Ghost stories at Christmas are a long-standing English tradition. In addition to Dickens, authors like M.R. James, E.F. Benson, and even Peter Straub penned ghostly tales to usher in the Yuletide.

When can’t you call a ghost a ghost? Apparently, during the holiday season’s movie blitz. In at least two movies that I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve seen, the dead come back to haunt the living. But ’tis the season to be jolly, so the departed engender only joy—as long as you call them angels instead of ghosts.

Dickens didn’t flinch, but TV channels across the nation are streaming pap like “Angel in the Family,” in which dead mom Meredith Baxter returns from the grave to make everybody’s holiday bright. In another sanitized ghost flick, Hallmark’s “Christmas Magic,” Lindy Booth’s spirit wanders about righting wrongs before it’s time to “pass over.” (Die isn’t a word you hear much in these movies.)

Let’s not forget that the beloved Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a wingless angel, AKA a dead guy.

Just saying.