Dickens and the Supernatural

Many of Dickens's Christmas stories and other short stories feature ghosts, goblins, and other supernatural happenings. Society in the 1800s was split on ghosts - some thought they were real and could be spoken to, others worked to debunk fraud and fakery. Other ideas we now consider magical or superstitious were taken seriously by some people, such as Dickens's belief in an 'animal magnetism' which allowed people to change the world with the power of their thoughts.