THE DEAD OF WINTER The Demons, Witches and Ghosts of Christmas At Guy's Hospital Chapel with Sarah Clegg on Sunday the 7th December 2025 at 3:30 pm As winter deepens and darkness overtakes the light, we gather for warmth, good food and good company. Yet beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, a darker current stirs, one that has long found expression in strange and unsettling traditions. In this richly illustrated talk, author Sarah Clegg invites us to journey through the shadowed heart of midwinter, uncovering the forgotten and the folkloric: from English mummers plays and Austrian Krampus runs to modern pagan rites at Stonehenge and Finland’s candle crowned St Lucy, a saintly martyr who also appears as a witch leading a procession of the dead. Through wassails, hoodenings and eerie winter gatherings attended by grinning horses, snatching monsters and spectral visitors, Sarah traces how these rituals emerged and evolved over the centuries, revealing a Christmas where light and darkness dance together. Because if we cannot keep the shadows entirely at bay, perhaps it is worth letting a little in. Tickets £12.50 including a Gothic Punch and 20% donation to the King's Chaplaincy Trust to support medical students. Please click here to purchase. Sarah Clegg Sarah Clegg holds a PhD in the ancient history of Mesopotamia from the University of Cambridge, where her research explored the myths, rituals and daily lives of one of the world’s earliest civilisations. Now based in London, she works in publishing, combining her scholarly background with a passion for storytelling and cultural history. Her work often examines how ancient beliefs echo through modern traditions, linking the distant past with the rituals, superstitions and seasonal customs that continue to shape our lives today.