On 19 December 1843, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, the novella that would rapidly warm the iciest of Victorian hearts and reinvent Christmas as the jubilant feast we adore today. The spooky tale revolves around the visitation of cantankerous miser Ebenezer Scrooge by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, which results in his overnight transformation, inspiring generous mirth and raises galore. Dickens the author was delighted with this use of spirits as rousing literary devices, but Dickens the gentleman was less than enthused by the wonders of the supernatural. Despite some fascination with the spiritualist crazes sweeping his intellectual circle, Dickens remained sceptical of those who claimed the existence of paranormal activity. He helped found The Ghost Club, an exclusive London society devoted to the exposure of fraudulent psychics and mediums, which boasted Siegfried Sassoon and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as later members. In what was essentially a Scooby Gang of respectable Victorian gentleman, the Ghost Club dedicated itself to the investigation and debunking of paranormal hoaxes. Tradition dictates that membership persists after death, and the society continues to meet in London monthly.