2600+ Holiday Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking for a wintery cup of cheer or a ray of sunshine during a summertime festival, our holiday short stories will have you feeling the spirit in no time.

🏆 Winning stories

“Forthright Thursday” by Chris Campbell

🏆 Winner of Contest #226

8:45PM Thanksgiving Day – GLOVES OFF: My mother, Mary, and her sister Alice were engaged in a wrestling match on the dining room table. Aloysius – my father - and Alice’s plus one; Jack, attempted to pry them apart, but both women had locked themselves into each other’s hair with vice-like grips, despite both their hands being splattered with custard trifle remnants. All I could do as an observing teenager was sit with mouth agape while holding my new Super 8mm silent movie camera, recording the whole scene. It was typical behaviour at famil...

104 likes 83 comments 83

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“The Craving” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #71

cw: miscarriage  This could not wait till morning. The craving came on so sudden and intense that resisting never even crossed her mind. For some reason Claudia needed fudge. Maybe it was hormones. Maybe it was the fact that she finally had an appetite. But she needed fudge. Not the kind she usually made this time of year, melting chocolate chips in the microwave. Claudia needed the heavy, silky fudge her grandma used to make—the kind you made in a saucepan with a candy thermometer. Did you need a double broiler? Claudia wasn’t sure any...

354 likes 134 comments 134

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“10 Things To Do Instead of Writing New Year's Resolutions” by Emily Sperber

🏆 Winner of Contest #25

1. Hang out with friends Your friends are the kind of people that make New Year’s resolutions. The five of you, too broke to go anywhere, sit around your studio apartment. One has her legs hanging off the arm of the one chair you have. One is sitting next to you on the futon. The others are splayed, their bodies like starfish, on the ground. They use their fingers and each other to remember the resolutions they think of on the spot. Maybe they could actually eat breakfast instead of skipping it or replacing it with coffee. Maybe they could g...

98 likes 50 comments 50

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“Mrs. Jackson's Pumpkin Pie” by Hannah Lynn

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #226

“Come on, we’re going to be late,” she pulled his arm, dragging him along. Yanking his arm away from his sister’s grip, he scowled. “Don’t touch me.” “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, her typical reaction. Luke hated it when people touched him, especially his arms or wrists, always commenting on how skinny he was. “You’re all skin and bones,” they said, making him feel less of a person, even smaller than he actually was if that were even possible. The school nurse had said not to worry, he would grow out of it, would...

32 likes 34 comments 34

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“Mac and Cheese and Muffin Mix” by Hannah Lynn

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #226

The line was already forming as Margaret pulled into the parking lot of the small, unmarked building tucked into the residential neighborhood. The usual characters were front and center waiting at the locked door.  “Good morning,” she called out, juggling several brown paper bags, careful to keep her keys on hand to unlock the pantry. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!” She was met with smiles and cheerful holiday greetings. Those closest to the door shuffled to the side allowing the older woman to pass. “Please stay...

32 likes 13 comments 13

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“Donuts Do Not Die” by Mary Bendickson

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #211

Donuts Do Not DieThe crotchety old guy settled back down in his over-sized crusty stuffed arm chair pushing the ottoman slightly to the side for now. He jarred another cigarette out of its pack and picked it out with his teeth, flipped his Bic to light it and clicked to a 24-four-hour news station on the large box TV balanced on top of the flickering gas fake fireplace used to heat the enclosed porch. The cold chill still rattled the three walls of windows he peered through watching for them.He knew they were coming. The waning sun was sneak...

54 likes 85 comments 85

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✍️ All stories

“REINCARNATION” by Elizabeth Hoban

Submitted to Contest #270

Aisle four of my local grocery store was the least likely place for a flashback but it happened just the same. While I browsed the colorful shelved foods and sundries, my motorized cart, with all its bells and whistles, died. Confident my doting daughter, Elizabeth, shopping somewhere in the store, would eventually come looking for me, I’d no choice but to wait.A kind, young man stopped and asked if I needed assistance, but I reassured him I was fine. Apparently, noticing my POW hat, he respectfully saluted me. “Thank you for your service, s...

14 likes 8 comments 8

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“Happy Thanksgiving Darling” by Barb Brown

Submitted to Contest #270

Thanksgiving again already, I'm thinking to myself, wondering what the dinner table will look like this year, in a melancholy kind of mood. I know it will be mostly empty chairs around the table this Thanksgiving dinner - no visitors or friends, no family either, except perhaps my son. I always find this time of year sad and depressing, but this year even more so. Summer is over and it feels like someone yanked the carpet out from under me, yet when I look around outside, there is no need to be sad and depressed. The view...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Recipe” by Jennifer Luckett

Submitted to Contest #270

Love is messy. Some people can’t live without it, the chaos and the confusion, and they will give everything for love. Charlie never understood the fuss, content to work and find fulfillment in her friendships. “You just haven’t met the right person, Char,” Her best friend Mary rinsed a plum in the sink. “Do you want anything else while I'm in here?”She yanked another eggroll from the box. “No thanks Mar, I’m good."“Are you really, though?" Mary sank into the armchair and pried the tag from the wrinkled skin of her fruit. "You need some...

12 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Missing Ingredient ” by Isabella Sparks

Submitted to Contest #270

Watching her granddaughter keep their tradition alive, she couldn’t help but smile. She hoped that the young girl could feel her presence, and that she hadn’t forgotten what her grandmother taught her. A wave of sadness and longing washed over her as she watched her struggle to make the holiday dinner preparations alone. Grandma knew the first year would be the hardest, the first Thanksgiving after she passed. She found herself hoping that she would persist, that the loss would not make her want to give up.  She was touched that her gra...

8 likes 2 comments 2

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“Time in Decant” by Katy Lindsey

Submitted to Contest #269

CW: cancer, death, grief, alcohol abuseThe crystal decanter casts rainbows of ruby onto the floor, where I lie, too. Red. Such a pretty color.The prism to its left, however, isn’t a healthy thing to keep around, and I should honestly toss it.It’s not that I particularly enjoy Pink Floyd’s music. Their discography holds a bittersweet, flagellatory interest for me now, but Carrie saw me spiral—or listen, I suppose, from her point of view—to Brain Damage, back when I let her see me at all, and decided to gift the little light-bender to me for ...

10 likes 0 comments 0

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“Cursed Threads” by Maddie McLeod

Submitted to Contest #268

Her escape had started small—warm cinnamon rolls baked in the quiet of her kitchen while burning a pumpkin spice candle, knitting sweaters and crocheting beanies in autumnal hues of burnt orange, mustard, and deep plum, hot glue gun drops on the kitchen table next to the scrap paper and colored pens from her handmade envelopes. It was meant to be for her, and her alone. Sooner came sooner than later, and she ran out of room. She began pouring herself into making gifts first for her boyfriend, then for her friends. Then it grew to her boyfrie...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“Witch's Regret ” by Megan Kullman

Submitted to Contest #268

Halloween night. Both the best and worst time of the year for Leona Van Yodel. Being a witch had its downsides, and it's perks. For starters, Leona hadn't always been a witch. It all began one fateful night two hundred years ago to this very night. Leona was an only child, raised by her mother and father in a small village in what we now know to be Massachusetts. In those days, it was something else entirely. A storm was brewing on the horizon this night, and the village priest had warned the villagers not to leave their homes this night. ...

12 likes 3 comments 3

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“From: WM, just love” by WM .

Submitted to Contest #267

“Put on a windbreaker, just in case,” Listening to the forecast, exiting the bedroom. I head downstairs, turn on the lights, draw the curtains from the bay windows, and see a grayish hue in the sky where the sun should be. “It’s not even dawn.” I yawn, hearing my stomach growl. I head to the kitchen, grab some pieces of bread, and put them in the toaster. I plug in the espresso machine, pop the lid, and toss out the previous filter. I open the cupboard, replace it, and refill it. While brewing, I head to the pantry and see my secret stash of...

4 likes 1 comment 1

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“A Soul to Take” by Lisa Batchelor

Submitted to Contest #267

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The air is crisp and fresh. I love to watch the leaves fall from the trees with such beautiful colors. My favorite holiday is Halloween. I live in an old 1800s home in a very secluded area. I also have no neighbors. There is a lonely dirt road that leads to my home. Needless to say, I have never had a trick-or-treater. That is okay by me though. I make my own Halloween. My home and yard are decorated to the max. I also have a yearly costume contest for all my adult friends. Everyone loves seein...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“The Accident” by Janet Byron

Submitted to Contest #267

We were asleep in our beds, after a long hot day on the beach at Aghios Georgios, on the island of Corfu. It was the 1990’s and we had fallen asleep to the beat of disco music from the taverna across the road. It was difficult to sleep with so many tourists moving between the bars and nightclubs just below our window. The mosquitos were busy choosing which one of us to bite next.  We were drifting in and out of sleep when suddenly we heard an almighty crash and screams. We shot out onto our balcony, to see below us a man laying in the r...

4 likes 0 comments 0

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“Grandpa's Dream Vacation” by Burton Sage

Submitted to Contest #266

Grandpa’s Dream VacationbyBurt Sage It’s a bright and warm (for February) afternoon and the Haskell foursome of Dad, my golf professional brother Tim, my ten year old son Jim, and I have finished a rare round of golf together at the Eagle Valley Country Club. Tim has missed a tournament cut down south and come home. He wouldn’t miss the opportunity of a family round—Haskell’s just didn’t do that. Grandpa’s here, too, in his custom golf cart. But he doesn’t play anymore; he rides along and applauds as we play. “When you can’t hit your driv...

7 likes 1 comment 1

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“Too-Cute Couple” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #266

Too-Cute Couple Russell laid on his side with his hand propping up his head as he gazed at his beautiful sleeping wife, Chrissy. After nearly five months of waking up next to her, he still couldn't believe how much she blessed his life. As the newly risen sun peeked in through the blinds, he thought back to the sunny April day he bent down on his knee and surprised her with his proposal in the midst of 299 other couples all saying 'I do' in the four minutes of the total eclipse. Always so sensible and stable, she surprised him when she said ...

35 likes 35 comments 35

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“A Family Affair” by Sabrina Sangria

Submitted to Contest #266

You apply your drugstore red lipstick in the mirror in your bedroom. A few wire-like gray hairs peek out from the top of your head. The first one appeared about five years ago shortly after you hosted your first family Thanksgiving as a thirty-something-year-old. You lick your fingers, smooth them down, and head to the dining room.  Twelve place settings this Thanksgiving. You set the dining table with the nice china your Mother gave you because you don’t want to hear complaints about how Ikea dinnerware isn’t suitable for formal holida...

8 likes 0 comments 0

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“Climb Every Mountain” by Odiseo Quintin

Submitted to Contest #266

A travel day customarily launches an out-of-town vacation week. When everything goes according to plan, our transportation connections line up perfectly and we easily leave behind all the workplace stresses. Having said that, reality may very well write for us a somewhat different story. These “vacation hiccups”, however uncomfortable, can provide for an adrenaline rush that multiplies the chances that future memories of this time away never fade. The basis of excellent storytelling is exactly this phenomenon. Having retired in Mexico a doze...

5 likes 1 comment 1

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“Beyond Herself” by Joseph A. O'Brien

Submitted to Contest #265

She didn’t know whether to be privileged or embarrassed as the usual scenes of airport activity passed her by: People arranging flights, suitcases rolling by, passengers waiting to board, busy airline desk lines, and crowded food courts. Unlike everyone else, she perceived all this from the seat of a moving courtesy shuttle until the aroma of coffee shifted her attention to the café now almost out of walking distance. She had the shuttle driver stop and thanked him. He offered to help her with her carry-on but she politely declined and ...

3 likes 2 comments 2

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