Despite the enduring popularity of the most famous secular Christmas story of all time — Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” — the holiday is not typically associated with ghost stories. But that wasn’t always the case. In Victorian England, telling ghost stories at Christmastime was a beloved tradition.
A Smithsonian magazine article on the topic quotes humorist Jerome K. Jerome from his 1891 collection of Christmas-themed ghost stories: “Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet around a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories. Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about spectres. It is a genial, festive season, and we love to muse upon graves, and dead bodies, and murders, and blood.”
Indeed.
Sadly, the tradition did not cross the pond to the Colonies. According to Smithsonian, we have the Puritans to blame for that. They disapproved of the practice, and over time the telling of ghost stories migrated to Halloween.
But this holiday season, Christmas comes early for those of us who love a good frightful tale this time of year. Atlanta writer Nicholas Tecosky, co-founder of Write Club Atlanta, has created “12 Ghosts,” a 12-part podcast that debuts Dec. 14 and drops new episodes daily through Dec. 25.
The premise is 11 travelers gather at an inn deep in the forest during a blizzard on Christmas Eve where they encounter a mysterious innkeeper. One-by-one the travelers arrive and tell a ghost story. Some are sweet or sad, some are funny, and some are downright terrifying. Little do the travelers know, the innkeeper has plans for them.
As the showrunner, Tecosky wrote the pilot, directed the episodes and recruited a bevy of local writers, including Benji Carr, Dani Herd, Nicki Harris Salcedo, E.M. Westover, Chris Alonzo, Alayna Huft Tucker, Steven Williams, Zoe Cooper, Kit Fay, Ben Bowlin and Jack Babalon, who each wrote an episode.
“All of the writers that we brought on are Atlanta based,” said Tecosky. “I met most of them through Write Club. I was lucky to know a bunch of people who not only wrote fiction but specialized in horror and the fantastic.”
Using a different writer for each character ensured that “12 Ghosts” would feature a wide variety of stories.
“It wasn’t all straight horror,” he said. “Some of these ghost stories are very touching, like Dani Herd’s story, which I’m listening to right now. It’s a very sweet story about twin sisters who are separated by death. Nicki Salcedo wrote a really lovely romance, and these are all ghost stories. We cover all of the bases.”
Produced by iHeartRadio, “12 Ghosts” is executive produced by Aaron Mahnke, creator, producer and host of the wildly popular podcast “Lore.” Local actors voice the parts, with one exception. The role of the Innkeeper is played by Malcolm McDowell, best known for his starring role in Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange.”
Nevertheless, said Tecosky, “I can’t emphasize enough how much this is an Atlanta production. It shows that Atlanta productions stand up there with the Malcolm McDowells and other A-listers of the world.”
Like “A Christmas Carol,” the scary stories that compose “12 Ghosts” are ultimately redemptive in varying degrees.
“You want to give people their scares, but this is the season where we light a candle in the dark,” Tecosky said. “I think the tradition of ghost stories at this time (of the year) was to play with the dark a little bit before we give ourselves redemption. Especially these days, we really need a little redemption with our horror.”
“12 Ghosts” will be available on iTunes, Spotify and anywhere you download podcasts.
Holiday helpline. There’s no better gift than a new book for the readers on your list. It’s finding the right title that can be a challenge. But if you hurry, you can get an assist from the experts at the Penguin Hotline.
Kate Whitman, formerly with the Atlanta History Center where she ran the author programs, is now a sales manager of airport sales for Penguin. This time of year, she and her colleagues do double duty answering requests for book recommendations to give as gifts. And in the spirit of the holidays, they don’t just recommend Penguin Random House books — any book, regardless of publisher, is fair game.
To get a recommendation, go to Penguinhotline.com and fill out a form, providing details about the person you’re shopping for, including age, gender and hobbies. A couple of days later, a list of three to five recommendations will arrive via email.
Along with her well-considered recommendations, Whitman tries to include an unexpected suggestion.
“I like to put in something quirky,” she said. “So, for the science-fiction people, I add a nonfiction book called “What If 2” by Randall Munroe, which is just a scientific silly book (that poses) hypothetical questions like, what if lava lamps were made of real lava? And he tries to find out the answers. I think a nerdy, science fiction reader would like a book like that.”
Also among her recommendations has been her favorite book of 2022, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin, a love story about two video game designers that spans decades and locales.
If you want to submit a request to the Penguin Hotline, act fast. Dec. 14 is the last day.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Contact her at svanatten@ajc.com.
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