she’s tasked with finding the next Stephen King or Anne Rice. Creatures are gifted, interns are tormented, and nothing is as it seems. Brought to you by Quirk Books, one of my favorite publishers, I recommend Secret Santa for this or any holiday season.
“The Office meets Stephen King, dressed up in holiday tinsel, in this fun, festive, and frightening horror-comedy set during the horror publishing boom of the ’80s.”
I LOVED the incorporation of German folklore here and the Gremlin-ish vibes. This was a quick and wildly entertaining read – an easy 5 hours via audiobook which helped my workday fly by with a smile. Andi Arndt narrates and combined with Andrew Shaffer’s creative writing, it’s a fun time!
The synopsis does a good job of giving the main points, so I’m not going to give away any further details because that’s most of the fun with horror — it’s all about the reveal of the story. It’s those moments when you jump a little as you are reading the story make it a five star read. Secret Santa did that to me a few times — it made me want to scream at Lussi in a few different places — what are you doing girl? Get out of there!
There’s a folk tale associated with this story that made things interesting and a lesson if you are into that sort of thing. The cultural references to the 1980’s also brought some relief to the more sinister activities in the story and put a smile on my face.
The story is complete but on the shorter side, so it’s something you can devour in an afternoon or two. It’s easy to get involved in the story and keep turning those pages to see what was going to happen (and who would be left standing!). Secret Santa also validated my aversion toward the whole secret santa activity, in general. I mean really, has anyone ever been happy with their Secret Santa gift? This story gives whole new meaning to that holiday ritual.
I liked this. The cover is amazing and made me want to read it. The story kept me reading and it didn’t drag things out. It had just the right amount of horror, suspense and humor. Can’t ask for anymore more.