Christmas -- the very word conjures up memories of the most wondrous childhood holiday of all--filled with the glitter of colorfully-wrapped presents, family visits, carols, photographs, decorating the tree, attendance at church to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and tummy-stuffing dinners tucked with treats seen at no other time of the year. But the yule holiday has been celebrated for at least two centuries in North America, and our writers have been producing memorable stories about this unique day for almost as long.

Here are 25 Christmas stories old and new, tales to delight, to entrance, to beguile, and even to sadden a whole new generation of readers. From Nina Kiriki Hoffman's poignant "Lazelle Family Christmas" to Jacob A. Riis's gut-wrenching portrait of the holiday in the 1890s slums of New York to Johnston McCulley's riveting tale of Christmas in the Old West, we experience every possible facet of this most precious day of the year.

So sit back and relive your memories once again, as recreated through the eyes of some of the finest writers of their time!

Included in this volume are:

INTRODUCTION, by Robert Reginald
THE SUBSTITUTE SHOPPER, by Edna A. Collamore
CAN’T SEE THE TREE FOR THE FOREST by Skadi meic Beorh
THE GIFT, by Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen
SANTA’S STOLEN SACK, by S. Omar Barker
CHRISTMAS TREE DETAIL, by Johnston McCulley
THE SANTA TRAP, by Robin Aurelian
LAZELLE FAMILY CHRISTMAS, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
THE CHRISTMAS CRAZIES: A GRIFF & FATS STORY, by Gary Lovisi
SCROOGE 3000, by Michael McCarty
A HELL OF A CHRISTMAS, by Michael McCarty
THE CHRISTMAS BANE, by S. Clayton Rhodes
THE CHRISTMAS EVE GHOST, by Ernest Dudley
DOG EAT DOG: A CHRISTMAS TALE, by Robert Reginald
WHEN THE YULE LOG BURNS, by Leona Dalrymple
MERRY CHRISTMAS IN THE TENEMENTS, by Jacob A. Riis
THE RAPTURE OF HETTY, by Mary Hallock Foote
THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL, by Henry Van Dyke
CHRISTMAS: A STORY, by Zona...