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!

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.