The spirit of The Giving Season is not necessarily anti-Christmas. It is a horror collection, so it does have various themes throughout. Some are more disturbing than others, but some aspects of the way we celebrate the holidays are horrifying enough that all I need to do is illuminate them a little bit.
Each day I write a poem, and the poems I have written so far are along the lines of ‘not a gift you want, but a gift you need’. For instance, today the narrator gifted someone their freedom by murdering their abusive partner and putting their head into a wrapped gift box.
For a season that is supposed to be based on the spirit of charity, helping others, bettering the lives of those around us, coming together and celebrating community, the month of December is severely lacking in these things. Along the way, it has become about materialism, the number of gifts you can give, how expensive they are. People treat retail workers poorly, trample each other on Black Friday, get into fistfights over the last of a desired item for a loved one in the store, treat employees worse than usual, treat each other worse than usual. For families with limited income, December is a time of stress, trying to figure out how they are going to give their children and loved ones gifts when they do not have a dollar to spare. Children get a good taste of inequality – Santa brought some kids expensive toys and bicycles, but all they got were socks and mittens. For many people, November/December is when they feel the most alone. They miss departed loved ones, families that they are isolated from, seasonal depression kicks in. A season that was supposed to be about love and kindness has been reduced to misery for many.
If you’re thinking ‘Justine, this sounds awfully anti-Christmas to me,’ then let me clarify. I love the spirit of Christmas. The love and the charity that sit at the heart of Christmas traditions. I love giving gifts far more than receiving them, love putting thought into little things that will make people smile. I don’t mind the constant barrage of Christmas-themed greetings everywhere you go, I don’t mind the religious aspects if you choose to acknowledge them, I don’t mind Christmas decorations (though I could go for a Christmas season with no Christmas music), and I don’t mind that people use it as an excuse to spend time with their families if they would like to. I am not anti-Christmas. Go Santa! What I am against is that none of this is the focus of the season anymore, and yet it is the core of why we celebrate. I’m against people crying every December because they are treated like crap at work, because they are alone, because they have no food, because they have no gifts to give or receive, because they are the only kid in their friend group that did not get a single gift from Santa or their parents. I am against anything that causes people’s suffering to deepen, but most especially when they perceive everyone else is happy and they are the only ones who do not get to enjoy the season.
The Giving Season is very much about non-material gifts, gifts that you do not expect, gifts that you need but do not want. It is also very much about illuminating the real suffering that people go through and intertwining it with horror to send a message. It is designed to encourage people to get back to the true spirit of Christmas, not to be anti-Christmas. I hope it will help others who are struggling with the season, but also enlighten some who read it and may not see the issues we have with it in our society. Horror is my medium, but it is meant to help and to heal in some senses. I hope you enjoy the collection when it is released next year!
