Why horror is so much better at Christmas?

I remember being bought my first proper horror book. It was Halloween and my father had driven us into Richmond to go shopping. On the way, we’d passed Ellerton Abbey, whose long driveway had carved and lit pumpkins lining up each side in readiness for a wedding. It was a fantastic sight, one which alas I’ve never seen repeated. (For a sense of scale, check out this picture and imagine it’s lined with carved pumpkins rather than snow).

In our local bookshop, Castle Hill Books, I was browsing the kids’ section, and I found “Haunting Christmas Tales” It was the beginning of a love affair for me between horror and Christmas that was to continue even to this day. It was immediately purchased and was soon followed by “Chilling Christmas Tales” and ultimately by “Mysterious Christmas Tales””. Since then, not a single Christmas has passed when I don’t dip into one of the volumes and read my favourite stories.

I have often wondered at what the connection is between Christmas and horror that really intrigues me. My mother was always very traditionally minded so Christmases when I was growing up were full of custom and meaning. She made her own cakes and Christmas puddings which we would stir and make a wish; we would watch Carols at Kings; we would decorate the house as much with holly and evergreens as we would with tinsel and fairy lights. For me, Christmastime was always filled with traditions stretching back years, so the past really came to life.

Because I used to think of Christmas as a time which was happy and bright, I found that anything which injected an element of horror into that season instantly made those scares even more chilling. It’s the juxtaposition: the time filled with light, family, and goodwill, when your dreams dance with sugarplum fairies, against a time when your darkest fears surface, you find yourself alone and in danger, and your nightmares are made real. Both of these states exist side by side at Christmas. I suppose you claim the same juxtaposition could be made about a summer holiday, but what Christmas really has going for it is the dark nights. Christmas is a time of light celebrated specifically to drive back the dark, and it only takes a small tipping of the balance to send us back into darkness and chaos.

At the recent Sledge Lit convention, I attended a panel entitled: “A ghost story is just for Christmas - or is it?” The panel members were Alison Moore, Simon Marshall-Jones, Marie O’Regan and the moderator was the ever so slightly cheeky AK Benedict. They had some interesting points to make which echoed my own. Yule is a time not only of celebration, but also of remembrance: the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead are thin, and we keep ghosts at bay by telling stories and remembering our ancestors. Marie suggested that ghosts are in fact a way of exploring our issues with the past and loss, while Simon pointed out how ghosts are normally uninvited and are an unwanted invasion of personal space. Alison said that we are all scared of the dark and the unknown, so that ghosts are part of our way of dealing with the question of what might be out there.

When asked what makes a good ghost story, they all replied with one of two answers: setting and mood. I asked them how they felt a comforting family setting and a joyous festive mood worked in a ghost story: did it complement it or undermine it? Alison commented that there is something desperate in such festivities, that there is always an element of tension which can be emphasised in a ghost story. Simon agreed and added that there is a tipping point where goodness falls into negativity. Marie’s answer was more visual, drawing attention to winter shadows which are often grey, but when you add bright lights into the mix then the shadows become much darker and by association the terror is increased.

So, there you go. Us writers agree: Christmas should be about good food, family, lights, celebration, remembrance, ghost and your deepest, darkest horrors.

If you are interested in a short slice of dark fiction with a Christmas theme, check out my short story “The Knife Before Christmas” which reached number 2 in the Amazon bestseller list for Teen and Young Adult short horror.

Why horror is so much better at Christmas?

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