Christmas Ghost Stories Week One

Story Review and Prompt

For the month of December, I have started reading Victorian Ghost Stories and thought it would be fun to review a few and post a prompt with each review. Then, I will write a story for that prompt that I will post later in the week.

I would also love to see your stories or poems based on the prompt. If you would like to Cross-Post your story, please do.

For this project, I am reading The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Five. Valancourt is an amazing publisher of classic horror and I believe I received this volume of ghost stories last year, through the amazing Nightworms subscription service.

The Introduction alone is worth the price of the work. Christopher Philippo takes us through the history of the Victorian Ghost story and its connections to both pre-Christian solstice festivals and the Christmas holiday. As Philippo opines, ghost stories were a focus of oral tradition, but the “printed Christmas ghost story really does seem to be a thing of the Victorian age, not earlier” (10).

The ghost stories were true tales of horror, and Philippo’s research delves into the many objections, one from 1893, stating, “I think I shall take it with me the first time I am invited to a funeral and have to make a long journey in a mourning coach” and my favorite, “I shall expect next year to open a Christmas number and find that the double-page supplement is a beautifully coulored picture of Hell” (14).

The stories I have read in this volume so far have not been so horrifying. Yet, they are really interesting and have some spine-tingling moments.

That brings me to the story I wanted to dig into a little for this first post. John Gibson Lockhart’s 1827 story, “Little Willie Bell,” is a classic story about a ghost with unfinished business.

Spoilers ahead! (Read the story first if you would don’t want it to be spoiled)

Lockhart’s story is very short and starts with an interesting discussion of something modern churches need more focus on - a collection plate specifically for the poor of the community.

Lockhart writes, “Gentlemen and ladies put in shillings and half-crowns, or more if they be very rich; but working men and their wives, and anyone that is not very poor indeed, would be ashamed to go by the plate without putting in a penny or a halfpenny, to help…” (16-17).

He goes on to tell the reader about parents giving their children money to put in the plate, to teach them “to think of the hard condition of poor, frail, blind people, and how right it is for us to help them in their distress” (17).

This sets up a story about a poor child, Little Willie Bell, who dies without placing his given sixpence in the offering plate. A visitor to his parent’s house is the perfect occasion for his ghost to point out where the coin was hidden and get his family to place it in the offering plate. This releases the spirit and ends the story.

“Little Willie Bell,” is the perfect opener for this volume of ghost stories and a really strong story. I loved the message and the classic focus on unfinished business.

With John Gibson Lockhart’s “Little Willie Bell” in mind, write a story or poem about a ghost that has unfinished business.

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You had to know that was where I was going! See my entry later in the week and comment or Cross-Post with your own story or poem. Check out The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Five, and read along with me as we move into the spooky Christmas season.

You could also post your favorite Christmas Ghost Story in the comments. I would love to check them out.

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-red-rose-on-black-background-247122/