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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

October, A Time For Ghost Stories





October is a time for settling in with hot spiced cider, a blanket and a good book, preferably one with a with a great ghost story.
 You’re seated around the campfire, light flickering over the faces of those huddled there with you, and one of your friends is telling a story--not just a story--a ghost story. That prickling at the back of your neck, the way your breathing grows shallow and you wrap your arms around yourself bumps your heart up to high. It’s a cool night, but tiny beads of sweat collect at your hairline. 

It’s fear time, baby, and your body’s reacting to that familiar emotion, the one you experience whenever you’re scared by something and you’d like to pull the covers over your head or--better yet--run!

And you’re thrilled, right? Fear heightens awareness and cancels all the mundane concerns. For this moment you’re transported, you’re “alive” and “tingly.” This is one reason everyone loves a good ghost story. Another is that ghost stories try to demystify death, that one inescapable universal. This is why Halloween with its seasonal creepiness has such appeal and why this ancient Celtic celebration, steeped in ghostly myths, has continued in some form into the present day. 

What's Halloween without a CAT and a Jack-O-Lantern? Oh and I know there's a ghost at the window.


A few literary facts: 

The thirteen stories nominated for the Booker Prize in 2011 were about death. Here’s an interesting link on how to get published by writing about death.

Some of the best known and loved classics in literature are ghost stories: The Raven [Poe], A Christmas Carol [Dickens], The Turn of the Screw [James]. 

Today ghost stories are among the favorites of young readers. Dead Connection, The Body Finder, The Ghost Sitter, Stonewords: A Ghost Story and on and on. 

So I’ve written some ghostly tales. Some have been published in magazines, some are still on my C drive waiting for a publisher to find them :-), and some are still in my head. But this time of year I’m stirred to read and write about ghosts who walk in the night, about restless spirits seeking revenge, about pumpkin-evil stuff. 

And you? Do you love to read ghost stories? Do you love to write them? What are your favorite ones?

Here are some Ghost Stories I've downloaded just to get in the mood.







Any ghost stories you particularly love and maybe read more than once? And speaking of ghost stories, if I could find a ghost story with X, I might consider the A to Z Theme, All About Ghosts. I know haunted places have been done, but has anyone A to Zed about ghosts?

19 comments:

Lisa said...

Nope, but that's a great idea! My favorite ghost is the one I wrote about in Evangeline's Miracle, of course. But my second favorite is the Canterbury Ghost, a book and a tv movie staring Patrick Stewart. That was a fun one!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I have all of Gwen's books!
I haven't written one yet. Maybe I should try.
Lovecraft is also a cool horror writer.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lee ... I haven't seen an A-Z about ghosts ... I'm sure X could be conquered! The Canterbury Ghost is what I was thinking of too ... and I'm certain I read other ghost stories in my teens ...

I haven't written a ghost story ... and I haven't read Roald Dahl's stories ... cheers for now - Hilary

Anonymous said...

A to Z Ghosts sounds like a good idea. I think I did follow a blog that did ghost stories. http://sophiesthoughtsandfunmbles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/theme-reveal-for-a-to-z-challenge-2014.html

Heather M. Gardner said...

I love scary stories!

Heather

cleemckenzie said...

Taking notes here. I'll check these out.

cleemckenzie said...

Lovecraft seems like such an unlikely name for a writer of horror! I love the irony.

cleemckenzie said...

Oh yes, Dahl! Forgot him.

cleemckenzie said...

I'll check that out to see what that theme was about. Don't want to duplicate. Thanks, Patricia.

cleemckenzie said...

Really? Are we related?

Birgit said...

I have read Turn of the Screw and various Poe works. I read, when I was a kid, The Legend of the Green Ghost (I am going m=by memory here). I do love ghost stories and my dad was a great story teller. I will tell you what happened to him. True story-He was lost, at night, in a blizzard walking back to the lumber camp with his dog in the 1930's. He found a cement building and pushed open the door. It was very dark, he was exhausted and there was a bix box table in the middle. He hopped up and slept on that. In the early morning, through a small slit in the window, he saw a light. He got up and looked out and saw all these hooded figures in black, carrying lanterns coming towards him. He suddenly realized where he was. He looked back towards his "bed". he went to that bed and found the top moved and when he pushed it there, in the table lied the body of a beautiful young woman. he slept in a mausoleum and the mourners were coming to pay respects! he got out of there!

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I love ghost stories reading and writing them. Tis the season to moan and groan!

Anonymous said...

I am writing a ghost tory. You can find snippets of it on my blog ^_^

Jemima Pett said...

I've never liked ghost stories - I hate being scared, and I tend to get nightmares abut things creepingup on me. But apparently I'm quite good at writing them, so I may try one for Halloween itself. :)

Great post, thanks!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

A Christmas Carol is my favorite ghost story. I think every one at one time or another believes in or at least likes to think ghosts are real.

SSam said...

This is the season for ghost stories. You may like these really scary ghost stories from India ( loosely based on real events )

http://www.amazon.com/INDIAN-GHOST-STORIES-Saptarshi-Bhattacharyya-ebook/dp/B00ON3L6JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414304387&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+ghost+stories

SSam said...

You may like these ghost stories .. a friend of mine wrote these based on long time he spent with some of the people who had first hand experience ( there is a touch of fiction though )

http://www.amazon.com/INDIAN-GHOST-STORIES-Saptarshi-Bhattacharyya-ebook/dp/B00ON3L6JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414304387&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+ghost+stories

SSam said...

you may like these scary stories loosely based on real events in India

http://www.amazon.com/INDIAN-GHOST-STORIES-Saptarshi-Bhattacharyya-ebook/dp/B00ON3L6JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414304387&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+ghost+stories

SSam said...

you may like these ghost stories

http://www.amazon.com/INDIAN-GHOST-STORIES-Saptarshi-Bhattacharyya-ebook/dp/B00ON3L6JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414304387&sr=8-1&keywords=indian+ghost+stories