It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” sung by Andy Williams came on my radio and I noticed something. It is the only American Christmas song that refers to the English tradition of telling ghost stories in the Yuletide. The line goes:

There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago.

And, of course, it’s also that time of year for me to offer some of my favorite “scary ghost stories” for you to listen to. You know, in case Andy Williams, ain’t your thing.

What that old Christmas song doesn’t tell you is that the majority of ghost story writers were women. So in honor of all these great female writers, here is a selection of goodies to enjoy by the fire. Many of these authors were also the editors of magazines and writers of long, mainstream novels. But the Christmas season offered a chance to make a little extra money telling a tale or two about ghosts and other visitants.

Our authors break down by nationality like this: 13 British, 1 Welsh, 1 Scottish, 4 Irish, 5 American and 1 Canadian. (And one who is so obscure, she is unknown). Here’s a game we like to play in our house when we watch television: It’s called “Spot the Canadian”. Just about every US TV show has at least one Canuck in the mix. So go ahead: Spot the Canadian.

For more ghostly fun, check out the Quintessential Ghost Story Library, here.

“Ghosts and Family Legends: Preface” by Catherine Crowe (1803-1876)

“The Grey Woman” by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865)

“Reality or Delusion?” by Mrs. Henry Wood (1814-1887)

“The Last House in C—- Street” by Mrs. Craik (1826-1887)

“The Open Door” by Margaret Oliphant (1828-1897)

“The Phantom Coach” by Amelia B. Edwards (1831-1892)

“The Ensouled Violin” by Madame Blavatsky (1831-1891)

“A Strange Christmas Game” by Charlotte Riddell (1832-1906)

“The Cold Embrace” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915)

“The Dip in the Road” by Mrs. Molesworth (1839-1921)

“Under the Cloak” by Rhoda Broughton (1840-1920)

“The Haunted Organist” by Rosa Mulholland (1841-1921)

“Number Ninety” by B. M. Croker (1848-1920)

“Luella Miller” by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman (1852-1930)

“In the Seance Room” by Lettice Galbraith (?-?)

“Oke of Okehurst” by Vernon Lee (1856-1937)

“Let Loose” by Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925)

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman (1860-1935)

“On the Northern Ice” by Elia W. Peattie (1862-1935)

“Kerfol” by Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

“The Nature of the Evidence” by May Sinclair (1863-1946)

“The Lame Priest” by S. Carleton (1864-1926)

“The Unbolted Door” by Mary Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947)

“The Intruder” by Majorie Bowen (1885-1952)

“Green Holly” by Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973)

“The Mistress in Black” by Rosemary Timperley (1920-1988)

Conclusion

If you didn’t pick our Canadian out of this line-up, it is S. Carleton (Susan Carleton Jones), author of “The Lame Priest”, a werewolf story. Canadian werewolves might seem funny to you if your idea of Canada is based on Mountie movies and ads for Tim Horton’s coffee. The remoteness of many communities, especially in the North, make great bottlenecks for Horror to happen. I should know. I’ve written a few, like the three in the book below. I call them Strange Northerns. (I recently found out Charles G. Waugh is coming out with a collection of Canadian Horror called Northern Darkness (out in January) which is pretty good name, too. More on that book, in the new year. This really is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…for ghost story fans.