Why it is traditional to tell ghost stories at Christmastime in England
Today's Christmas traditions include decorating homes and trees, cooking comforting feasts and giving presents to loved ones. However, one tradition has been lost over the years: the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve.
This English tradition can be traced back to Victorian times. A popular belief is that the narration of spooky tales around the holidays originated from the English Victorians, but some evidence has been found that suggests otherwise.
One of the earliest clues that scary stories were common is the reference in the title of William Shakespeare's magical play, "The Winter's Tale." Ghost stories told near Christmas were also known as 'winter stories,' and Shakespeare's play incorporates elements of the supernatural.
Another early hint is a book entitled "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.," written by Washington Irving in 1819. In this book, a scene is described where a family gathers around the hearth to listen to a pastor recount his experiences with ghosts.
The tradition was definitely popular with theVictorians, as anything dealing with the supernatural was the craze for this time. Magic shows gained attendance and new technology allowed books to be printed at a lesser price, allowing everyone to purchase literature instead of just the rich population. The combination of interest in the supernatural and more books being printed resulted in a rise in the reading of ghostly fiction, often containing spirits or fairies. When Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was published in 1843, it became extremely popular. This book has characters called the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, and was made available to the public on Dec, 17, just in time for Christmas.
The tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve is thought to have come into existence for several reasons. In conjunction with the tradition of receiving gifts on Christmas morning, children are often too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve, and the activity of storytelling is a way to help exhaust them and help them settle down. Thrilling tales can also be a welcome disruption to the usual holiday feelings and family time experienced during Christmas.
Another possible reason is that winter nights are the longest of the year. Long nights and more darkness casts an ominous tone and encourages the scary stories to come out. New books were often published around the holidays, so people were already consuming more literature around this time.
Gathering around afireplaceor hearth evokes the same scenario as gathering around a campfire, which is another place where ghost stories are traditionally told.
The line "There'll be scary ghost stories" in the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams can be confusing if the ghost story tradition is unfamiliar. The song was written in 1963, so this proves the custom was still alive then. A line like this would seem out of place in a more modern song. However, Tim Burton was aware of the tradition when he incorporated it into his movie "TheNightmareBefore Christmas" in 1993. This is a movie about the meeting of Halloween and Christmas with a similarity to telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve.
Although the tradition of ghostly storytelling at Christmas is no longer widely celebrated, its origins and reasoning behind it are interesting. Any references to ghostly or other supernatural beings in Christmas songs and movies can now be understood and 'holiday spirits' has more than one meaning.
