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Christopher Philippo

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Born

in Troy, New York, The United States

Genre

History, Horror, Poetry

Member Since

August 2014

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A historical society's website of merely 10 pages was turned by Christopher Philippo into an encyclopedic one of over 750 spanning the 17th-20th centuries. His research about forgotten 19th C. suffragist Caroline Gilkey Rogers secured a grant for a historical marker placed near her former home. He has helped with gravestone conservation in municipal, family, Catholic & Jewish cemeteries of the 18th-20th centuries in New York's Capital District, work recognized in newspaper articles & podcasts & visible from Google Satellite. He wrote the entry on Mad Love (1935) for Horror 101: The A List Of Horror Films and Monster Movies , edited the The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Four, and Five. . ...more

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Christopher Philippo 2021: Returning The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories to its home origin with volume five, after volume four's focus on North Ameri…more2021: Returning The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories to its home origin with volume five, after volume four's focus on North America, was a request by the publisher—to reset before going to explore other parts of the world. That said, it should still have surprises for readers.

For example, Derek Johnson had written "the Christmas ghost story […] is a primarily English rather than Scottish, Welsh or Irish tradition […] it was the English tradition that dominated, and in particular a London or South-East English tradition." Volume Five isn't restricted to England, however, but covers the British-Irish Isles.

"The Ghosts of the Bards: A Legend of Anglesea," for example, is set in and was published in Wales. "Hel-ya-water: A Shetland Legend of Yule Time" is set in Scotland and written by a Scottish folklorist. "The Siren: An Adventure in Manxland" is set on the Isle of Man, published in a Manx newspaper. Of stories from England, they're not just from the Southeast, but also Mid East, West Midlands, and Northwest. There's one story from an Irish newspaper, though not set there or by an Irish author; there's also documentation of how another story was reviewed by Irish papers.

Johnston, Derek. "Migrating M. R. James’ Christmas Ghost Stories to Television." Gothic Migrations: International Gothic Association Biennial Conference, 30 July 2015, Vancouver, Canada. http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/07v6-kg41

2020:
I'd started collecting some Christmas ghost stories over a decade ago. As with many people, the line in "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" had gotten me wondering about the tradition.

Aside from purchasing The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens, edited by Peter Haining, (back in 2008) I hadn't bought any Christmas ghost story anthologies until last year. When I would look for such ghost stories over the years, I'd mainly try finding them in old magazines and newspapers. A lot of the research I do, regardless of topic, involves searching periodicals.

In 2019, reading the first volume of The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, I returned to thinking about that song and wondered if there were any other Christmas songs referencing ghosts. Not many! A number of very old Christmas carols do make mention of ghosts or other dark themes, but are rarely sung today. I did, however, find a number of Christmas ghost poems, including ones that made that their major theme rather than a mere reference in one line.

Noticing that Valancourt Books had published Victorian Christmas ghost story anthologies three years in a row, each with a different editor, but then stopped with volume three in 2018, I put out an initial feeler and then a formal proposal. The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Volume Four developed from there, with some changes in direction suggested by the publishers.(less)

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Christopher Philippo’s books

Average rating: 3.75 · 318 ratings · 68 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Five 3.81 avg rating — 119 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Four 3.78 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Shrieking Skull & Other Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories by James Skipp Borlase, Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 3.64 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 2022 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Scrapbook History of the Nail Factory Cemetery: Troy, New York's Forgotten Sixth Ward Burying Ground 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Trojan Reverse 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legislative History and Intent of Sealed Adoption Record Laws in New York 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Adoptee Politics and Life: Andrew M. Cuomo and A5036B/S4845B by Christopher K. Philippo, Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Distant LECN Fields: An Early Fall of Leaves from the Poet-Tree of H.C. Dodge by H.C. Dodge, Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legislative History and Intent of the Sealed Birth Record Law in New York by Christopher K. Philippo, Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mount Ida Cemetery, Troy, N. Y. by Christopher Korey Philippo, Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Christopher Philippo's Blog: Christmas Ghost Stories and Horror

The origin of the lyric "scary ghost stories"?

How might the New York City-born Jewish songwriters of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Edward Pola (Sidney Edward Pollacsek) (1907-1995) and George Wyle (Bernard Weissman) (1916-2003) have been exposed to the tradition “of scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago?”

Both men appear to have been living in California in the early 1960s. Some searching on an Read more of this blog post »

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Published on November 13, 2024 18:30 • Tags: christmas-ghost-stories

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Christopher is Currently Reading

Christopher Philippo is currently reading

Bartleby & Co.

by Enrique Vila-Matas

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Jun 05, 2026 11:43AM

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Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television

by Paul Corupe (Goodreads Author)

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May 28, 2026 05:28PM

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How the World Remade Hollywood: Global Interpretations of 65 Iconic Films

by Ed Glaser

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May 28, 2026 04:57PM

Christopher’s Quotes

“For backward or forward, eternity is the same; already have we been the nothing we dread to be.”
― Herman Melville, Mardi and a Voyage Thither

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“It is good to be a cynic—it is better to be a contented cat — and it is best not to exist at all.”
― H. P. Lovecraft

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“Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

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“It would be atrocious,” I said, “to kill a man in order to say bu-ba-baff!”
― Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

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“If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”
― Louis D. Brandeis, Brandeis on Democracy by Louis D. Brandeis

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