I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer Published by Quirk Books on November 10 2020
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 220
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Andrew Shaffer skewers publishing and 80s horror in this homage to the genre, complete with a Christmas setting.
Lussi parked Agnes’s Yugo around the corner from the Blackwood Building underneath a burned-out streetlight. It was nearly three in the morning. She had never stolen a car before and never planned to again. Tonight was turning out to be a night of many firsts—first time she’d drugged a friend, first time she’d been tied to a conference table, first time she’d become master of a demonic doll.
I had a lot of fun with this book! I think reading it in December was perfect timing, although if you’re looking for a feel good Christmas story, you need to keep looking. More mystery than horror, Andrew Shaffer gives readers a nice balance of creep, humor, 80s nostalgia and some really fun insights into the publishing industry.
Lussi is a twenty-something out-of-work editor who has a string of best selling horror novels to her name, but no job. Having exhausted all her options, Lussi finds herself interviewing with Blackwood-Patterson Publishing, a house that doesn’t publish horror at all. And things only get worse when Lussi meets the ancient head of the company, Xavier Blackwood, who barely lets her speak before telling her she’s completely wrong for the job. But after a weird series of events—including the sudden death of Mr. Blackwood—Lussi finds herself with a senior editor job, a cramped office and an impossible task: Blackwood’s son Digby, who now owns the company, tells Lussi she can keep the job, but only if she finds the “next Stephen King” before the end of the year.
Unfortunately for Lussi, it’s nearly Christmas, which gives her only a couple of weeks to perform a miracle. And when she finds a secret Santa gift under the company Christmas tree with her name on it, things start to get weird—and deadly. Something sinister is going on at Blackwood-Patterson, and Lussi suspects it’s tied to the spooky doll from Xavier’s office, the same doll she found in a box under the tree…
Secret Santa wasn’t as scary as I was hoping, although there are some jump scares and a few creepy basement scenes. It felt more like a mystery, as Lussi struggles to figure out what the hell is going on at her new job. And if you enjoy “creepy doll” stories, you’ll have a blast with this one. The Perchten doll that stars in the story may or may not be based on real mythology—the jury is still out on that, even after I did a little internet searching—but I enjoyed the fact that Shaffer gives “Perky” (as Lussi calls it) an interesting backstory having to do with the history of the Nazi involvement in the supernatural. The doll was by far the creepiest part of the story, followed by the odd assemblage of co-workers, some of them downright diabolical. Lussi feels like an outcast at her new job, and I loved the sense of paranoia as she discovers that they are actually plotting against her. The Blackwood Building itself is the perfect setting for this story, an old, crumbling Gothic style building with faulty wiring and iron bars on all the windows, and it’s got an almost Addam’s Family-like vibe when you add in the macabre behavior of its employees.
My favorite parts of the story, though, were all the 80s pop culture references and name dropping, which for some reason I never get tired of. And honestly, Shaffer doesn’t go overboard, but slips those references in without too much fanfare, which I appreciated. I also loved the book publishing setting, which is especially well done because the author really nails the 1980s horror publishing scene. He pokes fun of the horror genre, which has gotten a bad rap over the years, with comments about Stephen King and how the vampire subgenre is “dead.” I was delighted to catch a few obscure references from my days as a big horror fan and collector back in the 1980s (as soon as Shaffer mentioned a book called The Light at the End, I knew he was talking about Skipp and Spector, the granddaddies of the Splatterpunk movement).
And I have to mention all the fun slush pile commentary, which made me laugh out loud! When Lussi arrives at her new job, her first order of business is to investigate the slush pile in the basement, as she is hoping to find the next bestselling horror novel. The author clearly understands the ins and outs of publishing, and I had a lot of fun reading these sections. Shaffer even sneaks in a meta moment when he references a fictional movie from another Quirk Books title, a reference I only got because I had just read that book, lol.
A couple of things didn’t quite work for me. The pacing in the first half is on the slow side, which is to be expected since the mystery of Blackwood-Patterson is still being revealed. The action picks up in the second half, but it’s a bit frantic and confusing at times. Some of the “horror” parts are over-the-top, although I have to admit these scenes fit in with the 80s horror aesthetic. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending, which took a weird turn and also felt a little rushed. Although after thinking it over, I can see how the author might be mimicking the very thing he’s writing about: 80s horror, and for that reason I can appreciate what he did. I think if the book had been a little longer, some of these issues could have been resolved.
But overall, I really enjoyed this book. Shaffer has a great sense of comedic timing, and I laughed out loud a lot while reading Secret Santa. Chills, laughs and a little bit of Christmas spirit makes this a solid choice for a good holiday scare.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
You have me curious about this one now because that cover just screams horror to me!
I love this cover, it’s very creepy by it’s Christmasy too:-)
Great review, Tammy. 🙂 I’m not really a fan of “more mystery, less horror”. So, this might not be to my liking. Glad to know you had a blast reading it.
Debjani Ghosh recently posted…The Red Admiral’s Secret by Matthew Ross – Cover Reveal
Thanks Debjani, if you’re in the mood for hard core horror, this probably won’t work for you:-)
Spooky doll… Honestly, dolls scare me so much. Sounds so creepy!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Naughty Neighbor by Jeannine Colette & Lauren Runow
Me too, I’ve banned dolls from my house, lol.
What a compelling review! I wasn’t interested in this one because horror is not my thing, but what you wrote made me curious. And the synopsis is just brilliant! The fact that it is more mystery than horror can be good for me, even if I think I would miss all the 80s references (both for the time, because I was born in the late 80s and for the fact that I am Italian… Italian’s 80s references are OK for me, but the American ones… Who knows?) but I would think about this one!
Ha ha I never thought about Italian 80s references, but you’re right, they might be quite different from the American ones:-)
Great review! I can’t wait to read the book. 🙂
It’s a lot of fun, hope you enjoy it!
It was indeed a quick and fun read, and the ’80s references were the best part, although I would not have minded a little more scary horror in the mix… The doll, on the other hand, was very disturbing! 🙂
maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…RING SHOUT, by P. Djèlì Clark
I thought the combination of horror and humor was well done. Overall lots of fun!
Great review! There have been so many 80s horror stories lately, but strangely I keep missing them. Secret Santa sounds pretty good even if there are a few flaws.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…The Season of Giving
Quirk does a lot of retro horror set in the 80s and 90s, so to me this felt very much like a “Quirk” book.
Nice, I like it! I’ll admit I was a bit sceptical of this one, though I thought it was an interesting idea. But based on your review it sounds like a lot of fun. I do worry I may one day get tired of the ’80s pop culture references, but that day isn’t here yet. 🙂
I think I mostly enjoyed all the publishing stuff, but I know what you mean about the 80s, I feel like I’ll get tired of them someday, but not today!
Well at least you enjoyed it but I was wanting more scare. Either way, I still thinks it screams to be read in December so I will be working it in! I also love 80s references so I’m sure I’ll love it!
Thanks for the review, it’s pretty much exactly like I expected! Definitely didn’t think it would be a feel good Christmas story, and I want lots of horror from this, so it’s perfect 😀
I’m so excited to read this!
Oh, this sounds fun! I probably should have picked a Christmas horror instead of a Christmas rom-com
I don’t blame you for being tired of the nostalgia and name dropping–at this point it feels very gimmicky! But this still looks like a fun horror read. Glad you enjoyed it.
I will have to put this on my list, I wasn’t real sure at first but now I am curious…lol.
This sounds like fun! I think I would love all of the 80’s shout outs too. 🙂
Can’t beat a bit of horror and I do love the cover for this one.
Lynn
I’m glad we both got to read this one. It really was a nice surprise to have something holiday themed for Christmas. I needed AT LEAST that the way I went bananas for Halloween.
This sounds like fun, though creepy dolls aren’t my thing:)).