A brief history of Christmas ghost stories, winter tales and examples. Philipsburg Manor in Winter, Sleepy Hollow, New York“When I returned to the drawing- room, I found the company seated around the fire, listening to the parson, who was deeply ensconced in a high- backed oaken chair, the work of some cunning artificer of yore, which had been brought from the library for his particular accommodation. From this venerable piece of furniture, with which his shadowy figure and dark weazen face so admirably accorded, he was dealing forth strange accounts of popular superstitions and legends of the surrounding country, with which he had become acquainted in the course of his antiquarian researches.”Old Christmas, From The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., 1. In folklore, a ghost (sometimes known as an apparition, haunt, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter or spectre, spirit, spook, and wraith) is the soul or spirit of a. Ghost stories world is an archive of true ghost stories over the world. Find ghost stories like haunted houses, ghost incidents, black magic, exorcism stories, etc. You are here: Real Ghost Pictures and Videos. Real Ghost Pictures and Videos. We have made every efforts to verify that the following photos and videos are not. At GhostHaunts you'll find a huge selection of ghost stories, haunted places, cemetery lists, ghost tv and video, haunted ships and castles and haunted houses. Find out which are the most amazing photos, videos and stories around the web.Washington Irving. A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens in 1. Victorian era. It comes as a surprise to many to learn that at the time, Christmas was in danger of being wiped out by Puritanical zeal. Dickens work, along with others helped bring the holiday back from the brink of extinction, in a large part by reminding people of their Christmas traditions. Those traditions still color the Christmas holiday for many, but along the way something was forgotten. The story of Scrooge would be viewed differently if it hadn’t happened on December 2. August 2. 4. Stripped of its Christmas trappings, A Christmas Carol is a classic gothic ghost story. What has been forgotten, is that ghost stories on Christmas Eve are as traditional as a Christmas goose. Dickens had actually worked on the story previously, published as The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton in The Pickwick Papers. The story of a gravedigger with the disposition of Ebeneezer Scrooge, it too involved the protagonist being kidnapped, in this case by goblins, to show the error of his ways. That many elements of Christmas came from the pen of Dickens is a testament to the power of tradition. For example, when Dickens was a child there was a mini- ice age, which sent temperatures plummeting, resulting in many a white Christmas. By setting his story some years in the past, he was able to tie the concept of a white Christmas to what was already an old, communal memory. That the tradition of sitting around the fire and telling ghost stories at Christmas Eve predates the Victorian era is obvious from the Washington Irving quote above, which predates Queen Victoria’s reign on the throne of England. The rest of Irving’s Sketch Book is too often forgotten, as it’s best known for the short story contained within, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, forever associated with Halloween. But Washington Irving does show that the Christmas Eve ghost stories wasn’t purely an invention of Dickens. Many people try to tie the practice to other, more ancient supernatural aspects of Christmas. While it’s tempting to believe, as after all, even Santa can be described as nothing less than a spirit, if not an actual ghost, there’s no evidence of that the practice dates back more than several hundred years. Jim Moon, writing on the website hypnogoria. I’ve stolen extensively for this piece), ties Christmas ghost stories to winter tales. Winter tales were similar, in many cases identical to Christmas ghost stories, but could include anything from the winter months. Which is appropriate, as there isn’t any evidence that the stories told had to relate to Christmas anyway. Dickens writes in Telling Winter Stories, from The Christmas Tree in 1. There is probably a smell of roasted chesnuts and other good comfortable things all the time, for we are telling Winter Stories – Ghost Stories, or more shame for us – round the Christmas fire.” Shakespeare used the phrase in A Winter’s Tale, “A sad tale’s best for winter: I have one. Of sprites and goblins.” And a hundred years before that in 1. Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe writes: “Now I remember those old women’s words,Who in my wealth would tell me winter’s tales,And speak of spirits and ghosts that glide by night”The tradition was still going strong in the work of Henry James, who in The Turn of the Screw, published in 1. The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child.”M. R. James elevated the art in Ghost Stories of an Antiquarian, first published in 1. From the preface: “I wrote these stories at long intervals, and most of them were read to patient friends, usually at the seasons of Christmas.” James’s work helped bring back the tradition from obscurity, as the formed the basis of the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas, which was a yearly Christmas offering beginning in 1. They’re the Christmas equivalent of the Holy Grail to those of us in America who have only heard of the series, which is generally regarded as being very well done. H. P. Lovecraft added The Festival to the canon in 1. It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind.”But the practice seems to have pretty much died out at the end of the twentieth century, at least in America. We love our Victorian Christmas, as long as it’s not too Victorian, but something charming, like out of a Disney film. The last gasp of the tradition seems to have been a line belted out by a man as white as you can get, Andy Williams in the perennial favorite It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year: There’ll be parties for hosting. Marshmallows for toasting. And carolling out in the snow. There’ll be scary ghost stories. And tales of the gloriesof Christmases long, long ago. Accept no substitutes. If however you are looking for a fine ghost story to read this Christmas Eve, you might start here. Click here to learn more about winter stories and Christmas ghost stories. Real Ghost Stories - Your Ghost Stories. You are here: Real Ghost Stories. Here are our user submitted experiences. We currently have 1. If you had a real paranormal experience related to ghosts and hauntings, share it with us! Or if you have a comment about a story, please sign up (it's free) and once you are registered, just add it under the story. We have a list of the latest ghost stories on this page and in the column throughout this site, but you can also browse the list of past paranormal experiences by topical categories or respective countries (for stories in the US, you can even check by States), or, in the archives page, in alphabetical order and in chronological order (based on date of submission). If you're looking for something in particular, we highly recommend you try the google search function in the column, it's the same engine that powers Google, but the results are limited to pages on this site. Recent Paranormal Experiences Vision Of A Gnome by Yee. I'll start this story by saying its a pretty short one and that I have no idea why this happened, so without anymore talk here's what happened. It was pretty late at night and I wanted to go to sleep. Just right about when I put my head on the pillow and closed my eyes I immediately had a vision of.. Someone's At My Window by Nana. Spills. Everyone knows that boarding schools, colleges, or universities are mostly built at the most secluded part of the town to avoid students from easily leaving the premises. My ghostly encounters happened most when I was studying for my diploma in an institution located right smack in the middle of the.. Following The Fog & The Mysterious Man by Ravey. Hope. One day my boyfriend and myself were out for a walk and I wasn't too far from home, maybe three or more blocks, but we were by a hospital area crossing an open field when all of a sudden we notice the field is now full of fog, no where else just this field, it also hadn't rained recently and had bee.. As I was walking toward the Abbey Of The Psalms Mausoleum, a feeling of dread came over me. I could th.. The Hunchback Shadow Man by nalchen. As a teenager (1. I had the opportunity to bloat my piggy bank by babysitting my neighbor's twins. They were 7 years old and pretty naughty but did all the things at the right time (eating/sleeping/playing etc). Never had problems with them and loved to babysit them. Once, I was asked t.. Her Feet Were Swinging by Idontthinktheirevil. I was up late working on my computer. I'm a 3. 9 year old male and I have always thought I saw shadow figures out of my peripheral vision but I always assumed it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Until a couple of months ago. The shadow figures were quite.. The Haunting On Deer Park by Fredis. Fred. In late 2. 00. I finished my time in the US Army. I was young and wanted to enjoy my newly found outlook on life outside the Military. This new outlook was indicative of me enjoying some family time. This was family time that I had not had in years. So I moved back to Massachusetts to be closer to the.. The Scare That Backfired (respect The Dead) by Gigakhan. I grew up in York county, Virginia, less than a mile from where part of the revolutionary war was fought. The whole area has different stories about them. The older generation in my family is not religious but very superstitious, so they told us stories about people seeing things at different times .. Xenoglossy (tongue Speaking) Experienced Life? I've been reading the stories on this website from a while now and I'.. Phantom Smell? Hope you all are being haunted only by friendly ghosts, not the really bad ones! Hope I'm still be able to get my story across to you clearly. This story is not one of my personal experie.. Ghost Adventures In Babysitting by cricketwhispers. When I was 1. 7 years old I babysat a lot. I can vividly remember this one babysitting experience. This sounds extremely clich. She was a sweet little girl and her parents were supposed to be back well after midn.. Granny's Last Visit by nalchen. My first experience/encounter with the paranormal happened at the age of 1. Like I have mentioned in my profile, my dad passed away when I was little and I grew up idolizing my mother, a tarot card reader. We settled down in Concord, New Hampshire but went back to India for a couple of weeks as my .. The Haunted House That Gives Me The Heebie Jeebies by Lacie. I live in the country and have for several years. I live on one of my dad's rental properties. Next door to me is one of his properties that has stayed empty since the former owner died 8 years ago. And when I'm into story four or five, I myself start to believe I'm full of shiat, but believe me, these stories are real. We have an understanding I suppose. I also tend to get flash images of people and events. When I see people, for whatever reason, they seem to appear.. A Scary House Near Me by Nightlord. This is a real life incident happened to all of My family members not just family neighbors too.. My house is not haunted it is a house next to me. That house is build according to the vaasthu and all. An old lady have died without finishing h.. Coins And Guitar Picks by Kindly. They are not scary but they are weird. They are not connected except that I was there at the time for both of them. The Town is based in the South Island of NZ roughlu in the middle to the .. Friend's Wedding by Sheetal. Dharia. This is my second real life experience which I wanted to share with you all.. She is also in my college gang. The wedding is in Nasik (place in India). My friends family booked a lawn for the guest. My cousin and her wife decided to go to the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. So I decided to tag along, this is not really a story but what was captured in a picture taken by my cousin's wife when she notice a ghost .. Nightshift by Chow- Chow. I'm just newly registered 'cause I love reading real experiences of the paranormal. Because we and everything we do,say,everything that surrounds us, is made of energy. And energy (the good and the bad one) never gets lost. It simply transforms i.. House Sitting by Fergie. For the second time within a month, I was asked to do house sitting duty at our eldest daughter's home. She lives in a secure townhouse complex in the Johannesburg region where she presides as chairlady. Her second in command, (I shall call her Kay) would look in on me on a regular basis.. Late Night Visit by Lita. Oktaviany. This experience happened when I was about 1. I'm pretty much an easy to be scared kind of person so until I was 2. I slept in the same room with my mother. It was raining so heavily since afternoon and it was even worst in night. So before bed, I made sure every doors and windo.. Knocks by Juli. I have always been interested in the paranormal but at the same time I've always been skeptical and try to find ways to explain the things that happen. I have had a few experiences but I always brush them off. This one experience I had was one that actually scared me for a while. I don't know for su.. My Spirits: The Corner Man by Ghostygirl. Me & my family seem to attract ghost wherever we go, we moved into our current house eight years ago and we have had consistent spirit activity. I have more stories than I can count, but I'll focus on one for now. This happened about 3 weeks ago, I've been feeling a presence for a while but it never.. It Giggled by tonichi. To start with, I would like everyone to know that I'm the type of person who would look for rational explanations on everything. Not that I'm a skeptic or anything, but as someone who has 2 degrees under his belt (not bragging. Just making a point), I believe finding answers as to why things happen .. Pink by Miracles. This experience is dedicated to Macknorton. The following is taken from my Journal. I heard a little girl say what I thought to be . I heard what you j.. I Think I Got Tickled By A Ghost by The. Paranormal. I'm not sure why, and maybe it's just my cat. But, sometimes when I'm alone, I feel a light finger stroke my foot. If I'm standing up, it happens somewhere on my rib cage. It's kind of creepy that this happens, because I have heard a voice a f.. My Possessed Lover! My search for one, seemed like decades, started when I was 2. I found one in early March 2. I was so madly in love with her, that I wanted to be around her always .. Hungry Ghost? But the one that really sticks out to me is something that happened over my sister and brother- in- law's house. One day I was searching about real ghost stories in India on internet and then I came to know about yourghoststories. So today, I am going to share my first story. First of all this is not a fiction and this incident h.. Haunted Condo by vala. I decided after posting my first story, I would just tell my stories in chronological order. If you read my previous story, you know that the house I grew up in was haunted and that I believe that a lot of the paranormal activity originated with my father (who is not a nice person). When September came I realized I hadn't had a holiday, so I decided to take the ferry to Calais, then take a leisurely drive through France to Belgium, on to Holland, in.. Possible Ghost Following Me by jersey. This all starts when I was in high school. I use to live in Upstate New York in a house that was built by my great- grandparents a long time ago. Living there, I kind of always felt like I was being watched. I would also suffer from sleep paralysis almost nightly. Nothing else would happen. I eventua.. Empty School's Various Occurrences by Kindly. It is a largish three story building of 1. The school board closed the school due to declining enrollment, and sold the property to the City of London, last summer. It now languishes in limbo until a final deci.. The Dark Orb And The Tall Shadow Man by chelscp. In April 2. 01. 3, I was pregnant and about to have a baby. My husband had 2 kids from a previous marriage and we decided we needed a bigger home.
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