I love Christmas, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. At the coldest, darkest time of the year, I have no objections to eating lots of seasonal food, contacting friends and relatives, and having some distraction. I rarely spend the Holidays with family, because my family lives all over the world, and it logistically difficult. I often host 'The Orphans' Club' at my home, with friends who either can't or don't want to spend Chrimbo with their families. Either that, or I go to England and spend Christmas on the south coast with some old and dear friends. Some of my best Christmas memories are these celebrations.
One year, we were talking about the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve. I was lent a copy of M.R. James 'Whistle and I'll come to you', and took great pleasure in scaring myself. As a way of thanking my friends for hosting me, not just that year but several, I decided to write them their own Christmas ghost story. Then I got ambitious, and decided to write them their own book.
It wasn't difficult to find content. As an English language teacher, I often have to teach a grammar structure known as The Present Perfect. A common exercise is to ask question that begin, 'Have you ever....?' For example, 'Have you ever spent a night in a cave?' 'Have you ever ridden a horse/camel/skateboard?' And my personal favourite, 'Have you ever seen a ghost?' A surprising number of people recount stories of ghosts they have seen, or spooky experiences they have had. On the pretext of making corrections to their language, I noted down the stories my students told, which I then stole and used as my own.
I also read a lot of ghost stories, especially in the darker months of the year. My favourite ghost book is 'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters. At first it seems like another story about British society and class, and gradually darkens. I read that in the middle of summer, not knowing when I started that it was a ghost story, and was more than once astonished to look up from the page and see sunshine and green foliage, while I felt chilled to my very soul. I wondered if my readers would find my words scarier if they knew that all the ghostly episodes were based on stories I'd actually heard, that living people claim to have experienced?
This excerpt is the first part of a trilogy. The overall title is 'Comfort and Joy', and the title of first part is '21 Mildmay Road'. In case you're wondering, this is the postal address of the Frogmore Press, who published my first ever piece of writing in 'Languages of Colour' (thank you!). And a huge thanks to the friends for whom this book was written.
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