SECRET SANTA: A HORROR FOR THE HOLDIAYS NOVEL
Quirk Books & Blackstone Audio (2020)
GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS SEMI-FINALIST
“The latest black comedy from satirist Shaffer (‘Hope Never Dies’) is a spirited holiday horror novel shot through with ’80s nostalgia... Writing with a biting, dry wit, Shaffer blends old school, B-movie gore and sharp send-ups of office politics and the publishing industry. Fans of classic slasher novels will revel in this blood-soaked romp.”
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 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.
“For fans of 80’s campy horror films and novels, Andrew Shaffer’s ‘Secret Santa’ should be your holiday read. This light-hearted, but frightful novel will be a great binge read, while your family binge drinks around the yule log.”
“...a love letter not just to the tradition of yuletide frights but also to the horror fiction boom of the 1980s... Shaffer writes with a keen eye for the tropes of the genre but also a sharply ironic sense of humour... ‘Secret Santa’ provides chuckles and chills in equal measure...”
“A holiday themed thrill ride that not only captures the nostalgic magic of classic films like GREMLINS [and] DIE HARD [...] but also carves out its own place as something unequivocally entertaining and uniquely special. ”
“I have yet to meet an Andrew Shaffer book I don’t love. This is a perfect holiday gift for anyone who loves Grady Hendrix and Stephen King.”
eBook $9.99 • Trade Paperback $15.99 • Audiobook Price Varies
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GENRE: Horror • FORMATS: PB/eBook/Audio • PAPERBACK ISBN 978-1683692058
Quirk Books (Dist. by Penguin Random House) and Blackstone Audio
