Just in time for the holiday seasons, in the vein of Rob Zombie’s gritty, blood-splattering remake of The Nightmare Before Christmas, comes Donna Andrews’ latest novel in her long-running Meg Langslow Halloween/Christmas-themed occult horror mystery series. Fans of the series are surely eager for more eldritch terrors and gruesome slaughter.
If you’re joining the series late, here’s what you should know about the sorceress/detective Meg Langslow and her last outing in The Twelve Jays of Christmas. Advanced Hyperborean technology now allows for the transfer of souls into other animals, and followers of the avian cult of Zon Mezzamalech have been forming a community of human-souled birds for the past year. However, an unknown dark force has been targeting blue jays in the community, murdering them and splaying their corpses in grim ritualistic fashion according to what Langslow believes to reference each of the twelve tribes of Azédarac, the ancestors of one of the Magi.
With three jays already dead on Halloween night, Langslow takes up the case and ultimately identifies the culprit as a necromancer known as Yoh-Vombis. Langslow only manages to stop the necromancer just before the final kill on Christmas Eve, just before Yoh-Vombis can harness the full power of the Magi to reanimate an army of the undead.
Though weakened from their final battle, Langslow is relieved that Yoh-Vombis’ evil plans have been vanquished. However, unbeknown to the sorceress/detective, the incomplete power called by Yoh-Vombis didn’t completely fail. Now, in the newest volume, Dashing Through the Snowbirds, Langslow learns that rather than bringing the dead to life, Yoh-Vombis’ ritualistic killings and spells have animated snow-people around the world into bloodthirsty murdering machines.
Langslow must discover who or what is now controlling the vicious snow-people in the absence of Yoh-Vombis, a mystery she soon realizes involves the recent theft of the Pendant of Avoosl Wuthoqquan from The Occult Museum of Riverside, Wyoming.
Joining her in her investigation and quest are five of the avian friends she previously made in the last book when questioning witnesses at the Zon Mezzamalech compound. Eager Shawn Baron, a cardinal, has begun to apprentice under Langslow, with hopes of joining the Arcane Constabulary one day as a full-fledged Sorcerer/Detective, but faces steep antagonism from an organization filled with humans, and no birds with human souls. Trich Doilydaughter, a wizened raven, helps Langslow with the demanding research needed to crack the case, while a tough and snarky finch named Jenn Sync helps leads a small group of Zon Mezzamalech warriors directly against the Snow People threat. Key to any chance for success by Sync’s band lies in the enchanted inventions of Saul Weimar, a Peregrine falcon with skills in image chemistry and the Runes of Yondo. Weimar forges the unstoppable Sled of Pothuum, a vehicle of destruction that shatters Snow People and melts their limbs into cursed pools of viscera. Completing the group is the light-hearted Braydon MacBrianne, a spectacled thrush who serves as the emotional and moral anchor for Langslow in her darkest moments and challenges.
It’s a challenge to keep things fresh in a long running series like this one, but Andrews does a fantastic job casting her spells, while still keeping the surprises and scares escalating with each new addition. If new to the series, Dashing Through the Snowbirds will get you addicted, and it’ll leave loyal horror fans wanting all the more.
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