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People who pirate movies may be more likely to show psychopath traits ; they are not immune to seasonal traditions.

As the days get shorter, downloads of specific pirated movies start to increase. This includes Christmas classics such as Home Alone, The Grinch, and Elf.

In 2022 we revealed that Home Alone is by far the most pirated Christmas classic and a year later, that hasn’t changed. As a follow-up, we now take a closer look at the seasonal download, reaching an unexpected conclusion.

Hark! The Downloads Spike

After sifting through weeks of torrent download data with help from Iknow , we can conclude that interest in Home Alone starts to pick up in mid-November. By early December, the average downloads per day in our sample had already doubled.

The chart below shows a gradual increase with temporary download peaks during the weekend, when people typically pirate more content overall. The seasonal uptrend doesn’t apply to classic movies without a Christmas theme, however.

The recent sample includes data up to December 20, before the real peak in downloads takes place. To get a more complete picture we also look at last year’s stats around Christmas.

Last Christmas

In 2022, a similar seasonal spike could be observed, with an initial peak on Christmas Day, as expected. But that wasn’t the end of it; after the 25th downloads picked up again, reaching a new high on the last day of the year.

These types of trends are relatively stable. Home Alone downloads through torrent sites also peaked on the 31st of December in 2021 and 2020, and they are expected to do the same this year. Pirates are also creatures of habit it seems.

That also means that Home Alone is unlikely to be replaced as the ultimate Christmas pirate classic. The Grinch is this year’s runner-up but, with less than half of the downloads, it doesn’t come close.

New film releases tend to draw more downloads than classics, with “ Silent Night ” being in the lead in that department. However, that doesn’t last and 2022’s favorite “Spirited” already loses out to Home Alone by a wide margin this year.

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All data reported here are estimated based on a large sample of millions of global daily BitTorrent connections. These numbers are not exact nor do they include other forms of piracy, such as pirate streaming sites and direct downloads.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Hazel was as much at sea as I was. But we were able to help each other and having her there meant the world to me

My daughter Tsubamé was born on 26 July 2013. I don’t remember what we ate for her first Christmas. I had to ask Hiraki, my husband, who we had over to eat it with. And as someone who now owns four boxes full of Christmas decorations, I don’t remember decorating a tree either.

What I do remember is the warmth that came from my mother’s friend, Hazel, being there too. I’ve known Hazel since I was born. Late November that year, she had emailed us to ask if she could come and meet Tsubamé and stay over. She was 61 and headed to Saxmundham, Suffolk, for a short course in care work and wasn’t sure where she’d then be posted for the three months of her stay.

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For years, Ginger Johnson imagined life as a tragedy playing out – until she decided to reframe it as a comedy

There was a hula-hooper, a juggler, a mime and a comic on our 2015 Christmas cabaret tour, and a striptease, too. Mine was known as the “hotdog act”. Each night, in full drag, I’d totter on to a stage in a room full of total strangers with a jar of 10-inch hotdogs, and shove them up my nose, down my throat, into the air, to music. I was apeing the burlesque style, turning what could seem sensual into something totally grotesque. You’ll struggle to believe me, but during this period of my life I took myself – and my work – debilitatingly seriously.

There was a lot of baggage on that tour bus: cases full of costumes, yes, but also the emotional variety. Each of us was going through the wringer – breakups, breakdowns, crises galore. I know, how festive. My mental health was in the pits and it had been six or seven months since I’d spoken to my family. I was in self-destruct mode. Through our collective pain, we bonded as a cast. When you live and work together on the road, there’s no escaping. Pre-show, our dressing room became a group therapy space. And, after a gig, high on adrenaline, we’d sit around sharing problems and too much merlot. One of the other artists was reading a book that argued that being born is traumatic and to heal you must re-enact it. We talked logistics, but I never quite got round to reliving my own delivery.

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Academic says participants feel compelled to put on ever more outlandish displays to impress peers

It may seem like harmless Christmas fun but an academic who studies paranormal investigations has compared the “elf on the shelf” phenomenon with the ever more ambitious shows that “victims” of poltergeists feel compelled to stage.

Dr Alice Vernon , of Aberystwyth University’s department of English and creative writing, said many parents felt under pressure to think up new poses and scenarios for their elves to win kudos on social media.

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A snowy coconut cake and an elegant pear dessert with chocolate sauce and cream

In the American south, coconut cakes are a Christmas tradition. There are myriad variations: some call for fresh coconut, some desiccated, some flaked, some toasted. I love the snowy appeal of a coconut cake in the winter, and it’s a welcome alternative to a rich fruit cake. Poire belle hélène, or poached pears with chocolate sauce, is both elegant and simple, not to mention refreshing after a large meal. These two desserts go surprisingly well together on the table – or even on the same plate.

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