Welcome to a Haunting Christmas Story

There is an old Christmas tradition of telling scary stories at Christmas time. Modern times have (mostly) drifted from this practice, leaving all things spooky to the season of Halloween. However, there are still some frightening tales that are famously told and retold every year.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is the most well known Christmas horror story in modern times. You might be wondering why I call it a horror story when it has such an uplifting ending and is presented as family friendly - even the Muppets have adapted the story.

Yet, when I was a small child, watching my first adaptation of the story with Scrooge McDuck and Mickey Mouse in a half hour short, the scenes with Pete as the Ghost of Christmas Future always terrified me. Other adaptations have upped the spooky factor such as the Scrooge musical with Albert Finney that sends Mr. Scrooge to hell or the Disney version with Jim Carrey (if the animation doesn’t frighten you, the ghosts really will). Scrooged even has a dead body in it (though it’s more sad than frightening).

Even my favorite adaptation with George C. Scott (sorry Muppets) has some intense moments that leave the audience tense with suspense. When the Ghost of Christmas Present shows the children - Ignorance and Want - hiding under his robes, I jump back.

A Christmas Carol may be a traditional story, but there are other famous terrors of the season. 

Krampus has recently become an icon of holiday horror in the United States, though his folk legend origins in Germany are very old. There are now movies about Santa’s not so friendly companion and he makes frequent appearances in pop culture.

One could argue that Dr. Seuss’s character of The Grinch is very loosely related to Krampus in his hatred of Christmas and as a polar opposite to Santa (stealing rather than giving presents). The live action Jim Carrey version of the movie has a few scary moments that are overshadowed by the crude comedy. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is not a proper scary story, but it’s also not a saccharine one. It falls into that in-between space that other stories like Nightmare Before Christmas and A Christmas Carol do.

Another traditional Christmas baddie is Grýla along with her sons known as the Yule Lads. Much like Krampus, Grýla kidnaps naughty children around Christmas time and eats them. The Yule Lads are pranksters who, in modern times, give presents like Santa Claus to the children of Iceland. However, Grýla’s cat, known as The Yule Cat, continues to be an ominous presence - eating anyone who doesn’t receive new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.

Moving away from the traditional and folk lore, there are plenty of 80s style slasher movies set around Christmas to satisfy the horror lover. Black Christmas has been remade a few times and there are a number of slashers where the mass murder dresses up at Saint Nick like in Silent Night, Deadly Night.

And then there’s Germlins. This movie mixes the dark fantasy styles of the 80s with a bit of creature feature, shaken well with Christmas spirit. For many an 80s child, this movie is an essential at Christmas time.

This year, in the Christmas tradition of haunting tales, we got the remake of Nosferatu - it was worth waiting 102 years for this one. Part gothic, part art house, all horror, this movie is intense. It flows like a dream…or nightmare. The camera transitions are smooth, yet uncomfortable. It takes place in early winter - complete with a Christmas scene. It drips with cold atmospheric tension that send shivers down the spine. 

So in the meaningless time in the last few days of 2024, pop in a spooky holiday movie and curl up with a hot beverage. You’ll make it through this winter yet.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until the next week.

Welcome to the Novel, Novella, and the Novelette

Last week, I wrote about the different types of short stories. And, just like how short stories have been divided into additional categories to include flash and micro fiction, longer works of fiction also have additional categories. When writing fiction, it is a good idea to know where your work falls within these categories to better find a place in the market when you try to sell them (unless you don't plan on trying to sell your stories - which is okay too).

Examples of the different forms of prose and poetry. Some are novels, novelettes, novellas, poetry collections, and even an old pamphlet (that'll be Common Sense).

The three main categories of longer prose are the novelette, the novella, and the traditional novel. Specific word count lengths for each of these categories can be debatable. Some publishers feel that a short story caps out at 7,500, some will allow stories to be as long as 10,000. Once your story enters the 10,000 word range, you've entered into the Novelette territory.

Novelettes have an approximate word count range of 7,500 to 18,000 words - sometimes going a little higher. They might have chapters or breaks in the text to indicate a pause in the narrative. These stories are more of an exception to the rule of publishing.

Novellas, however, are more prominent and a lot more well known to the general public. Novellas have a word count range of approximately 17,500 to 40,000 words. There are many famous novellas known in popular culture and even part of a school's curriculum (here's look at you 1984 and Of Mice and Men). 

Today, I started reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and am nearly half way through it already (amazing given how slow I read). I like the quick pacing and am glad that the author didn't drag out the story any longer than it needs to be. Some stories just aren't meant to be stretched to a longer length.

My personal favorite novella is A Christmas Carol. Every Christmas season, I sit down and reread the old ghost story - which I totally recommend doing. Despite the many adaptations of the story to screen and stage, there is something wonderful about reading Dickens's prose. He writes in the same way a story teller speaks. Additionally there are a number of things that most adaptations can't pull off (depicting the Ghost of Christmas Past for instance) or chose to ignore entirely (the Ghost of Christmas Present's rant about how classism).

Finally, there's the well known and loved novel. Many a writer's goal is to see their novel published - including myself. The novel starts around 40,000 words (though the preferred minimum for publishers is closer to 50,000) and doesn't really have a word cap, but good luck trying to sell someone on a novel over 500,000 words unless your last name George R. R. Martin.

An excellent novel for people who like fantasy and adventure books.

Chances are high that you've read multiple novels over your life (a lot for school). I have a stack of "comfort mysteries" - as my dad calls them (I believe the industry knows them as "cozies") - next to my bed at any given time. Novels can be stand alone stories or have long series that span over 50 stories.

Novels are definitely the most well known of the three longer forms of prose. It even has the entire month of November dedicated to their creation. If you've ever heard of NaNoWriMo, this is what is being referenced.

However, you shouldn't pick the form of your story based on what you think is publishable. You should write your story because that is how it begins, progresses, climates, and then ends. Sometimes short stories need to be novelette or novellas. Sometimes a story ends up as a novella instead of a novel. What's important is that it is your story and that it is written to the best of your ability. If you don't hit that novel length, it's okay. Your story might not work as a novel.

If you're curious about novellas or novelettes, I recommend reading a few. There are anthologies created specifically for hosting novellas and novelettes. The books that contain my copies of A Christmas Carol and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are in books that have complied stories of similar length by the same authors. It's given me an opportunity to read stories I might not have otherwise considered.

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Scrooge and the Grinch

We’re a week into the “official” holiday season. I’ve pulled out the Christmas decorations and movies. Christmas music rings throughout all the stores I go shopping in. I’m being asked to write a Christmas list.

I feel for the people who don’t celebrate Christmas. This time of year must be particularly annoying.

Which brings me to today’s topic. The novella A Christmas Carol and the short story How the Grinch Stole Christmas are undeniably classic Christmas stories about two characters who don’t celebrate Christmas being convinced to participate in the season.

I watch this version every year.

Granted it’s assumed that everyone in these stories is either Christian or live in a world where Christmas is a nondenominational holiday with nary a baby Jesus in sight. The characters are aware of this through cultural osmosis.  It to mention that the morals of these stories have little if anything to do with religion.

A Christmas Carol is a social critique on how the inequalities of the season (seriously Dickens goes on a few rants here and there - mostly during the Christmas Present Ghost’s parts). The Grinch has a message of forgiveness, love, and not being materialistic. At least the original short story and cartoon do, the live-action movie kind of does, and I have no comment on the latest cartoon.

One of the best adaptations.

I haven’t seen the latest cartoon version of The Grinch, ergo I have no opinion on it. I do, however, have a lot of thoughts on the live-action movie. They made a lot of changes to the story in the live-action movie to make it a feature film. The Whos are extremely materialistic and, though they have the Christmas joy, they don’t really have the same spirit that the original cartoon and book Whos do. The live-action movie even gives the Grinch a back story about why he hates Christmas (originally he’s just a mean spirit who hates everything nice and joyful).

And it’s in these changes that I see a bit of a resemblance to A Christmas Carol. You might be wondering how I came to this observation. Well, there are a few key similarities. There’s a lot more social commentary in the Grinch’s story, be with how The Whos are obsessed with materialism and what it means to be kind to those who are a little different from everyone else. On top of that, the Grinch’s backstory is centered around him being bullied and an outcast with the worst incident happening around Christmas. The Grinch seems to hate Christmas because it is the epitome of every horrible thing The Whos ever did to him.

This speech sums up a lot of The Grinch’s feelings.

Similarly, it seems like every horrible thing that happened in Scrooge’s life happened around Christmas. His father would leave him at school every year, until one Christmas where his sister comes to get him and then he’s shipped off right away to start working. His fiancé broke up with him on Christmas. His best friend (I guess Marley is his best friend) died on Christmas. It is also implied that his beloved sister also died around Christmas and since her son is so similar to her that it’s hard for Scrooge to be around him, despite the nephew inviting him to Christmas dinner every year.

Christmas represents the worst times of both Scrooge and the live-action movie Grinch’s lives. It’s no wonder they hate the holiday so much. Everyone wants them to be happy and cheerful and they don’t want to relive their unhappiness. It’s not okay to force someone to feel happy no matter what season it is.

However, feeling unhappiness and making people suffer because of that feeling are two different things. Scrooge and the Grinch take out their anger and frustration on innocent people, which is not okay.

These two characters deserve to have some form of therapy.

And in some ways, they get that therapy...sort of.

For Scrooge, the three spirits are there to show him that though his feelings are justified, his actions aren’t. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows him both good and bad memories, with one of his happiest as an apprentice. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him that other people are experiencing both good and bad moments on Christmas, ending with a family eating stolen potatoes worrying they might end up in separated in a workhouse. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows the consequences of Scrooge taking out his anger and frustration on other people. It’s not a perfect representation of someone getting the mental health help they need, but the story was written in the 1800s.

The Grinch in the live-action movie has Cindy Lou Who, who is also experiencing some holiday depression. She thinks everything will be “fixed” if she helps the Grinch. It’s a little misguided and she probably shouldn’t be forcing Christmas on the Grinch (she doesn’t really, only invites him to an event that he can say “no” to and tries to see him on Christmas), but because of her actions, the Whos remember the true meaning of Christmas and the Grinch starts his own healing process. Again this isn’t a perfect story about helping someone overcome their past trauma, but it has a good message.

Not everyone celebrates Christmas and not everyone wants to. The messages of A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas aren’t about forcing people to celebrate a holiday, their about understanding that your actions have consequences and that it’s not okay to take your anger/sadness/depression out on other people.

So if you know someone who either doesn’t celebrate Christmas or is just done with the forced holiday cheer, please don’t force it on them. Extend a hand or an invitation, but don’t show up with a tree and ugly sweater.

As for those of us who find it hard to feel the happiness and joy this holiday season. It’s okay to feel that unhappiness. Humans can’t be happy all the time. But please don’t take it out on other people.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me.