We’ve told supernatural tales at midwinter for a very long time. In this talk storyteller and folklorist Kirsty Hartsiotis takes us back to the earliest winter tales of the Middle Ages and the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe. We then explore the lost years of the 17th and 18th centuries, where it’s often thought that Christmas wasn’t celebrated much – but ghost tales at Christmas-tide were very part of the season.  In the 19th century many traditional Christmas ghost tales were collected, and even now it’s considered one of the spookiest times of the years.

Kirsty draws on midwinter tales from all around Gloucestershire and explores links with European midwinter traditions.  You may well come away with a shiver running down your spine and with stories to share around your fireside this Christmas!

Kirsty Hartsiotis copyright Anthony Nanson

Kirsty is the author, with Anthony Nanson, of Gloucestershire Ghost Tales. She was for many years a curator at the Art Gallery and Museum in Cheltenham, and is now a curator for Swindon’s museums.