Update: the short story See the Blazing Yule Before Us is now available. Enjoy.
It may sound odd to some, but the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas has a long heritage. For many, Christmas is associated with more repeats of Chevy Chase struggling with Christmas lights or some animated piece of schmaltz banging on about the 'spirit of giving'. But, particularly in Europe, the Christmas ghost story has a long tradition.
So when I was approached last week to contribute to a short story anthology for Christmas Eve, it had to be a ghost story.
Tomorrow, starting at midnight, a new short story will be released online every hour, thanks to the amazing efforts of Jodi Cleghorn (@JodiCleghorn). Each short story relates to a single line from the carol Deck the Halls. With twenty stories in total, there will be plenty of strong and varied reading to keep you in the seasonal spirit and help you avoid the crap telly. At midnight on Christmas Eve, a complete e-book collection will be released - perfect for those e-book readers in so many stockings this year.
So why all this supernatural horror on a night often associated with joy and happiness?
As always, we need to go back to the origins of Christmas as a midwinter festival. Back then, the festival was more closely linked to survival - life and death. In the days before central heating and air conditioning, midwinter was a bleak time when people reflected on their own mortality. Many of the traditions that have crept into the modern Christmas are derived from ancient superstitions related to the survival of a village or family. The Yule log is an example of a tradition with some very dark superstitions, but was considered essential to burn each midwinter to ensure a decent crop in the coming year. Christmas decorations, tree decorating and more were about appeasing the nature spirits and bringing about a swift end to winter.
In the deep of winter, the possibility of death would have been always present. No wonder that - when people sat in front of the fire, drank wine and shared stories - ghost tales were popular.
These days, Christmas isn't about survival; but, for the majority of the planet, it is still a winter festival. Long nights, big fires to keep out the cold, plenty of drink and, of course, plenty of people gathered together. When better to get everyone around to share a gripping story to chill the blood? After all, there's a close link between 'magical' and 'supernatural'.
Of course, the most famous Christmas ghost story is Dickens's A Christmas Carol. His wonderful tale of four ghostly visitations beautifully combines the joy of the season with the darkness that permeates the best of Christmas stories. A good Christmas story is often has a dark underbelly. Even the animated classic The Snowman - although not a ghost story - ends on a sad, melancholy note that has brought many a child (and the occasional soppy old git) to tears.
The BBC has had a tradition for decades of dramatising a classic ghost story for broadcast each Christmas Eve, commonly an adaptation of an MR James short story. Each Christmas, parents would scare the bejeesus out of themselves just before creeping upstairs to fill the kids' stockings. For me, the most memorable of these was the 1976 adaptation of Dickens' The Signalman, starring Denholm Elliot. That one creeped me right out.
Thankfully, the BBC is bringing the tradition back this week with a new adaptation of Whistle and I'll Come to You starring John Hurt. Can't wait!
So, tomorrow, don't suffer another Hollywood tinsel-filled mess. Jump onto Deck the Halls and grab a new slice of Christmas fiction every hour on the hour.
My ghost story will be unleashed at midday on Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas.
