Charles Dickens’s arguably most well-known tale, The Christmas Carol, might seem a bit random to the casual reader. However, anyone who has ever heard Andy Williams’ hit song It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year need only listen to the line “There’ll be scary ghost stories/And tales of the glories of/Christmases long, long ago”, to realize that this tradition of ghost stories pairing with the coldest, darkest time of the year goes back much further than they thought.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Christmas Carol. With many a reiteration through various media, it’s hardly a surprise that this is arguably Charles Dicken’s most well-known piece. The tale follows a sallow, bitter old man named Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three different Christmas spirits the night of Christmas Eve. They all work in vain to try and rekindle the old man’s empathy and jolliness, that life had sucked right out of him.
The holiday of Christmas exists in our modern world as this strange, paradoxical event bridging religion and consumerism. However, before there was Christmas, there was Yule. And Jöl, and the winter solstice. Perhaps most notably, it was the darkest, coldest time of the year and the harshest time to survive. It is definitely not seen at all as a joyful holiday but as a time of grim survival. Within some cultures, it was also seen as a time when the veil between worlds was narrowed and a time in which beings, both mortal and other, could more easily slip through.
The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year by Linda Raedisch
The Old Magic Of Christmas is a book that goes through bits of history and various mythologies surrounding the holiday that we know today as Christmas. Written in succinct, understandable chapters, Linda Raedisch breaks down the bare bones of the holiday, along with some of the darker elements that have become lost to us modern readers and holiday-goers.
Although that time and particular superstition has somewhat abated throughout the last two centuries, there are still plenty of haunting, spooky stories that either take place within the depths of winter or harken back to their roots to hint at a much older belief that gripped many societies for centuries.
Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings Edited by Tanya Kirk
As we have come to realize throughout this article, the Christmas season use to be a much grimmer, harsher time for much of history. Keeping with this in mind, Tanya Kirk’s Spirits of the Season is a compiled anthology of ghost stories that were told during the coldest of times to keep spirits up…or maybe at bay?
With all this said and done, one truthfully doesn’t need to know the history of how Christmas-time ghost stories came to be. One could easily argue that the setting is more than enough to evoke a sense of dread and fear. The cold, the dark, and the barren world that comes throughout the wintertime elicit the feeling all on its own, disregarding entirely our modern attempts to brighten the space with lights and Santa Clauses.
But then, who doesn’t love a good ghost story? Especially when inside, away from the dark, freezing night. Wrapped in the coziest of blankets while sipping on hot chocolate, or perhaps a toddy instead?
Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver
This book recommendation is quite simply a ghost story. Set in the actual Arctic, our titular character, Jack, is slowly left to his own devices as his fellow expedition-goers are forced to leave. And as the sun dies out entirely as the seasons turn, Jack is confronted with the dark, the cold…and whatever else might lurk in the freezing night.
Be it recent or older, chilling to the end, or ending on a happier note, one cannot deny that A Christmas Carol is one of this little sub-genre’s most iconic and beloved. However, Charles Dickens wrote many novels and more than one ghost story. After his initial success with The Christmas Carol, he endeavored to publish other ghost stories during the Christmas season. These came to be known as The Christmas Numbers, and they also came to include other prominent authors.
Charles Dickens Classic Christmas Novellas Collection by Charles Dickens
This article wouldn’t be quite right without ending back at Mr. Dickens! While again, The Christmas Carol is his most famous Christmas tale, it’s not his only one. And it’s not his only ghost story set in winter, either! The collection above will provide a number of tales and poetry about the not-quite-so-jolly time of the year.
Sadly, the Christmas period for 2024 has come and gone in its usual whirlwind fashion. However, with that being said, there is still plenty of snow fluttering about the country (and beyond) as we descend into February, which means it’s not too late yet! And really, there never is a bad time to wrap up snug in one’s home and crack open a creeping, ghostly tale with a hot beverage (or two), and the light of the living never – really – leaving.
Curious about more Christmas history? Look to our carefully curated list for more info: The History of Beloved Children’s Christmas Tales.
Adjacently, if the spooks are a bit much for the night, please click here to curl up with some safer, cozy mysteries instead.
