12 Days of Christmas: Xmas Xtreme by D J Doyle and Lee Franklin

Prepare yourself for guts, rape and torture because this book is full of gore and death.

Two extreme horror authors take it in turns to count down twelve days to Christmas, each chapter mirroring the number of days with the number of monsters, weapons or victims that appear within the story.

Set in the fictional town of Shawville, the central linking device is old Laymon’s Christmas tree lot. Trust me, you don’t want to buy anything from there.

Apparently all the characters are named after extreme horror writers, which is a nice touch.

I love the idea of this book. Franklin and Doyle’s writing styles complement each other and the idea of the shared universe for all these stories really appeals to me.

The authors are certainly inventive in the ways they incorporate Christmas into the depravity of extreme horror. I’ll never look at elves or snowmen in the same way.

However, my tolerance for extreme horror is low. About half way through the stories I got bored of all the rape and torture and longed for something more. Surely the people of Shawville noticed all the deaths and disappearances going on as Christmas approached? Maybe there could have been more characterization that caused me to care for the people being torn apart, or all the gore could have stood in for consumerism or social anxiety or something.

I realize I am being unfair to the authors in expecting more out of the stories because that’s not what extreme horror is about. I like a bit more intellectual stimulation with my gore but fans of the genre will find this book a treat.

I award Xmas Xtreme…