There was probably no one else who loved Christmas ghost stories more than Charles Dickens.  In fact, majority of the Victorian Era brought forth a new fascination of ghosts, spirits, apparitions, and all things weird.  The rise of Spiritualism was also during this same time.  So it is to no surprise that the holiday season would have experienced a spooky twist.  Whilst in the reign of Spiritualism, by 1855 Dickens himself was a practicing mesmeric doctor, as well as a member of The Ghost Club (founded in 1862)

Dickens is most famous for his beloved novella, A Christmas Carol, first published on December 17th, 1843.  In fact, we are just a week shy of the book’s 170th birthday.  Considering the popularity of the tale of old Ebenezer Scrooge, there are seldom few who know of the moving story of a stingy old man’s change of heart after visitations from spirits, and they lessons they taught him.

Illustration by John Leech from the first edition of “A Christmas Carol”

It may be hard to fathom, but the Christmas that we know today, was not the Christmas that happened in the 19th century, especially in London.  While there were “12 days of Christmas”, seldom did people take the day off and many worked during the Christmas holiday.  Christians strictly followed the Bible, which believe it or not, didn’t condone the celebration of Christmas.  It didn’t have the Christian ties that it has today, and was often just a time for parties and sexual liberties.  The Puritans even attempted to ban Christmas during the 17th century.  But to bring the point home, the Christmas that Charles Dickens experienced was not like Christmas today.

In a sense, we can give regards to Dickens for inventing the Christmas that we know and love.  This is likely why A Christmas Carol became so popular.  While this classic tale certainly remains as Dickens’ most famous holiday work, it certainly was not the only piece of literature he wrote with spirits and the weird intertwined in the Christmas holiday. Many regard Dickens as the father of the Christmas tradition we know now.

In 1836, seven years before A Christmas Carol was written, Dickens wrote a short story for The Pickwick Papers called, The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton, and it tells the story of a man named Gabriel Grub who drinks and works on Christmas day as a caretaker and gravedigger.  He is then kidnapped by goblins and taken to an underground cave where they show him his fellow humans, including a small boy belonging to a poor family that dies.  One could say that Gabriel Grub is Scrooge and the small boy was Tiny Tim.  The goblins also beat Gabriel mercilessly, and the next morning, he is a changed man.

Cover of “The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain”

In 1848, Dickens wrote his final Christmas novella called, The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.  Unlike its predecessor, Haunted Man was a much more grisly tale.  It tells the story of a chemist named, Redlaw.  For him, and many others, Christmas is a grim reminder of lost loves, hurts, and regrets.  He is then visited by a Phantom who offers to cancel out his hurts.  Redlaw is amazed and intrigued as to how this visitor can erase such a thing.  But Redlaw soon learns that in order to forget the past hurts, he has to let go of the treasured people who caused the hurts and regrets in the first place.  And the lesson becomes that you can not forget one without affecting the other.  It’s truly a moving tale, and if you would like to read it for free, just click on the following link: The Haunted Man.  Charles Dickens wrote several more Christmas ghost stories for The Pickwick Papers as well as other publications.

After Dickens published A Christmas Carol, he began a tradition of publishing works each Christmas after.  In 1859, Dickens wrote The Haunted House, in collaboration with several authors, for the weekly periodical All Year Round.  Once again, this was a Christmas ghost story that featured the spiritual and the weird.  There are numerous other Christmas ghost stories written by Charles Dickens that are available on the web for free and very enjoyable.

If you would like to buy a book called, Christmas Ghost Stories with A Christmas Carol, The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton, The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, and The Haunted House, you can purchase it on Amazon here for less than $15, and it qualifies for Prime shipping.

Sources/Links of Interest

• Christmas According to Dickens
• Why Did Charles Dickens Write Ghost Stories for Christmas?
• Ghoultide Greetings: The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens
• The Victorian Web: Featuring The Haunted House

The post Charles Dickens: Making Ghosts Festive For the Holidays appeared first on Association of Paranormal Study.

Association of Paranormal Study to host toy drive for local non-profit 

Designed by Beth Breakey

RALEIGH, NC –Association of Paranormal Study (APS) is pleased to announce that they are taking a giant leap forward towards their mission of public education and community enrichment with the event, “Ghosts of Christmas Presents”, which will be taking place in Meeting Room 202A at the Cameron Village Regional Library at 12:45pm on Saturday, December 21^st.

APS will be hosting a community toy drive and a holiday-themed presentation featuring their twist on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, to benefit the Methodist Home for Children. APS asks that the toys be without gift-wrap and still in their original packaging.  However, a toy donation is not required for attendance, but very much appreciated.

For more information about the event or APS, please visit www.facebook.com/assocofparanormalstudy.

We look forward to seeing you at Meeting Room 202A at the Cameron Village Regional Library on December 21^st!

The Cameron Village Regional Library does neither discriminate nor endorses the Association of Paranormal Study. This is an event being held strictly for the benefit of the community, and produced by APS.

The post APS Searches For the Holiday Spirit appeared first on Association of Paranormal Study.

Written by APS Founder & Mid Atlantic Director:

Alex Matsuo

Today, the mainstream media has seemed to make the paranormal “normal” so to speak.  Many people credit television shows and documentary style of presenting the paranormal in such a way where it’s no longer a novelty or cliché, but a legitimate experience that many people share.  Many people think that the paranormal craze started in the late 20^th/early 21^st century and that this is a fairly new thing.

Actually, it’s not.  However, the perceptions of the paranormal has changed and evolved over the course of human history, and it’s a cycle that is simply repeating itself as opinions and the influence of religion changes.

What we call the paranormal today was called something else completely different before the term was even coined.  For the purpose of consistency, I’ll use the term “unknown” for the duration of this piece.

For thousands of years, humans worshipped deities whether it was in the form of a single God or several different gods and goddesses.  There was an awareness and knowledge of a spiritual world that was beyond our physical world.  Communicating with deceased ancestors was not out of the norm, and was a common practice.

But then, things changed…

Let us consider Elizabethan England, or the Renaissance.  The Reformation movement saw a new age of Protestantism and Catholicism became a hushed practice.  There wasn’t any mainstream knowledge of the unknown at the time, and those who studied and practiced it were regarded as evil or unholy so to speak.  Stories of such individuals like Doctor Faustus ran rampant to show the repercussions of seeking knowledge and consorting with the Devil.  According to the Bible, those that looked like spirits of our loved ones were really evil spirits in disguise meant to trick us.  And mediumship was out of the question as well and they were not popular people (but still consulted in secret).

Salem was not the only one famous for witch trials.  In England, there was a very real fear of witches and any sort of practice that would be interpreted as consorting with the Devil.  After participating in several witch trials in North Berwick, King James I of England (and VI of Scotland respectively) wrote a favorable account of witch hunting in his book, Daemonologie, in 1597.  This perception was acceptable and enforced.

Now, let’s fast-forward to the 19^th century.

http://www.occultopedia.com

Victorian times found a fascination with gothic themes and horror.  Stories of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde plus Charles Dickens incorporating ghosts in his works.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the rise in spirit photography, Spiritualism, séances, eerie special effects on the stage, and the founding of The Ghost Club in 1862 plus the Society for Psychical Research (1882), and American Society for Psychical Research (1884).  If there weren’t a widespread acceptance in what they perceived as the unknown, it wouldn’t have been as popular as it was.

It seems that acceptance of the unknown comes in waves.  The popularity of the unknown today is not unique, but it looks like this is here to stay for a while.  Hopefully, this acceptance will continue and not go back into hiding in a few decades.

But also rest assured that the acceptance of the unknown has come and go because there are people who have had experiences, regardless of societal views.  The popularity that we see today is thanks to media exposure heightening our awareness, but the popularity is not new for us, and hopefully the cycle will continue in the believer’s favor.

The post The Paranormal Has Always Been Normal appeared first on Association of Paranormal Study.