When people think of Charles "Boz" Dickens (1812-1870) around Christmastime, they obviously think of "A Christmas Carol." It was published to much fanfare on December 14, 1843. Yet it is relatively unknown that seven years prior, Dickens published another scary ghost story for Christmas. The scary story was first published in 1836 and later appeared as Chapter 29 in The Pickwick Papers. The ghost story is both funny and horrific in parts, reminiscent of A Christmas Carol in this regard.
The name of the story is The Goblins Who Stole a Sexton and it is one of Dickens's best ghost stories. It followed in the grand English tradition of telling ghost stories around Christmastime. The protagonist is one Gabriel Grub, a "sexton and grave-digger" who is going about his business on Christmas Eve when horror strikes among the gravestones. I will let you read it for yourself.
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