Christmas Stories and Other Stories of the Season

We all have different ways of marking the beginning of the holiday season, be it through song, lights, gifts or movies. In my family, the singing of Christmas carols is strictly prohibited until Santa Claus has flown down 5^th Avenue at the end of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Another family I know spends every Christmas Eve gathered around the television for the annual viewing of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

As I build a home of my own, I find that my Christmas celebrations are marked by three very important events. The first is my annual caroling party, a throwback to my childhood when my dad’s students would tote their brass instruments to “Doc’s” house to go a-caroling through the neighborhood. The second is going to a performance of “The Nutcracker” – again, a holdover from when I was a little girl, and Christmas meant watching Clara, the Rat King, the peppermint sticks, the Snow Queen and all of their compatriots leap and waltz around the stage.

The third is something that has emerged the older I’ve grown, and the more my love of books developed over the years. For me, it’s just not Christmas without returning to beloved Christmas stories, and I’m not just talking about those by Charles Dickens or those that took place long ago in a stable under a star (though I certainly return to them every year). There are some stories that are less well-known that center around Christmas that I find myself coming back to time and time again. Falling snow, candlelight, distant laughter and the cold, clean smell of pine – that’s the magic that lies between these well-worn book covers for me.

A Few of My Favorite Lesser-Known Christmas Stories

“A Christmas Memory,” by Truman Capote – If it’s possible for a story to warm your heart and break it at the same time, Capote’s story of a childhood Christmas spent with a beloved relative does it to mine every year. The Blackwing pencil aficionado and author of novels like “In Cold Blood” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was known for his merciless, scalpel-precise attention to detail, and here he employs it to describe the Christmas traditions of his childhood. In searching for a copy to link to this post, I had to read it again – even knowing how it ends, it takes my breath away every time.

“A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” by Dylan Thomas – Another return to childhood, another masterful retelling of Christmases long past. I didn’t become familiar with the works of Dylan Thomas until I went to college, but his tale of the Christmases from his childhood, as vivid as the snap of ice, is one that I return to year after year.

“Murder for Christmas,” edited by Thomas Godfrey – Not all Christmas tales are made of sugar and spice; this anthology of short stories contains twenty-six masterful mysteries by authors including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Woody Allen and many more. Thomas Godfrey was a witty, erudite anthologist – his “English Country House Murders” is a master-class on upper-crust British crime – who sadly produced a limited number of works. “Murder for Christmas” is the perfect antidote for a little too much fa-la-la.

What are some of your favorite Christmas stories, pencileers? Tell us a tale in the comments below!