Sorry the 2nd post is later this week, I'm a bit behind in the lead-up to Christmas. Anyway, it's Christmas Eve today, so here's some last minute festive inspiration! :)
In 2016 and 2018 I wrote two Christmas Round-up posts featuring a round-up of Christmas themed posts on the blog, plus some festive favourites. You can see them at the links below:
Christmas Round-up: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-round-up.html
Christmas Round-up 2: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/12/christmas-round-up-2.html
So for Christmas 2023 I thought it would be good to do another round-up. :)
First, here are my Christmas posts from the past 5 years (all music themed):
Christmas Songs 2019: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/12/christmas-songs-2019.html
Christmas Songs for 2020: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/12/christmas-songs-for-2020.html
Christmas Music Round-up: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/12/christmas-music-round-up.html
K-pop Christmas Songs: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/12/k-pop-christmas-songs.html
Ashanti- Christmas Time Again: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/12/weekly-music-video_21.html
Christmas Songs for 2023: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/12/christmas-songs-for-2023.html
And now here's some more entertainment inspiration for Christmas. :)
Books
The Haunting Season (published in 2022) is an anthology of 8 Christmas/winter themed ghost and spooky stories by authors including Bridget Collins, Laura Purcell, Natasha Pulley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Andrew Michael Hurley. The majority of them are set in and around the Victorian era.
My favourites are A Study in Black and White by Bridget (a man buys an unusually designed house which may be haunted), Thwaite's Tenants by Imogen Hermes Gowar (a woman staying the night in a spooky house finds courage from an unlikely source), The Chillingham Chair by Laura (a woman whose sister is marrying her former fiancé has an accident and is confined to a creepy old wheelchair) and Confinement by Kiran (a new mother suffers a difficult confinement after giving birth and believes a ghost is after her baby).
I also like Andrew's Hanging of the Greens, which is about a man with a Christmas memory he'd rather forget. It's the only story written by a male author in the book and also the only modern one (at least I think it's set in more recent times). I like old fashioned/Victorian ghost stories the most but also enjoy more modern ones. The others are The Eel Singers by Natasha, Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd and Monster by Elizabath Macneal.
I got this two Christmases ago. I recommend it if you like spooky stories in the style of Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories, and/or you like winter and Christmas themed stories. I'd already read books by several of the authors and liked their style. The follow-up collection The Winter Spirits came out in October and I hope to get it for this Christmas!
The Woman in Black and Other Ghost Stories by Susan Hill
This is a collection of British author Susan Hill's ghost stories (released in 2015), including her classic The Woman in Black. Originally published in 1983, The Woman in Black is the tale of lawyer Arthur Kipps, who looks back on a terrifying experience in his youth, when he went to the town of Crythin Gifford.
Then working as a junior solicitor, Arthur was sent by his employer Mr. Bentley to attend the funeral of Mr. Bentley's deceased client Alice Drablow and settle her estate. Arthur is subjected to a series of frightening occurrences in Mrs. Drablow's house and the surrounding area, centred around a mysterious woman dressed in black.
This is good for the festive season, both because of the English/British tradition of a "ghost story at Christmas" and because the introduction is set at Christmas, when Arthur is pressured by his family to tell a ghost story. He doesn't want to because of his past experience, but it prompts him to write it all down.
The rest of the stories are Dolly (originally published in 2012), The Man in the Picture (2007), Printer's Devil Court (2013 and included in the 2017 paperback version of The Travelling Bag and Other Ghost Stories) and The Small Hand (2010).
I got this book for Christmas last year. I'd read nearly all the stories before except for The Man in the Picture, I think. My favourite is The Woman in Black and then Dolly second, which is about a man's boyhood experience staying with his aunt and difficult cousin Leonora, and the consequences which come from Leonora's bad temper and rejection of a birthday present. To be honest, I don't fully understand the story but it is good!
The Man in the Picture sees a man come to learn about a mysterious painting in his old tutor's possession, Printer's Devil Court is about medical students embarking on dangerous experiments with the dead and The Small Hand is the tale of a man drawn to an old house, where he feels the touch of a small ghostly hand in his own. The Small Hand is the only really modern story. The Woman in Black is set in Edwardian times, I believe (early 20th century) and the others primarily in earlier time periods than when they were written.
The Woman in Black was famously made into a film in 2012 starring British actor Daniel Radcliffe (most known for Harry Potter). I like the film but it is a bit slow. I don't mind a slower pace in books because I can dip in and out, lol. There is also a 1989 TV movie version which I've never seen.
Watch the trailer for the 2012 film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnY0fEV30Wk
In addition, a sequel called The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death was released in 2014, based on the 2013 book by Martyn Waites. I've seen the film but don't think it's as good as the first one.
Want more ghostly stories? Check out my 2018 Christmas Round-up: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/12/christmas-round-up-2.html
Music
Pia Mia- Unwrap Me
Back in 2021, Guamanian singer Pia Mia released her debut Christmas EP, simply titled Christmas. It was released on 1st November, in digital download and streaming formats. The EP contains 4 tracks- an intro, Home, Unwrap Me and Nye. I only saw the videos on YouTube recently.
This is Unwrap Me, a Christmas love song. This is the official lyric video, which was uploaded on 6th December.
Listen to Christmas at these links:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2InUJBmL1jERs4tImQtRsw
YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vad_tNpZwxc&list=OLAK5uy_nSC4PF2so-USqpt8Maef19hFiTNV84z_o
And for another Pia Christmas song, check out the video for Cuddled Up with John Lindahl: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/12/weekly-music-video_17.html
XG- WINTER WITHOUT YOU
Japanese girl group XG brought out their latest single WINTER WITHOUT YOU this month. It's the girls' first holiday single and is an R'n'B song about missing your loved one during Christmas and the winter season, and wishing they would be with you.
XG have had a successful year, releasing several singles and their debut mini album NEW DNA in 2023. WINTER WITHOUT YOU is a standalone single (not on NEW DNA) and was released on 8th December.
TV
Father Christmas (1991)
The animated short film Father Christmas is an adaptation of British author Raymond Briggs' (RIP) 1973 children's book Father Christmas and its sequel Father Christmas Goes on Holiday.
It shows the "unseen" life of a somewhat grumpy Father Christmas (voiced by the late Mel Smith) who gets bored of his daily routine after Christmas Eve is over for another year. So he decides to go on a summer holiday abroad and relax. Upon his return, it's time to get ready for next Christmas! He also wishes everyone a "Happy Bloomin' Christmas"!
Originally broadcast on Christmas Eve 1991, this is often shown again in the UK at Christmas time. It's related to the 1982 animation The Snowman, another Christmas classic which was also based on a book by Raymond Briggs. I also really like the 2012 sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog.
Here's a clip from the film:
Hope you liked the post! :) Merry Christmas! And wishing you a Happy Festive/Winter Season in general depending on what festivals you celebrate or where you live. :)
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