GETTING INTO THE CHRISTMAS “SPIRIT”
The following was an article published in The Arcata Eye newspaper of Friday, December 12, explaining the ghostly traditions behind the Christmas Season and announcing our performance at Old Town Coffee & Chocolates on Saturday, December 20. The article was written by Jennifer Savage; the background material was supplied by my human companion Bob.
The Christmas Holidays are upon us, and what could be a more appropriate way of celebrating the Season than an evening of …ghost stories?
Ghost stories?
Yes indeed…Christmas is the traditional time for telling ghostly tales, a tradition that goes back long when Europeans first began celebrating the holiday, and one that continues today. In England and the British Isles , although Halloween is celebrated and enjoyed, the truly scary activities are saved for Christmas night, after a fine dinner, when the family gathers around the hearth or table and attempts to scare each other silly.
Many English authors, including M. R. James and Charles Dickens, published books of ghost stories particularly to be read at Christmastime. The scholarly James used to host Christmas dinners where, afterward, everyone would gather in his study and he would read his latest eerie tale. And it's no coincidence that that most famous Christmas story of all features four spectres: Marley, Christmas Past, Present and Future.
This tradition has died away in America, but was still thriving as late as 1963, when Eddie Pola and George Wyle penned that perennial Christmas favorite, “It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” , which contains the following verse:
“There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago…”
With this tradition firmly in mind, your favorite wandering spectre and storyteller, Carpathian, would like to invite you to Old Town Coffee & Chocolates on Saturday, December 20 th , at 7:00 pm for an evening of Christmas Ghost Stories and Seasonal Music. There will be mistletoe and monsters, carols and cadavers, and Christmas spectres and spirits galore to hopefully help raise your own holiday spirits.
Don't expect all doom, gloom and graveyards; Carpathian will be joined by his good companions in story and song Seabury Gould (of Scatter The Mud), Celtic and Folk balladeer unparallel, and Paul Woodland (of KHSU 90.5 FM's “Once Upon A Tune” , Saturdays at 11:30 am), the Mad River Raconteur. Also joining the fun will be Celtic Harpist Maya Kaup, certain to add to the charm and magic of the night's celebration!
Admission is free; this is an all-ages family-friendly show. Bring your mistletoe and holly, and be sure to bundle yourself up, because along with the merriment and good will may be a few midwinter chills…!
Old Town Coffee & Chocolate is located at 211 F Street in Old Town Eureka. For more information please call 707-445-8600, or log onto www.myspace.com/patientcreature.
