The Ghost With The Most...
What Makes A Ghost Story Work....
I’ve had this bit in my archives on the Keep Notes App for a while now and needed to get it out to the masses. I don’t remember where I got it from.
What is a ghost story?
1. Story about characters reacting to ghosts.
2. Lingering spirit that interferes with reality.
A. Tethered to a location, object or a person.
3. Ghosts can be real or imagined.
A. Supernatural hauntings.
B. Psychological hauntings.
Key ingredients of a ghost story.
1. Ghost:
A. take solid physical form.
B. Interact with their environment
C. Can be harmed by physical objects.
D. Can include monsters or demons.
2. Haunting - tormenting characters and forces them to react. Make sounds. Chase people from place to place. Even murder someone.
3. Victim/Target - punished due to unlucky circumstances. Buy a haunted object because they didn't know better or did and didn't care. Family has committed a sin of some sort. Ghost is punishing that person for their family's sin.
4. Theme - past haunting the present. Something bad happened in the past and needs resolving in the present.
Common Types of Haunting
1. Vengeful - spirits seeking revenge through vengeful acts.
2. Evil repeating itself - some evil act happened in the past and spirits are making sure that act happens again in the present.
3. Atonement - spirit committed evil acts and now must punish those loving mortals who do the same thing that spirit did.
4. Hopeful/redemption - spirit failed a mission or seeks peace in their spiritual life. Haunts people who can help the mission or bring peace to the world.
Tips for terrifying ghost stories!
1. Make the ghost unique - find new ways to unsettle your audience. Creativity.
2. Build atmosphere from the start - build unease, tension and mystery. Create isolation so characters can't rely on help. Or an environment where the characters are always in danger. Ghost change appearances - how it presents itself.
3. Gradually introduce powers/methods - Build your ghosts reputation as a force of terror and destruction. Do this slowly to build tension and reveal what the creature is capable of piece by piece.
4. Embrace the Unknown - full of unknown possibilities. The unknown origins of the ghost or monster is equally terrifying as knowing.
5. Ambiguous ending - Unresolved ending that is open to interpretation. A lingering question can haunt your audience forever.
6. Audience left to decide the fate of the characters and story world.
With all this above being said, the ghost story niche/subgenre in horror and in all of fiction, is the one place where an author has a wide range of freedom to truly write the story they want to.
A character that is a ghost is a true mystery that needs to be unraveled bit by bit—not all at once. The slow pacing of the character-ghost from start to finish is true character development.
Flashbacks, dream sequences, time slips—all have a place in a good ghost story, as long as each is properly placed and relevant to the story. Has a clear purpose for being in the story.
The key in writing ghost horror is ignoring what’s been done in other books and an author stepping forward to tell the story he or she wants to tell or needs to tell. Writing your interpretation freely, without any proverbial chains rattling in the background is liberating. Nothing but you, your imagination and a blank page. That’s all you need.
I’m not saying you can’t do a character analysis or give a few details of the character-ghost—you certainly can. But the beauty and true reward is discovering what the character is all about in real time. Being surprised as you go is better than knowing you’ll be excited when you write the chapter about the author’s backstory. Listening to your character explain themselves—past, memories, their hangups, etc., is a comforting thing, full of promise and great writing. Perfect way for an author to find his or her voice.
Of course, the common ghost story has an established formula, as referenced above - step by step. But ghost stories don’t have to follow any formula. Authors can create their own formula—have parts of the story out of order but still make it work and pull it off in your own way.
A good and memorable ghost story has a good balance between the characters—dead and alive—and bringing the past back, for whatever reason—resolve something, lost love, clear a person’s name of past crimes. Forgiveness! Whatever the reason is, this is a true test of horror writing in building a story that not only scares the reader but also roots for them in certain parts.
A good ghost story is an emotional investment, at the very least. For the author and the reader. And a necessary experiment in creativity and imagination. Those two things alone are enough to carry a good ghost story.
Some of my favorite ghost story movies include Poltergeist, Thirteen Ghosts, The Grudge. Each for different, distinct reasons. Not just from a horror perspective but from a storytelling perspective. And of course, Ghostbusters - my favorite movie. I’d be a Ghostbuster if it were a real job in the world.
This list of a few of the more well-known haunted places in America—the lore, the history of the location/place, the reported experiences all make for great ideas and inspiration for great ghost storytelling.
The Whaley-House (San Diego), The Queen Mary (Long Beach, CA) Old Washoe Club (Nevada), Clown Motel (Nevada), The Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, CO), The Birdcage Theater (Tombstone, AZ), Nevada State Prison, Missouri State Penitentiary, Ohio State Reformatory, Waverly Hills Sanatorium (Kentucky), Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Pennsylvania), The Orphanage (Gettysburg, PA), The Jenny-Wade House (Gettysburg, PA), The Sallie House (Kansas), The Villisca Axe House (IOWA), The Shanley House (NY), The Lizzie Bordon House (Fall River, MA), The Weed-Sorrel House (Savannah, GA), St. Augustine Lighthouse (St. Augustine, FL), The Crescent Hotel (Eureka Springs, AR), The Myrtles Plantation (St. Francisville, LA), LaLourie Mansion (New Orleans), Hill House (Mineral Wells, TX), Jefferson Hotel (Jefferson, TX)…just to name a few.
A few of my favorite paranormal investigation channels on Youtube include the following: Amy’s Crypt, Ghost Club Paranormal, Watcher, Barrier Beyond and Kelsi Davies.