As it’s Christmas, I wanted to pay homage to Charles Dickens, who wrote the classic Christmas tale, A Christmas Carol. It’s a novella well worth buying as a Christmas present. The definitive film version for me is the 1951 film starring Alistair Sim as Scrooge. It’s an emotionally-engaging ghost story that holds out the promise of spiritual redemption.
It’s hardly surprising to learn that Charles Dickens was fascinated with the supernatural, as in 1859 he actively sought to visit a haunted property, as this article on Charles Dickens in the Guardian explains.
There’s also an excellent piece on the Historic UK website on the intellectual influence of ghosts on Charles Dickens’ writing, although he could perhaps be called a ‘fascinated skeptic’ as revealed on the Charles Dickens Museum website.
Although I’ve not found any story connecting a London site with the ghost of Charles Dickens, anyone hoping to come across his spirit should definitely visit the Charles Dickens Museum. It is based at the house in central London where the author and his family lived in the late 1830s. If you’d like to visit it is at 48 Doughty Street in King’s Cross.
Death in Paradise
For those who like their ghosts with a Caribbean twist, it seems that this year’s Death in Paradise Christmas Special on the BBC will be a treat. Set in the stunning French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, it’s thousands of miles away from the spooky scenes that Dickens was familiar with.
If you, or anyone you know, is interested in the supernatural set against a Caribbean backdrop you might also like to read the novella, Volcanic Vengeance. It’s a chilling ghost story set in Guadeloupe’s twin island of Martinique during the 1980s.