Christmas is an especially big deal in Molly’s town, where the citizens decorate extravagantly each year—including the tremendous amount of sparkling lights that go up each year. Something is different about the lights this year, and they’re having a terrifying effect on the children in town.

I’m a total sucker for Christmas horror stories, so I would have added this to my TBR based on the synopsis alone, but when I learned it also featured an f/f romance? Well, count me in!

Before the horror that was my darkest Christmas, the lights were a welcome sight.

First, the plot of this story? Genuinely a little terrifying. Kids can be creepy to begin with, and the idea of these children being turned into raging murderers just by staring at a few strings of Christmas lights is unsettling. Likewise, the gore put on display during the murders is surprisingly dark for YA horror, which was a nice change of pace from what I expected. There’s a line that describes a man’s entrails being wrapped around the tree like garland, and my gore-loving little self couldn’t help but cackle a little over that.

For the characters, the relationship between Molly and her girlfriend Chelsea feels like an actual teen relationship with some tender moments mixed in with a bit of bickering that ups the reality factor. There’s also a nonbinary/ace side character who was honestly the star of the show for me.
The only notable flaw in the story for me was the ending and explanation of events. While it wasn’t bad, I think the bulk of the story was so well-done that I expected more and was a little surprised by how vague and up in the air the last little bit felt to me. That said, if you’re looking for a fun, short holiday horror read with some diversity thrown in, definitely grab a copy of The Lights. I had a ton of fun reading this and would very happily pick up future horror releases from this author!

Content warnings for gore, murder, child death

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to the author for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!