On the feast day of St Nicholas of Myra, we find out if the ‘Wondeworker’ Saint is a modern day Santa Claus or an early version of Sweeny Todd in these stories of ghostly apparitions, murder, and magic. Will there be a happy ending to this winter night horror story?

Find out below as Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers tells some lesser-known tales of St Nicholas for our Very Ghostly Christmas.

Anne Lawrence-Mathers is a Professor of medieval history at the University of Reading, specialising in medieval magic and science, and the interfaces between the two. Anne’s latest monograph, Medieval Meteorology, is available here.