Assemble Artifacts

Inside the Christmas Cabinet: Cooking a Christmas Feast

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

It’s our Christmas Cabinet. We only open it once a year. The Christmas Cabinet Man lives in there. Every Christmas Eve we let him out and he cooks us a midnight feast. He’s the best cook ever.

Welcome to the third part of Inside the Christmas Cabinet, a behind the scenes series about my Christmas horror novelette “The Christmas Cabinet” published in the Summer 2026 issue of Assemble Artifacts Short Story Magazine. If you haven’t already, first read Part One on the setting and Part Two on literary/film inspirations, as well as the story itself. The following contains spoilers! You have been warned!

For many American families, special seasonal recipes and large meals surrounded by family and friends are essential highlights of the holiday season. Arnold, Greta, and Carol have some rather peculiar Christmas culinary traditions, it’s true. But some of the more, um, conventional foods in the story are very good.

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Inside the Christmas Cabinet: From Shirley Jackson to James Wan

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

This is the second installment in my behind the scenes series I’m calling Inside the Christmas Cabinet. Let’s open up that box and see what’s inside! Warning: potential spoilers in the following post! If you haven’t yet read it, but still want some more information, go back to the original announcement which includes links to purchase the digital magazine in which my story appears. The first part of Inside the Christmas Cabinet would be fine to read beforehand, but you probably want to read (or listen) to the story itself before reading this one.

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Inside the Christmas Cabinet: Port Crayon, West Virginia

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

Those who have followed my short stories are familiar with Augustus Valley, my fictional southern-WV town, once a thriving hub of the mining industry, “now a blip on a long detour you’ll never take, the coal having run out there, as is its way” (as I describe it in the prologue to my unpublished novel, Schafer). Wind up the mountain along steep, narrow backroads and you’ll find High Point, where the Yellow Carousel secretly turns, where Mr V reclines in his fire-lit library, where some have reported seeing a black horse with glowing embers for eyes galloping through the night.

Readers of my new story, “The Christmas Cabinet” (appearing in the Summer 2026 issue of Assemble Artifacts Short Story Magazine) are introduced to a new mysterious, small mountain town: Port Crayon, West Virginia.

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🎧🎄The Christmas Cabinet now on Audible🎄🎧

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

Can you hear that scratching?

Maybe you should check inside that old cabinet, handed down over generations on your mother’s side.

Then again, maybe you shouldn’t.

Assemble Artifacts #8 contains my new story, “The Christmas Cabinet,” which was recently released as an ebook and now is available as an audiobook on Audible. Listen to it now!

This Sumer 2026 issue of Assemble Artifacts Magazine includes diverse tales of comedy, action, and scifi, by authors Zichao Ye, Libby Cudmore, Tyler Clifton, JG Mack, and wrapping up with my new holiday horror about what hides inside a creepy piece of furniture and a strange family’s Christmas traditions.

When a babysitter gets stranded with a Hallmark-perfect family over the holidays, their cheerful traditions start to feel less like Christmas spirit and more like ritual. The daughter’s unsettling obsession with a locked cabinet opened only on Christmas causes a growing dread for what is unleashed on December 25.

Buy the ebook, listen on Audible, or read for free with Kindle Unlimited

Running at over 16,000 words, it’s a veritable Christmas feast worthy of the Christmas Cabinet Man himself. Click on the cover image above to find the ebook (Kindle Unlimited users read for free!) and audiobook from Amazon. Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon if you liked the stories in this great new issue of Assemble Artifacts.

Read The Christmas Cabinet now in Assemble Artifacts #8

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

Merry Christmas in July August! My new story, “The Christmas Cabinet,” has been unleashed upon the unsuspecting summer by our friends at Assemble Artifacts. Order the ebook now from Amazon!

This Sumer 2026 issue of Assemble Artifacts Magazine includes diverse tales of comedy, action, and scifi, by authors Zichao Ye, Libby Cudmore, Tyler Clifton, JG Mack, and wrapping up with my new holiday horror about what hides inside a creepy piece of furniture and a strange family’s Christmas traditions.

Running at over 16,000 words, it’s a veritable Christmas feast worthy of the Christmas Cabinet Man. Click on the cover image above to buy the ebook (Kindle Unlimited users read for free!) from Amazon. For all you book-listeners, an audio version is coming soon. I’ll let you know when it’s ready. Let me know what you think!

Timothy G. Huguenin writes unsettling, dread-inducing, terrifying Appalachian Horror from his home in the dark Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. His short fiction has appeared in various publications including Cosmic Horror Monthly, The Dread Machine, and The Saturday Evening Post.

Dead Light Across the Lake – Assemble Artifacts #6 now on Audible

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / 1 Comment

On Audible now, in Assemble Artifacts #6:

Their marriage on the brink of collapse, David and Sara make one last effort to repair it with a weekend getaway at a cabin at Mount Storm Lake. Sounds like a good plan, right? But that light coming from the direction of the power plant across the lake makes them both uneasy. Oh—did I mention that this is where David’s father killed himself?

dead light across the lake - new short horror story in assemble artifacts #6 from assemble media

My new story, “Dead Light Across the Lake,” appears in Assemble Artifacts #6, now on Audible and available, of course, on Kindle too. Also including stories from other writers like Z. K. Abraham, Wendy N. Wagner, Cynthia Pelayo, and more!

The publisher has given me a free Audible copy to share with a reviewer. If there is anyone here who wants to listen to this for free in exchange for an honest review, please email me at [email protected], and I will get you hooked up with a code. First come, first served—but please commit to writing a review on Audible when you’re finished!

Dead Light Across the Lake – NEW FICTION in Assemble Artifacts Short Story Magazine #6

/ Timothy G. Huguenin / Leave a comment

Their marriage on the brink of collapse, David and Sara make one last effort to repair it with a weekend getaway at a cabin at Mount Storm Lake. Sounds like a good plan, right? But that light coming from the direction of the power plant across the lake makes them both uneasy. Oh—did I mention that this is where David’s father killed himself?

Read my new story, “Dead Light Across the Lake,” in Assemble Artifacts #6, available now for Kindle—audio is coming soon! Other stories by authors such as Z. K. Abraham, Cynthia Pelayo, and Wendy N. Wagner. Get it now.