After Halloween, Christmas is the most ghost friendly time of the year.
In many countries, it’s a tradition to tell ghost stories, and one of the most loved Christmas tales of all, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, is built around a paranormal theme.
The Christian Christmas story itself is of the crossing of frontiers as God comes into the world in the shape of Jesus. And there are strong links between the mid-winter festival and older pagan festivals, like the Roman Saturnalia.
But do the spirits really rise when we’re kissing under the mistletoe (once the most sacred plant of the Celtic Druids), decorating trees (possibly integrated into Christian celebrations from the Asheira pole of Canaanite tradition), and feasting like Romans at a Saturnalia orgy?
Read on for some real life Christmas ghost stories that might give you a shiver this freaky festive season.
