Red's Kingdom

Short Story: Vauxhall Royale (2025)

I like a ghost story at Christmas, and this year is no exception. This time last year it was a dark little tale about a boy and his advent calendar, and the year before that, a creepy number about Santa himself. Back in 2021, it was a story about three brothers in an attic one…

philgomm
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I like a ghost story at Christmas, and this year is no exception. This time last year it was a dark little tale about a boy and his advent calendar, and the year before that, a creepy number about Santa himself. Back in 2021, it was a story about three brothers in an attic one fateful Christmas Eve.

For this year’s story—written for The Kick-About No. 147—I was very drawn to the Saturnalian idea of misrule and breaking with social convention, and to the idea of Christmas being wrapped like pretty paper around less civilised things.

You can read the complete short story here

2 responses to “Short Story: Vauxhall Royale (2025)”

  1. Graeme Daly Avatar
    Graeme Daly

    You’re on a roll with your writing Phil!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. philgomm Avatar
      philgomm

      It’s part of my new self-imposed tradition to write a Christmas ‘ghost story’ every year now until I am dead! Though I’m a bit of an Xmas grinch these days, I do find the season to be very rich in terms of inspiration: something about hope smashing into disappointment, perhaps? 😀

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