Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas: Guest Post by Courtney Alameda

On this Christmas eve, I’m happy to have the Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas tour stop by – I mean, y’all know me by now, right? >.< But don’t worry, it’s a lot more fun than scary 😉 On each day of this tour, Courtney is featuring a Christmas monster – keep reading to find out ours with a fun guest post below along with a giveaway! Here’s a bit of info on the book, too:

Shutter by Courtney Alameda
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 3rd 2015
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, YA
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Horror has a new name: introducing Courtney Alameda.

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.

Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas: Yule Cat

Hi! I’m Courtney Alameda, author of the soon-to-be published YA horror novel, SHUTTER. I love Christmastime and all things scary, so I wanted to celebrate by sharing some of my favorite Christmas beasties with everyone this year—twelve of them, to be exact! Join me and a few of my blogger friends every day from December 13 – 24, as we feature different holiday nightmares . . . if you dare!

So without further ado . . .

Nightmare Twelve: Yule Cat Won’t Make You LOL

I saved my favorite nightmare for last! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you for your holiday horror consumption . . . YULE CAT!

I can’t even tell you how excited I am that Yule Cat is a real thing—he’s even better than Mari Lywd, the Welsh zombie Christmas horse, because Yule Cat’s not benevolent. Yule Cat will toy with you, kill you, and eat you with relish. Don’t let the somber picture above fool you—Yule Cat’s actually having the time of his life.

So what’s the deal with Yule Cat? Well, for starters, he belongs to Gryla, the ogress who descends from the mountains during the twelve days before Christmas and feeds on naughty children. Like his owner, Yule Cat is predisposed to violence, and stalks the countryside on Christmas Day, eating every person who isn’t wearing a new article of clothing.

. . . Wait, what?

That’s right—you’d better work hard enough during the year to earn a new article of clothing, or else Yule Cat is going to eat you on Christmas Day. Happy holidays!

Icelanders used tales of Yule Cat to incentivize their children to work hard and help get the autumn wool processed before Christmas. The children who helped with the work would receive new clothes, but those who did not were marked as “naughty” by their parents and became Fancy Feast for Yule Cat. Ouch.

Some people believe that Yule Cat’s just a metaphor for winter. I say that’s no fun.

Thanks to the wonderful Giselle and Xpresso Reads for hosting this post! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for a pre-ordered copy of SHUTTER, a “Reaper” necklace, and a signed bookplate. Please note that the giveaway is US only, and we promise prizes will include a new article of clothing you can wear to fend off Yule Cat!

Happiest of holidays, everyone!

About the Author

Courtney Alameda’s spent her entire career trying to con and cajole people into reading great books. A veteran of the big-box bookstore trenches, Courtney now works as a librarian for the prettiest library you’ve ever seen, where she spends her time ordering large stacks of YA books, doing readers’ advisory, and dressing up as various mythical creatures for a variety of library events.

Courtney has an affinity for brightly colored lipstick, urban exploration, cosplay, video games, and Twitter. If she’s listening to music, it’s usually Florence + the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds, Rodrigo y Gabriela, or Jason Graves. Her addiction to Dr. Pepper is legendary.

Courtney holds a B.A. in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University. She is represented by the amazing and talented John M. Cusick of Greenhouse Literary. A Northern California native, she now resides in Utah with a legion of books and a tiny, five pound cat who possesses a giant personality.

Giveaway!

Courtney has generously offered up a fab giveaway for our stop. You can win a Preorder of Courtney Alameda’s SHUTTER, reaper necklace, and signed bookplate!

Open to US addresses only
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Y’all have a wonderful Christmas!

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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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