After a  successful run last year, which was literally sold out, this December 2023, Artsgroupie (the Producers of Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse, A Portrait of William Roscoe and The Signalman) will chill the air with a selection of ghost stories for Christmas.

John Maguire, ArtsGroupie CIC, tells us he grew up watching the BBC adaptations of Ghost Stories for Christmas, which drew him to the work of M.R. James. Nothing quite matches the experience of hearing a story being read aloud pure classic storytelling, according to him. John Says, “I still feel nothing can chill more than your own imagination. ArtsGroupie has led several reading groups and there is something really magical about sharing a story as a community and we cannot wait to engage in this traditional form”

David Griffiths, Writer and Director, expresses his excitement at bringing Ghost Stories For Christmas back for another year. Reflecting on the phenomenal response to last year's event, he eagerly anticipates sharing these tales in new venues especially Shakespeare North Playhouse. “Having recently adapted Charles Dickens’ classic ghost story The Signalman for the stage, I’m looking forward to introducing our audience to more festive chills – and some new material that’s climbing down your chimney…”

The horror Author Ramsey Campbell, recalls first seeing their work in print 60 years ago. Ramsey relishes the eerie both as a writer and a reader. Growing up immersed in the classics of the horror genre—M. R. James, Edith Wharton, E. F. Benson, J. Sheridan Le Fanurs Ramsey says, “They made my nights uneasy when I was six and long after. Hearing stories like theirs read aloud brings a special frisson, and I still remember Fritz Leiber reading Lovecraft to a midnight audience in Providence, Rhode Island in 1975. I was persuaded to read a tale there too, and since then I’ve frequently given my stories aloud. It’s a great tradition to be part of, and I hope the audience will enjoy my small contribution as much as I do.”

John Reppion Puts it beautifully, “Long before Christmas was Christmas, Midwinter Festivals took place around this time of year. Rituals intended to drive back the freezing dark - and everything lurking within - and to bring about the return of the sunnier, safer days. “A sad tale’s best for winter, I have one, of sprites and goblins!”, so Shakespeare wrote in A Winter’s Tale, in 1623.

The Yuletide season, for all its festive treats, is a time of short cold days and long dark nights. Nights when the winter wind whistles under the back door, and hail rattles at already frosty windows. It is a time for ghosts, and for stories of ghosts, ideally told somewhere snug and safe, perhaps with a warming drinking in hand. The Victorian Charles Dickens and Edwardian M R James are probably the most famous of the Christmas Ghost Story writers, and tellers, but the tradition goes back much, much farther. Back to times when people had more to fear from the dark, and were more generally thankful for pleasure of the warmth of a fire, and a good meal in our bellies.

Perhaps that is why so many of us still enjoy these stories at this time year - because, as Shakespeare wrote - a sad tale's best for winter. A scary yarn of sprites and goblins. A story of what's without, and what might await us out there, but of what we're safe and protected from. Just so long as we don't stray too far from the firelight, or the pool of the street-lamp's glow. Just so long as the shadow of the long, long night is driven back once again by the cold, late, winter's dawn.”

Like most longstanding cultural customs, the precise origin of telling ghost stories at the end of the year is unknown, largely because it began as an oral tradition without written records. But, according to Sara Cleto, a folklorist specializing in British literature and co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, the season around winter solstice, has been one of transition and change. “For a very, very, very long time, [the season] has provoked oral stories about spooky things in many different countries and cultures all over the world,” she says.

Furthermore, spooky storytelling gave people something to do during the long, dark evenings before electricity. “The long midwinter nights meant folks had to stop working early, and they spent their leisure hours huddled close to the fire,” says Tara Moore, an assistant professor of English at Elizabethtown College, author of Victorian Christmas in Print, and editor of The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. “Plus, you didn’t need to be literate to retell the local ghost story.”

The Storey, Lancaster

Saturday, December 2nd 2023 3.00pm
Saturday, December 2nd 2023 7.00pm

The Hornby Room, Central Library Liverpool

WITH SPECIAL GUEST - Ramsey Campbell

Thursday, December 7th 2023 4.30pm
Thursday, December 7th 2023 6.30pm
Thursday, December 14th 2023 4.30pm
Thursday, December 14th 2023 6.30pm [Sold Out]

Shakespeare North Playhouse, SPECIAL GUEST - John Reppion

Friday 15th December, 2pm – 3.30pm [NEW DATE ADDED!]

Friday 15th December, 7 – 8:30pm [Sold Out]
Saturday 16th December, 2pm – 3.30pm [Sold Out]
Saturday 16th December, 7pm – 8.30pm [Sold Out]

Admin : Sam Mathews