Much of our modern Christmas is owed to the Victorians and although the Christmas Ghost Story was popular in that period, I believe it is the remnant of something older. Dickens was also a magazine publisher and his Christmas edition of ‘All the Year Round’ was packed full of ghost stories, by people such as Wilkie Collins. It was also by far the best selling edition of the magazine.
Dickens wrote lots of short Ghost Stories, one called Christmas Ghosts may give us an idea of what was going on in peoples homes at the time:
‘I like to come home at Christmas. …There is probably a smell of roasted chestnuts and other good comfortable things all the time, for we are telling Winter Stories – Ghost Stories, or more shame for us – round the Christmas fire; and we have never stirred, except to draw a little nearer to it.’
From the end of the 19th century, the antiquarian MR James told ghost stories to his friends and students at Cambridge University on Christmas Eve. These were published later on and are among the best ghost stories ever written. In the 1970’s they were adapted for television and shown at Christmas. In 2005 there was a resurgence of interest on the 70th anniversary of James’s death and some more were adapted.
Most people now only experience the tradition through the tv screen. This year none of these stories are being repeated but we have some classic horror films instead.
The tradition of ghost story telling in midwinter is older than Dickens, but an oral tradition among common folk leaves little trace. Certainly in 1725 the clergyman Henry Bourne complained that ‘nothing is commoner in country places, than for a whole family in a winters evening, to sit round the fire and tell stories of apparitions and ghosts’. Tudor plays (incl Shakespeare) set or commissioned for the 12 days of Xmas have references to ghosts - such as A Winters Tale. In modern times Christmas may be togetherness and charity, but this is recent, back then Christmas was Magic and when the unacceptable became acceptable. Lord of Misrule, boy bishops, Lords and Ladies waiting on their servants, and that big ‘other’: the supernatural. Don’t think vengeful spirits tormenting the living, think thrilling and delightfully chilling.
There are hints too that the beliefs of Saxons and Viking who started arriving in Britain from the 5th century onward believed that the Yule season was filled with supernatural beings. Odin rode his weird horse Sleipnir across the sky leading dead warriors in the Wild Hunt on a mid winter night, gathering the souls of the dead.
Other cultures outside of Britain have supernatural associations with Christmas, pre Christian but some have lasted. The otherside of ghosts is in remembering those that have passed: some cultures lay an extra space at the festive table. The Romans had a small feast for the Lares - the spirits of the ancestors in the household cult, around the time of the Saturnalia.
Mid winter isn’t just right for ghost stories with its long nights, the solstice itself is not so much a rebirth but the triumph of light over darkness - the supernatural and ghosts and other monsters are representatives of that darkness. Christianity adopted the solstice because it was such a popular feast and subsumed some of the pagan traditions, it is likely the supernatural was one of those elements.
The tradition in Britain is frail and fading, without the indulgence of television it might be gone and that would be a shame. Although I know of some who relish it so much they would hate for that to happen, I am very fond of it, so much so I sell Christmas Ghost Story festive cards! And popular they are too (to certain people).
You can watch some of the tv plays on you tube, - YouTube is a recent one called Number 13. This is the first one made called Oh Whistle and I’ll come to you: - YouTube.
Very cheap editions of MR James collected works are available and I recommend them if you fancy indulging.
One thing though, the British DO have autumnal feasts as well. As a Christian country it celebrated Halloween for centuries, as the feast before All Saints (look up Soul Cakes). It it did decline though, until recently but it was a traditional feast with turnips rather than pumpkins carved into Jack o’lanterns. There are records in folk studies of what people got up to. The British also had Mischief Night and later Guy Fawkes Night (5th November), which are in some ways interchangeable and these became more popular than Halloween probably post reformation of the church.
Most people think that Samhain, the old Irish feast in autumn is the origin of Halloween but it is only really known from later medieval texts as contemporary evidence is mostly lacking. The original feast appears to have very little supernatural to it at all. Have a look at Ronald Huttons Stations of the Sun Amazon.com : ronald hutton's stations of the sun or here for another source: http://www.wyrdwords.vispa.com/halloween/history/index.html
Many academics assert that Halloween is definitely Christian but I believe there* is* an earlier pagan source for the spookiness. The original date for All Saints was 13th May, the original date for all Souls was 21st February. These dates were in the ancient Roman calendar the dates for 2 festivals of the dead, one in Feb was for your ancestors, the other was for the wandering dead which you wanted to drive from your home. The early Roman and Celtic churches were well aware of this and it is no coincidence that these dates were chosen. The first was moved to the 1st Nov by Pope Gregory III, the other was reconciled to it and given the 2nd Nov, meanwhile it seems the ghosts went too.
