Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Don't eat too much candy corn--save some for me.

Readers of my first book The Christmas TV Companion know that there is quite of bit of overlap in scary imagery between Halloween and Christmas stories. In fact, my first book has a whole chapter about macabre, scary and horror programs and movies that are Christmas-themed. In the chapter, "Have Yourself an Eerie Little Christmas," I remind readers that Charles Dickens wrote a scary ghost story--with four ghosts no less! (Jacob Marley and the three spirits of Christmas past, present and future.)

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)

So this association of frightening tales coupled with Christmas is not a new phenomenon. Dickens may have written a ghost story as a means of moralizing but a more modern storyteller, Tim Burton has also used macabre imagery in his fairy tales set at Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

In this story, Jack Skellington has to learn his lesson about sticking with what he does best.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

And, in Edward Scissorhands, viewers are given a fairy tale story that shows the dark side of isolation and intolerance. Many people often forget that this romantic story is framed by an elderly Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder) sharing a story with her offspring. This story about the mysterious stranger, Edward, climaxes at the Boggs family Christmas party and serves to explain how their town gets blanketed in snow each year.




Happy Halloween!!