Phantoms of Christmas Past: Festive Ghost Hoaxes, Ghost Hunts and Ghost Panics

True stories of seasonal ghost hoaxes and strange phantom panics from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, ghost hoaxes (dressing in a white sheet or a more elaborate costume) and scaring people were rife but seldom studied or written about. These hoaxes frequently led to impromptu ghost hunts by hundreds, sometimes thousands of often drunk vigilantes (and hysterical panics) as rumours of the supposed ghosts would spread round the community...