“Readers will be riveted by this genuinely scary holiday phantasmagoria.”– Publishers WeeklyA group of motorists become stranded on a lonely stretch of highway during a Christmas Eve blizzard and fight for survival against an unnatural force in the storm. The gathered survivors realize a tenuous connection among them means it may not be a coincidence that they all ended up on this highway. An … up on this highway. An attempt to seek help leads a few of the travelers to a house in the woods where a twisted toymaker with a mystical snow globe is hell bent on playing deadly games with a group of people just trying to get home for the holidays.
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Dark fairy tale
A group of strangers in eight vehicles are on a desolate stretch of a turnpike on Christmas Eve in New Hampshire. They don’t realize there is a tenuous thread that connects them AND that they are no longer in New Hampshire.
Impossible, bizarre things start happening and people start dying.
I was expecting more of a straight horror tale in this book but got a fairytale – not a bunnies and rainbows fairytale but more of a dark Grimms type fairytale. It was okay for reading once but not a story I will re-read.
I received this book from Flame Tree Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
The author did a good job on character descriptions– I felt as though I could really see each person involved in the story. However, athough the setting was well done, the evil forces these people encountered were utterly ridiculous. I stayed with the book til the end but it was very predictable.
This was my favorite book of the year very well written and introspective.
My first time reading this author. People trapped on a highway in a blizzard on Christmas Eve. Already sound like a horror story to me. All the stranded motorists gather in an RV and then the question ” What is your worst winter memory?” that’s when the fun begins. Ghosts, bad Santa, killer snowmen just to give you an idea of the rotten things that are going to happen. The ending was a bit of a surprise. A little gory I enjoyed it.
I love horror stories where the elements play a huge part in character survival. This one didn’t disappoint.
A bunch of motorists get stranded on a patch of highway during a snow storm. Whiteout conditions, freezing temps. I can’t imagine how bad that would be. Throw in some seriously creepy snowmen that mysteriously appear and it all goes crazy from there.
I’ve always been told that when caught in a situation like this, it’s best to stay put. Wait it out. Something forces a few of these people to seek help. Could the cabin in the woods provide that? Or was it all a lure? I couldn’t wait to find out. And when I did, what a wacky, twisted ending it was. And I have to mention that the cover is perfect.
This story was a little different, horror story fans should enjoy it. I read the whole thing, it does keep you wondering where the story is going. I personally didn’t care much for the ending but to each their own.
Starts out with atmospheric tension and suspense. Devolves into a mishmash of kooky details. Not enough to make you care about the characters one way or the other. It’s like the author just ran out of ideas at the end. Dialogue is stilted and elementary. Will not read again, as I do with books I have enjoyed.
Wonderful book. so glad I found Mr. Bastiianelli! This will be one I’ll read twice. Ordered Loonies as a result.
What starts out as a typical road trip on Christmas Eve turned out to be anything but? Biggest snow storm ever and spookiest that goes bump in the night, how creepy can it get?? You will have to read it to find out but you won’t be disappointed! Thanks Gregory for sure a great book!
SNOWBALL is the first novel I have read from author Gregory Bastianelli. This one is published by Flame Tree Press, a name that has released some of my top reads over the past two years. What begins with a snowplow blocking a road in a full-on blizzard, ends up with eight cars suddenly stuck behind it, with no help in sight.
“. . . the exit ain’t there. There’s nothing there. Just snow.”
The tension sets in immediately in this book–the reader quickly realizing that these specific people must have . . . something . . . linking them to be stranded together in this otherworldly storm.
“. . . Everything happens for a reason.”
We start out with short chapters, introducing us to the individual characters in their respective vehicles. I honestly enjoyed this approach as it gave me time to get a feel for each person, instead of being hopelessly confused if the ten were simply brought in together in the same scene. By the time they do get together–in one couple’s RV–I already felt I “knew” them well enough.
“. . . Sometimes our choices are taken out of our control . . . ”
A sinister feeling continues to amp up more rapidly at this point, as several characters share their “worst winter” memories. The reader knows this is leading up to something, but just what, is cleverly concealed yet.
“. . . that’s all life is, a matter of chance.”
I don’t want to give anything away that would spoil this novel. Going into it with no idea of what to expect made the tale so much more effective for me. I enjoyed the writing style, the pressure when the atmosphere began to change in its intensity, and all the unseen twists in between. The characters–whether I liked or disliked them–felt real, and this helped make the most impossible of ideas seem plausible in the given situation.
“. . . we’re all just pieces moving around.”
Overall, another winner from Flame Tree Press, and I will be looking up other books by this author for future reads.
Highly recommended.
In Snowball, an upcoming holiday horror/thriller from author Gregory Bastianelli, the ghosts of winters past come out to play when a group of weary travelers find themselves snowbound on Christmas Eve. The only problem is: the road they thought they were traveling has just taken them somewhere very different than they expected, and there are no gifts waiting on the other side of the blizzard for this unlucky caravan.
Bastianelli has assembled an ensemble cast of holiday commuters for his trip to holiday hell—including the quintessential executive, the freshly-engaged college couple, a single mom towing her kids, a trucker, an elderly couple in an RV, and more. Giving unique voices and winter torments to each traveler is something of a specialty for Bastianelli, who manages to create holiday torments that ring true for each passenger—and each reader.
The story’s shtick is in its title, Snowball, a process that starts from something small and builds upon itself, becoming graver through the inertia of its own momentum as it becomes disastrous. It’s a clever pun for the tale’s delicate if unrelenting tension-building arc, which not only connects all the seemingly unrelated travelers, but dooms them to share the same unfortunate fate as the weight of their past indiscretions bears down in an avalanche upon them all. Each of our travelers is on their way to the same frozen end, with some particularly chilling surprises in store for the naughtier on Bastianelli’s list. A word of warning to the reader: don’t get too cozy with any characters you meet on this journey home for the holidays—some don’t last, and most are not what they seem.
At times seeming to borrow heavily from recent holiday horror film Krampus, Snowball brings together contemporary interpretations of some of the darker folktales of the Yuletide, along with modern-day horrors and a sprinkling of Jack the Ripper-esque brutality to tie the festivities together. Whether it’s the Scrooge and Marley-like strained (or, I could say, more precisely, chained) business relationship between a twisted toymaker and his former business partner, carnivorous snowmen, a certain birch switch-swishing, children-snatching beasty of legend, or the Iceman, a murderous, ice tong wielding madman, Bastianelli serves up the perfect holiday monster for every reader. (Frankly, there’s a couple travelers that this reader found a mite creepy, too.)
It’s all in good spirit, though, because what would Christmas be without a little bit of fun to brighten revelers’ appreciation of the season? For a holiday that comes only once a year, there’s no time to waste; the game is already afoot.
If you’re looking for something to keep you cozy on cold winter nights, then find something else to read because there are no warm holiday tidings to be found here. But, if you’d prefer to spend the darkest nights of the year shivering as you await the temps to rise and the sun to return, then this is the holiday horror you’ve been waiting for.