Ghost Stories

CRMooney said:

So I guess you're not the ideal audience for my upcoming book, Creepy zombie children versus zombie bigfoot in the haunted zombie house, then.

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*preorders book*

I think one of the best classic ghost stories would be the Haunting of Hill House. the Film adaption (1959) was great as well.

Dementia 13 (1963), a movie by Frances Ford Copolla. though not really a ghost story had all the classical elements of a ghost story.

I also like ambiguity & don't like a concrete explanation. Creep me out!

I really enjoyed The Little Stranger by Sara Waters. Talk about atmosphere--it was wonderful.

Having had scores of ghost stories published, here's my take...

It's all about the struggle of the dark against the light. The time and place, and the way it plays out is in some ways secondary to that. And when you're dealing with archetypes, there's only so many to go around, and it's not surprising that the same concepts of death and betrayal, love and loss, turn up wherever, and whenever, the story is placed.

The ghost story is no different in utilising the archetype of the return of the lost from the great beyond, but a good one needs verisimilitude.

If the reader doesn't believe wholeheartedly in the supernatural element, even if only for the duration of the story, then they'll be looking for the Scooby-Doo escape, the man in the mask that means everything before was just smoke and mirrors. To pull off a good ghost story, you need to get past that, and engage the reader at an emotional level.

The best stories allow us to overlay our own fears and nightmares on a backdrop provided by the writer. Some people are terrified of dark corners, others of sounds, others still of silence. A mixture of the primal fears in the story will have readers constantly looking over their shoulder, and almost afraid to reach the end. For me, that's what makes a good ghost story.

I like ghost stories, too. I thought it would be fun to incorporate a few ghosts into my own stories, without making them the focus. In SUSPICION, a writer of ghost stories, who knows perfectly well that ghosts are inventions, buys a house that seems to be haunted for real. But the ghost is the least of her problems. In A HEARTBEAT AWAY, which is set in an inner-city ER, one of the staff is a doctor who can't seem to get away...even after he dies.

For people who enjoy ghost stories, there's nothing more fun than writing one. Go for it.

Dezibela said:

I also like ambiguity & don't like a concrete explanation. Creep me out!

I really enjoyed The Little Stranger by Sara Waters. Talk about atmosphere--it was wonderful.

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I just checked that out on Amazon, and it sounds great. Put on my TBR list--thanks!

Barbara R., I hope you enjoy it. I couldn't put it down--literally. I read all 500 pp in one sitting.

As a writer, I especially enjoyed Waters' skill in pacing. The pace is, mmm, stately, but while the story builds, the layers of character & setting keep the reader engaged. I read it for pleasure, but I need to read it again as a writer to dissect Waters' techniques.

I don't like reading ghost stories. Not one has ever scared me. They've all been rather boring, actually. Where's the fear factor?

The best ghost stories always seem to be character driven; the very idea of a ghost implies a history, a longing, an unfulfilled desire. Get your readers invested in your characters and invested in the history first. Then putting them in peril will be that much more effective.

chompers said:

I don't like reading ghost stories. Not one has ever scared me. They've all been rather boring, actually. Where's the fear factor?

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Ghost stories scare many people more than anything else because they believe ghosts might be real. Where's the fear factor in a werewolf? I can see believing in ghosts, but very, very, very few things in horror fiction are reality based, so how can they scare you?

But do any stories actually scare you? If I want to be scared, I read the morning news. I read horror fiction because I'm scared for the character, not for myself.

Jamesaritchie said:

Ghost stories scare many people more than anything else because they believe ghosts might be real. Where's the fear factor in a werewolf? I can see believing in ghosts, but very, very, very few things in horror fiction are reality based, so how can they scare you?

But do any stories actually scare you? If I want to be scared, I read the morning news. I read horror fiction because I'm scared for the character, not for myself.

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I think it's pretty obvious why ghost stories exist. My point was I've never read one that was successful in scaring me. I've HEARD ghost stories, like around the campfire, that were scary; I've WATCHED ghost stories that were scary (The Ring), even if that was pretty rare in scaring me either. But a book? Nope, not a bit scary.

Anninyn said:

I'm writing a ghost story - full length novel - after years of reading them and loving them.

Personally I prefer a creepy atmosphere, and a more psychological fear. I'm not so into the gore. I also prefer it when the haunting isn't over-explained.

What makes a ghost story effective for you? And what are some over-done cliches you'd rather not see any more?

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I love a good ghost story. the ones that do it for me are the ones that are subtle, things unseen, dimensions, lurking, stealthy evil. The exhaled breath in the night, slow, eldritch mists and baleful lights in graveyards....that kinda stuff.

Jamesaritchie said:

Ghost stories scare many people more than anything else because they believe ghosts might be real. Where's the fear factor in a werewolf? I can see believing in ghosts, but very, very, very few things in horror fiction are reality based, so how can they scare you?

But do any stories actually scare you? If I want to be scared, I read the morning news. I read horror fiction because I'm scared for the character, not for myself.

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I could tell you a ghost story that might scare most people. It happened to me and it was real.

I love a good ghost story too-and "Ghost Story" is one of my favorites. The Haunting of Hill House, and The Legend of Hell House would probably be my other favorites.

I've been pitching a ghost story book I wrote a while ago-but having a bit harder time selling it. It's too much of a mash-up I think. Dark mystery, horror, some gore, and Flowers in the Attic meets Shirley Jackson. LOL So we'll see if it sells.

Just a small note, something I find creepiest is when the ghosts take one the full solid form of a friend. I think it would be terrifying to be in a house with a friend, searching the corridors, cracks and corners. Then you realize that the friend you've been with all evening is a little different, maybe a mole in the wrong place or something. You start noticing more and more and then the friend dematerializes right in front of you.

Okelly65 said:

dont get me wrong I am not slamming him. There just something about his style that doesnt appeal to me. But Ghost Story was the one that hit me in a good story place.

for the rest of your comment, I agree completely. Bring back the fear!

If your going to write about Vampire, make them monsters, not glittery, whiny, angst ridden two hundred year old teen agers who only want to date and go to the beach.

oh and I know its an old thread, But I wasn't around when it was started and wanted to comment.

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Funny how we all disagree on writers. I think Straub is three times the stylist the King is. I love the books King and Straub wrote together, but I love them largely because Straub brought his style to King's story and characters.

I've been wanting to do a short story based on the Nameless Thing of Berkeley Square for some time now.

I think there's story potential for something really pants-staining there.

Jamesaritchie said:

Funny how we all disagree on writers. I think Straub is three times the stylist the King is. I love the books King and Straub wrote together, but I love them largely because Straub brought his style to King's story and characters.

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Completely agree with this. That said, The Talisman was the only thing they did together that I really liked, and I always felt like that was mostly King.

stormie said:

An agent once wrote on his blog that he hates receiving ghost stories that use some form of white fog to demonstrate a ghostliness to the character or area the author is writing about. He said it was too cliche. But then, that's sometimes how ghosts are seen by humans. So I don't see how that shouldn't be used, if it works for the scene.

ETA: the movie "The Others" used a lot of fog, I believe.

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Do you know where the spirit world is? It's all around us.

kwanzaabot said:

I've been wanting to do a short story based on the Nameless Thing of Berkeley Square for some time now.

I think there's story potential for something really pants-staining there.

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That was the best kind of ghost story..the stealthy unseen, the dark and nameless horror. One of the worst energies is the spirit entity that holds others prisoner, won't allow them to move into the light.

I disagree. For me, a good ghost story shouldn't scare me. It should make me shiver a little and then get on with my life. So many horror stories are over the top. They scare younger readers but the over the top element causes the older reader to click off the belief button. We know that blood is never going to come out of a faucet but Peter Quint peering through the conservatory window, searching for the child he abused in life, is just possible enough to shake one up.

I don't like explanations but I do like a sad twist that throws some light on the backstory. I grew up on ghost stories. The first one I ever heard was about my grandmother's first cousin appearing on a lonely rural road, in his overalls and boots, walking to the mailbox like he did every day of his life. Only his life ended three months before. You grow up on this stuff and you get to be a connoisseur--pronounced conno-sewer in my family.

Maybe we could have a ghost story contest. I'd be in for it. --s6

Anninyn said:

What makes a ghost story effective for you? And what are some over-done cliches you'd rather not see any more?

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Personally I prefer a mystery that first drags in the protagonist... then really starts to mess them up.

Books these days tend to drop you right into action and I feel that for ghost stories, it doesn't work that well as I will tend to think "Just Get Out". Then get irritated when they haven't run for their lives. Yes you can use the last family to show the extent of where the horror is going but then I know where the action is going to end. Maybe it will go in another direction but it's unlikely I'll be reading any further.


Cliches can be well Cliches but they can always be used with a slightly different take on things. Take mist for example. You can first take the protagonist and the reader down the road of thinking that its a cataract and play on the fear of having to lay back conscious, while someone peels off a layer of your eyeball like an onion. The protagonist did Google 'mist in my vision' didn't they?

Lets be honest, most of us will be praying that's it's going to be something paranormal at that point.

You can also rather than just waiting for something to come out of the mist, it could pull things in. First the heat from a room, then the light, maybe an object or two, quickly followed by the family pet. Which with a bit of foreshadowing, the watch for example that went in and came out chewed up in the cellar, will set the scene perfectly for when the pet goes missing. And do we really care that its mist anymore?

While every story needs the three arch plot, My personal preference is that the mystery turns to horror then to "Thank god that's over" linearly from being to end. The trail and fail cycles only offer alternative explanations. The priest coming into the story will fail or take things up a notch ore two.