Ghost stories (set/published) at Christmas

"Christmas Ghost Stories" covers two general categories:
• Ghost stories published/told at Christmas
• Ghost stories set at Christmas

Sometimes they overlap, as with Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My general preference for Christmastime leisure reading is for the kind set at Christmas, even though many of the ones that were only published at Christmas are excellent - those I feel more comfortable reading any time of the year. An accurate view of the genre as a whole should take both kinds into consideration, though.

Consider (if the release date info on IMDb can be trusted):

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Release Info 24 December 1931
• Island of Lost Souls (1932) Release Info 26 December 1932

Are those Christmas horror movies? In a sense, yes, but more likely around Christmas a genre fan might watch Dead of Night (1945) Release Info 9 September 1945, because of the segment "The Christmas Party." They might be even more likely to watch a feature centering around Christmas, or an anthology wherein all the segments pertain to it, though. That's not to say watching those other films (and others released during the season but not set then) might not be an interesting experiment. One might view them while keeping foremost in mind that many in the original audiences would have had their homes decorated for the holidays, the theaters may have been decorated, etc.

When it comes to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories anthology series, the percentage of stories set at Christmas has generally trended upward. I couldn't say why for sure; I'd guess it would have to do with how the compilers went about searching for stories.

Not counting stories that had only mentioned Christmas in the title, the percentage of stories that involved Christmas (or Advent or Christmastide) in some way:

• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume one = 5/13 (38%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume two = 8/15 (53%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume three = 13/20 (65%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four = 24/27 (89%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume five = 16/21 (76%)

2002's volume of James Skipp Borlase's Christmas ghost stories volume was similarly high, 10/13 (77%).

Gauging the degree to which they fully involved Christmas would be another question, possibly more subjective - and what stories one might view as "Christmassy" even moreso.