Jim Hill : “The Thirteen Days of Christmas” lets you bring Haunted Mansion Holiday home

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Jim Hill

“The Thirteen Days of Christmas” lets you bring Haunted Mansion Holiday home

Jim Hill reviews this fun new book from Disney Press, which is illustrated with those “Nightmare Before Christmas” –themed tarot cards from Madame Leota’s séance circle

Boys and girls of every age,
Would you like to see something strange?

Okay. I know. It’s July. Which is not exactly when people start thinking about Halloween and/or Christmas.

But a book just hit store shelves that I know that Disneyana fans – whether they’re Halloween fans and/or lovers of Christmas – are going to have to own. And that’s Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Thirteen Days of Christmas (Disney Press, July 2009).

Long story short: If you’ve ever ridden through “Haunted Mansion Holiday” and then Ooohed or Aaahed at those over-sized tarot cards that float above Madam Leota in that attraction’s séance circle room, “The Thirteen Days of Christmas” is a must-have. Because this 32-page hardcover features reproductions of all the images that you see on those cards.

Mind you, the text that you’ll read in this book ( which is credited to Steven Davison and Carolyn Gardner) is somewhat different than what you’ll hear inside of the attraction.

So instead of Madam Leota intoning “3 lifelines, extending help to those in need …,” you get …

On the third day of Christmas
my ghoul love gave to me
three lifelines extending,
two true-love potions,
and a star for my fortune-card tree.

Which might upset the Haunted Mansion Holiday purists out there. But given that this book is clearly supposed to be riffing on that “Twelve Days of Christmas” song … I think that it’s entirely appropriate that Disney Press tweaked the text a little.

Besides, it isn’t the words that is going to make “The Thirteen Days of Christmas” a must-have for Nightmare Before Christmas fans. It’s Tim Wollweber & Sherri Lundberg’s illustrations.

Which do such a wonderful job of bringing Tim Burton’s truly twisted characters to life.

So if you’d like to get an early start on your holiday shopping (particularly for that Goth guy or gal on your list), might I suggest that you pick a copy of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Thirteen Days Of Christmas” to place under the tree.