ORLANDO — Freeline Productions has released the holiday fiction novel A Christmas Eve Story, written by author Michael W. Freeman, right in time for the upcoming holiday season.
The book is available in a paperback edition on Amazon and as a Kindle eBook.
What is the novel A Christmas Eve Story?
The book opens with a mix of holiday spirits — and terror. It reads:
“It’s Christmas Eve, and Tadeusz finds himself standing on the ledge of his 6th floor apartment, ready to jump as he listens to the angry pounding on his apartment door. There is no scarier moment than when he dangles at the edge, until his door comes crashing open and Tadeusz jumps into the void. A Christmas Eve Story picks up a year later, as another Christmas is approaching. It’s a story about ghosts, survivor’s guilt, redemption and the holidays, from Christmas potlucks to Christmas carols, putting up a Christmas tree, exchanging gifts and learning how to face the world again. At times scary and at other times joyful and sentimental, A Christmas Eve Story is about falling in love with the spirit of the season all over again.“
The book has chapters suitable for the Halloween season, including a group that gathers around the holidays to tell eerie, sometimes menacing Christmas ghost stories, and some creepy ghostly sightings — or are they?
In his book “Horror: A Connoisseur’s Guide to Literature and Film,” author Leonard Wolf writes that “Horror literature can do more than frighten us in a safe place. At its best, it provides us with images that speak to our subconscious because they resonate with myth …. horror literature touches the nerve of paranoia that many of us cherish by confirming our suspicion that there is a ‘they’ or an ‘it’ or a ‘he’ or a ‘she’ that is out to get us.”
But what about horror stories that mix with an entirely different genre: the uplifting Christmas story?
Is This a Christmas Novel for Kids or Adults?
Tis the season we all look forward to. Not just the Christmas season, but something even better: holiday book time! Enjoying a seasonal book can be a beloved Christmas tradition for many,
Look at it this way: Doesn’t it seem like Christmas sneaks up on us faster and faster as each year goes by, and there’s nothing more enjoyable than a Christmas book to help you begin enjoying the many pleasures of the holiday season? While there are lots of classic holiday stories available for kids to enjoy, this is really a Christmas novel for adults.
In fact, the popularity of ghost stories set during Christmas dates back to the Victorian era, when there was a rising fascination with the paranormal, a time when seances and the use of spirit boards became widespread. Charles Dickens may be best known for uniting ghosts with Christmas Eve in his novella A Christmas Carol, in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (first published Dec. 19, 1843) but he was definitely not the only one.
So, grab some hot chocolate, relax on the couch next to your Christmas tree, and enjoy the spooky and uplifting world of A Christmas Eve Story.
Published by Freeline Productions, the book is available by visiting amazon.com or through the Freeline online bookstore.
“Surprisingly, it was a hot July day when I got the inspiration to write my first Christmas novel,” Freeman says. “Based loosely on actual events that happened in my life, that became the basis for the story of Tadeusz Lipman and his harrowing, deeply despairing Christmas Eve. How his life changes a year later is the focus of the book, which I hope you enjoy.”
Freeman added, “It will be up to each reader to decide if the mix between ghostly forebodings and sentimental nostalgic emotions work. So, Season’s Screamings!”
WHO IS THE BOOK’S AUTHOR?
Michael Freeman was born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, where he lived for 38 years before relocating to his current home in Orlando, Florida. Michael knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer, influenced by the many comic books that he voraciously collected, as well as movies and his vast collection of paperback novels.
His writing career started in 1988, when he landed his first job as a news reporter for a weekly newspaper in Massachusetts. In 1991, Michael became a political reporter and film critic for his hometown newspaper, The Fall River Herald News, and the rest is history.
Michael has since worked as a reporter and editor for some of Florida’s top newspapers, including The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel, The Lakeland Ledger and The Jewish Journal, the nation’s largest Jewish weekly.
Michael has also written for online publications and been a content writer for numerous businesses, including his own company, Freeline Productions.
Playwriting has been another passion of his. His first play, Hooked, premiered at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival in May 2009; his most recent play, Breakfast With Andy, was performed at Orlando Fringe in May 2022.
Michael’s previous novels have included Bloody Rabbit, Koby’s New Home and Of Cats And Wolves, which are macabre, ghoulish, often horrific, and sometimes funny.
Today, Michael lives with his husband Mel and two cats in sunny Orlando.
Contact Freeline Media at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.
