Twelve Days of Christmas—Dark Tidings
A Substack Holiday Horror Event
The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of those classic carols that rings through the halls this time of year. You probably know it by heart whether you want to or not. It’s commonplace, repetitive by design, and a little trite. But despite all that, it’s a song with surprisingly deep roots, the kind that twist down through the centuries.
The words were first published in 1780. But in all likelihood, the origins are much older, growing out of the same fertile ground as the fairy tales and folklore that make up the landscape of the collective Western imagination.
As the pear tree at the heart of the carol reached skyward, the rich loam of these legends shaped a tree best suited, not to the midsummer sun, but to the silver skies and cold winds of the yuletide season.
And the tree bore unusual winter fruit. A mélange of birds, rings, and merry-making folk of yore that are both enchanting and somehow ominous.
This strange bounty was then plucked by some sure hand and sent to the harvester’s true love. A grand, if peculiar, gesture. What the mysterious recipient of those presents made of their newfound eggs, calling birds, leaping lords, and all the rest, we will never know.
But for a group of twelve Substack writers, these bizarre presents have become the fodder for a set of macabre stories. Our present to you, true lovers of horror, is twelve dreadful tales inspired by each of the carol’s gifts, offered for your enjoyment on the darkest nights of the year.
Beginning on Friday, the 13th, we’ll count down to Christmas Eve with a new horror story waiting for you to unwrap every morning.
Jon T on December 13: Twelve Drummers Drumming | Catching Ghost
Andy Futuro on December 14: Eleven Pipers Piping | 11:11
Honeygloom on December 15: Ten Lords a-Leaping | The Lords
Garen Marie on December 16: Nine Ladies Dancing | Every Step a Word
EJ Trask on December 17: Eight Maids a-Milking | The Eternals
Sean Thomas McDonnell on December 18: Seven Swans a-Swimming | Swanmaster
Hanna Delaney on December 19: Six Geese a-Laying | Six Geese a-Laying
John Coon on December 20: Five Golden Rings | The Ring Bearers
Nick Winney on December 21: Four Calling Birds | Hark the Heralds
Bridget Riley on December 22: Three French Hens | Beaks Bloody
Shaina Read on December 23: Two Turtle Doves | Hungry Ground
Keith Long on December 13, 2025: Partridge in a Pear Tree | Buried Guilt
And each Dark Tidings post will be accompanied by artwork custom-made by MARK of the BRAND, an independent design studio, crafting visuals that command attention.
So lock your doors against the weather, light your fires against the night, and settle in for a version of the carol unlike any other.
Join us here on Substack for the Twelve Days of Christmas—Dark Tidings.
A fan of things that go bump in the night, Garen Marie writes Only Child Originals, serving up horror and dark fantasy fresh from the witch’s oven straight to your Substack feed.
I'm moist with anticipation
Dreadfully good