By Austin Price, Staff Writer
Alright, as we come to an end of these wild Christmas traditions, we will wrap things up with some scary stories and creepy Christmas legends. Why, you may ask. Because the true meaning of Christmas is not to show your love for one another through acts of generosity and kindness. No, the true meaning of Christmas is to focus on superstitious rituals and cult-like ideals. Here we go.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, “the most famous Christmas story is a ghost story. Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ was first published in 1843, and its story about a man tormented by a series of ghosts the night before Christmas belonged to a once-rich, now mostly forgotten tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve. Dickens’ supernatural yuletide terror was no outlier, since for much of the 19th century, was the holiday indisputably associated with ghosts and specters.”
While Charles Dickens may have been the one to reintroduce our love of ghosts, ghouls, and all things creepy during the most magical time of the year, ghost stories were originally developed as a form of entertainment throughout the cold, dark winters, prior to the discovery of electricity. “The long midwinter nights meant folks had to stop working early, and they spent their leisure hours huddled close to the fire,” says Tara Moore, an assistant professor of English at Elizabethtown College, author of “Victorian Christmas in Print,” and editor of “The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories”.
While scary stories shared during the Christmas season started as oral performances, they become a documented tradition, thanks to the development of the steam-powered printing press during the Industrial Revolution that made the written word more widely available. Industrialization not only provided tools to distribute spooky stories, uncertainty during the era also fueled interest in the genre, says Brittany Warman, a folklorist specializing in Gothic literature and co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. Interest was driven, she says, by “the rise of industrialization, the rise of science, and the looming fall of Victorian Britain as a superpower. All these things were in people's minds, and made the world seem a little bit darker and a little bit scarier.”
Now that we know how creepy Christmas stories were shared, let us explore some of the different tales that were told. By far the most famous Christmas ghost story is that of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol,” which recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Because of these frightening, supernatural, and paranormal visits, Scrooge is able to defeat a lifetime of selfishness and the worship of money to become a new man with an entirely new outlook on life. He learns how to be patient, kind and generous.
To read the full story, go to: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm
The next Christmas ghost story is “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James. This 1904 ghost story follows a Cambridge professor on holiday in the town of Burnstow. While exploring some Templar ruins, he comes across an old bronze whistle. That night, he blows the whistle and experiences visions, among other supernatural occurrences. These unusual interactions give the professor a new look on life as he ponders his actions and his beliefs.
To read the full story, go to: https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/jamesmr-ohwhistle/jamesmr-ohwhistle-00-h.html
Our final Christmas ghost story is my personal favorite creepy Christmas legend because the game played in the story was one I played a lot growing up. Granted, my games did not have the same outcome as the one told in the story but nonetheless, this is a delightfully scary Christmas story. “Smee” by A.M. Burrage is a spooky story set on Christmas Eve. In this tale, A boy, Tony, tells the frightening tale of a game called “Smee,” which is similar to hide-and-seek. However, this was no ordinary game of Hide Seek. Why? Because in this game, a ghost joined in.
To read the full story, go to: https://www.scaryforkids.com/smee/
And that concludes our Winter Wonders and Christmas Customs. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and maybe explore some of these traditions and rituals.
Stay safe, stay warm, stay jolly, and I will see you in the New Year!