# Christmas ghosts

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-ghosts/141079>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 7, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-ghosts/141079 "2002-12-07T03:46:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-ghosts/141079/1 "2002-12-07T03:46:23Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> from _The Most Wonderful Time of The Year_:  
> There’ll be **scary ghost stories**  
> And tales of the glories of  
> Christmases long, long ago

I have never heard of ghost stories as a Christmas tradition outside of this song. Where does this come from? Does anybody really tell ghost stories at Christmas? Do you know any good ones?

(I’m not sure where this thread belongs. It’s sort of a mundane pointless poll about a song, so…)

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-ghosts/141079/2 "2002-12-07T04:37:23Z")

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Isn’t the line a reference to **The Christmas Carol**?

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-ghosts/141079/3 "2002-12-07T04:53:06Z")

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I once heard in a NPR story on how Christmas has been celebrated throughout the years that the practice of ghost stories was common in Britain (and maybe other European countries) until at least the end of the 19th century. (In fact, Charles Dickens drew on this tradition when he wrote _A Christmas Carol_.) This was based on a belief that the border between the worlds of the living and the dead became more porous as the days shortened and the weather got colder in late fall and early winter. Later, as the celebration of Christmas was purged of its more frightening and disturbing aspects, Halloween appropriated the practice of ghost stories and otherworldly phenomenon.