Deck the Halls with a touch of horror! Today is Friday the 13th so it must be time for a touch of horror or fright among the festive season. I don't know the statistics for whether more things go bad on such dates as this but certainly there are many who hold superstitions about the date. A mixture of religious and cultural beliefs play a part in this:
Judas - the 13th guest at the last supper, betrayed Jesus who was then crucified on a Friday
Loki - the 13th Norse god responsible for chaos and death when crashing a feast of 12 gods
Number 13 - considered a symbol of death, rebirth, fertility and blood in ancient stories
Mass arrest of over 100 Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307, who were tortured and killed under the orders of King Philip IV of France
Such is the strength of feeling about this date that some people avoid working on it and some buildings do not have 13th rooms or floors. I don't know whether there was a thirteenth floor in the Nakatomi Plaza building but that was certainly an unlucky place to have been on Christmas Eve. Many debate whether Die Hard counts as Christmas movie but is definitely memorable and usually finds itself airing among the TV festive listings.
I was thinking about the number of films that have some element of horror, threat or menace included in our Christmas viewings. It seems that along with our cheery elves, chubby Santa stories and children playing in the snow, we also like to feel a little scared. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Gremlins and of course the many versions of Scrooge where Dickens' compelling ghosts of A Christmas Carol are brought to life. Among all the jolly Christmas offerings, this opening line definitely stands out:
"Marley was dead: to begin with."
Whilst I'm in this area, I'd like to give another little author shout-out to Alexandra Peel and her collection of Christmas short stories - 'A Box Full of Christmas Shorts.' This collection contains eight Christmas tales for grown-ups which Alex describes as:
'A miscellaneous collection of seasonal chillers brings ghosts and pagan horrors. Interspersed between there is a sprinkle of humour and a dash of hope. There are stories here to make you shiver and shake, and smile. Get comfy, light your candles, and embrace the spirit of Christmas.“Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night"'
I wonder what you include on your 'must see' list for Christmas movies or indeed, what books you like to come back to during the festive season. Yesterday, my daughter was gifted a beautiful copy of A Christmas Carol for her Secret Santa present at work - somebody obviously knows her well. She loved studying this text at school and quotes much of when we sit down each year to watch The Muppet's Christmas Carol - a film that stands the test of time and is listed as one of the closest to Dickens' text. I don't know how many times we have watched it as a family, but it regularly forms part of Christmas Eve or the morning of Christmas Day itself - playing in the background while food is being prepared or clues for a traditional treasure hunt are drawn up and hidden around different places in the house, the garden and sometimes even in the local neighbourhood to get us all outside after our Christmas dinner. Yes, you're right - we are quite mad!
Whatever your Christmas brings you, I hope the only horrors are on the pages of a book or from a movie screen.
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