Holiday Spirits:
A collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories
Adapted by Maria Burnham from stories by Andrew Haggard, Lillie Harris, Frederick Manley and Anonymous
Directed by Holly Robison
During the long nights of midwinter, join Ghostlight Ensemble and the Driehaus Museum once again by the fireplace(s) as we return to the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Yuletide.
If you missed last year’s one-night event, Holiday Spirits: A collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories returns to the Driehaus Museum this holiday season for three performances – one for Driehaus museum members and two for the general public.
Adapted by Ensemble member Maria Burnham, Holiday Spirits is a multi-story and multi-storied immersive, site-specific adaptations of classic Victorian ghost stories. Three distinct stories will unfold throughout the museum. Limited seating will be provided but audiences should be prepared to move with the actors as they uncover these otherworldly visitors.
During the Victorian era, newspaper and magazine publishers printed ghost stories during the Christmas season for chilling reading by the warming fireplace. The most famous example of such tales is A Christmas Carol, but Charles Dickens did not invent the Victorian Christmas ghost tradition — he was just the one to recognize its potential for commercial success.
Stories adapted for this performance include:
The Ghost of the Cross-Roads by Frederick Manley: During a cold, blustery Christmas night, jolly festivities are underway at the Sweeny’s home. Suddenly, an upper-class stranger stumbles, half frozen, into the house and tells a strange tale about a mysterious dark man, and a card game at the crossroads. This adaptation will also feature The Haunted Tree written by an anonymous author.
19, Great Hanover Street by Lillie Harris: A young doctor finds the perfect house to let for his new practice and living quarters only to discover the reason why such perfections comes so cheap.
A Spirit Bride by Andrew Haggard: A séance to rid a house of ghosts brings an unusual woman into our narrator’s life.
Join us this winter by the fireplaces of the Driehaus Museum's Nickerson Mansion, completed in 1883, as we meet the holiday spirits of Christmases past.
Details
Where: The Driehaus Museum
(40 East Erie St., Chicago, IL 60611)
When: December 2025
How much: General Audience: $40 || Driehaus Museum Members: $35 || Students: $20