page_title: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: New York ComicCon during the X-Files autograph session with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, creators of The X-Files. Español: Frank Spotnitz y Chris Carter durante una sesión de firma de autógrafos en la ComicCon de Nueva York de 2008.
context_page_description: "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 13, 1998. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter, and featured guest appearances by Edward Asner and Lily Tomlin. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6, being watched by 17.3 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, although some reviews criticized the episode for over-simplifying the characters.
  The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this Christmas-themed episode, Mulder and Scully stake out a reputed haunted house. The duo soon discover a pair of lovelorn spectres living inside the house who are determined to prove how lonely the holidays can be.
caption: "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" was based on an idea by Frank Spotnitz (left) and Chris Carter (right) featuring a haunted house.
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