A Long December

By: Richard Chizmar

Narrated by: David Stifel

In 1996, Richard Chizmar's debut short story collection, Midnight Promises, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Publishers Weekly called it "a sterling collection" while singling out "The Silence of Sorrow" as "an understated masterpiece".

Two years later, Subterranean Press published a mini-collection from Chizmar entitled Monsters and Other Stories. In his introduction, acclaimed genre critic Edward Bryant said, "When all is said and done, this book should leave you in utter silence, giving you time and opportunity to contemplate what you just read. Tough storytelling from a tough writer; but a writer who is not calloused. Chizmar possesses a finely honed gift of empathy. With utter grace and loving kindness, he'll put you right inside the life (and soul) of the monster."

Now, nearly two decades later, Chizmar assembles 35 stories, including a previously unpublished novella, and presents us with A Long December. This massive new collection features more than 150,000 words of Chizmar's very best short fiction and includes 8,000 words of autobiographical story notes.

Eerie, suspenseful, poignant, the stories in A Long December range from horror to suspense, crime to dark fantasy, mainstream to mystery.

©2016 Richard Chizmar (P)2017 Journalstone Publishing

Chizmar's Short Stories

a good collection - some better than others. I'm more of a fan of the supernatural more than the suspense/detective genre, but in this case it was reversed. I very much enjoyed his intriguing crime stories, especially the final one from which this collection takes its name "A Long December." All in all a highly entertaining read.

The stories are not bad

The narrator tears me right out of the stories. His voice should not be reading anything out loud. Voice… timing… pronunciation.
Just, no thank you

Exactly What I Needed!! Great Stories & Narration!!!

I really enjoyed these stories! Very enjoyable stories filled with suspense. I couldn't stop listening!

okay

I was on the fence about whether to give this 3 stars or 4. In the end, it was the story After the Bombs that tipped the scales. Really well fine story with the Chizmar feel. Most the rest were good concepts with a body that started to form but lacked flesh. I think Chizmar is much better in longer works when a tale is fully fleshed out. With that said, there are some good dark concepts here.

Loved each and every one of these stories!

I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of these stories because I was unfamiliar with Richard Chizmar's work. The depth of the characters and plots was perfect imo. I think David Stifel's performance of the matters was flawless! one of my favorite.