In this episode, the storyteller, Kathy Shimpock, will focus on the Shadow side of the Christmas holiday. Not all folklore surrounding this time is happy and gay; some of the characters are birthed from our deepest nightmares.  This time, we’ll look at Krampus and the goblins from Charles Dickens’s imagination. She'll read “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton.” It’s a shadowy precursor to the Dickens' story “A Christmas Carol.” Story: Dickens, Charles,  "Goblins Who Stole a Sexton"  in The Pickwick Papers. Part 10. 1837. Cover Image:   "An Extraordinary Supernatural Visitor -The Goblin King,  illustrated by  Hablot K. Browne (1837).  (https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/pickwick/24.html)  Music:  The Snow Queen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Sound effects from my finch "Tweedles." Copyright 2023 Kathy Shimpock.     Support the showFor more crone tales, visit the "Wise Crone Cottage in the Woods" (http://www.wisecronecottage.com).