Dec. 17: Why did we stop telling ghost stories at Christmas?

My friend, Michael, who gave me this title, must know a lot more about the history of this time of year than I do. I know that the modern Christmas celebration was co-opted from the Pagans. I know that Jesus probably wasn't a Capricorn. That's about it. Perhaps, at one time, the 25th of December rivaled the 31st of October in terms of spooky lore. It probably did.

I have never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. I've seen A Christmas Carol though, arguably the most famous ghost story of all time. It's too bad that the big reveal of A Christmas Carol is the same as Wizard of Oz - it was all just a life changing dream. The two stories are not similar. In the former, a famously stingy miser is encouraged to open his heart (as well as his pocketbook, which is the same thing for some people.) In the latter, a teenaged girl is just trying to protect her dog.

My friend, Scott McClelland, is an amazing performer. For decades now, he has run a sideshow he calls Carnival Diablo, which is a mainstay on the summer fair circuit in East Ontario. This Christmas, he has taken to Facebook to recite A Christmas Carol. So I guess the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas has not died altogether.

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There's plenty of Christmas themed horror movies out there. I remember seeing a box cover of one when I was a kid. Santa, clutching an ax, going down a chimney. The image should have frightened me - I was only ten - but it didn't. 

In 1995, I produced a play I wrote called Barbecued Chocolate Christmas Balls. It was about a drunk street corner Santa, a stupid girl who doesn't know what abortion is, a psychotic abortionist who got into the business because he likes looking at naked ladies, and two warehouse workers. It was one of the worst things I've ever written and I have no idea why I still remember it so fondly. 



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