Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

L onely this Christmas
by Robert Edgar
This story materialised following the annual blast of the 1970s via a Top of the Pops
special. With adult eyes there is something intrinsically and mesmerizingly uncanny
about the aesthetic of glam rock; the warm and familiar past becoming an
unsettling place. That, and Aidan Moffat?s haunting 2018 rendition of Lonely This
Christmas, led me to this.
A shar p spi k e of bi l e r ose i n hi s t hr oat as a bead of sweat edged i t s ways
dow n hi s l ower back and soak ed i nto t he wai st band of hi s t r ouser s. His anger
at the unseasonably mild w eather dispelled the bur ning nausea. Any concer n he
may have felt about climate change was entir ely due to how it affected his vision of
the festive season. Hur r ying ar ound the tow n centr e this late on Chr istmas Eve was
bad enough w ithout him feeling unsettled by an inappr opr iate aesthetic. He?d been
dr eaming of a w hite Chr istmas for the last for ty year s and w ith temper atur es r ising
ther e was little chance of it happening now. His r esentment at this was nothing
compar ed to that he felt about shopping at this hour. If he had insisted on being
solely in char ge of their planning, as usual, then ever ything w ould have been
completed by now and they w ould be settling dow n as a family to listen to Car ols
fr om Kings befor e heading out for their year ly visit to chur ch. Despite his deep
fr ustr ation he mused br iefly on how the city centr e looked differ ent at night, not
being able to r ecall visiting this r ow of Geor gian shops befor e. His eyes landed on
the display in a shop w indow , the image a soothing balm. An elegant display of
glass baubles, Ger man Chr istmas far e and yuletide Victor iana took his attention
fully, all other ir r itations dispelled instantly fr om his mind. He patted his chest
pocket w ith his r ight hand, feeling for the extensive shopping list he had been
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