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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