The Twelve Terrors of Christmas

Feeling a bit brought down by the season? You’re not the only one. This week we’re highlighting a wry little number, currently on display as part of our “A Ghost Story for Christmas” exhibit. John Updike’s The Twelve Terrors of Christmas attempts to distill the parts of the holiday that inspire more dread than joy in its celebrants into twelve poems. Most of these are commercial trappings like "The Specials" and "Fear of Not Giving Enough". But some are more existential, with the final item on the list being "The Dark". That particular entry reads as follows:

“Oh, how early it comes now! How creepy and green in the gills everyone looks, scrabbling along in drab winter wraps by the phosphorous light of department-store windows full of Styrofoam snow, mockups of a factitious 1890, and beige mannequins posed with false jauntiness in plaid bathrobes. Is this Hell, or just an upturn in consumer confidence?”

Twelve Terrors was originally published in 1992, but its anxieties remain relevant today in one form or another. The text is accompanied by appropriately dreary Edward Gorey illustrations. Shell-shocked shoppers wander through the pages, waiting in lines, eyeing the Christmas tree with suspicion, and placing anxious children on an equally uneasy Santa's lap. It's a hoot, and we recommend it if a little holiday grumbling sounds good to you.

Come see this and other items in our "A Ghost Story for Christmas" exhibit, up through the end of January in our . If you miss that, just ask for Illus G675upt.