Dickens' Christmas Stories
by FCIT
This book collects five short works by Charles Dickens. Although the stories were not necessarily based on a Christmas theme, Dickens' annual Christmas stories had become a national institution since his publication of A Christmas Carol in 1843. The last two passages are a part of the 1859 Christmas publication The Haunted House co-authored by Dickens and five other authors.
Source: This book was compiled by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology and includes passages from multiple sources. Please refer to the passage pages for further source information.
- The Chimes, a Goblin Story
- This is a greatly abridged children's version of Dickens' 1844 Christmas novella. An old fellow named Trotty thinks the church bells are talking to him when they chime each quarter hour. When he visits the church to see why they are saying things to him he has a dream in which the bells really do speak to him, and the dream changes Trotty’s life.
- A Christmas Tree
- The author shares some of his Christmas experiences and memories regarding the meaning of the Christmas tree.
- What Christmas is as We Grow Older
- The speaker compares the feelings and hopes of youth at Christmastime with the changes that occur with age.
- The Haunted House: The Mortals in the House
- The narrator tells of how he came to live in the house. Servants believe in the haunting, and this leads to troubles, so the narrator and his sister decide to change their plans.
- The Haunted House: The Ghost in Master B.’s Room
- The narrator tells of his growing fascination with Master B, as well as the series of events following the appearance of the ghost.