A good Christmas ghost story to tell on Christmas Eve with the fire lit and hot chocolate and mulled wine

[Redrubyblues]

Indulge me!

My Grandmother (born 1903) had 'the gift' and one night she heard the sound of marching men outside her window. She got out of bed and looked out into the night and she saw a troop of miners in old fashioned clothes walking down the lane past her cottage.

One of them held his lamp up and looked at her.

The next day she saw in the local paper it was the anniversay of a pit disaster and had photos of the men who had died. In the middle of the photo was the man who had looked up at her with his lantern!

The photo was a group shot taken of the miners from the Lonehead (spellling) Colliery outside of Edinburgh and my Grandmother is buried in the graveyard there.

got to be A Christmas Carol, surely!!

Um, why tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve? I don't think there's a plethora of Christmas ghost stories out there to actually indulge you with!

A Christmas Carol is probably it.

It is a tradition - in the Leper Chapel in Oxford they hire professional story tellers to tell ghost stories at Christmas.

I might pop down there and nick some of theirs.

There's always someone somewhere isn't there, it maybe a tradition to the Leper Chapel in Oxford but I don't think it's exactly widespread (or festive) as traditions go..

Still, each to their own

Has anyone else heard of this tradition of a ghost story at Christmas? Is it a Scottish thing?

I remember the BBC always used to show the Charles Dicken's ghost story The Signalman on Christmas Eve. I haven't seen that for years though.

Have you seen "Whistle and I'll Come To You" , it was on a couple of years back, but apparently the original was scarier.

And "The Turn of the Screw"

No, it's not odd!

Ghost stories are a Christmas tradition. The Canterville Ghost, and anything by M.R.James usually pop up on the TV or radio around Christmas.

My grandparents did a fine line in stories by the fire on Christmas Eve and other nights around Christmas.

And obviously the Christmas stories by Charles Dickens.

Its not a tradition that I am aware of irl but I do remember reading about it at the beginning of The Woman in Black...

I have a few generic ghost stories - do they have to be "christmassy" ??

The Monkey's Paw?

When I was a child on christmas eve evening we always went for a walk through the woods near our house whilst our mum told us ghost stories. It was pitch black and we were petrified I can't remember the stories but they always involved a white lady who local legend said wandered through those woods....

It is defintly a tradition to tell ghost storied on Christams eve..

..and many ghost also appear at that time - for example Lady Jane Gray's coach rides through Bradgate Park (her family home) on Christmas eve - drawn by headless horses and she sits in it with her head on her lap...

...keep 'em coming

"It is definitely a tradition to tell ghost stories on Christmas eve"

- apologies...

The Monkey's Paw is terrifying. I remember listening to it on the radio as a child.

I shall look up local stories Stinky as that is a great idea.

I agree that it's a tradition to tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve.

But I don't have any to share...

I am glad it is not just my family that did this - but I wouldn't recommend it for very small children on Christmas Eve. The combination of fear and excitement in not condusive to a good night's sleep.

The Woman in Black begins with them telling ghost stories around the fire on Christmas Eve - that was what popped into my head the second I saw your thread title! However, it might be a bit long for one evening as would The Turn of the Screw.

Here's The Monkey's Paw and this site has loads, including some classics.

Really? But ... why? Why would you want to be scared just before going to bed and thiking about Santa? What am I missing here?

The best story to read aloud by the way, and short enough to tell in one sitting, is Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. I read it aloud to a class of teenagers in a classroom, in broad daylight, and they were gripped - if you create the right atmosphere, it should be fantastic!

The Tell-Tale Heart

Because Christmas is not all about Santa (who by the way is channeling St. Nicholas on that night ) Mistletoe.

It is a time steeped in old magic and legend. I suppose telling tales by the fire will distract you from the spirits crashing and banging at the door..

Mistletoe It's just a really old tradition...before Santa and the Christmas trees arrived we had...Ghost Stories and special food....ancent tradition. Now everyone please stop quesioning it...it just IS!

Lord Yes..the original was VERY scary..the story I mean. I am a huge fan of MR James and that tale has stayed with me for years...spooooky!

Love the tale of the miners Ruby My Nan was born in 1910 and also had the gift...she saw her Mothers "Fetch" in town a day before she died...this is theold Irish belief that just before someone dies, their spirit goe out and about and people see it when they know the person is somewhere else...she saw her Mum in town (Liverpool) and called out.., she said it was definately her...she had the right coat on and she saw her face plain as day...but her Mum hurried off...then when she got home she said "Mum didn't you hear me calling you on Bold Street?" and her Mum said "I've not left the house today...you must have seen my fetch" and the next day she died suddenly.

Nan also heard her Grandfather's voice calling her on the night he died.

Christmas is at the time of the Winter Solstice (well nearly) when pre-christian communities celebrated the rebirth of the sun during the coldest and darkest part of the year. I guess telling tales of the dark, alarming and mysterious helped to create the contrast between the cold night outside and the warmth and security of the hearth (and the spring to come).

Not a ghost story but the tale of The Little Match Girl rips at my heart whenever I hear it.