Holiday Ghost Stories - Books by Eric Douglas

Have you ever wondered about the line from Andy Williams’ classic Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” where he sings, “There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago”? In Victorian England, a holiday tradition was to gather around the fire place and tell scary stories. And think about the classic holiday ghost story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. That one is scary and creepy enough all on its own.

Flash forward to modern day and the concept of flash fiction on the internet and let me introduce you to Advent Ghosts 2012 hosted by I Saw Lightning Fall. This is not a competition—there are no winners and losers—but rather a group of writers getting together to write their own spooky stories for Christmas. I’ve said it before, but horror stories and similar work are not really my genre (read my Halloween story if you’re interested in a previous attempt), but it’s fun to stretch your wings from time to time and try something new.

Flash fiction is a concept that I’ve never played with much, either. This particular project limits stories to “exactly 100-words long — no more, no less”. So, there’s the real challenge for this project; telling a story that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck in 100 words. Something you can read in a moment or two. It requires touching on the imagination as much as actually writing a story. (For the record, this introduction is nearly 300 words long…).

So, here it goes. My contribution to Advent Ghosts 2012.

A little bit of Grandma

“You have to give me the recipe for this mincemeat pie.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s the last pie I’ll ever make. It has a secret ingredient and I’ve just run out.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“My grandma made it every Christmas with her grandma. She gave me the recipe. Now that she’s gone, I can’t make it any more.”

“Wouldn’t she want you to keep up the family tradition?”

“Like I said, she’s gone now. There isn’t any more left. If you do it right, there’s a little bit of grandma in every bite.”

If you want to read the rest of the contributions Advent Ghosts 2012, visit the I Saw Lightning Fall blog. Check back often. Loren Eaton will be adding stories all day as writers post their contributions.