A short novel from 1843 written by Charles Dickens. You know the drill by now: Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts -- his late partner, Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come -- and then changes his evil ways to become a good man and to embrace the joy of Christmas.
What most people don't know is that the Christmas celebrations described by Dickens in this book did not actually exist at the time he wrote the novel. A few centuries before, Oliver Cromwell's Puritans had stripped the holiday of anything they considered pagan or Catholic, and the greedy factory owners of Dickens' day usually refused to give workers time off on Christmas Day. Seven years after reading and enjoying a vivid description of a Christmas celebration written by Washington Irving, Dickens penned his Christmas classic, and celebrations of Christmas were almost immediately reborn, influenced by Dickens' novel.
The novel has been adapted for screen and television many times. Though I enjoy "Scrooged," respect the Alistair Sim version, chuckle at the musical with Albert Finney, and deeply admire the acting in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (seriously, there's never been a better performance of Mrs. Cratchitt than Frank Oz/Miss Piggy), my favorite version, far and away, is the one directed by Clive Donner, with George C. Scott as Scrooge. The sets and photography are lush, and it gives you a great idea of what things were like in London while Dickens was alive. Scott overacts enjoyably (and, in my opinion, appropriately), and I also enjoy Edward Woodward (the Equalizer!) as the jolly Ghost of Christmas Present. And this version also boasts the best, most eerie, most terrifying Ghost of Christmas Future ever. I think it should be getting much madder propz than it currently gets.