On the Cursed Day of Christmas Summary: Festive Chaos
TL;DR: Eleven Spirits, One Broken Tree
On the Cursed Day of Christmas is a festive Zodiac Academy special set after the war in Solaria.
Geraldine Grus insists on reviving Queen Cescily’s tradition of hanging eleven cursed ornaments on the Tree of Sacred Sacrifice. When all eleven ornaments smash, eleven malevolent spirits escape across the Palace of Souls.
- Central mission: The queens, heirs, and their allies must hunt each spirit and bind it into a new vessel before midnight.
- Key mechanic: Gabriel Nox supplies an ancient binding chant, and the vessels are whatever objects happen to be nearby.
- Tone: Absurd, irreverent, and warm, with multi-POV chapters and live-streamed chaos.
- Underneath the comedy: a post-war family celebrating its first peaceful Christmas together.
Who’s Who in the Palace of Souls
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Geraldine Grus | Courtier to the Vega queens who retrieves Queen Cescily’s chest, opens it with blood magic, and knits pajamas for the family. |
| Queen Darcy Vega | Co-Queen of Solaria who fights the spirits, frees frozen allies, and binds the Santa Hat. |
| Queen Tory Vega | Co-Queen of Solaria who binds the Elf and later the Krampus. |
| Darius Acrux | Dragon shifter and Tory’s husband who battles the Ice Queen, the Reindeer, and the Krampus. |
| Lance Orion | Vampire, former professor, and Darcy’s husband who retrieves Phoenix weapons and traps the Gingerbread Man. |
| Seth Capella | Wolf shifter who crashes into the tree, triggers the releases, and live-streams the night on Faebook. |
| Caleb Altair | Vampire and Seth’s moon mate who wrestles the Rocking Horse and binds the Snowman. |
| Gabriel Nox | Garuda Seer who receives the warning visions and delivers the binding chant from the glass throne. |
| Tharix Acrux | Shadow Dragon shifter who pursues the Ice Queen and lets her pass beyond The Veil. |
| Xavier Acrux | Pegasus shifter who pranks the family as Santa Claus and binds the Reindeer into his sock. |
| Max Rigel | Siren shifter and Geraldine’s boyfriend who is pinned beneath the Rocking Horse. |
| Leon Night | Lion shifter who bakes, is possessed by the Santa Hat, and binds the Nutcracker. |
| Elise Callandar | Celestial Queen who helps capture the Nutcracker on the frozen lake. |
| Dante Oscura | Storm Dragon shifter and one of Elise’s kings who fights the Nutcracker. |
| Ryder Draconis | Basilisk shifter and one of Elise’s kings who helps subdue the Nutcracker. |
| Sofia | Tyler’s wife who guards the Seer’s Chamber and assists the search parties. |
| Tyler Corbin | Media-focused Fae who documents and live-streams the chaos. |
| Queen Cescily | Ancient Vega monarch who originally sealed the eleven spirits inside ornaments. |
| The Eleven Cursed Spirits | Dark entities released from the shattered ornaments. |
On the Cursed Day of Christmas Summary: The Full Story
Spoilers ahead. This section recounts the events of the book, including the ending.
The story opens on Christmas Eve at the Palace of Souls, where Solaria is settling into joint rule under Queens Darcy and Tory Vega. Geraldine Grus climbs into the attic to retrieve Queen Cescily’s black chest, which holds eleven ornaments used to imprison dark spirits centuries earlier.
Tory and Darcy are skeptical, but Geraldine uses blood magic on the manticore lock and explains the old tradition. The ornaments are hung, one by one, with warnings not to break them.
In the kitchens, the Garuda Seer Gabriel Nox is baking cookies with Dante and Leon when visions of festive destruction hit him. He sees a violent nutcracker, a giant rocking horse, an invincible snowman, and a bloody Santa Claus tearing through the palace.
Gabriel races to the drawing room but tumbles down the stairs with Orion along the way. He arrives too late. Xavier bursts in disguised as a gory Santa, Geraldine’s ice spell hits Seth in the rear, and Seth crashes into the tree.
All eleven ornaments shatter. Dark smoke pours across the floorboards, and eleven spirits scatter through the Palace of Souls.
Gabriel is carried to the Seer’s Chamber, where he settles onto the glass throne and recites the binding chant needed to cage each spirit in a new vessel. Darcy texts the words to the group’s Atlases. Tyler Corbin starts live-streaming under hashtags like #baublesfromhell, and Solarians across the kingdom watch the hunt unfold.
The court splits into search parties. In the basement, Caleb, Seth, Xavier, Sofia, and Max find Max trapped under the rocker of a giant gurning Rocking Horse.
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Caleb clings to its back while his face repeatedly collides with its rear, and Seth binds the spirit into Max’s off-brand blue dragon dildo.
On the frozen lake, Leon, Elise, Dante, and Ryder fight a square-footed Nutcracker that swallows fire and vines. Leon skids across the ice and seals it inside Seth’s stolen moon-rock bracelet.
In the library, Tory, Darius, Caleb, and Seth battle an Elf that has turned the room into lava streams and exploding candy canes. The Elf bites Seth’s backside before Tory binds it into a piece of flint.
In the ballroom, the Ice Queen has frozen the entire space into tundra, trapping Darius, Tory, and Geraldine inside a shrinking ice cage. Darcy and Orion shatter the block with a Phoenix axe and Geraldine’s flail, then thaw the trio by a fireplace.
Tharix follows the Ice Queen into the snowy rose garden and lets her hunt him as prey. She speaks of betrayal and loneliness, and he tells her the man who wronged her died centuries ago. When she attacks, he disarms her and offers friendship instead.
In the billiards room, the Gingerbread Man keeps reforming itself. Geraldine bites off its arms and head, and Orion binds the spirit inside King Minitis’s historic porcelain gold-poop-scoop ladle.
Leon finds an abandoned Santa Hat, which possesses his mind and pulls Orion, Max, and Geraldine into a trance. The group sings murderous carols and tries to carve their own faces off until Darcy snatches the hat and binds it into a stone fish statue with testicle-shaped supports.
In the northern tower attic, Seth reflects on grief he has hidden behind humour since the war. The Robin casts A Christmas Carol-style visions of young Orion and Gabriel and of possible futures, and Seth traps it in a cockroach-infested golden-haired doll.
In the deep snow, Darius, Tharix, and Xavier hunt an elephant-sized Reindeer with fangs. The two Dragons tackle it in shifted form, and Xavier seals it inside his own sock.
In the great hall, Darcy and Tory burn and mud-pack a gnarled Christmas Tree spirit, binding it inside a fragile glass ballerina. Geraldine hides under a feasting table to protect the ornament from being broken for a sturdier vessel.
The Snowman has frozen the palace staff inside icy cocoons and rebuilds itself stronger with each attack. Xavier swings in on vines and lands butt-first on its carrot nose, and the spirit grows to twenty feet. Tory and Caleb blast it with Phoenix fire, and Caleb seals it into a crumpled store receipt for lube and cucumbers.
Xavier, embarrassed by viral comments about the carrot incident, sneaks into Darcy’s rooms and posts her private stickmen sketches to Faebook. He expects mockery, but the kingdom lavishes praise on the drawings, leaving him bewildered.
The final spirit, the Krampus, manipulates soot-stained brick corridors and traps family members inside suffocating sacks and boxes. Tory and Darcy combine Phoenix fire and air magic to corner it, and Tory strikes it with Xavier’s tube of ball-rash cream while reciting the chant.
With all eleven spirits bound or gone, the staff is freed. Geraldine hangs the absurd new ornaments on the Tree of Sacred Sacrifice: a dildo, a poop scoop, a stone fish, a rock, a sock, a receipt, and a cream tube among them.
On Christmas morning, the family gathers in hand-knitted pajamas and exchanges gifts. Darcy and Tory give Geraldine a magical food-shrinking preservation box, and the book ends with the whole group charging into the snow for a post-war snowball fight.
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Summary by Chapter
Spoilers ahead. This section gives a brief summary of each chapter for readers who want to see what is inside. The book contains 24 chapters plus an author note, each labelled with a chapter number and a POV character.
Chapter 1: Geraldine — Geraldine climbs into the attic and retrieves Queen Cescily’s black chest. She opens the manticore lock with blood magic and explains the legend of the eleven imprisoned spirits. She hangs the first ornament and warns the group never to break them.
Chapter 2: Gabriel — Gabriel is baking when visions of festive destruction strike him. He races to the drawing room and tumbles down the stairs with Orion. Seth is hit by Geraldine’s ice spell and crashes into the tree, shattering every ornament.
Chapter 3: Darius — Darius heals Tory’s arm while Geraldine wails over the released spirits. Darius, Tory, and Geraldine enter the ballroom and find it turned into a frozen tundra. The Ice Queen traps all three inside a shrinking cage of ice.
Chapter 4: Orion — Gabriel takes the glass throne and delivers the binding chant, which Darcy texts to the group. Orion and Darcy retrieve Phoenix-made weapons from the armory. Tyler begins live-streaming the crisis, and Gabriel assigns the search parties.
Chapter 5: Tharix — Tharix lures the Ice Queen into the snowy rose garden and reflects on his origins and his new family. He traps her with earth vines and fights her ice staff with fire. She speaks of the man who betrayed her, and Tharix hesitates to strike.
Chapter 6: Seth — Seth and Caleb search the basement and find Max pinned under a giant Rocking Horse. Caleb climbs onto its back while the group streams the fight. Seth binds the spirit inside Max’s blue dragon dildo.
Chapter 7: Elise — Leon and Dante interrupt an intimate moment between Elise and Ryder and join the encounter. Afterwards Dante relays Gabriel’s warning. Elise spots the Nutcracker leaping into the grounds, and they dress to give chase.
Chapter 8: Darcy — Darcy and Orion shatter the ice cage in the ballroom and thaw Tory, Darius, and Geraldine. Geraldine forces Darius into a flashing Christmas sweater. Back in the Seer’s Chamber, Gabriel assigns the remaining teams.
Chapter 9: Tory — Tory, Darius, Caleb, and Seth enter the vandalized library. The Elf attacks with exploding candy canes and throws Tory through a stained-glass window. It bites Seth’s backside before Tory binds it into flint.
Chapter 10: Leon — Leon, Dante, Ryder, and Elise track square footprints across the frozen lake. The Nutcracker devours their attacks until Ryder snaps its jaw shut with a vine. Leon binds it into Seth’s moon-rock bracelet, then puts on an abandoned Santa hat.
Chapter 11: Tharix — Tharix tells the Ice Queen that the man who betrayed her is long dead. She attacks, and he disarms her and offers friendship instead of force. She kisses him and fades beyond The Veil without a vessel.
Chapter 12: Geraldine — Geraldine and Max warm up on the billiards table while Darcy and Orion watch. The Gingerbread Man attacks, and Geraldine eats its arms and head to stop it reforming. Orion binds it inside King Minitis’s porcelain poop scoop.
Chapter 13: Caleb — Caleb reads viral mockery of the rocking horse fight while walking with Seth, Darius, and Tory. A new door appears and the Krampus lures them through soot-stained passages. Caleb and Seth are trapped in a brick room, and the wall melts to reveal Darius.
Chapter 14: Orion — Orion and Darcy search the orangery for the Santa Hat. They find Leon possessed, singing violent carols with Max and Geraldine in a trance. Darcy snatches the hat and binds it into a stone fish statue.
Chapter 15: Max — Max and Geraldine return to the Seer’s Chamber with the new vessels. Seth and Geraldine scuffle over his moon-rock bracelet, and Tory produces the rock holding the Elf. Tharix reports the Ice Queen passed on, and Gabriel organizes the last teams.
Chapter 16: Seth — Seth, Caleb, and Orion search the northern tower attic, where Seth reflects on grief he has hidden behind humour. The Robin shows visions of young Orion and Gabriel and of possible futures. Seth binds it in a cockroach-infested doll.
Chapter 17: Darius — Darius, Tharix, and Xavier hunt an elephant-sized Reindeer with fangs. The two Dragons tackle it in shifted form. Xavier loses his crystal star and seals the spirit inside his own sock.
Chapter 18: Darcy — Darcy, Tory, Max, and Geraldine hunt the gnarled Christmas Tree in the great hall. Darcy burns it and Geraldine mud-packs its branches before binding it into a glass ballerina. Geraldine swings from a chandelier to protect the fragile vessel.
Chapter 19: Caleb — The group finds the palace staff frozen in icy cocoons guarded by a self-rebuilding Snowman. Xavier lands butt-first on its carrot nose while tangled in vines. Tory and Caleb burn it, and Caleb binds the spirit into a lube-and-cucumbers receipt.
Chapter 20: Xavier — Xavier tries to distract Faebook from the carrot incident. He finds Darcy’s sketchbook and posts her stickmen drawings, then loses the chance to delete them. The kingdom praises the art, and Xavier is left confused.
Chapter 21: Darius — Darius and Tory restore the muddy palace lawn with earth and fire magic. They talk about their relationship and their first year as rulers, then chase each other into the royal vault. They rest on the golden zodiac throne before rejoining the family.
Chapter 22: Ryder — Ryder argues with Leon, who is distraught over his messy hair. Elise threatens his hair products with a tornado. A magical door appears in a ruined lounge and transports them into the Seer’s Chamber.
Chapter 23: Tory — The family unites to hunt the Krampus through shifting brick passages. The spirit separates Tory and Darcy into a chamber of thrashing sacks holding their trapped family. Tory binds the Krampus into Xavier’s tube of ball-rash cream.
Chapter 24: Geraldine — Geraldine hangs all eleven absurd new ornaments on the Tree of Sacred Sacrifice. The family exchanges gifts in hand-knitted pajamas on Christmas morning. The book closes with a joyful snowball fight outside the palace.
Author Note — Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti wish readers a festive return to Solaria. They describe the fun of writing a holiday special full of Christmas capers. They close with warm holiday wishes.
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Book Details
- Genre & Subgenre: Dark Fantasy Romance / Paranormal Romance / Festive Holiday Special
- Core Narrative Tropes: Found family, post-war healing, monster-of-the-week chaos, forced proximity, multi-POV, royal court drama
- Tone & Atmosphere: Humorous, chaotic, festive, irreverent, with heartfelt moments
- Primary Conflict: Eleven escaped spirits must be hunted and bound before midnight
- Pacing Style: Fast, episodic advent-calendar structure with rapid POV switches
- ISBN: 978-1918335057
- Pages: 388
- Book Structure: 24 chapters plus an author note, each chapter labelled by POV character
- Author Background: Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti are sisters and co-authors known for the Zodiac Academy and Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series
Discover More: The full range of Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti book summaries on URsummary.
Quotes from The Book
“’Tis the day before Christmas, and you lollymuffins have done faff and joff-squabble about it!”
“Come hither mystic creature of the dark, It is no longer a time of joy or lark, Winter’s spoken, it bids you farewell, Here in this new cage you will dwell. The yuletide dawns, so you shall go, Into this trap we’ve weaved with woe. Do not fight or jerk or twitch, We bind you here with the magic of the witch!”
“I was born to be a weapon and then I turned on the ones who wanted to wield me. I was…created for a purpose which I then defied. But I found my own way out of the dark, even if it still clings to my back like a cloak I cannot remove.”
“Because I am not your enemy. But I would be your friend if you want one.”
“I learned my lesson about waiting too long to do right by you, Roxy. I won’t ever hesitate to give you what you deserve.”
“Because the truth was, I was struggling to voice the darkness that was coiling up inside me and veiling it in humour.”
Books Like On the Cursed Day of Christmas
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas — A holiday novella set after a major fantasy war, focused on post-war healing, winter celebrations, and found family bonds.
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout — Dark fantasy romance with elemental magic, royal intrigue, and banter-heavy character dynamics in a richly built realm.
Savage Lands by Stacey Marie Brown — A gritty urban fantasy romance with chaotic magic, ensemble multi-POV storytelling, and high-stakes supernatural encounters.
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas — Modern urban fantasy mixing magical species, technology, and social media elements with deep found-family relationships.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros — A fantasy romance built around a war academy, dragon bonds, and an ensemble cast facing high-stakes conflict.
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti — The first book in the same series, introducing Solaria, the Celestial Orders, and the Vega twins.
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