Charles Dickens 
The Holly-Tree 

As Charles Dickens looks on “at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas tree”, he is filled with wonder at the beauty of the sight. On the tree are candles, toys, fruit, trinkets, “everything and more” which trigger a whole host of memories. He remembers toys he received in his early years, the pantomimes he saw, the toy theatre he played with … But all is not tinsel and sparkle and superficiality. There is darkness too. For where there is light, shadows will also fall. And for a while Dickens cannot resist lurking in those long dark shadows …

Dickens, perhaps the most read author during the Christmas season, writes this tale that gives voice to many of the sentimental feeling one has surrounding the holiday. A lovely so story very apropos to the season.

It began as an account of various Christmases from his past and then turned into a catalogue of ghost stories.

This story is what happens when one gets high and then stares at a Christmas tree too long.