Rhodri Marsden has a knack. When the musician and Independent journalist asked his Twitter followers for examples of their worst first-dates a couple of months ago, the responses were so numerous and eye-wateringly funny that he got a book out of it (to be published in the new year).

People just seem to love to tell him their stuff.

Yesterday he asked for people’s examples of their best and worst Christmas moments. Not surprisingly, there were many more worst than best, dominated by a mix of relatives (and pets) dying, breakups and discoveries of infidelity. And things catching fire.

Here’s his Storify collection: