Call for a return of more Halloween horror tales at Christmas
by James WilsonThe Smithsonian Museum has urged people to start telling Halloween style horror stories at Christmas time again.
Although now firmly associated with the run-up to October 31st, horror was vividly associated with Christmas well into the 20th century.
Gradually, however, the tradition was displaced thanks to waves of Irish and Scottish immigrants to the United States. It was these incomers who brought the traditional Celtic festival of Halloween to the US and gradually Americans claimed it as their own.
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References to spooky Christmas tales are replete in English literature: Shakespeare informs theatergoers in "A Winter’s Tale" that “A sad tale’s best for winter.”
Dickens’ seminal Yuletide story "A Christmas Carol" in 1842 gifted the world the enduring Christmas villain in the shape of Scrooge.
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A more recent example is the 1957 book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" by Dr. Seuss, about a malevolent character who tries to steal Christmas decorations in the hope it will prevent residents of the town of Whoville celebrating the big day.
Other spooky Christmas stories include "A Strange Christmas Game," by J. H. Riddell about ghosts and "Smee," by A. M. Burrage which tells the tale of a Christmas Eve game of hide and seek that becomes terrifyingly strange.
What do you think, should the almost forgotten tradition of Christmas ghost stories be revived?