Was it ever traditional to tell ghost stories at Christmas?

Factual Questions
1

In the song “The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year” there is a line that goes:

Did we ever tell ghost stories at Christmas? Maybe the writer was referring to Dicken’s work?

2

I believe it was, and perhaps still is, a UK custom.

3

It’s a venerable British tradition, predating Dickens (who was just adding to the list).

4

Many people point to the cycle of stories American author Washington Irving wrote of Christmas at the English manor “Bracebridge Hall” in his book The Sketch Book (1820) as playing a major part in reviving old Christmas customs. Certainly Dickens credited Irving as an inspiration for his own A Christmas Carol.

In the chapter The Christmas Dinner, the company gathers after dinner:

5

And of course there was the tale of Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin.

Technically, they were Jewish, though.

6

What are you talking about?

7

Tomlin and Asner were the title characters in one of the funniest-ever episodes of The X-Files, named “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas”, December 1998. After exposing Mulder and Scully to a lot of scary mind-bending stuff, there’s a scene in which Scully (in a somewhat frazzled state) encounters Tomlin’s Lydia:

Lydia: You look like you saw a ghost. There are ghosts in this house, you know.
Scully: Who are you?
Lydia: I live here, thank you very much.
Scully: Where’s my partner?
Lydia: Why are you pointing that gun?
Scully: There were corpses right there underneath the floor!
Lydia: I think maybe the ghosts have been playing tricks on you.
Scully: I don’t believe in ghosts.
Lydia: Then what are you doing here?
Scully: It’s my partner.
Lydia: He believes in ghosts?
Scully: Yeah.
Lydia: Oh, you poor child. You must have an awful small life. Spending your Christmas Eve with him… Running around chasing things you don’t even believe in.
Scully: Don’t come any closer.
Lydia: I can see it in your face… The fear… The conflicted yearnings… A subconscious desire to find fulfilment through another. Intimacy through co-dependency.
Scully: What?
Lydia: Maybe you repress the truth about why you’re really here pretending it’s out of duty or loyalty — unable to admit your dirty little secret. Your only joy in life is proving him wrong.
Scully: You don’t know me. And you don’t live here. This isn’t your house.
Lydia: You wouldn’t think so, the way I’m being treated.
Scully: Well, then why is all the furniture covered?
Lydia: We’re having the house painted.
Scully: Well then where’s your Christmas tree?!
Lydia: We’re Jewish. Boo.