As a personal Christmas tradition, each December I read one of Charles Dickens’s Christmas novels aloud to myself. Dickens wrote several holiday novels, of which A Christmas Carol is only the most famous (and arguably the best). This year I am rereading The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, a dark tale of a man who is given the power to erase painful memories. What on the surface seems like a gift quickly reveals itself to be a curse, both to the man and everyone he meets.
Though I prefer A Christmas Carol, both for style and story, The Haunted Man really hits me to the core this year, in a useful and worthwhile way. The tale relies on ghostly and supernatural developments, yet the protagonist’s journey is unmistakably one of mental health crisis, driven by an increasing sense of alienation and isolation. I speak as one who has taken such a journey. Whatever fanciful scenarios Dickens may drop his characters in, he provides the reader with real-world perspective and insight. His Christmas novels come as close to scripture as anything I can think of in English literature. Certainly, they are devotional. Frankly, I find them more inspirational than much of what the Standard Works serve up.
I invite you to watch an Instagram reel I created; it contains a brief reading of lines from The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.
Your reactions and perspective on this post, my Instagram reel, and emotional health during Christmastime, are welcome in the comments section below. Happy and healthy holidays, friends!
Wheat & Tares 
Hi Jake. If only I had stayed an English major and not switched to History, I may have known that Dickens wrote more than one Christmas novel. The last time I actually read A Christmas Carol, it was probably above my reading level (I think I was 11 at the time), but I am quite familiar with the many film adaptations. For my money, you can’t beat the Musical Scrooge starring Albert Finney in the title role and featuring Sir Alec Guiness as Jacob Marley. Sure, it’s cheesy, kitchy and way too long, but what can I say, I’m a sucker for musicals. Unfortunately, I think as a socio-econmic critique, A Christmas Carol probably missed (and continues to miss) its target audience. As a story of personal redemption, I do think it has staying power, though I think we all too often are unwilling to put ourselves in the role of Scrooge.
In terms of Christmas books to be read out loud, I don’t think you can beat The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I still read it to my kids every year even though they are now voracious readers themselves. Sure, there are aspects of it that have not aged well (there is some body shaming in the beginning, as well as stereotypical gender roles throughout), but to me it remains a deeply moving, cleverly written and relatable book that I still can’t get through without tearing up.
That Albert Finney musical was fine until the third spirit when it took an alarming turn from the story as written. We were gifted the dvd one Christmas a few years ago, and as one, my husband, kids and I laughed hysterically when Scrooge fell into the grave. As a family we appear to favour the muppet film version of the story.
The bbc have done some excellent dramatisation for radio of Dickens’ Christmas stories, but they aren’t all available to listen to at the moment, unfortunately that includes the haunted man. (Edit to say there seem to be several postings of the audio on YouTube)
Hedgehog: I’ll take your word for it about the alarming turn the “Musical Scrooge”took from the original story. I’m a little fuzzy on both right now. If I’m tracking things correctly though, I’ll take the film version in this particular case “Thank you very much,” 😉 but l am by no means a purist when it comes to film adaptations of beloved books. I agree with you on the Muppet version. That is also the preferred version in our household. To my point, I think the bold choices the filmmakers made that departed from the original story (ie. giving Jacob Marley a brother, and you know, Bob Cratchet is a frog and Dickens is … a “Whatever” narrating live) are what make the movie so delightful. Anyway, I think I’ve derailed the intent of the OP enough, so I’ll stop there.
Hi mat and Hedgehog. Thank you both for chiming in with further Dickens perspective and recommendations. Adding the Finney movie to my to do list. I’ve been aware of that adaptation for years but never gotten around to watching it that I can remember. Time to fill that gap in my knowledge. As a second tradition, I love trying different film versions of A Christmas Carol. There are so many, and streaming has opened up access so that, from year to year, many of them are accessible in a way they might not have been in the VHS/DVD age. There is, for instance, An American Christmas Carol starring Henry Winkler (aka the Fonz from Happy Days), set during the Great Depression. Definitely not the best, made-for-TV in every way, but visually a compelling refitting of the core story.
I say all that to say, I appreciate both your responses, spring boarding as they do off my OP. I just attended a Zoom fireside where a similar discussion emerged regarding favorite music for the holiday season. Definitely invite anyone and everyone to expand out from this OP to share holiday film and music offerings that capture, as Dickens did, that meaning of Christmas which we can all benefit from, regardless of where we land on the belief spectrum with regard to the New Testament Nativity story. Merry Christmas!