Why are there not enough Christmas ghost stories?
This is what I asked myself during another bout of winter/holiday blahs. I don’t hate Christmas (not the way I used to, anyway – long story) but some of the schmaltzier trappings (50s nostalgia, ugly, uncomfortable sweaters, relentlessly cheerful carols) put me off.
![Text of tweet from theryangeorge: Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime is about friends practicing witchcraft but then someone walks in and they suddenly have to play it cool. Lyrics: The moon is right / The spirits up / We're here tonight / And that's enough / [somebody walks in] SIMPLY HAVING A WONDERFUL CHRISTMASIME / SIMPLY HAVING A WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME](https://i0.wp.com/www.allisonthurman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Wonderful-ChristmastimeWitchcraft.png?resize=300%2C240)
And why not? You’ve got everyone huddled around a fire during the darkest and coldest time of year with a pile of mixed Christian and pagan traditions going on. Pre-tv specials and internet memes, what else can you do but tell ghost stories?
So I went in search of something in addition to “A Christmas Carol”. My friends (and the internet) did not fail me:
- Valancourt has, count ’em, one, two, three volumes of ghost stories gathered from Victorian periodicals.
- Bookriot’s list includes Valancourt’s first volume plus many more modern stories.
- Goodreads’ Creepy Christmas list is more horror than creepy, but it does include Christopher Moore’s The Stupidest Angel, which has zombies and dead Santas, whee!
- The Paris Review found 5 stories you can read for free (public domain FTW)
- And for more recent historical fiction I’m looking forward to A Christmas Carroll and The Ghost of Madison Avenue.
So what will you be huddled around the fireplace (and looking over your shoulder) with this season?