KATIE MARIE

Spooky festive fun

Why do we tell ghost stories around Christmas? Where does this odd little tradition come from?

The short answer

The Victorians, at least in England.

The Victorians did a lot, and this was one of those things apparently.

The long answer

Ghost stories might on the surface seem out of place in a cheerful holiday setting, they have been a Christmas staple for a very long time, reaching peek popularity in Victorian times.

No one can say for sure when the tradition actually started or why, as with most traditions no one knows to make a note of it until it’s too late. Rarely do we set out with the idea of ‘lets start a tradition’ the best traditions grow up naturally and organically.

As I said above it was in the Victorian era that the telling of supernatural spooky tales at Christmas became a real trend. It’s no surprise that this trend happened at the same time people were becoming better educated and printing presses gave the masses access to literature.

And spooky stories sell.

The industrious Victorians gobbled up the spooky stories, inciting a resurgence in the genre. The rise of industrialization, science and the impending waning of Victorian Britan’s power, which put people in the mood for darker, spookier stories apparently.

The cheep availability certainly didn’t hurt either. The audience for the spooky stories especially at Christmas when days were short and nights were long (and boring). The writers knew this and would incorporate their audience into their stories. We’d have stories involving all the classes, which again only helped the spread of the tradition.

I’m not even going to bother going into the Charles Dickens effect. Dude was popular, and a Christmas Carol is possibly one of the best known stories of all time. Dickens played a huge part in popularising not only the tradition but the genre itself. Charles liked a good ghost story.

So to summerise, the Victorians, the industrial revolution, along side better standards of education and dark boring nights are all responsible for spooky Christmas ghost stories.