The Ghost of Christmas Past is a character in what is one of the best-known works of the English novelist, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was one of three spirits (after the visitation by Jacob Marley) that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in order to prompt him to repent. It showed him scenes from his youth, that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways.

The Ghost of Christmas Past appeared to Scrooge as a white-robed, androgynous figure of indeterminate age. It had on its head a blazing light, reminiscient of a candle flame. It carried with it a metal cap, made in the shape of a candle extinguisher, with which Scrooge finally banishes it by extinguishing the light on its head. Fictional ghosts