
Christmas should be a time of love, joy, and giving, not a time of fear. But for those affected with certain phobias, Christmas is a time of unease and terror.

Christmas is a very special time of year. The giving of gifts and showing love for others is in the air. It is when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. It is also the time of year we watch ๐โ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐โ and ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐ ๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. But some suffer from Christmas/winter phobias that make this joyful season into one of terror for them.

What does the sparkly glitter that covers a lot of Christmas cards and various arts-and-crafts projects have in common with kudzu, an invasive ornamental plant? We can thank Henry Ruschmann, a New Jersey cattle rancher, for the invention of glitter in 1934. When not working his ranch, he dabbled as a machinist and discovered a…

What does an eight-legged creepy crawly have to do with Christmas? In Australia, a country famous for its deadly spiders, a Christmas spider really does exist. This timid spider is harmless to humans, but its unusual appearance does tend to frighten. Why is the oddly shaped arachnid called a Christmas spider? There are several species…

Winterโs Silence is the story of Emily, a six-year-old Jewish girl, who is going through a really rough time. She is a very creative, intelligent child. A large portion of her time is spent in daydreams, the only way she can escape all of the turmoil surrounding her. Through her imagination, she becomes a North…