Full text of all the winners are at WeirdChristmas.com along with bios, information, and links for all the authors. All fiction copyright 2020 by the authors. Please visit WeirdChristmas.com for full information.

Weird Christmas Podcast

2020 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest Results Show

Sometimes when you have a podcast, you talk to people who interest you and you don’t worry so much about how it relates to the show or your topic or what your hard-won audience really cares about. So you put out a show that’s all about really, really narrow interests you have. This is half that. The other half is about an amazing book about whether or not you should believe in Santa. Links from the show: Does Santa Exist: A Philosophical Investigation (buy on Amazon) Eric’s blog Eric’s Wikipedia page…because that’s cool Eric on Twitter (which is loads of fun) I’m sure I forgot something Music from this episode: “Science Christmas Carols” “A Christmas Carol” by Tom Lehrer >>>>> If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

Philosophy, Christmas, and Does Santa Exist by Eric Linus Kaplan who wrote Big Bang Theory which I mentioned here totally for clicks

“…And scary ghost stories of Christmasses long, long ago!” Ghost stories from previous years if you’re in a spooky mood: 2019, 2018, 2017 Next year, we should break open this boys’ club with a tale from this… Links from the show: Full text of the story, “Between the Lights” A bit about Benson Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Vol. 4 by Christopher Philippo. Our narrators this year: Christohper Stanley (@allthosestrings, author of The Lamppost Huggers which has a a couple Xmas ghost stories of its own) Kitty Pereira (@itskittypereira) Sean from Xmas Podcasts Podcast Jim Moon of Hypnogoria (loads more ghost stories here), who also helped us out last year Alexandra White (@alexandradw23) OldManFreakBoy (Check out his radio shows of Christmas music here: 1, 2, 3, 4. Dr. Calighoulie (Tony Dixon, IG: @tonydixon_art) Kristy Smith (Twitter/IG: @kristynotkirsty, FB: @kristynotkirsty74) fthgurdy Dustin Pari (@dustinpari, DustinPari.com, Ghosthunters guy.) Fr. Stephen Vrazel (@KeytarCatholic) >>>>> If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker!

The Ghost Story of Christmas 2020 "Between the Lights" by EF Benson

 Time to destroy your appetite! I talk to Glen Warren from the Season's Eatings Podcast about weird Christmas food throughout history. Links: Season's Eatings Podcast List of Christmas Podcasts (from Brian Earl's Christmas Past) Holly Jolly Xmasu (Japanese Christmas music podcast) Totally Rad Christmas ("Rudolph's Shiny New Year" episode with me) The Lamppost Huggers by Christopher Stanley (some Christmas horror stories) Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, vol 4 edited by Christopher Philippo Music in this episode: "Christmas Food" by Idito the Chicken and Moonpie Nobot >>>>> If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker! 

Weird Christmas Food with Glen Warren of the Season's Eatings Podcast

 As a Thanksgiving treat, enjoy a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Santa history with Tom Jerman, author of Santa Claus Worldwide: A History of St. Nicholas and Other Holiday Gift-Bringers. This is my favorite book of Santa history, and Tom and I covered a lot of ground. Links mentioned in the show: Buy the book! From Amazon From McFarland Publishers Tom's new website A Collection of Santas with new blog posts summarizing topics in Santa history and other treats. Books mentioned: The Children's Friend (1821) Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York (later version) Glen Warren's Season's Eatings Podcast Music from the episode: "Sankt Niklas war ein Seemann" - Freddy Quinn "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Wilf Carter "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" - Chadron Polka Band If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a “coffee” ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a sticker! 

Santa is NOT St Nick - Tom Jerman and Santa Claus Worldwide

 I'm not usually your go-to source for new movies. But this one is worth your time. The Christmas Ride is a mumblecore (improvised dialogue) film about a ride share driver getting an emotional gut punch on Christmas day. I talked to the producer/director Stefanie Davis, and I hope you'll check it out. Here's the trailer for a taste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y45euwomp9g&t You can stream it from Amazon (free with Prime) and Vimeo: Stream from Amazon Prime Watch on Vimeo ($4.99 right now...help an indie movie out!) Cool people! Starring Daryen Ratté Writer/Producer/Director Stefanie Davis Bouncy Boxer Media The film's twitter Slacker (Craig's favorite old "mumblecore" movie) Music: "This Christmas Life" by Shane Dawson "Christmas Around the World" by Be Still This Earth And the promo was for Holly Jolly Xmasu -- a podcast all about Japanese Christmas music. You'll be hearing more from Scott soon. :) If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year. You can also buy me a "coffee" ($3 gifts) at Ko-Fi.com. Or PLEASE LEAVE A WEIRD REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS OR YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP! Send me a note that you did (weirdxmas@gmail.com), and I'll send you a sticker! 

Mumblecore Christmas with Stefanie Davis about her film The Christmas Ride

Krampus. Seems like I should have done a show on Krampus years ago, but I was waiting for the right person. And that person is Al Ridenour, author of The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. This is the definitive book on Krampus, and Al fills us in on all the history and celebrations we could want.Links mentioned in the show:The book: The Krampus and the Old, Dark ChristmasBone & Sickle (Al's podcast)The Krampus episode (Saint, Devil, Sugar-Bread & Whip)Music:Carol of the Krampus by The Courtesan and the Cabin BoyIf you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.

Krampus with Al Ridenour

Christmas werewolves are a thing. I mean, I don't know if they're REAL real. But people really used to believe they were a thing. So Christmas expert Benito Cereno fills us in on their history Benito's been on the show before, talking about Christmas comics and the Yule Lads. Links mentioned in the show: Benito's werewolf Christmas story, "Two Gifts" Benito's YouTube channel Lives of St. Barbara and St. Nicholas Celebrating St. Nicholas Around the World and more... Apocrypals podcast Benito's site Bone & Sickle Podcast (episode 30: Loup-Garou, Werewolves in France) Music this episode: "Werewolf Christmas" by Timur and the Dime Museum "Werewolf in Christmas Past" by Max Dimartino, Lee Lacey "Meido Krampus Noche" by The Courtesan and the Cabin Boy And check out the Merry Britsmas podcast for all your British Christmas needs! If you’re feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.  

Christmas Werewolves with Benito Cereno

The first podcast episode of the 2020 {shiver} season. We do a bit of deep diving into the world of Halloween postcard collecting which, if you follow me on social media, you know is a small obsession of mine. Eric Hinton runs Halloween Postcards and has collected all, yes, ALL of the Halloween postcards printed before World War 2. We wander around some of the stranger examples and figure out what goes on in the musty corners of our collector-type-brains. This episode has a video version as well so you can see the cards we're talking about. Head over to my youtube channel here. Bumper music: "Happy Christmahanavaloween" by Melanie "Horror Flick" by Make Like Monkeys If you're feeling generous, check out my Patreon page here where you can get all kinds of bonuses throughout the year.

Halloween Postcard Collecting with Eric Hinton

A talk with Brad Warner, author of the new book Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen. How Buddhism can help calm holiday stress, and just stuff about Brad and Zen in general.

WC# 25 Christmas and Zen Buddhism, a talk with Brad Warner

What do we know about Christmas during the Middle Ages? Turns out it's kinda hard to find very much information. I talk to two medievalists, Misty Schieberle and Scott Smith, who help me trace what few mentions of Christmas there are in the English tradition.

WC #24 Medieval Christmas with Misty Schieberle and Scott Smith

The 2019 Weird Christmas ghost story is "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" by M. R. James. I also get some help with background on James and Punch and Judy puppet shows (which show up in the story) from Jim Moon of the Hypnogoria Podcast.

WC #23 The Ghost Story of 2019, M.R. James' "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance"

Weird Christmas talks to the indie music blog Christmas Underground about the world of Christmas mixes and how he finds great, unknown Christmas music all year long.

WC #22 Underground Christmas Music with Christmas Underground

The annual Weird Christmas Flash Fiction show with the results of the 2019 contest. Fourteen odd stories of Christmas uncanniness to get you out of that holiday spirit. Find the full text of all the stories along with author bios and their contact info at WeirdChristmas.com.

WC #21 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction 2019 (Contest results show)

Who are the Yule Lads, and why does Iceland have a bunch of trolls instead of Santa Claus? I talk to author Heidi Herman and Christmas expert Benito Cereno about where the legends of the Yule Lads came from and how they're celebrated today. (Next show is the contest results show...almost there!)

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Weird Christmas Podcast

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