The Top Five Non-Christmas Christmas Stories
Not all Christmas stories are created equal. And I don’t just mean in terms of quality.
There are holiday favorites like “The Gift Of The Magi” or “The Little Match Girl,” stories that capture the essence of Christmas. Then there are those stories that use the holiday season as a mere backdrop to draw out decidedly un-seasonal themes.
So today we give you a countdown of the top five non-Christmas Christmas stories.
5. ‘Christmas Morning’ by Frank O’Connor
Christmas in the mean streets of Cork, Ireland, Da’s an alcoholic, and Santa Claus is vindictive jerk.
4. ‘The Birds For Christmas’ by Mark Richard
The boys in the children’s hospital are not happy little Dickens orphans. They’re mad, and they want to watch some Hitchcock this Christmas.
3. ‘Uncle Raymond’ by Nelson Eubanks
Incredibly moving story about a family in Flint, Michigan. Worth seeking out at your library.
2. ‘The Frozen Fields’ by Paul Bowles
Fun trip to Aunt and Uncle’s for Christmas. So much fun that Donald imagines a wolf maiming his father.
1. ‘Vanka’ by Anton Chekhov
Maybe one of the saddest short stories of all time but beautiful.
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Great catch, snagging these stories. If you filled-out the commentary a bit, you’d have a profitable magazine article to submit somewhere. But, then, why sell-off the uniqueness of SSMT. Am working my way through the recommended stories here — discovering new writers; revisiting old enthusiasms from college days. Thanks.