A Christmas Bestiary

A tongue-in-cheek guide to the beasts to watch out for during a cozy Christmastime. In the wintry season, when we all delight in joyful thoughts of family, presents, and sugarplums, we mustn’t forget that the night is dark and full of terrors. Thankfully, bold adventurers Benni Bødker and John Kenn Mortensen have journeyed far and wide to comb through ancient tomes, listen to folk tales, and spy upon loathsome lairs to catalog the most frightful creatures of the netherworld that appear around Christmastime. A Christmas Bestiary is an essential guidebook to all the horrors that await us during the darkest time of the year, from common creatures such as Baba Yaga and the Krampus to the less encountered (but quite deadly) Yule Wight and Gryla. Bødker’s brief text entries include the lore and background of each creature, plus handy info such as danger level that will help you survive (but no guarantees!). Mortensen’s gothic, pen-and-ink renderings bring these bone-chilling beasts to life on the page. Eerie, playful, and practical, A Christmas Bestiary is the perfect collection for the ones who love ―or fear― the things that go bump in the night. Black-and-white illustrations throughout

Broken Frontier

"Mortensen’s gloomy but hypnotic illustrations [are] so stunning that the reader will come away from A Christmas Bestiary with a rich appetite for more of [his] intensely chilling visuals. It’s a fascinating study of folklore in its own right and an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to investigate these traditions further."

Book and Film Globe

"A perfect holiday gift for that hard-to-buy-for name on your list who would appreciate the tome’s tales of wintertime troubles and Yuletide terrors."

About the Author

John Kenn Mortensen is an illustrator, author, and film director. In 2011, he debuted a book of illustrations, Sticky Monsters, which has become an international bestseller. His other works include The Nightmare Factory, The Wrestler, A Christmas Bestiary, and two illustrated adaptations of classic Brothers Grimm tales. He lives in Copenhagen with his wife and twins.Benni Bødker is one of Denmark’s leading writers of YA horror fiction.

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