The Nightmare before Hogswatch

The very oldest stories are, sooner or later, about blood.1 A guest post by Clair Hutchings-Budd. In recognition of the spooky season, and looking ahead to winter festivities, in this blog post I’ll be talking about Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-frame animation musical fantasy film The Nightmare Before Christmas (Nightmare) and Terry Pratchett’s 1996 novel Hogfather. … Continue reading The Nightmare before Hogswatch →

A Ghost Story For Christmas

There is probably a smell of roasted chestnuts 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 Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas Tree’, Household Words (1850) The association between Yuletide cheer and seasonal fear emerged from the Victorian era’s appetite for … Continue reading A Ghost Story For Christmas →

A Very Ghostly Christmas

Its the most wonderful time of year: with parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, caroling out in the snow, and, of course, scary ghost stories! Yes, tied to the festive season is a long tradition of sharing terrifying ghost stories, and where better to look for scary ghost stories than the Nineteenth Century. This holiday … Continue reading A Very Ghostly Christmas →

We Wish You a Scary Christmas

If we were to read aloud some of the lyrics of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” slowly, and without the feel-good music and images of food and gifts, the words quickly become ambiguous. Why must we watch out? Why mustn’t we cry? Unless, of course, Santa Claus is not all that he seems. If … Continue reading We Wish You a Scary Christmas →