https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKpIJB0Ux3AAnyway, here’s a holiday fun fact: ghost stories used to be just as much of a Christmas tradition as trimming trees and giving gifts are today. Ever listen to "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and wonder at "There’ll be scary ghost stories/And tales of the glories/Of Christmases long long ago"? That’s where that lyric comes from. As the legend goes, the restless dead are unable to manifest on the day of Christ’s birth, leaving all good folk free to tell stories late into the night without fear of drawing the attention of anything otherworldly.
And I see the appeal. What better way to appreciate togetherness in winter than for friends and family to share chilling tales in the warm light of your hearth, with the cold dark safely shuttered beyond your windows and far away?
As a lover of all things spooky and jolly, I would love for this tradition to make a comeback.
