8 Best Ghost Stories For Christmas
7. The Muppet Christmas Carol
Not all festive ghost stories end on a dark and disturbing note and this is readily apparent in the most beloved and enduring Victorian Christmas ghost story: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's a story that has been adapted endlessly in various degrees of faithfulness from the 1901 five minute short Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost, whose use of superimposed images was a cutting edge effect, to the 2009 Robert Zemeckis version whose own state of the art effects allowed a motion captured Jim Carrey to play almost all the leading roles.
When it comes to the best version of the perennial Christmas favourite, however, there is plenty of debate. While many swear by the classic 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, others prefer the brashly modernised 1988 Scrooged with Bill Murray. The Christmas Carol that really delivers on warmth, wit and charm, though, is this 1992 effort starring Michael Caine and a whole load of muppets.
Arguably Jim Henson's fuzzy puppet creatures' finest big screen outing, The Muppet Christmas Carol is an impressively faithful rendering of the Dickens story that hits all the major plot beats while rattling along at a cracking pace with catchy songs and the sense of anarchic DIY style the muppets always bring. Each of Scrooge's three ghostly visitors is a brilliantly imaginative and individual piece of puppetry, some of the Henson Company's best work. And, if you think that this is far too cosy a ghost story to provide any scares, then the Grim Reaper-esque Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is sinister enough to put the fear of God into any watching children as it does for Scrooge. Surrounded by muppet-y chaos Michael Caine gives a good natured performance, more convincing as somebody seeing the error of his ways and embracing the Christmas spirit than as a miserable miser, but always bringing humour and a happy willingness to share the limelight with his amphibious co-star. More likely to bring warmth to your heart than a chill, The Muppet Christmas Carol is nevertheless a festive haunting essential.