The Nutcracker Bleeds is a mature, unusual, and horrific retelling of the classic Nutcracker story. On Christmas Eve in 1905, a household in London finds itself under a centuries-old curse when a strange new toy is brought into the house.

A young nanny named Anne is immersed in the horrific world of her unstable charge, Olivia, when a bite from a mouse makes her the size of a doll. She must brave a world of mangled and demented toys that have come to life. Each has his own vendetta - the most unrelenting of which is the mysterious and handsomely-carved nutcracker, who becomes Anne’s only sane ally.

There is war in the lower levels of the house between the rodents and the toys, yet Anne's only concern is getting Olivia and herself back to the way they once were before it is too late for either of them.