Ghost story night, 2024

I thought I would share a few pictures and thoughts of the ghost story night, held last Friday (13 December).

As ever, the evening was run by our amazing volunteers – and it was quite an amount of work to prepare the event. Our kiosk team provided the refreshments, I was aided by John and my wife Ruth setting up the chapel the day before. One the evening the whole team helped to run the event and then put everything away at the end. The large candelabra was provided by Judith, and it really helped to set the scene. I think you’ll agree it looked amazing.

We were again fortunate to have both Colin Sykes and Janette Sykes join myself in telling the stories. Colin has a long career in journalism, including as a BBC presenter. Janette is also a highly experience journalist. Both are wonderful performers and we thank them for bringing their time and talent to the event.

Telling ghost stories at Christmas was a Victorian Christmas tradition – although it’s something that has taken place for many years before. The Victorians view Christmas a little differently to use – yes, a festive time, but also a period of closeness to the spirit world. Close to the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, this was seen as a time when the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest – making ghostly apparitions seem at least possible.

Charles Dicken is, in many ways, the man who invented much of how we now see Christmas. He wrote many ghost stories, and his classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ blended both the spirit of the season and the supernatural in a way which not only set into place how we think about Christmas but also popularised the telling of ghost stories during the holiday season.

During that period, and for some time before and since, there was an explosion of writing tales of the supernatural. Except to enthusiasts like me, much that writing is unknown to many people. Yes, we’ve all heard of writers such as MR James, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe, but there were many, many other popular writers.

We drew the core of the performance from that time, but also added a modern tale by Ray Bradbury. The set list was: The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe; The Marble Hands, by Bernard Capes; The Crowd, by Ray Bradbury, The Four-Fingered Hand, by Barry Pain; The Mystery of the Semi- Detached, by Edith Nesbit; A Vine on a House, by Ambrose Bierce; A Man Who Dwelt in a Churchyard, by MR James.

The event was free (as many of our events are) but we received a record amount in donations and our refreshments enjoyed brisk business. Other than costs, all time is donated free – and the income from the night, minus those costs, goes towards creating other events and our projects in the chapel and around the estate.

Thanks to all who took part and to everyone who came.

We also added more signatures to our petition to help us raise funds to improve the path around Chadkirk, making it accessible to all and safer to walk.