“There’ll be scary ghost stories…”
Huh? Why? What are we doing with “scary ghost stories” at Christmas? Is this a sign of “A Christmas Carol”'s long influence on the season? Did the darkness and cold just naturally get people huddled around a fire telling ghost stories? Some kind of knock on the “reason for the season”? (Unlikely, but it came to mind. :))
I was wondering the same thing myself just today! I never heard of telling ghost stories at Christmas
the ghost of christmas past.
Old British tradition. Never seemed to catch on this side of the pond.
About the only remnant seen nowadays is in Dickens.
Count me as wondering about that as well.
I suspect it’s a reference to A Christmas Carol
Among others by Dickens. It’s a big tradition in the UK.
Love your username, BTW. And how is Fred these days?
This is one weird case of simultaneous realization. I just heard that song again on the radio today, and that line jumped out at me as well. I cannot imagine anyone ever telling scary ghost stories during December!
M.R. James was another one who IIRC apparently wrote ghost stories just for release at Christmas.
Incidentally, both the creation of Frankenstein’s monster and the knifing of Dracula occur in November.
Yeah, there are a lot of Christmas ghost stories, it’s just that they’re all British. And over 100 years old, usually. All that cold and dark and lamplight, I guess.
The BBC kept the tradition alive in the 1970s, at least: phantomframe.co.uk. It seems that most of the stories lacked the seasonal cheer of “A Christmas Carol.”
I’ve noticed that British TV series sometimes have “Christmas specials” which also have little or nothing to do with the holiday.
My chorus just performed that song, and in an early rehearsal someone raised the same question. It’s definitely a reference to “A Christmas Carol.”
Yes, when I first read Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers, I was a little puzzled why folks were telling ghost stories around the fire at Christmastime. But I liked the story that was told; it’s not very long, and here’s a link to The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton from TPP. Well, maybe it’s a goblin story, not really a ghost story, but it’s Dickens’s creation and very good it is. Think I’ll go read it now.
Definitely? Based on the responses indicating that Christmas ghost stories are an English tradition, I’d say you’re speaking too soon.
“…and they call him SANTEE CLAWSSSSS!!!” (booga-booga-booga :eek:)
Never mind.
They still do. Versions of classic ghost stories, or repeats of their older TV adaptations, are one of these things the BBC slips into their Xmas schedules most years.
This year they’ve commissioned Crooked House as a “spooky festive treat”: a new three-part drama from Mark Gatiss, best known as part of The League of Gentlemen, but also an occasional writer on Doctor Who. Starts on BBC4 next Monday night.
For further clarification, Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” is a fine example of the type of ghost stories that were told in England. It just happens to be the only one with any impact on American holiday traditions. Which is why so many folks seem certain that it is the *only *ghost story for the season.
Americans tend to tell their ghost stories at Halloween.