Another of my favourites is Snowy about an elderly lady alone at Christmas except for her cats, she is happy but longs to be with her husband who has passed away. Christmas Eve at the Witch Museum is a real joy, a little slice of life at the Museum. It's all much as you'd expect, with Rosie hanging up the mistletoe and thinking thoughts of Sam, some gruesome exhibits on display and a surprise appearance by a very English phantom. Sunday After Christmas-Honor is given Joseph the Guardian (i.e. also called Righteous Joseph), David the King (the son of Jesse) and Iakovos, the (step-brother) of Christ, the 1st bishop of Jerusalem.

Death Becomes Her focuses on a policewoman we have seen before, and perhaps explains a bit about her. Four Calling Birds- This symbol represents two similar ideas: the four Gospels and their writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The collection does feature some stories which were in The Strange Casebook published last year but there are as many new ones, and the older stories stand up very well to rereading. If you've read and enjoyed the Essex Witch Museum books you'll have the chance to spot how the stories fit in to that world.Wendigo: Dewey, Donald and Della encounter one who is after Scrooge. They describe it as "poor souls turned into monsters by obsession and desperation", and it is portrayed resembling a muscular goat-man with Glowing Eyes of Doom, sharp teeth, clawed hands and three-toed theropod-like feet. It turns out to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, driven mad after Scrooge left him behind in the past. He gets better once Scrooge breaks through the creature's shell and reconciles with the spirit. Young Donald complains, "This is the most confusing family," a shot at the rather elaborate family tree created by Carl Barks.

Blame Game: When Scrooge furiously asks who put up the giant Santa animatronic, everyone points at Louie while Louie points at Huey. The '90s: Given Preteen Donald's grungy outfit - complete with a t-shirt that strongly resembles the Nirvana smiley face - it's possible this is when Dewey's encounter takes place. Whatever Louie feels he must (and claims he can) explain in his letter to Santa. Considering that Louie is a Schemer to the point where he's known as the evil triplet, it's likely more than just one incident and probably includes various incidents of questionable morality from prior episodes as well. One of the guests at Scrooge's party in the past is Captain Farley Foghorn (an even bigger Captain Crash than Launchpad) from the original series.If I'm supposed to be scared by misty skeletons in tricornes, I expect atmospheric writing to set me up for it, especially if the PoV character is slow-witted about grasping the situation. If I'm to follow a character dead for centuries who doesn't realize it, that shouldn't be the only interesting element. And so forth, "meh" for most of the collection. That includes a few unpleasant Roald Dahlesque- Ellery Queen Magazineish entries, especially " The House on Savage Lane" whose twist, unworthy of O. Henry, is obvious as soon as it becomes statable. And I could've done with the felinophile sentimentality of "Snowy" unsullied by its own ironic twist at the end.

Smug Smiler: Scrooge has a smug grin on his face as he swipes the Ghost of Christmas Past's time-travelling umbrella from him and uses it to escape the past. Pals with Jesus: Scrooge is friends with the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and spends the holiday with them at the best Christmas parties in history.

Tropes:

Beary Friendly: The series' version of Santa Claus is a polar bear, if the giant animatronic version of him is anything to go by. Although Scrooge has other opinions of him. The House on Savage Lane, and Jocelyn's Story are stories of a slightly different kind, the sort where the revelation of what is really going on is what drives the horror (even if you'd begun to guess as I did for the first, not the second) so I won't say much about them. I think they look forward to potential future Witch Museum mysteries. I especially found Jocelyn's Story to be genuinely strange and unsettling. The House on Savage Lane was a bit more conventional but still had a couple of effective twists. As to be expected, the story is predictable and although the premise is a reasonably clever one there isn't really an original idea in sight. There are a lot of easily telegraphed scenes here. Some draggy pacing here and there too. The Grinch: Scrooge seems to live up to his namesake, calling Christmas nothing but commercialism and misplaced sentiment, flying into an absurd rage at an ornamental Santa Claus. He doesn't actually believe this, it's just a facade so he'll be left to party with his friends. To clarify, he doesn't hate Christmas, but he does have a problem with Santa (he knows what he did). Scrooge does, however, come to realize it's still missing the point of the holiday to dodge your family.

These are short stories which take place in the world of Moore's Essex Witches novels - supernatural thrillers focussed on Rosie Strange and her family museum in the village of Adder's Fork, Essex. The Strange family and its history entwine with that of the Museum which is itself a slightly uncanny place. I really liked hearing Jen Lilley's voice, she has such a voice that you are immediately dying for. She's like so stunning for an actress that I never even knew she was in a few well known films! Since she is a singer, she should've sang a Christmas song in this, she would make this film more Christmassy! Day 12 -Jan 5th -Hieromartyr Theopemptos, Bishop of Nicomediaand also Martyr Theonas (a pagan magician) Thomas Beaudoin was excellent playing as the ghost, he really has the looks of a handsome gentlemen from 95 years ago. I say it was the make up and outfit that made him attractive! Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Contrasting with their present selves, Della and Donald switched roles over time. When they were young, Della was the responsible sibling, while Donald was the foolish one.

See also

The House on Savage Lane’ is satisfying gruesome with a twist that is practically guaranteed to creep up out of nowhere and catch the reader unawares, but in the same vein, ‘Jocelyn’s Story’ is a twisted tale of a beautiful lady and her aspirations for Betty Grable’s vital statistics that doesn’t quite have the surprising punch of the former story. Scrooge has a minor one when he realizes just how desperate the ghost of Christmas Past became after Scrooge stranded him in the past. Seing it as someone who wanted to see a different festive film other than the ones watched every year, 'The Spirit of Christmas' is never going to be among my favourites or one of the timeless festive films. It is not great, nor is it flawless. 'The Spirit of Christmas' is though a more than watchable film and avoids some, though not all, of the traps that other Christmas films have fallen into. It is a case of having appeal for some and others finding it a bit of a chore to sit through. For me despite its flaws, 'The Spirit of Christmas' is one of the better new Christmas films seen recently, but nowhere near close to ever. Stealth Pun: Beakley, a secret agent, turns down the advances of the Ghost of Christmas Present, but aggressively pursues Christmas Future. Clearly, she flirts with death. She Saw Three Ships is a delight, a whole story featuring Ethel-Rose and taking place in that most ghost haunted and uncanny of English counties, Cornwall. What happens when the locals make you unwelcome on the eve of a creepy local festival? Well, you dig in and see what happens, obviously. This slice of folk horror is calculated to raise a shiver.