we rounded Pine Street; Struggling to stand On our achy, sore feet.
“One more then we’re finished,” Pastor Carol did boast. “Then it’s back to the rec hall Where it’s warm as fresh toast!”
We started to sing That old Silent Night ; When the door burst wide open And gave us a fright!
Three zombies came stumbling Out the Harrington’s door; Dripping our neighbor’s blood All over the floor.
Those zombies they saw us And gave quite a start; And the smell that came off them Was worse than… a fart !
It reeked quite of death Of rot and decay; Not things one should smell On a bright Christmas Day!
Their teeth were quite yellow Their eyes were pure red; And the gray of their skin Made it clear they were… undead .
I wanted to bolt I wanted to run; But the zombies were hungry For some holiday fun.
I turned to find seven Shuffling up to my back; And six more stumbled over To wage their attack.
Our church group was surrounded Our future quite grim; Until I croaked out a suggestion To good Pastor Jim.
“The end is quite certain,” I said with a frown; “But I’d like one more carol Before we go down!”
The zombies were inching Getting ready for a fight; When our voices sang steady Of that first… Silent Night .
We sang to the rooftops We sang to the rafter; Not caring a whit For what might happen… after.
I waited each minute For a crunch or a bite; For the gnawing to start On this non -Silent night.
But the zombies stood still And drooled on their feet; As our singing and caroling To them was... quite sweet.
The song it did end And the zombies all clapped; Sue Briggs tried to run – In no time she was trapped.
Before we could sing Before we could try; They ripped her to pieces And sucked her bones dry.
We all stood there trembling As they wallowed in gore; Until I haltingly suggested That we best sing… one more !
With each Christmas carol The zombies they sighed; But each time we stopped The next caroler died!
We sang and we sang That long Christmas day; Until the last zombie Just… drifted away.
“We still have three songs left,” The last caroler said. Then I looked all around To find my friends… dead.
The street was quite empty The town deadly still; I stepped on a finger It gave me a chill!
I wandered for hours Until it was night; And found no survivors Nope, not one in sight.
On the far edge of town I heard quite a grumbling; Like the groaning and retching Of a hundred stomachs rumbling.
I still had my elf cap Fixed tight to my head; As I approached the zombie gathering With fear and with dread.
They stood there and waited Gore stuck in their teeth; As I crept up toward them As neat as a thief.
I stood there before them And sang Oh, Christmas Tree ; Though each inch of my body Wanted to flee.
They smiled and shuffled They burped and passed gas; But no mattered how hard I tried They would not let me pass.
I settled in and gave them The show of the year; Grinning and smiling In spite of my fear.
Their bellies were hungry But the carols were soothing; Even if my neighbors’ bones They were chomping and toothing.
I wasn’t afraid Oh no sir, not me; I sang without falter I sang loud… with glee.
I knew I’d be safe From this living dead throng; At least until I came To the very last song…
Story Art Cover By Mark Pascale www.tvboardz.com
Dedication For my brother Jay, and for Samantha
Author Bio Jamie Freeman ( www.jamiefreeman.net ) is a part-time writer with a full-time day job. He dabbles in genre fiction (horror, scifi, erotica and romance), reads obsessively, knows every musical theater lyric ever written, and watches more movies in a year than he can count. He has an empathic younger brother with whom he shares an eerie psychic link.