There are many traditions at Christmas time. Putting up the tree. Decorating. Making Christmas cookies. There is one tradition that is no longer in favor that I’d like to bring back..
Christmas ghost stories.
In the Victorian era, during the darkest days of the year – December – people would gather around a fireplace and tell ghost stories. Not just Christmas stories like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but any ghost stories to give chills.
Andy Williams sang about it in his Wonderful Time of the Year song:
There’ll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There’ll be scary ghost stories
I’ve talked about the Christmas ghost stories before and I offer some ghost stories as part of my Christmas specials each year. There are plenty out there, and most in the public domain now.
I did discover a great set of books that are designed for Christmas ghost stories. They are Ghost Stories for Christmas by Seth. Actually, they are mostly public domain stories that he has put into cute little books with original art. Most of the stories can be found at Gutenburg Project, but if you like to hold a physical copy, these are great. Plus, the size makes them interesting and they look cool on a shelf.
I encourage everyone to check out some ghost stories this year and enjoy the holidays.
