Weirdo lyrics

On the way to work this morning, I heard the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Each year, when I hear this song, I wonder why in the world they're singing about ghost stories and Christmas.

The verse goes like this:

"There'll be parties for hosting,
marshmallows for toasting and
caroling out in the snow.
There'll be scary ghost stories and
tales of the glories of Christmases
long, long ago."

What's up with that?