Ghosts of Christmas Future in Christmas Carol movies, ranked by scariness

You probably all know the story of Charles Dickens’ endlessly adapted 1843 holiday story Christmas Carol, even if you’ve never read it. Ebenezer, a mean, tight-fisted old man, falls asleep Christmas Eve to be visited by three ghosts: The Ghost of Christmas Past is a sleepy, unassuming, man; The Ghost of Christmas Present is an energetic, happy fellow; and Finally, there’s the Ghost for Christmas Yet to Come which is a silent, terrifying specter of his death. These three ghosts convince our miserly man to change his ways, but the third one does the heavy lifting, showing Scrooge how soon he’ll be dead and buried, while nobody mourns his passing.

In the text, Dickens describes the ghost as “shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand.” This leaves a lot of leeway for adaptations to interpret, and Christmas CarolOne of the greatest works of fiction ever written.

In the spirit of Christmas, I watched every movie version to evaluate their scariness. Come along with us as we journey into horror holiday-themed terror.

60. A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006)

Image: Sesame Workshop

If you were going into this one expecting to be spooked, I don’t know what to tell you. Oscar the Grouch plays the role of Scrooge as he battles a CGI robot that has googly eyes and is called the Ghost of Christmas Future. We get it, you don’t want to terrify the preschoolers, but there’s a reason it’s lowest on the list.

59. A Christmas Carol (1954).

CBS Image

Fredric Mars stars as Scrooge on this first-ever color televised edition of the story. The only remaining version of the tale is a black-and-white kinescope. In a strange choice, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn’t appear in human form at all. Instead, a myna bird caws Scrooge to the graveyard, where he finds not only his grave, but also Tiny Tim’s.

58. Christmas Cupid (2010)

Photo by Freeform

Christina Milian plays the Scrooge in the ABC Family holiday comedy. The ghosts she is referring to are three of her ex-boyfriends. This might sound scarier depending on how your relationship with this ghost is. Her boss is the third ghost, whom she’s also seeing, and dressed up as Santa Claus. He informs her about the horrible future that they will be married and then get divorced. Bummer. He is thrown out by her, however, to make amends after that ghostly visitation.

57. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009/09)

Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s a stretch, but this Matthew McConaughey rom-com is based on the Dickens story, so it counts. The “Ghost of Girlfriends Future” that shows McConaughey’s womanizer protagonist Connor Mead the error of his ways is played by stunning Russian model Olga Maliouk, dressed in white rather than the traditional black cloak.

56. Rich Little’s Christmas Carol (1978)

Image: CBC/HBO

It’s almost impossible to explain how popular comedic impersonator Rich Little was in the 1970s, but “HBO gave him a Christmas special in which he played Each roleOf Christmas Carol as a different celebrity character” might do it. Scrooge is Rich Little as W.C. Fields, and the Ghost of Christmas Future is Little playing Peter Sellers as the Pink Panther movies’ Inspector Clouseau. This is not frightening, but it’s very strange.

55. Christmas Carol: The Smurfs (2011)

Image: Sony Home Entertainment

It is obvious that Grouchy Smurf, the Scrooge in the story, acts as a fool all the time. Papa Smurf gifts him a Christmas hat each year. Hefty smurf is the ghost. It is not scary, unless you are afraid of the gym bros.

54. Scrooge Dad: My Dad

MarVista Entertainment

Scrooge is headbutted by the llama in this Christmas Carol. A farmer called EB is our miser. He is being taught by a trio talkative animals the magic of Christmas. Third is an a DogThat EB hypnotized. This thing is so cheap and weird that when the animals talk, it’s sometimes just their lips moving over a still photograph. The dog doesn’t even dress up!

53. The Musical A Christmas Carol

Hallmark Entertainment

This is a tough watch for numerous reasons, especially if you’re not a fan of Broadway musicals. Kelsey Grammer plays Scrooge, and he’s confronted by a white-clad Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come played by Geraldine Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin’s daughter, most recently seen in Netflix’s Crown). The costuming is pretty dire — she looks like she’s covered in damp toilet paper.

52. Chasing Christmas (2005)

Photo by Freeform

As the Scrooge, Tom Arnold is a great divorced actor. The Ghost of Christmas Past wanders off and takes him and the Ghost of Christmas Present along for a series of hilarious scenes. Scrooge and Yet to Come eventually fall in love, as well as a number of animated sound effects. Yet to Come only shows up at the movie’s climax, and is just a sleazy-looking Euro guy in an ascot.

51. Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)

Image: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

This ghost is called the Tasmanian Devil. The scene begins in a black shroud. He then doffs the shroud a few minutes later for the Warner Bros. routine.

50. Keep on Christmas (1969).

Image by Thames Television

The long-running British slapstick film series tackled Dickens for a Christmas special at the end of the swinging ’60s, but the Ghost of Christmas Future is just actor Bernard Bresslaw playing an incredibly broad hippie impersonation. Unknown reasons aside, Frankenstein, Dracula, and others are included in this.

49. It’s Christmas, Carol! (2012)

Hallmark Entertainment

This Hallmark Channel production features Carrie Fisher as all three ghosts, and Marley. Christmas CarolModern times are here. Emmanuelle Vaugier, the Scrooge-like figure has been transformed into a busy CEO who doesn’t have time for Christmas. This is not frightening.

48. A Christmas Carol (2015)

Image via Reality Entertainment (RE).

The Canadian musical adaptation of the story, which is very cheap looking, was created by Anthony D.P. Mann also plays Scrooge), for what that’s worth. In this version, The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come sings and talks. She’s just a lady with a white face in a big black hat. It has an almost community theatre vibe.

47. Brer Rabbit’s Christmas Carol (1992)

Image: Reel Media International

The early ’90s were such a dire time for animation. This made-for-TV special — not produced by Disney, and with no connection to Disney’s Song of the South — is an ordeal to watch, and all the ghosts are just Brer Rabbit messing with Brer Fox through the use of household props and woodland actors. So the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come here is just a sheet on a mop with a jack-o’-lantern on top.

46. An American Christmas Carol (1979).

Image: Sony Pictures Television

Henry Winkler — the Fonz himself — dons old-age makeup to portray Benedict Slade in this adaptation moved to Depression-era New England. The spirit who shows him the misery that awaits him after death is played with soulfulness by Dorian Harewood — the fill-in voice of Shredder from the Ninja Turtles cartoons!

45. A Christmas Carol (1969).

Air Programs International

A series of animated Australian adaptations, called Famous Classic TalesThe story is pretty basic, with the exception of a third ghost, which could easily be confused for a Scooby-Doo villain.

44. A Christmas Carol ((2000)

Image: ITV

The British television adaptation of this story moves it to today with Ross Kemp as Scrooge, a council-estate lender shark who is despised and feared by his clients. The third spirit that visits him on Christmas Eve is an eerily silent young boy who shows him the bad end that awaits, and in the film’s coda, we learn that the kid was his yet-to-be-born child. In theory this could be scary, but it’s executed so clumsily that it’s more laughable than chilling.

43. Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979).

Image: NBC

David Bond portrays the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This honky-tonk musical adaptation from Dickens’ story features David Bond. Gremlins’ Hoyt Axton in the Scrooge role. This was only aired once, during the late-’70s peak of Grand Ole Opry country music. Bond skips the hood for what seems like Dracula-type makeup from Dollar Stores and bizarre hand gestures.

42. A Christmas Carol (1910)

Public Domain. Image

The oldest surviving film version of Dickens’ tale (except for the 1906 one, which didn’t have the three ghosts) is a 13-minute silent speedrun of the whole tale. The ghosts aren’t terribly scary, and as far as I can tell, the gimmick for the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is “big lady.”

41. A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994).

Turner Entertainment

The animated version of the Flintstones’ ghost is a 70 minute long cartoon. It features the characters from the Flintstones. The one notable thing about this movie is that it actually shows Fred Flintstone’s corpse — or at least his massive, pale-white big toe sticking out from under a sheet.

40. 1978: The Stingiest Men in Town

Image: Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment

A low-effort Rankin-Bass animated musical version of the classic story, with a hooded figure pointing a bony white arm at Scrooge’s tombstone. Although very competent, there is nothing special.

39. A Carol Christmas (2003)

Hallmark Entertainment

This Hallmark movie had some serious stunt casting — Gary Coleman as the Ghost of Christmas Past! William Shatner plays the Ghost of Christmas Past! Storied actor James Cromwell is the third and final ghost, and his expressive face does a lot to sell it, even though he’s just a mute limo driver. A little scary is the part where he places Carol (Tori Spelling), into her coffin.

38. The Old Scrooge (1913).

Public Domain. Image

These early silent adaptations of ghost stories were very tall. Our future ghost in this silent adaptation is just an average-sized, lanky man wrapped in sheets. Marley actually is significantly more frightening.

37. A Christmas Carol (1982).

Image: Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment

I think this animated Australian version of the story is the baseline “solid C” for scariness. It’s not imaginative at all — if you’ve read this far, you’ve probably guessed that the ghost here is a big figure in a black cloak — but the rendering is fine, and the music really sells the scene. It’s perfectly acceptable, but not enough to make you repent of your reckless ways.

36. Scrooge & Marley (2012)

Image: Sam I Am Films

Jojo, Chicago’s drag queen Jojo Baby is the third ghost. Scrooge plays the role of a club owner who has been visited by the deceased partner. Wrapped in black fabric, Mr. Baby looks very glamorous and does an excellent job.

35. Ebbie (1995)

Image: Lifetime

Lifetime Original Movie starring Susan Lucci, the first woman Scrooge. You can find scares elsewhere, buddy. Bill Croft plays The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. He is best known for his role as a prison guard or convict in TV shows such as Airwolf Viper. He’s just a quiet but imposing guy in a hat and a black trenchcoat.

34. A Christmas Carol, 1997

Image via DIC

DIC was the go-to studio for affordable animation through much of the ’80s and ’90s, and this holiday special was as average as possible. Scrooge is played by Tim Curry. The adaptation names him Debit the bulldog because every cartoon must feature a cute animal character. The ghost here is a glowing cloaked specter, nothing fancy or special, but it’s well designed.

33. A Diva’s Christmas Carol (2000)

Image: VH1

Vanessa Williams plays “Ebony Scrooge” in this perplexing made-for-VH1 holiday movie, which also stars Duran Duran’s John Taylor and Chilli from TLC. The stunt casting could have gone any number of ways for the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but for some reason, it’s a Ghosted TV setA new episode of Behind the music where everybody talks about how much they hate Scrooge now that she’s dead. It then sucks Scrooge in. Poltergeist-style. Extremely strange.

32. A Christmas Carol (1996)

Image by Goodtimes Entertainment

A cheaply animated cartoon with Japanese artwork in an anime-like style. One last ghost features a hooded character with a belt that is tied to his waist. It’s a pretty uninspired, artless enterprise.

31. 2. Second Chance at Christmas 2019

Image: End of the Rose

Direct-to DVD (and streaming), cornball featuring Brittany Underwood in the role of a Scrooge-like spoiled popstar. Vivica A. Fox is mostly wasted as the third ghost, credited as “Death” — she enters the scene in cloak and bones, inspiring Underwood to ask whether she “died at Comic-Con.” But she plays through the flick just as her normal, fine self.

30. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Image: Walt Disney Animation

Disney animated projects are occasionally pretty scary — even the Mickey Mouse stories. The Ghost is Peg-Leg Pete’s frequent enemy, and he wears a brown shroud while puffing his stogie. It’s a testament to how good the framing and animation is that he still feels threatening. You can see that smoke is billowing from the cigar.

29. An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998)

Image courtesy of M Home Entertainment

In the final film of All Dogs Go to Heaven, Carface is an evil bulldog that hypnotizes pets to steal Christmas presents. This movie has a complicated plot. Good dogs disguise themselves as three different spirits and make the Ghost of Christmas Future an intimidating hooded figure. He then takes off his cloak to perform a strange riff on Jim Carrey. The Mask. Carface does go to literal hell. This is quite intense.

28. A Christmas Carol (1977).

BBC image

Another BBC version of the story, this time with an acceptable shroud-clad character. He loses a few points because he doesn’t really seem to know what to do with his hands, leaving them hanging awkwardly while Scrooge monologues. However, the large hanging hood is great as well as the creepy silence.

27. Una Meravigliosa Notte (1953)

Image: Olympic Film

I don’t speak Italian, so it’s difficult to evaluate how well the ghost comes off in this adaptation, which stars Paolo Stoppa as greedy Antonio Trabbi, visited by a trio of spirits who show him the error of his ways. It is also the second movie where the ghost does not appear in a physical form. Instead, he speaks through an echoing voice. This film’s cinematography really sells it. Stoppa looks truly deranged, and uneasy by the all-knowing voice.

26. Ms. Scrooge (1997).

Image: USA Network

Cicely Tyson portrays the Scrooge part in this gender-swapped adaptation of the story. In which the Ghost of Christmas Future warns Cicely about the IRS taking all of her money when she dies, the Ghost of Christmas Future also informs Cicely. He’s played by actor Julian Richings, who has a memorable face, but spends his whole part of the movie standing around expressionless in a suit. It’s just weird enough to be truly creepy.

25. A Christmas Carol (1938).

Public Domain. Image

Although this is the most famous, it is solid. However, the ghost is just an ordinary man wearing a black cloak. When he walks, he sometimes sticks both of his arms out in front of him like Frankenstein’s monster. You can sometimes see his strange skinny hand every once in awhile.

24. John Grin’s Christmas (1986)

Robert Guillaume plays John Grin as Scrooge, while Geoffrey Holder (Trinidadian actor/dancer) portrays the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Let Die and Live. The costuming isn’t anything to write home about, but Holder’s expressive face and wild mannerisms definitely deliver.

23. Tales From Dickens: A Christmas Carol (1959).

Early television programming didn’t have much to offer in terms of special effects, so the Ghost in this Basil Rathbone-starring adaptation is a black cloak walking around in some studio fog. This adaptation is one of the best of its kind, with some nice stiff-armed points and an emphasis on stillness and silence.

22. Scrooge (51)

Renown Pictures

Alastair Sim is one of cinema’s most famous Scrooges, and he puts his whole back into cowering in fear of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It’s another shrouded figure, but its introduction is pretty good — a pale white hand held in the foreground of a shot for more than a minute as Scrooge freaks out. The best thing about this one is his implacability: None of Scrooge’s pleas move him in the slightest.

21. A Christmas Carol (1914).

Another silent flim. It lasts just under 20 minutes. H. Ashton Tonge, a completely stone-faced and incredibly named H. Ashton Tonge plays the ghost. He is a large man in a black hooded and cloak. Charles Rock, who plays the role of Scrooge and chews scenery as if it were a Christmas goose, is a master actor.

20. A Christmas Carol: Scrooge’s Ghostly Tale (2006)

BKN New Media Image

The animated CGI animation is direct to video and features anthropomorphic characters in all the leading roles. You will never in a million years guess what kind of animal the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is, so I’ll just spoil it for you: It’s a walrus with one broken tusk, crackling with some sort of eldritch electricity. It’s so inexplicable that it wraps around to being scary.

19. Scrooge (1922).

Public Domain. Image

This is, chronologically, the first film that depicts the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come with its face fully shrouded, and it’s effective, even though the ghost is barely on screen for a minute in this silent short.

18. Ebenezer (1998)

TNT Image

Jack Palance portrays Ebenezer Stcrooge in an Old West version. Amazing! The legendary actor is portrayed as an evil card cheater who hates Christmas. The ghost here is a shrouded figure with some wisps of gray hair coming out from the cloak, and at the end of his scene, he reveals his face as Scrooge’s dead partner, Jacob Marlowe.

17. Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)

Image by NBC

The unfortunate blind codger was cast in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, possibly to cover for insurance fraud. It is the stereotype silent shadowy, hooded, shadowy, and unassuming third spirit. However, it’s animated in UPA-style so that it stands out as imposing and cool. Magoo sang original songs for the film, but they did not add much drama.

16. Scrooge (1935).

Public Domain. Image

This is the first feature-length Christmas CarolOur third ghost is shown as film mixed with sound. It appears as an amorphous, enfolding shadow and sometimes as a pointed finger, on snowy ground. It’s not scary but it is cool.

15. A Christmas Carol (1923).

Public Domain. Image

Another shadowy cloaked figure in this silent adaptation, but Russell Thorndike’s Scrooge sells the hell out of it well enough to bump it up a few spots.

14. A Christmas Carol (2012)

Image: October Eleven Pictures Ltd.

Jason Figgis, a relatively unknown director of this adaptation does strange things to the source material. For example, he deliberately removes scenes that would make his story more bleak. It’s pretty low-budget and obviously shot on video with the actors in different rooms, overlaid with cheap digital effects, but it manages to work OK. It’s a ghost with a red cloak, and some zombie makeup on his left hand. He is unique.

13. A Christmas Carol (2018)

Towerflix

With its haunting creaking violins, the Scotland-set introduction of this final spirit sounds straight out of horror movies. We never see the spirit, in an unusual departure from normal. Scrooge is shocked to hear it speak in unintelligible, gravelly-voiced words. Points for originality and solid sound design, but the actor playing Scrooge doesn’t sell it as well as he could.

12. Spirited (2022).

Image: Apple TV Plus

Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell have a great time in this Apple TV comedy musical. It’s got good production values, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, played by former Raptors power forward Loren Woods (but voiced by Tracy Morgan), makes the most of its few minutes on screen.

11. A Christmas Carol (1984).

CBS Image

George C. Scott stars as Scrooge in one of the all-time best versions of the story, and the ghost is really solid — tattered, shadowy, silent, and imposing. Although it isn’t particularly groundbreaking, this version was executed well.

10. Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001).

Image: Pathé

This animated story has a low quality animation, even though it features Kate Winslet as well as Nicolas Cage. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, however, is beautifully handled. Its depiction eschews realism: It’s drawn with sloppy brushstrokes outlining a cadaverous figure. It’s one of the few animated versions that really takes advantage of the medium, even if it’s just for a short time.

9. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

Michael Caine in a world full of Muppets is disconcerting enough, but this one takes a turn for the eerie when Scrooge runs into the third spirit — a huge figure clad in black robes, with an infinite, featureless void where its face should be. Although it doesn’t spend a lot time on the screen, this is a very strong design.

8. Scrooge (1970).

Image: 20th Century Studios

For the first part of the ghost’s appearance in this musical (with Albert Finney as Scrooge), he’s the usual black-cloaked figure. But when Scrooge realizes he’s looking at his own grave, the Ghost reveals a skeletal face and hands that are simultaneously corny and disconcerting.

7. A Christmas Carol, 2019

Image: FX/BBC

This series was a dark adaptation of Dickens’s Dickens. Guy Pearce played the role of Scrooge. There’s even a sexual-abuse subplot to Scrooge’s childhood, along with several other adult themes. British actor Jason Flemyng is a good choice to play the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to Come. Flemyng portrays Scrooge as a pallid, bald man dressed in black and a top hat. His mouth is open with crude sewing.

6. A Christmas Carol 2020

Image Credit: Frith Street Films

The film is a dance movie that stars professional and celebrity dancers. It’s one of the more visually compelling takes on the story, with some dynamic sets and beautiful motion. Brekke Fägerlund Karl plays Bob Cratchit, as well the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. His spare movements are awe-inspiring.

5. A Christmas Carol (1971).

Image: Channel 4

For this amazing adaptation of the classic animated film, Richard Williams was awarded an Oscar. Although the ghost appears as a normal hooded person, the fluidity and precision of these drawings gives the film an extraordinary hyperrealism. This design, along with the unsettling camera movement gives it a very high rank.

4. A Christmas Carol (1999).

TNT Image

Patrick Stewart and his team Christmas CarolThe first Scrooge story that used digital special effects was this one. Our Ghost here is played by British actor Tim Potter, but we don’t really see him. Instead, it’s a baleful black shroud with two unsettling amber eyes buried within. The primitive VFX from this period can sometimes be quite effective. This example is a wonderful one.

3. A Christmas Carol (2009, 2009)

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

I’m not the biggest fan of Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture animated films, as they always veer a little too far into the uncanny valley for comfort. But you can’t deny that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in his holiday effort is effective. CGI makes it possible for the spirit to become a pure shadow creature, changing in size whenever necessary. This allows them to create some really impressive effects.

2. “Scrooged” (1988).

Image by Paramount Pictures

Bill Murray meeting the hulking Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in the elevator is one of many great scenes in this classic ’80s dram-com. Bill Murray is forced to undergo his own cremation when the ghost makes the ghost reveal the tormented souls in his ribcage. A great fusion of the traditional and the contemporary, and it’s definitely scary!

1. A Carol for Another Christmas (1964).

Image by ABC

You can leave it as is Twilight ZoneRod Serling created the movie to increase scare factor. Sterling Hayden plays the part of Daniel Grudge as an industrialist. He is then visited by three ghosts who attempt to persuade him from his isolationist views. The third ghost is played by Robert Shaw, who isn’t that scary on his own — until you realize that the “future” he’s showing Grudge is a world ravaged by nuclear armageddon and senseless, murderous violence. The threat of global nuclear war and shadowy figures are enough to make a Scrooge shiver. That’s enough to save a whole lifetime of Christmases.