Emily Chan
Ghost stories are typically associated with Halloween, but in Victorian England, they were a part of Christmas celebrations.
That’s pretty strange, isn’t it? Christmas as we know it today is a time for hanging stockings, roasting chestnuts over an open fire, exchanging gifts, and leaving out milk and cookies for Santa.
The winter holiday is all about wholesome activities. Dark and scary tales featuring the supernatural don’t seem to have a place at the Christmas dinner table. So, how did ghost stories become a Christmas tradition, and when did it stop being a thing?
Winter was an ideal time for telling spooky stories since there were plenty of long, dark evenings with nothing to do. With their only sources of light being candles and fire, people had to stop work when darkness took over. As a way to kill time and entertain each other, they spent their hours retelling ghost stories.
When the Industrial Revolution began, many of the tales that were told orally made their way into print due to the development of the steam-powered printing press.
As a result, more Victorians than ever had access to the written word. The haunting tales were enjoyed by families of all socioeconomic statuses.
In 1843, Charles Dickens’s novella, A Christmas Carol, was published. The author is credited for making significant contributions to the popularization of Christmas ghost stories.
According to Sara Cleto, an expert in British literature and folklore, Dickens actually wrote and printed a number of Christmas-themed novellas that involved ghosts, and they “caught like wildfire.”
Dickens was also responsible for shaping Christmas literature in general, working in themes about forgiveness and family that have become the essence of the holiday season.
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