This year we continue the tradition of highlighting Christmas themed weird tales for the holidays. You can find the last two years Christmas articles at http://www.vintagehorror.com/node/100 andhttp://www.vintagehorror.com/node/25 . Personally, I love the combination of a good spooky supernatural or weird tale at Christmas time. And I am a Christian, so I do believe that Jesus is the reason for the season. I don’t think that means one can’t enjoy a bit of the macabre, however. We no longer sit around a Yule Log burning through the night, regaling each other with our tales any more like in years gone by, but that only slightly lessens the enjoyment. Author and podcaster Mark Justice has a similar outlook. Mark and editor Michael Knost have assembled a new book of such tales titledAPPALACHIAN WINTER HAUNTINGS: WEIRD TALES FROM THE MOUNTAINS. In its forward Mark wrote: “Since I was a child, hauntings and holidays have been inexorably linked. Perhaps it’s because when I was growing up, ghosts seemed to be a big part of the Christmas season. For weeks before the big day, I would encounter almost daily reference to Scrooge’s trio of specters.”He continues by saying: “So I learned early on that it was perfectly normal for shades, wraiths and phantasms to hang around the mistletoe and stockings. Their company became as familiar as the toy section in the Sears catalogue.” I couldn’t put it better myself. So here are a few more stories you may include while drinking your eggnog.
1.“The Prescription” by Marjorie Bowen (1928) – A group who gathers at a friend’s house to celebrate Christmas Eve welcomes a medium as part of the evening’s entertainment. They are disappointed in her when she gives details of a murder that couldn’t be related to the house. It is newly built, and no murder has occurred there. They dismiss the medium’s information as false. Later a doctor among them tells an unbelievable tale of a stranger who came to him in the house late in the night seeking medical help. It is odd because no one other than those in the house should even be aware of his presence in the town. The next day, he and his friend try and piece together what happened the previous night when he accompanied the stranger to offer his assistance.
2.“The Other Santa” by Thorpe McClusky (1949) – An advertising agency decides to put on a special Christmas radio program where they record their own “miracle”. They find a little girl who is paralyzed and needs an expensive surgery to repair her spine so she can walk again. They set the house up with recording equipment and hire a “Santa” to deliver gifts and a big check that will pay for the operation. Everything goes as planned, but before the Santa is about to leave he says some unscripted, unusual things. Immediately afterwards the hired Santa arrives with the exact same gifts, check, etc. Everyone is forced to try and figure out what has occurred.
3.“Ringing in the Good News” by Peter Ackroyd (1985) – A man keeps receiving phone calls re-playing his domineering mother-in-law’s original call announcing the birth of his son. He is suspicious a cruel joke is being played on him until he receives the call while his mother-in-law is in the same room with him. Not pure horror but definitely an eerie little tale.
4.“Red Christmas” by David S. Garnett (1985) – A police detective spends little time at home with his wife during a cold Christmas season because of a rash of seemingly motiveless murders. In each case the victim had unlocked the door to their assailant and their Christmas decorations were knocked about, but nothing was stolen. The answer to the mystery is an interesting concept and ties in with a common Christmas tradition.
5.“Snow” by Al Sarrantonio (1996) – The day before Christmas a brother and sister wish it would “snow forever!” It immediately starts to snow, and they soon begin to regret their wish.
To order a copy of the Mark Justice and Michael Knost edited anthology APPALACHIAN WINTER HAUNTINGS: WEIRD TALES FROM THE MOUNTAINS, follow the link below:http://www.woodlandpress.com/book/folk-lore/appalachian-winter-hauntings… .
