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.
Continue readingthe christmas cabinet
Inside the Christmas Cabinet: Port Crayon, West Virginia
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a long detour you’ll never take, the coal having run out there, as is its way” (as I describe it in the prologue to my unpublished novel, Schafer).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.
Continue reading🎧🎄The Christmas Cabinet now on Audible🎄🎧
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
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.