The Christmas Megapack

Christmas -- the very word conjures up memories of the most wondrous childhood holiday of all--filled with the glitter of colorfully-wrapped presents, family visits, carols, photographs, decorating the tree, attendance at church to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and tummy-stuffing dinners tucked with treats seen at no other time of the year. But the yule holiday has been celebrated for at least two centuries in North America, and our writers have been producing memorable stories about this unique day for almost as long.



Here are 25 Christmas stories old and new, tales to delight, to entrance, to beguile, and even to sadden a whole new generation of readers. From Nina Kiriki Hoffman's poignant "Lazelle Family Christmas" to Jacob A. Riis's gut-wrenching portrait of the holiday in the 1890s slums of New York to Johnston McCulley's riveting tale of Christmas in the Old West, we experience every possible facet of this most precious day of the year.



So sit back and relive your memories once again, as recreated through the eyes of some of the finest writers of their time!



Included in this volume are:



INTRODUCTION, by Robert Reginald

THE SUBSTITUTE SHOPPER, by Edna A. Collamore

CAN’T SEE THE TREE FOR THE FOREST by Skadi meic Beorh

THE GIFT, by Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen

SANTA’S STOLEN SACK, by S. Omar Barker

CHRISTMAS TREE DETAIL, by Johnston McCulley

THE SANTA TRAP, by Robin Aurelian

LAZELLE FAMILY CHRISTMAS, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

THE CHRISTMAS CRAZIES: A GRIFF & FATS STORY, by Gary Lovisi

SCROOGE 3000, by Michael McCarty

A HELL OF A CHRISTMAS, by Michael McCarty

THE CHRISTMAS BANE, by S. Clayton Rhodes

THE CHRISTMAS EVE GHOST, by Ernest Dudley

DOG EAT DOG: A CHRISTMAS TALE, by Robert Reginald

WHEN THE YULE LOG BURNS, by Leona Dalrymple

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN THE TENEMENTS, by Jacob A. Riis

THE RAPTURE OF HETTY, by Mary Hallock Foote

THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL, by Henry Van Dyke

CHRISTMAS: A STORY, by Zona...