Let me start off by saying that I love this book! It's informative and fun--once I started it, I was all in and could not put it down. The author states her intention at the beginning:

'This is my account of a winter spent with monsters, but it's also an effort to understand their history, where and when they originated, and why they take the forms they do.It is an attempt as well to understand why we are so drawn to horrors at Christmastime.' (p 9)

She accomplishes her goals and more. Clegg takes readers with her as she visits various midwinter festivals, even as she begins with Carnival, just before Lent, since as she says, this is what Christmas used to be like when Saturnalia was still celebrated. She also attends the Mummer's Play on December 26th in the Cotswolds, The Chipstow (Wales) Wassail in on January 20th, The Salzburg Krampus Run on December 5th, Lucy's Night in Finland on December 13th, and solstice at Stonehenge on December 22nd.

In each place, she participates, observes, and digs deeper to discover how each particular festival evolved, what came before it, and how each fits into a larger context. This is a slim volume, but it's packed full of fascinating history. Perhaps surprisingly for a book that's about the darker side of Christmas, it's also funny. I found myself laughing more than once. Clegg has a very dry humor, which I love and it comes through in her excellent writing. This is particularly true in the footnotes. I usually don't care much for footnotes, but in this case they added so much to the book that I was glad they were there.

I'll end where I began--I love this book and I highly recommend it!

4.5 I’m a human who finds the whole forced merriment and family-centricity of Christmas quite tedious; so, I was thrilled to discover and totally here for this spooky subversion!

I had a great time with this festive read!

What worked for me:
❄️ For a small book, this packs a punch. I was intending to read this over a few days but once I started reading, I struggled to put it down. The way the sections are constructed, the tight and purposeful writing, the conversational tone, and the flow made this a compelling read!
❄️ We cover a wide array of spooky Christmas characters from all across Europe (including how cultures borrow and take inspiration from each other to enhance and develop folklore)
❄️ I loved the footnotes, particularly the ones with Clegg’s commentary and opinions
❄️ The atmosphere was excellent, particularly in the sections where Clegg is globetrotting to immerse herself in the festival’s, rituals, and celebrations. The writing was so rich, I felt like I was there! The sections where Clegg is experiencing Carnival and Krampusnacht were personal highlights!
❄️ The cover is just awesome!
❄️ I felt so seen by this quote:
Some of this modern embrace of the darker side of Christmas may be a pushback against the saccharine nature of our celebrations - an antidote to the cloyingly twee commercialisation that so many feel the festivities now represent.


Ideas that might enhance the book further:
➕ I’d love to have seen more pictures, particularly some of the images of different Maris that Clegg was describing and some of the Krampus tat in the Christmas Museum (that cookie tin sounds terrifying!). Clegg did a reasonable job at describing them but more pictures might have enhanced the book overall.
➕ This reader would have valued a pronunciation guide beside some of the words (while I can spell Mari Lwyd, I’m not sure how to say it and I’m sure I’ve got some of the Germanic words all wrong)

I recommend this especially to my fellow spooky enthusiasts, but it’s an interesting read that will appeal to a diverse range of readers. If you want to learn about the spookier side of Christmas while exploring folklore in Europe, pick up this book out when it hits the shelves in October (but read it in December!)

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you so much, Granta Publications! Talk about Christmas in July! 🎅🏻

The Dead of Winter is a very atmospheric read, written almost like a travelogue, Sarah Glegg's format surrounds the discussion of her immersion into several practices across Europe that deal with the more slightly spookier side to the often-seen jolly Christmas time. It's accessible to read, yet I wish it was a bit more streamlined. More photos perhaps would've spruced up the overall package and a couple of times I felt myself drifting. I think sometimes we lingered for too long on a subject, even though the book is relatively short. However there's a lot in here that is not common knowledge. You will learn a lot, be surprised, and absolutely fall for Sarah Clegg's footnotes.

This was informative and entertaining while also being a nice short length which made it accessible and easy to read
The only criticism I would have is that I would have liked more photos for reference
This would make a great gift for anyone who’s interested in the darker side of Christmas

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

The Dead of Winter is Sarah Clegg’s detailed and engaging survey of Christmas traditions across Europe.
As she travels and gives us accountings of the old and dark Christmas lore and how these change(d) over time, she invites us to have a closer look at these practices.
Thanks to Clegg’s engaging craft, you feel like a participant, observer or a witness depending on the chapter and festive practice.
Despite its relatively small size, The Dead of Winter cover a wide ground: Krampus, Swedish and Finnish Christmas traditions, Venice Carnival, old witches, gods, Stonehenge.
This book is highly informative and inspiring. There were several details that I have not read elsewhere. It was fascinating to learn about the Ashdown Mummers. I particularly enjoyed being immersed in the Venice Carnival, and the chapters on the year walk, the witches and the old gods.