On Telling Ghost Stories at Christmas

What do I think about the Christmas holiday? I personally try to look beyond all the things that Christmas popularly is, or has been associated with in the past, such as commercialism, consumerism, consumption of big meals and desserts, etc.

I try to regard Christmas as the good occasion it is, or, at least, that I believe it has the potential to be. I believe that occasion to be a time of harmony, caring, decency and generosity between everyone, whether they be family, friends or unacquainted. These are the sentiments that I believe keep bringing people back to Christmas year after year to celebrate it.

I started thinking about this after reading an online article in Smithsonian Magazine. It examined the idea of it perhaps being worthwhile to return to the pre-20th century tradition of telling ghost stories. By ghost stories I don’t mean ones that are simply scary and spooky. The article refers to ghost stories that have anecdotal, sentimental messages, as well as spooky spectres. The most famous of such stories, as you can probably guess, is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Famous Scenes from "A Christmas Carol"

The article argued that by telling meaningful, anecdotal stories of Christmas, with the stirring, ever popular theme of a ghostly tale, we would remind ourselves of the meaningful ideas the holiday has come to represent.

On the outset, ghost stories may not seem the most obvious means to remind us of the holiday spirit (although who knows, some people may still do it), but still, I found the article compelling.

To be fair, I personally love a good ghost story. However, it is the ones that provide an anecdotal lesson to contemplate, as well as spooky thrills, that I love the most, like the kind the article referred to. I think coming up with ghost stories (or maybe any kind of compelling story) to teach the good values of Christmas could really be a good way to challenge ourselves to contemplate those values and what they truly mean to us.

What is more, where ghost stories are concerned, I think one thing that draws their fans to them is the compulsion those fans feel to self-reflect.

By that I mean, self-reflect on how they themselves would fare within the spooky, unsettling tale they are being told. Hence, such a story seems a worthwhile method to make the good values of Christmas resonate in your audience’s mind along with the thrilling yarn that has pulled them in.

For the one who creates and tells the story as well, it would challenge them to reflect on those Christmas values as they consider how best to communicate them to their audience.

So yes, I do think coming up with compelling, spooky, but also sentimental ghost stories (or any kind of story) is a worthwhile way to celebrate Christmas with your loved ones. It seems all the more a worthwhile tradition to remind ourselves of the good values of the holiday, when compared to getting that reminder from annually televised specials. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good, meaningful stories therein. However, having those good holiday values reiterated to you the same way year after year does get a bit monotonous after a while.

Come to think of it, creating your own stories is probably a good way to spread the virtues of not just Christmas, but any holiday. I think, not least of all, it is because it would encourage creativity and connection, which are always good things.

#storytelling #christmas #holidays #ghoststories #creativity