Christmas Eve is a great time to slow down, reflect on the year, and revisit some familiar voices. Over the years, The Confessionals has released a variety of special episodes around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day—music specials, collaborations, and unique holiday releases that have become part of the season for many listeners. Below is a roundup of our past Christmas-time episodes, all in one place, for anyone looking to add something merry and scary to their holiday playlist!

That familiar lyric about “scary ghost stories and tales of old glories” isn’t just poetic flair. Long before Christmas became bright lights and playlists, it was a season for storytelling . . . especially stories that touched the supernatural, the sacred, and the unseen. Long winter nights invited reflection, and reflection often turned toward spirits, angels, judgment, redemption, and hope. Here are 12 Christmas-connected ghost and supernatural stories, one for each day of Christmas, along with where you can read them online.

There’s something extra unsettling about a creature that shows up when the world feels the merriest—like the middle of a snowy December, during a family trip to cut Christmas trees. That’s exactly when one unique cryptid made its one and only recorded appearance. In the quiet woods of Derry, New Hampshire, a man encountered something small, green, and very much not of this world. Was it a goblin, an alien, or a forest spirit? Check out what we know about our Creature Feature Friday: the Derry Fairy!

Ghost stories at Christmas? It's tradition! From Dickens’ Marley’s Ghost to spooky classics by M.R. James and Algernon Blackwood, this 12-hour collection from Classic Ghost Stories Podcast is packed with holiday haunts to listen to while you settle in for a long winter’s nap.

As the world celebrates the holiday season, a remarkable archaeological discovery in Turkey sheds new light on the historical figure behind the legend of Santa Claus. Excavations at the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Antalya, have uncovered a limestone sarcophagus that may be the original burial site of Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century Greek bishop whose acts of generosity inspired the cherished Christmas icon.

The holiday season is often celebrated with traditions of joy, generosity, and storytelling, including the long-standing custom of sharing ghostly tales during Christmastime. As the classic lyric reminds us—“there’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago”— these chilling narratives have been a part of the season’s folklore for centuries. From eerie apparitions to unexplained phenomena, the season of goodwill has a darker, mysterious side woven into its history. Are they only holiday legends, or real ghosts of Christmas past? On this Friday the 13th, here 13 haunting Christmas tales as chilling as the winter air.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a cozy cabin on a snowy night, gazing out into the frosty wilderness, you might have wondered what might be lurking just beyond the trees. Maybe a bear, maybe an Abominable Snowman, or maybe the Winter Werewolf, a beast both feared and revered in wintry folklore!

Have you ever heard of the Tomten? It may be an important folklore figure to know since legend says every home has a Tomten. A Scandinavian version of a house elf, Tomten are gnome-like creatures that watch unseen over children and animals, protecting homes and farms from evil and misfortune… but don’t let the Tomten’s protective role or diminutive stature fool you…

The following written confession was shared via Reddit: …We were in the park as usual, and while we were walking there was a sewer hole from which were coming waves of steam, as it if was a furnace. We were heading towards it and I remember my dad saying: "Look, maybe here is where Santa prepares the gifts for the good children". I laughed a little because around that time I already knew Santa wasn't real. Then, as we passed by the hole I looked through the holes of the covering…

The following written confession was shared via Reddit: So this happened to me when I was around 10 years old. This little story haunts me to this day and I can still see it all happening in my head…I expected to see a lot of presents lying under the tree, but instead I saw a big shadow, like something big was lying infront of the tree. I stared at it for a little while, when it suddenly begins to move, it was definitely not human…

Merry (late) Christmas! If you were not able to catch our live Christmas Eve Special last week, a replay of the full show is available for viewing! For over four hours, we welcomed some excellent guests, gave away lots of prizes to say thanks to our TC members, and held a fundraiser for disaster relief for Kentucky. A huge THANK YOU goes out to all the podcasters who joined us in conversation, everyone who tuned in live to watch, and all those who were able to donate during the show!

Impish or admirable? Cheer or fear? If you’re a diehard fan of the legendary show The Office, then 1) there’s a good chance we can be best friends, and 2) you’ve definitely heard of the cantankerous Yuletide folk figure known as Belsnickel. So just who is this grim, grimy Christmas legend?

The following written confession was shared online by Caitlin Williams: My parents and I lived in a small home that was around 90 years old. The year would have been 1996. We lived there from the time I was seven years old to the time I was 19. From the very day that we moved in, I felt that I was not alone. One year around Christmas time, I was having a friend spend the night. The heat had just shut off briefly and she and I were sitting in the living room watching television when the temperature dropped substantially….

The following written confession was shared online: On Christmas Eve night, 1978 at about 3:00 a.m. in Klamath Falls, Oregon, I was suddenly awakened by a choir singing. The house was new construction, miles from the nearest church. I strained to hear any words that I could understand or a tune that I could identify, but I could not understand the language or tune….