In Stave Four of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” we are brought into the eerie presence of the Ghost of Christmas Future — the literary character that most scared the bejeezus out of me as a young reader. And more than six decades since discovering the joy of reading Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, I still get creeped out by the ghost that was depicted as the love child of the grim reaper and a spectral Dementor from Harry Potter fame.
The Ghost of Christmas Future gives Ebenezer Scrooge an insight into death, seen from the viewpoints of both despair and nobility. But it’s the glimpse of his own demise that completes the transformation of Scrooge’s soul that began with the visit of the very first ghost in the story.
