Sharing scary stories around a fire is not something teenagers thought of one day to spook each other. Verbally telling tales of ghosts, ghouls, spirits, and monsters has been around for many decades. Before the printed book, these stories were mainly shared orally or through illustrations on natural materials such as clay or rocks. It has been proven that tales would be passed down through generations and generations. Families would participate in storytelling to pass time; this was common before the development of electricity (Yuko). Then came the invention of the printing press in 1453; printing text on paper and disseminating information became a worldly practice. My years later during the industrial revolution, the steam powered printing press was invented in London, England on November 29, 1814, by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer. By reason of their invention books, novels, newspapers, etc., could be printed and produced at much faster rate than ever before (“Printing Press”). The invention permitted authors to share their work more widely and to a broader audience. Supernatural and ghost stories became a very popular genre in Victorian England. Much like Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, these were produced for an audience of the middle-class and released just in time for Christmas, where families would gather and share stories. Printed versions of these ghost stories “were available to read everywhere from cheap publications to expensive Christmas annuals that middle-class ladies would show off on their coffee tables” (Cooke). One of the main reasons Dicken’s novel became so popular was due to the steamed printing press in 1814. Dickens is admired as starting the tradition of sharing ghost stories around Christmas time, as well as generating many Christmas traditions due to the availability and preservation of A Christmas Carol.

Cooke, Simon. “Victorian Ghost Stories.” The Victorian Web, https://victorianweb.org/genre/ghoststories/cooke.html.

“Printing Press.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press.

Yuko, Elizabeth. “How Ghost Stories Became a Christmas Tradition in Victorian England.” History, 15 Dec. 2021, https://www.history.com/news/christmas-tradition-ghost-stories.