Now Entering Bleak Season For 2025

If you hang around Ghostly Activities long enough, you will see me use a term you do not hear anywhere else.

Bleak Season.

This is my name for that stretch of winter when the holiday season feels strange. The lights are up, the parties are happening, and yet something feels off. Nights are long. Weather is rough. Old Christmas stories have a darkness to them.

For me, Bleak Season runs from December 5 through January 15, give or take a day or two.

It is the cold, dark period right after Thanksgiving and the start of a new year. It is also my favorite time for ghosts, monsters and dark history. Really, everything is out to kill you in winter: October just wants to scare you.

In this post, I want to explain what Bleak Season is, why I picked these dates, and how I use it on Ghostly Activities.

The Dates: December 5 through January 15

Let’s start with the basics.

Bleak Season runs each year from December 5 up to January 15.

Here’s why:

December 5: This is the evening linked with Krampusnacht. Think monsters, punishing spirits and shadowy helpers that travel with Saint Nicholas. In many places, December 5 is the true start of the spooky part of winter.

Mid-December: We slide into winter festivals, long market nights, and a heavy dose of nostalgia. People gather, eat, and remember the past. That’s a recipe for ghost stories. St. Lucia’s Day is December 13th, when people would light candles and tell ghost stories to keep the evil spirits away.

Late December: You get the darkest days of the year, the winter solstice, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. This was the traditional time for telling ghost stories in Victorian England. It’s also when travel is hectic, roads are icy, and tempers are short. Between December 25th and January 6th, we experience The Rauhnächte: For 12 nights, the Wild Hunt roams the night sky looking for souls to capture, and the dead return.

Early January: The parties end. Decorations come down. Bills show up. It is still dark and cold, and now it is quiet. The shift from noisy celebrations to silence feels harsh.

January 13: St. Knut’s Day ends Bleak Season. On this day, families toss out all the Christmas trees, and say goodbye to the holidays. It’s also the time when life goes back to “normal.” Kids are back in school. Work is regular again. Many cultures consider this the tail end of the winter holidays. It feels like a natural point to say, “Bleak Season is over. For now.”

So Bleak Season is not just “Christmas” or “winter.” It’s that 40-ish day stretch where the world feels liminal, like it does not know if it belongs to the living or the dead.

Why Call It “Bleak”?

I’m not using “bleak” to mean hopeless or depressing:I use it to describe the look and feel of this time of year.

• The sun checks out early.
• The sky hangs low and gray.
• Trees are bare.
• Rain, snow or ice are common, depending on where you live.
• Folks are tired, broke, and still trying to be cheerful.

You get this weird mix of warmth and worry. There are twinkling lights and big family dinners, but also travel accidents, winter storms, and a sense that nature is out to get you.

That tension is perfect for haunted history!

Old Traditions Hiding In Bleak Season

Bleak Season might be my term, but the idea isn’t new.

Across Europe and North America, the deep winter has long been a time for:

• Spirits and monsters roaming the countryside
• Household sprites that play pranks
• Processions of the dead or wild hunts racing across the sky
• Ghost stories told around the fire while storms rage outside

Modern holidays softened a lot of that. We got carols, hot cocoa and cozy movies. The older creatures and darker tales slipped into the background (until we got Silent Night, Deadly Night, Black Christmas and Krampus).

Bleak Season is my way of pulling that old, spooky layer into focus. It is a reminder that winter is not just festive. It can be harsh, strange and full of stories. I mean, the natural world looks dead at this time of year!

How You Can Use Bleak Season For Your Haunted Work

You can borrow the idea of Bleak Season for your own ghost hunting, writing, or just seasonal vibes.

Here are a few simple ways.

1. Keep A Bleak Season Journal

From December 5 to January 15, write down:

• Any strange dreams you have
• Odd sounds or sightings in your home
• Strong “someone is here” moments
• Unusual wildlife behavior or weather patterns

You’re not trying to prove anything. You are just noticing creepy patterns during this slice of time.

2. Revisit Local Winter Legends

Look into:

• Shipwrecks or boat accidents that happened in winter (ghost ships make fascinating stories)
• Old stories of winter visitors, monsters or “bogeymen” (the monsters come out earlier when the sun set at 4 PM)
• Historic houses that host holiday tours and also have ghost rumors (You gotta love a place like Meeker Mansion at this time of year)

Make a list of places you could safely visit. Treat it like a small haunted expedition. Travel with good friends. Be prepared for weather. Be respectful. Keep it cozy.

3. Plan Winter-Friendly Investigations

Bleak Season is not great for long outdoor vigils in brutally cold or rainy nights. Focus on:

• Indoor locations that allow visitors or investigators (think about hotels, museums, historical societies, etc.)
• Short, targeted sessions near memorials (maybe an EVP session at dusk)
• Quiet, home-based experiments after you’ve gone antiquing (is it a haunted object?)

Keep safety first. Hypothermia and ice are more dangerous than ghosts. Plus, you can have some coffee while you sit next to the fireplace with a death photo from 1890.

Why I Keep Coming Back To Bleak Season

I created Bleak Season for a simple reason. I needed language for this specific feeling this time of year creates..

Where I live, and in many parts of Cascadia, early winter is really strange. It’s beautiful and grim at the same time. The landscape feels heavy with its gray skies, drizzle and long, dark nights.

Most spooky content only lives in October. Then it vanishes on November 1st when everyone flips a switch to Christmas (bypassing Thanksgiving altogether).

I don’t work like that.

Ghosts and hauntings don’t keep a Halloween-only schedule. Winter tragedies ramp up in November and run through March. Monsters, if they are out there, use those long nights and frequent storms for cover.

Bleak Season gives me a way to keep telling those stories and investigating. So, if you see a post tagged Bleak Season on Ghostly Activities, you will know what it means now.

You are in the stretch of winter when the lights are up, the nights are long, and the dark history feels very close.

Welcome to Bleak Season.

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What do you have planned for Bleak Season? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated and take care!