The Tradition of Christmas Ghost Stories

• 🎄 The song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" includes the line "there'll be scary ghost stories," hinting at an old English tradition.
• 🕯️ This tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas dates back to before the Industrial Revolution, stemming from winter gatherings around fires for entertainment.
• 👻 The practice is linked to Pagan rituals like Yule, a time when the veil between the living and the dead was believed to be thinnest.
• 📜 The host aims to start a new tradition of sharing classic ghost stories each holiday season with the "Heart Starts Pounding" community.

"Smee": A Modern Retelling

• 🍷 The story begins with friends in a wine cellar discussing playing "Smee," a game similar to hide-and-seek with a paranormal twist.
• 💀 Colleen recounts a past incident where a young man died playing "Smee" by falling down a dark, steep staircase after opening a forbidden door.
• 🏠 The narrator plays "Smee" at a party in an old, large house, drawing the "Smee" slip and hiding.
• ❓ During the game, confusion arises when the group counts 13 people instead of 12, and Megan feels someone sat next to her on the stairs.

The Unseen Player

• 🚪 The narrator, Colleen, hides behind a curtain on the third floor and encounters a young man named Thomas Wakefield, who is revealed to be the ghost of the boy who died playing the game.
• 🤫 Colleen and Tim both interact with Thomas Wakefield, who is revealed to be the ghost, and he disappears when the lights are turned on.
• 👻 The story concludes by revealing that Thomas Wakefield was the person who died in the house playing "Smee," and the song's lyric reflects this historical tradition.

The Evolution of Ghost Storytelling

• 📖 The popularity of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" in America influenced the inclusion of ghost stories in Christmas traditions.
• 🎃 Halloween's rise in America as a mainstream holiday, influenced by Scottish and Irish immigrants, may have shifted the focus for scary stories away from Christmas.
• 🔥 The host encourages listeners to uphold the tradition of telling ghost stories during the winter season.