Things That Go Bump in the Book
Mar172008
I’m writing a ghost story. I’ve never done that before. That means I need to know about ghosts (researching that has been fun) and beyond that, I need to know how to write scary. Not gross-out, not horror so awful you have nightmares for weeks, but good, solid, classy, supernatural, scare-you-enough-to-make-you-think story-telling.
So of course I signed up to write an essay for BenBella’s anthology on the TV series Supernatural. I liked the few episodes I saw of it before it freaked me out too much to keep watching, and I knew that if they’d scared me that badly without ever grossing me out, they knew what they were doing. So I watched 52 episodes of it in four days. Next up: the last eight and then the American Gothic DVD.
But I also need to look at great ghost fiction. I’ve read The Turn of the Screw, The Uninvited, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Bag of Bones, but there must be more that are truly great stories that go for the chill, not the gross-out.
So anybody know any good, classy ghost stories? Books, TV, movies? I’m thinking less Evil Dead (although I yearn for Ash) and more The Innocents.
Even more, I want to know what makes a good ghost story. Gary Cole playing the devil as small town sheriff or Michael J. Fox sending Gary Busey to hell? The long season battle-with-the-demons arc on Supernatural or the one-offs, like that damn scarecrow? How do the best storytellers go for the chill down your spine without making you lose your lunch?
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149 Comments to 'Things That Go Bump in the Book'
On March 17, 2008 at 5:46 pm jessie said...
There have been several remakes of the Count Dracula story that are reasonable creepy. I remember one from about 1980 that had a scene where the vampire was scratching at the window that has left me with a disinclination to ever leave my window open, even on the second floor, especially on the second floor. It seems like one or more of the Charles de Lint stories does something spooky with ghosts and of course I can’t remember anything more about it. Or even if it really was Charles de Lint. Oh well.
On March 17, 2008 at 5:47 pm Louis said...
Woo-Hoo…things that go bump in the night.
Linda Lael Miller has two recent books, “Deadly Deceptions” and “Deadly Gamble” that are Ghost based…multiple ghosts. Looks like the beginnings of a new series for her.
Looking forward to reading your “Ghosts”.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:06 pm Slave Driver said...
“Stir Of Echoes” with Kevin Bacon. He gets hypnotized at a party for sh*ts and giggles only to find the door has been left open a crack.Not only do they nail the feel of a Chicago neighborhood and the accent,(important to me, an ex-ChiCAgan) but it’s scary without being barfy.
Glad you’re home safe.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:08 pm J said...
One of the best ghost stories that I ever read was “Ammie, Come Home” by Barbara Michaels. A good amount of the tension comes from the drawing out of the realization of just what has been going on through the whole book. And the fact that so much of it is seeing the effect of something being wrong, but not the actual agent until the very end.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:17 pm Dayle said...
Three episodes of the recent Doctor Who: the two-parter that includes “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances,” and “Blink.”
Not ghosts exactly, but extremely creepy and chilling.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:25 pm LtL said...
One of the scariest things I ever saw on TV (confess: I’m not an expert at this) was when Ryker was abducted by aliens. (ST:TNG) At one point, the aliens reached through the wall to take him. You want to believe that if you’re up against something solid like a wall, you’re safe. When that fails, it’s a bad case of WTH?
That’s what is so scary about ghosts: their seeming invincibility. And after all, you know that your final outcome is death, which also seems to be what they want for you, only you want to wait a while, but they’re in a hurry. Or they want to mess with your soul, imprison it. That’s hugely scary because you want your soul to live free even after your body has succumbed. If I wanted to write a scary ghost story (and I don’t) I guess I would start my ghost as a charming character and only reveal his horrible intent toward the end of the story as the characters approach the final battle. The reader would get inklings before the hero, of course.
Yeah, I would approach the ghost story as if I were telling a story about a really smart, really bad dude. Who didn’t obey the Laws of Physics.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:27 pm LtL said...
Or for the ghosts who operate by driving their victims nuts, I’d treat the ghost as a disease. The victim and his allies could fight against it and beat it or not beat it according to your whims.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:33 pm Jill (not the usual Jill that posts here) said...
I second Stir of Echoes, all things Barbara Michaels, and really, just about any Dr. Who episode (romance, history, comedy, space, and men with cute accents!), but the ones Dayle mentioned are great and veerrrrrrry creeeeepy.
I am the world’s biggest wuss, but I love a good ghost story.
There is also a wonderful novella called “The Woman in Black.” It’s by Susan Hill and isn’t that old, but has a great Victorian feel about it. It almost begs to be read out loud by a fireplace.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:35 pm JulieB said...
Oh! Movies! The very first one I thought of was the same one Slave Driver suggested — “Stir of Echoes.” Also, check out “Flatliners” if you never have. Both are Kevin Bacon movies and both are set in Chicago.
Also, of course, The Sixth Sense. But I’m sure you’ve seen that.
“A Pure Foramility (Una pura Formalita)” w. Gerard Depardu by Polanski.
And, I also liked Kelly Armstrong’s “Haunted,” but I’d consider starting with “Dime Store Magic” if you haven’t read her yet. (Actually, I’d really reccommend starting w. Broken, only because I don’t like to start series out of print order. But I think they can all stand alone.)
On March 17, 2008 at 6:46 pm Evesie said...
here is my question – why does it have to be scary ghost stories? there are plenty of amicable ones out there. that’s ghost prejudice. I just have one thing to say to prove my point – Casper: the FRIENDLY ghost.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:46 pm Kristina said...
The Changeling (1980) George C. Scott. Spooky without being too graphic. Also loved Stir of Echoes. Barbara Michaels has a talent for spooky not graphic in novels. Be Buried in the Rain freaks me out to this day.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:48 pm Steve Thorn said...
Peter Straub – Ghost Story
’nuff said.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:48 pm LtL said...
STITCHES IN TIME by Barbara Michaels or Elizabeth Peters. I don’t read it too often because it makes me feel so trapped and helpless. The main story seems not to be a ghost story, but that’s Michaels for you.
On March 17, 2008 at 6:52 pm ChelSierra said...
Two movies come to mind that might be along the lines of what you’re wanting. Neither are gory, but they are creepy.
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
The Uninvited
They are similar to Poltergeist.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:00 pm casperflea said...
Deborah Grabien has a series of modern UK-set ghost stories called the Haunted Ballad series, because they’re all tied up with traditional songs. The most recent is New-Slain Knight. I don’t go in for ghosts, but my friends who do find them chilling, not gory.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:07 pm JulieB said...
*headsmack* I’m _reading_ a ghost story now, by the FABULOUS Joshilyn Jackson. This is a _must-read_. “The Girl Who Stopped Swimming.”
I’ve been dwelling in this book all day. How many times do I have to be hit over the head…?
Oh
On March 17, 2008 at 7:10 pm JulieB said...
*headsmack* I’m _reading_ a ghost story now, by the FABULOUS Joshilyn Jackson. This is a _must-read_. THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING.
I’ve been _dwelling_ in this book all day. How many times do I have to be hit over the head…?
Oh @ Slavedriver: We’re practially _neighbors_!
On March 17, 2008 at 7:10 pm JulieB said...
Wow. I don’t know how I did that. Sorry…
On March 17, 2008 at 7:11 pm JulieB said...
@ Jessie: I think you’re thinking of “Salem’s Lot.”
On March 17, 2008 at 7:23 pm molly-o said...
I’ll second Dayle’s recommendation of the new Doctor Who — those three episodes in particular scared the cr*p out of me, without being the least bit gory. When my husband is in an eevil mood, he’ll start saying “Mummy!” in a British accent — gets me every time.
For a written ghost story that stuck with me for a couple weeks, you might try Robert E. Howard’s “Pigeons From Hell.” Be warned, it has racial aspects that are very dated (not as bad as Birth of a Nation, but worse than Little Black Sambo).
But it is a SCARY, SCARY story. I was VIGILANT about latching the bedroom door for WEEKS after reading it. It’s scary in a “You know what? I don’t need to pee that bad, I can hold it until dawn, that’s only six hours from now” kind of way.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:36 pm LtL said...
Of course, my favorite ghost story is THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, which is not scary, except with regard to Mr. Muir.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:37 pm lee said...
If you want to know how fake ghosts happen, with a touch of real ghosts, I would recommend Paul Gallico’s Too Many Ghosts and The Hand of Mary Constable – a ghost hunter finds mostly fakes, and one or two real ones. The writing is terribly dated, but they are readable. I really liked knowing how to emulate a ghost if I couldn’t have a real one.
There is a kid’s ghost book, that gets mysterious and a little creepy with no gore at all – The Amber Cat by Hilary McKay.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:41 pm MM said...
“The House Next Door” by Anne Rivers Siddon. It was written in the late seventies but I only just read it last summer, and it Freaked. Me. Out. while never being the least bit graphic or gory. It’s about a haunted house in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood and the effect it has on the people who live next door. Stephen King listed it in his nonfiction book “Danse Macabre” as one of the greatest modern day ghost stories. I also have to second all the recommendations for Barbara Michaels, especially “Ammie Come Home”.
As far as Supernatural is concerned, I have a different sort of recommendation: Women’s Work is a fan-made music video that gives a sort of feminist critique of the show and the way it uses female characters. It’s very violent, but of course it’s nothing anyone who watches the show hasn’t already seen.
On March 17, 2008 at 7:58 pm Psyche said...
China Mieville’s Perdito Street Station is more of a monster story than a ghost story, but it’s got some really heaping helpings of fear and dread.
I think a big part of getting the chill right is getting the point of view right. It can be effective when the reader knows that something scary is lurking, but the protagonist doesn’t, and it can also be effective when the reader is surprised along with the protagonist, but I get really irked by stories written in a third person limited perspective where the protagonists is constantly getting funny feelings or premonitions that something isn’t right, because when the bad thing finally jumps out, the “I’m really scared” reaction tends to get muted by the “See? I was right” reaction.
On March 17, 2008 at 8:02 pm Office Wench Cherry said...
I think the key to writing scary is to take it seriously. To remember that for your characters it’s real. You’re good at layering so you’d make a great horror writer.
For me personally what makes a story or tv show scary is a feeling of uncertainty. The season long arc of Dean trading his soul for Sam’s life is scary because I don’t know how they are going to get him out of it. Learning that the demons of the Supernatural-verse used to be human is scary. Thinking up a dozen possibilities as to how that could impact Dean is really scary and not just because I have a serious hot-fictional-guy crush on Dean. Please don’t tell my husband.
The damn scarecrow was creepy and gross but I knew they’d find a way to defeat it so for me it wasn’t scary. But I cut my teeth on horror so maybe I’m not the best person to ask. The one moment of that ep that stays with me was when Dean looks up at the scarecrow, pronounces it fugly and then walks away because *in my mind* the scarecrow turns its head and watches him walk away. It would have been overkill to have that happen on screen but I was left with the sensation that it could have happened. That it didn’t makes me happy but knowing that it could have makes me happier.
I think where a lot of horror goes wrong is in not allowing the reader or viewer to bring her own experience to the party. To bring her own idea of what is scary. The writer feels the need to go all anvilicious on the audience – we already know something bad is going to happen and we’d prefer it if you didn’t draw us a map. And program our GPS. And put up signs. Let us find our way to Creepytown all on our own so that we get there the same time as the characters. We might take a different road but we’ll get there.
Part of what makes a good ghost story scary is the idea that the dead can impact – or prey upon – the living. Think Angel’s Rm W/A Vu. The ghost of Dennis’ mother picks at Cordelia, finding her every weakness until she is literally a sobbing mess on her bedroom floor. Then the ghost makes her mistake. She chooses the one word that snaps Cordy awake but probably pushed the other women over the edge. Good horror strips your characters down to their bones.
Different people are going to find different aspects of your story scary just like they find different aspects funny or romantic. You have a lot of room to build dread and fear by building an atmosphere of uncertainty. Even once your characters know they aren’t crazy and that they are seeing ghosts you can build the tension by not having things happen all the time. Or have different characters have opposite reactions to events.
I used to work in a library that I swear was haunted. There were many times at night after I locked up I had to force myself to walk and not run away. There was such a feeling of dread that if I looked back I’d see something I really didn’t want to see. It didn’t happen every time and was just as likely to happen on a sunny day when we closed at 5:30 as in the dark dead of winter when I locked up at 9:00. I was afraid in that building since I was a little girl. There were areas that made my skin crawl in a way that was totally different from the creepy iron lung in the museum next door. Knowing years later that a coworker felt the same way did not make me feel better.
There’s a book called The Dwelling by Susie Maloney that’s a great example of characters reacting differently to the same haunted house.
I could keep babbling but I’ll shut up now.
On March 17, 2008 at 8:04 pm Rich said...
-The Amityville Horror is one of my favorite ‘haunted house’/evil house stories.
Another I suggest is Hell House by Richard Matheson.
Also watch Poltergeist…The clown scares the hell out of me.
On March 17, 2008 at 8:10 pm Charlene Teglia said...
Hitchcock is classic for spooky without gross. Atmosphere. Also, Lovecraft and Poe. I think The Shining is one of Stephen King’s scariest books. I’d also recommend talking to some theatre people and maybe hanging out at a theatre at night. Everybody who’s been in a play has ghost stories. *g*
On March 17, 2008 at 8:16 pm Jamie H said...
The line between chilling and sickening for me is very simple: gore. If graphic depictions of victims/whatever are given, then it makes me feel ill. If there’s not gore but feelings of ‘this could actually happen’, legitimate or not, I get goosebumps.
On March 17, 2008 at 8:44 pm LtL said...
I just don’t think I’d want to sit in a house by myself and write a ghost story. This is coming from one who doesn’t believe in ghosts.
Office Wench Cherry is right. The skills you use to create sexual tension will be useful for creating ghostly dread.
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER broke my heart. Will you be doing that, too? Or will you be satisfied to scare the living daylights out of me. Gotta prepare myself.
On March 17, 2008 at 9:18 pm robena grant said...
Are we talking ghost/romance stories? Or just plain old ghost stories?
I read a Harlequin, Signature Select collection called Beyond the Dark, (2005). There were three stories, one was about werewolves but the other two were ghost stories.
Linda Winstead Jones did one of them and it was about a woman who accidentally kills her obsessed ex-boyfriend and he comes back to haunt her. She hires a psychic for help and a deadly triangle takes over. Lots of good emotion.
I know she has a novel out now called Raintree:Haunted. Itis getting good reviews but I haven’t read it yet. I intend to do so, soon.
The other was Haunt Me, by Evelyn Vaughn. A woman’s husband is on life support and his spirit encounters an evil presence in the hospital and it is about to harm his estranged wife, who he still loves. One of the things I like about this story was the excerpts from Wuthering Heights at the top of every other chapter. You would have to enjoy hospital setting for this one.
One of my fave movies is Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman and set in London. Damn, now I want to see it again. It’s been years. Maybe it’s time.
On March 17, 2008 at 9:29 pm Brandy said...
Touching Evil by Kay Hooper sends chills down “my spine” and includes ghosts and the lady who can see them.
And sorry, no help for the Ghost movies. My favorite of those is Topper. *G*
On March 17, 2008 at 9:43 pm LtL said...
Our eighth grader just scared herself silly watching POLTERGEIST on her little macbook. That’s a small screen, so it had to be the story and not the special effects that spooked her so badly. And, she’s a total goth chic who reads nothing but vampires. So, this must be one scary movie.
On March 17, 2008 at 10:11 pm RfP said...
This is hands down the scariest thing I’ve ever read. It’s full of classic ghost story elements, there’s no slasher gore, and he’s usually a humour/travel/memoir/nature writer–not at all a horror type.
The Entrance by Gerald Durrell, 1979
It’s in a Durrell collection (Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium) and an omnibus Foundations of Fear (or the shorter Visions of Fear). I can’t even describe it or I’ll have to turn my mirror to face the wall before I can sleep tonight.
Here are three other older chillers that I think fit your “good, classy” criteria. Each one might or might not be about a ghost; they’re all about beings that are conjured up by (or attracted to) human longing.
Consanguinity by Ronald Duncan, 1965
After reading the ending, I immediately started again from the beginning. It’s a primarily psychological tale of an unusually close brother and sister; more about the power of the mind, the weird, and the transgressive than the truly horrible. (No no, it’s not sibling sex.)
The Villa Désirée by May Sinclair, 1926
A classic Gothic tale of a young woman engaged to a mysterious stranger. Mildred is alone in his remote home, sleeping in a bedroom with a bloody past. (The woman-in-bed thing seems to crop up constantly in horror.)
How Love Came to Professor Guildea by Robert Hitchens, 1900
An isolated man haunted by a nameless something. It’s an affectionate ghost, but still horrifying; the Professor would rather die than live with the creature’s affection.
I found those three in a collection of horror short stories edited by Michele Slung. I didn’t love the collection as a whole, but it had some interesting themes that might fit a ghost story:
- Women going mad (perhaps driven mad by frightening forces) and becoming unable to trust themselves (e.g. Turn of the Screw)
- The terror and mental fatigue of feeling spied-on in one’s own home
- The everyday being off-kilter in a small but un-ignorable way
On March 17, 2008 at 10:30 pm Jasmine said...
Susan Hill’s Woman In Black is a lovely example of the genre, reminiscent of James and Dickens. I recall watching a made-for-TV movie of it years ago and it gave me the same thrill Rebecca (the Joan Fontaine version!) did – not gory, but chilling.
On March 17, 2008 at 10:31 pm Merry said...
I thought of Barbara Michaels too — I read Witch when I was fairly young, and parts of it seemed quite spooky. I haven’t read much scary fiction lately (I watch the news) but what comes to mind is the writing of John Bellairs. The House with a clock within its walls was damn scary when I was a youngster. And Face in the Frost was a mixture of humorous and scary that worked for me.
On March 17, 2008 at 10:37 pm LtL said...
Oh, “bump.” Thought it said “burp.” Never mind.
On March 17, 2008 at 10:42 pm RfP said...
This Guardian blog points out that C.S. Lewis’s White Witch isn’t scary, but Aslan’s resurrection is terrifying.
And it looks like the Durrell story is most easily found in a Gothic anthology with a number of other great authors.
DALBY, Richard, Ed. Twelve Gothic Tales. London & New York: Oxford UP, 1998.
“Leixlip Castle by Charles R. Maturin
“The Dream” by Mary Shelley
“Metzengerstein” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Master Sacristan Eberhart” by Sabine Baring-Gould
“Dickon the Devil” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
“The Secret of the Growing gold” by Bram Stoker
“In Kropfsberg Keep” by Ralph Adams Cram
“The Dead Smile” by F. Marion Crawford
“By One, by Two, and by Three” by Stephen Hall
“The Buckross Ring” by L.A.G. Strong
“The Knocker at the Portico” by Basil Copper
“The Entrance” by Gerald Durrell
On March 17, 2008 at 10:42 pm Lindsey said...
Honestly, I think you should play the video game Resident Evil. I’m not one for jumping or getting freaked out at movies, but this game does just that. It’s more about Zombies than ghosts, but it still has some nice classic scare in it.
Your character starts out walking through a completely empty house trying to find a way out. Every room holds its own surprises, whether things jump out at you or the walls talk or what. It’s your job to keep yourself alive and save anyone you can along the way.
Even if you’re not a video game person, which I’m not really, you should definitely at least check out one of these games. I’d suggest either the second one or the fourth one. They’re scary in an enjoyable way, and I know I definitely learned a lot about what’s scary and what’s not.
On March 17, 2008 at 11:29 pm John Miller said...
I think Matthewson’s classic “20,000 Feet” shows what I was going to comment. IMHO, a good horror story (whether its the kind that will give nightmares or just startle you) does three things: 1) It doesn’t show you EVERYTHING, but makes the reader make up some of the story; 2) By showing the physical reaction of the character (instead of just telling it), the reader becomes even MORE scared because they already identify with the character and thus the character’s fright (wide eyes; jackhammering heart; adrenalin dumps in her system); 3) Showing inner dialogue of the character as he first tries to rationalize, then come to the aweful horrible conclusion that the ghost is real.
Anyway, that’s just my humble opinion. And, IMHO, “20,000 Feet” does a CLASSIC job of doing all 3 points above. For example, in the story the reader doesn’t know what the gremlin or “man on the wing of the plane” is, so the reader must decide. The reader gets to read all sorts of cool ways to write about the body’s reaction to frightening events. And the reader climbs inside the guy’s head (who could be crazy, but that’s part of point #1, too).
Hope it helped. It helped me. lol
On March 17, 2008 at 11:35 pm wendy roberts said...
A couple on my nightstand:
A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons
Apparitions by Raven Bower
I’m not sure if they’d be considered the ‘lose your lunch’ kind as it’s been a while since I read them and I have a high tolerance for that kind of thing, but I do remember they gave me the heebie jeebies
On March 17, 2008 at 11:57 pm maibeeme said...
There’s an old Ray Milland/Gail Russell movie from the ’40’s – “The Uninvited” – that is a great ghost story. Very scary, no gore, just the use-your-imagination-scare-yourself-to-death kind of story.
On March 17, 2008 at 11:58 pm anna said...
The Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I’m not usually into ghost stories because I am a fraidy cat, but I bought this one, I am ashamed to say, because Neil Gaiman quoted for the front cover. And I read it. And I couldn’t put it down. And it scared me shitless. And it was great.
Also Rosa and the Golden Bear by Kim Wilson. Her books are excellent, not strictly ghosts but definite horror tension. More horrifying than Rosa is The Autumn Castle. Read it, anyone! Please! I love her books!
For me the ghost thing is more about the tension, the coolness, the grotesque, the uncomfortable than the death.
Also I like it when they want more than for you just to die.
On March 17, 2008 at 11:59 pm anna said...
oh crap I meant Rosa and the Veil of Gold.
Fail.
On March 18, 2008 at 12:20 am talpianna said...
Forget about the film of A STIR OF ECHOES–read the three-times-better original novel by Richard Matheson. And you can’t do better than to get hold of a copy of THE MOONLIGHT TRAVELER (aka Great Tales of Fantasy & Imagination, edited by Philip van Doren Stern (who in 1943 wrote a short story, “The Greatest Gift,” which was the basis of the film IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE). This lists several of his anthologies of tales of the fantastic and macabre: http://www.violetbooks.com/REVIEWS/jas-stern.html
It’s a wonderful collection of the eerie what-was-that-I-saw-out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye? variety of tale that makes you “shiver when the wind blows cold”–most of them by famous writers such as Saki, John Collier, M.R. James, and Lord Dunsany. Look into collections of their short stories, too. Incidentally, it contains my very favorite short story in the whole world (not horror at all), E.M. Forster’s “The Celestial Omnibus.” You should be able to find it in the library, or a cheap used copy online. I just bought a new (used) hardcover of it to replace the literally falling-apart paperback. If I can find that one, I’ll send it to you.
I second the recommendation for AMMIE, COME HOM and would add her BE BURIED IN THE RAIN and THE CRYING CHILD.
Also fascinating is Nora Roberts’s In the Garden trilogy featuring a family ghost: BLUE DAHLIA, BLACK ROSE, and RED LILY.
M.R. James and Sheridan Le Fanu are famous Victorian ghost/horror authors.
My favorite ghost movie (after GHOST) is THE UNINVITED (1944) starring Ray Milland, with a script by Dodie Smith based on Dorothy Macardle’s novel. Highly recommended to fans of Barbara Michaels’s spooky books.
On March 18, 2008 at 12:34 am talpianna said...
I think the “Professor Guildea” story is also in the Van Doren Stern anthology.
And here is an online version of one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read (with not a drop of bloodshed), “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman:
http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm
On March 18, 2008 at 4:14 am Margay said...
As someone said before, The Sixth Sense was a good example. Along the same line, how about The Others with Nicole Kidman? That had a spectacular twist that was almost as shocking as the one in The Sixth Sense.
On March 18, 2008 at 4:34 am Stephanie Burgis said...
Sarah Monette has a wonderfully creepy (and beautifully-written) collection of ghost stories called The Bone Key – perfect for curling up with and gently, elegantly, freaking out!
On March 18, 2008 at 5:01 am ak said...
One more for AMMIE COME HOME by Barbara Michaels. I read it when I was a teenager, late at night, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
On March 18, 2008 at 5:36 am Yvonne Lindsay said...
OMG, definitely Kay Hooper for creepy, and definitely Nora Roberts’ Blue Dahlia, Red Lily and Black Rose series for an amazing ghost thread that sends chills up your spine but still keeps you reading.
But my favourite author for total creep me out ghosts and evil transcending death is Barbara Erskine. Try MIDNIGHT IS A LONELY PLACE (but not if you’re staying near a beach like I was the first time I read it, ARGH!), HOUSE OF ECHOES, ON THE EDGE OF DARKNESS, HIDING FROM THE LIGHT (this one has a scene that just about put me off cats for life! Just about, mind you. Not completely…), and more recently DAUGHTERS OF FIRE(so glad I read this on a flight where I had lots of very normal people around me!) Wasn’t so keen on her Egyptian WHISPERS IN THE SAND. Felt she really copped out the ending on that one.
And then there’s her trilogy based in the Robert the Bruce times… LADY OF HAY, KINGDOM OF SHADOWS and CHILD OF THE PHOENIX. Not quite as creepy though, IMESHO.
Now I think about it, I prefer a scary ghost book to a scary ghost movie. I think that with reading I’m setting my own pictures in my mind, and can choose to shut out what I want to at will, whereas with a movie (and WHAT LIES BENEATH is a perfect example of this) the visual stimulus and, for me, emotional tension of the story are just a bit too much.
For light hearted ghost movie, why not try JUST LIKE HEAVEN starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. The tagline reads: It’s a wonderful afterlife. Love will bring you back
On March 18, 2008 at 5:40 am Kieran said...
The scariest stories/movies for me are when evil exists in the innocuous or “innocent.”
On March 18, 2008 at 7:02 am Mitzi said...
Kieran is right – that the “normal” is really the paranormal is what frightens me. Stephen King does that well. I read “Cell” and didn’t want to use my cellphone.
My overall scariest book was his “‘Salem’s Lot” – not the movie – I couldn’t look outside my bedroom window – always thought there was some kid floating there wanting to come in.
Anticipation of terror is also scary. Remember watching “Jaws” for the first time? The music provided the anticipation. The first scene showed no blood but was one of the scariest moive scenes. Something innocuous, like skinny-dipping, becomes horrible.
On March 18, 2008 at 7:51 am Erik Smetana said...
For reading material, I would recommend a short story anthology edited by Frank McSherry sometime in the late 80’s titled, Treasury of American Horror Stories. I think it can still be found on places like Amazon, etc.
It has ghost stories, haunted house tales, that sort of thing. From lit classic by the likes of Ambrose Bierce and more recent tales from writers like Stephen King.
There are a lot of more recent anthologies and collections (i.e. Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts), but the McSherry anthology is a great starting point (b/c of the eclectic mix) for anyone just diving into the genre.
On March 18, 2008 at 8:23 am Office Wench Cherry said...
By the way, what is the topic of your essay for the BenBella book?
On March 18, 2008 at 9:12 am McB said...
Poe is good for creating that spooky tension. The best horror (not just ghosts) is where the audience/reader scare themselves. It’s not the thing that goes bump in the night, it’s the thing that doesn’t go bump, and you’re just laying there listening for something you can’t hear. A bump in the night is almost comforting compared to too much silence. Keep the big bad just out of sight for as long as possible, because it’s the unknown that scares people the most.
I think a lot of it is pacing, kind of like riding a roller coaster. Peaks and valleys to get the heart racing and then that long slow ride up to the high peak so that you’re psyching yourself out, thinking “oh sh*t this is going to be a long drop” before you even get to the top.
On March 18, 2008 at 9:15 am Kathy K said...
Earthbound by Richard Matheson. So good I’ve read it twice. Try to get the newer “approved and restored” version.
On March 18, 2008 at 9:17 am LA said...
I think the best book of ghost stories I’ve ever read was Haunted Heartland. See here at Amazon… http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Heartland-Dorset-Reprints-Scott/dp/0880296143/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205849544&sr=1-1
Another on less creepy and more totally cool was the Haunting of Francis Rain. It’s a YA, but it shows how to incorporate a ghost story that makes you think, but doesn’t scare the sh*% out of you.
On March 18, 2008 at 9:23 am Rebecca said...
I found the movie “the Others” to be really frightening. For me, it’s that uncertainty (like Turn Of The Screw) about whether or not one is losing their mind. So creepy. I expect that “The Others” is a book, too, but I haven’t read it.
On March 18, 2008 at 9:33 am Marcia in OK said...
Movies that have “stuck” with me over the years: The Changeling with George C. Scott, The Shining with Nicholson, and The Others with Nicole Kidman.
The Shining by King is the scariest book I ever read. I would read a chapter or two, and have to go into another part of the house that had friends or family around and just sit with them so I wasn’t alone thinking about the story. (The movie has some gore, but not too much. What was so scary was “getting inside” that character’s head and all the past/present stuff repeating.)
Good luck with the scary.
On March 18, 2008 at 10:18 am Pippa said...
two really scary movies:
“Jeepers Creepers” and Wes Craven´s “They” – let you lay in your bed with eyes open for a long time…
On March 18, 2008 at 10:21 am Cassie said...
I second M.R. James. My favourite short stories by him are ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral’ and ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You My Lad’. And you can read them for free here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9629
I just stole this from Wikipedia about James’s approach to writing ghost stories:
According to James, the story must “put the reader into the position of saying to himself: ‘If I’m not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!’” He also perfected the literary technique of the genre: narrating supernatural events principally through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology Ghosts and Marvels (Oxford, 1924): “Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo.… Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage.”
I also recommend Japanese horror films – the originals, not the crappy remakes. Try Ring, One Missed Call, Kairo, Dark Water. Japan has a long history of ghost-telling, and they’ve got the art of creeping you out down to perfection. Also, the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters is very good, and the Thai (I think) film The Eye is also pretty scary.
On March 18, 2008 at 10:25 am me said...
I totally agree with Marcia in OK re: The Others. Now THAT is a ghost story. I usually don’t like scary movies because they’re, you know, scary, but this one I love. It’s ooky and then the OMG ending makes everything ookier. Love it.
On March 18, 2008 at 10:59 am ksquard said...
I don’t do scary for entertainment so I can’t really contribute too effectively (though I am planning to read yours, true testament of my devotion.) My overactive imagination already goes to town on the smallest of chill factors, so I try not to give it too much incentive. Buffy/Angel are pretty much the scariest things I ever viewed consistently and I’ve never (gasp!) read a Stephen King novel. Hell, I spent half of Silence of the Lambs movie hiding behind the shoulder of the guy I was with and would have never gone in the first place if not for him. Learned that lesson fast.
That said, I have to agree about the Dr. Who episode called Blink. Damn if that didn’t scare the beejezus out of me. I was fast-forwarding the end b/c my heart was beating so fast, only to have to rewind it to see what was happening. That’s the sort of stuff that creeps me out, the stuff you can’t see, that which is lurking in the dark that you may not even know about as you go on about your day till it leaps out at you. Not so much the scary Scooby Doo monster or a wonky ghost – I can kick their ass into next Tuesday. But the stuff you can’t see, the use of your deepest fears against you, the uncertain threat. That’s truly scary to me.
On March 18, 2008 at 11:12 am Susanna Hugo said...
I really liked Dark Water (movie – 2005) – it had that ambiguity of a ghost who was looking for something that was harmful but wasn’t exactly evil…
I think there are basics in ghost stories that make them good or not that are true of all good fiction – character realism, if there isn’t a compelling reason for someone to hang around someplace where really weird/dangerous things are happening then I think they’re stupid and deserve what they get.
Creepy in movies/TV tends to be pretty different than in the written word. In the written word it can be a lot more internally driven, e.g. all the increasingly irrational internal dialogue in Hill House. In movies/TV in tends to be more visual (okay so this is very obvious, sorry) – atmospheric. I think that scores are a huge factor in the creep factor of movies. Except for Stephen King’s Tommy Knockers where the character keeps hearing a rhyme in his head over & over I rarely “hear” the creepiness in the same way with books.
On March 18, 2008 at 12:21 pm Diane (TT) said...
Definitely the powerlessness aspect is huge in ghost stories, so several Barbara Michaels are really good for that (Ammie, Come Home, certainly comes to mind, but House of Many Shadows is also spooky).
In those, there are aspects of the protagonists’ characters that are also in play: strong, but with fractures that the uncertainty of dealing with a ghost brings into relief. The Buffy episode “Hush” was so excellent because Buffy and Riley were rendered even more unable-to-communicate than usual by the ghosts.
If it’s all melodrama, I don’t pick it up (I read some paranormal but virtually no horror): I like sensible, solve-the-problem-and-move-on people forced to deal with a particularly intractable problem that stands their reality on its head.
I’m not sure about the friendly ghost: why would someone friendly be hanging around after shuffling off this mortal coil? There’d have to be some pretty serious unresolved issues to keep someone from moving on (or letting go, or whatever). The Curse of Chalion has a particularly nasty ghost that requires some divine intervention to eliminate. Which raises a whole other batch of issues…
On March 18, 2008 at 12:25 pm Jill said...
1953 House of Wax with Vincent Price. This movie (seen at a very tender age
cured me of scary movies forever.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045888/
On March 18, 2008 at 1:19 pm Lou said...
Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series. Odd Thomas sees dead people, plus he sees evil shadows that gather when bad stuff is going to happen. Also, if you want just plain creepy, his Phantoms or The Watchers.
Also, Kay Hooper’s books. And that NR trilogy. The last book is the spookiest!!
Have fun with your new book!
On March 18, 2008 at 2:24 pm AndreaS said...
Okay, I don’t really read scary books or movies because I’m a.) a ‘fraidy cat and b.) Not good with tension.
But once I watched Stephen King’s Rose Red (a miniseries) and I think it’s really scary. Partially because people keep dropping dead, and possibly because a lot of the story is mind-games. Also, the idea that a house/supernatural object is feeding on the people inside and using their own power to keep them trapped frightens the daylights out of me. Because if it’s drawing on your strength to live, how do you fight it? You can’t be stronger than it because it’s using you.
Oh! I also saw I am Legend when it was in theatres, and it was the scariest two hours I’d experienced since my (now ex-)boyfriend stopped making me watch scary movies with him. I just knew Will Smith was doomed the entire movie, and I kept waiting for the thing to show up and do him in. All those times he was walking around the cities I was waiting for something catastrophic to happen to him or the puppy.
Other than that, I’ll just say it’s the potential of things that get me. Gore I can handle, zombies and the like (on screen) are doable. But the tension and stress? That’s where I freak.
On March 18, 2008 at 3:29 pm Tara said...
Favorite ghost stories? I can’t really think of any that haven’t already been mentioned.
I agree that the line between scary and lose-your-lunch (for most people) is usually the gore. I don’t find gore particularly scary. And usually it’s the implication of horrid things happening (which MAY be gory) that is much more frightening than actually seeing it happen. Some of the scariest scenes I’ve read or seen in movies are just about the sounds the protagonist is hearing and imagining what would make that awful noise. Your imagination and subconscious work together very effectively and go straight to your root fear when something is implied, but when a writer or director actually shows you what their fear is, well, maybe it works for you, maybe it doesn’t. I think this is one of the reasons that so many of Stephen King’s books are wonderfully creepy and frightening and so many of the movie adaptations are mediocre. Your imagination works wonders with his words. The director’s explicit pictures, not so much.
The very best ghost stories, I think, are the ones that tap into the most basic human fears, which we all seem to have some version of. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing control. Fear of a loss of reason. Even widely held phobias can be used very effectively to enhance the atmosphere and make the action in the story, whatever it may be, that much more frightening. The fear of heights when the heroine gets chased out onto the roof. The fear of spiders when the hero has to go replace the fuses in the basement. And fear of the dark and fear of lightning? The reason so many movies take place at night during a storm isn’t because it’s so much more cost-effective to film then.
Fear of the unknown. What’s under the bed? What’s in the basement? What’s in the empty house next door? All very effective starting points for a scary story. Throw in some icky and you’ve got a real winner. “What’s in the storm drains?” was wonderful in Stephen King’s “It”, and he even managed to get fear of clowns in there.
Loss of control is the foundation for many great stories and often goes hand-in-hand with loss of reason. And when you put the two together you can get relentlessness, which is sort of a horror story form of tension. Zombies, on the surface, aren’t very scary. They’re slow, they’re stupid, they’re susceptible to the shotgun blast to the head. But folks keep making zombie movies, and the movies keep making money. The only reason I can see is that many people find them scary because they’re relentless. There’s a lot of them, you can’t reason with them, you can’t stop all of them, and they just keep coming. Relentless is one of the reasons I love the Borg episodes in Star Trek. They’re high-tech zombies. There’s a lot of them, you can’t reason with them, you can’t stop all of them, and they just keep coming.
Unknown and unreasonable work well together in many of the best Supernatural episodes. The Asylum episode: ghosts (unknown) of crazy people (unreasonable). Demons, scarecrows, Wendigo (unknown) killing for their own single-minded purpose (unreasonable).
One thing I find fascinating is to ask people what they were afraid of when they were children, say 5-8 years of age. Not movies or books that scared them, but things in their real lives that scared them. The dark closet, the musty, unfinished basement, the reclusive, old man who lived down the street. Plumb that subject, dredge up old memories. Then ask them what books or movies scared them recently. What’s the one movie they can watch over and over and it still scares them? It’s amazing the overlap you get between the two lists. The themes all stay the same. It’s as if the front of our brains grow up but there’s a piece of subconscious that’s still five years old. I know it mostly holds true for me. I grew up in an old house where a man blew his brains out in the bedroom across the hall from mine (and supposedly still haunted the place). It was next door, to an abandoned, boarded up house that I had to walk past to get to and from my best friends house, sometimes after dark. And it had a spidery, unfinished basement with those awful open stairs that any nasty thing could reach through and grab your ankle. I hit the horror story trifecta! Throw in the werewolf and vampire movies that my older siblings were always letting me stay up and watch and there’s very few scary books or movies that I can’t get in touch with my inner 5 year old, suspend disbelief and get some entertainment from.
Okay, this is way too long and I can’t cut much more without it becoming completely incoherent. Sorry.
On March 18, 2008 at 4:36 pm LtL said...
Yep. Where I grew up, I had to kill poisonous snakes to work in the garden. There were coyotes and bobcats for sure, abandoned dogs for sure (they get too big and city people drop them off on country roads AND THEY FORM PACKS) and sometimes rumors of wolves. The only really dangerous animals were the copperheads & rattlesnakes. Oh, skunks. All of this was everyday life, though, including the something that lived in the attic and bore live offspring once or twice a year (which scared the bejeebers out of mom but didn’t bother us kids).
What scared me? When we moved back to town, I got scared of my own clothes closet, and of the bathroom mirror. Go figure. All I can say is, I’m in good company. Lots of people are afraid of their closets and their mirrors. So, there’s a scary thing for ya.
On March 18, 2008 at 5:04 pm Jennifer said...
Neil Gaiman wrote a story for the “Hellblazer” comic book called “Hold Me.” It’s short and marvelous, and it’s a classic ghost story in that the protagonist has to figure out what the ghost really needs/wants in order to put it to rest. The ghost is like a bad memory caught in a loop, with fatal consequences for anyone it stumbles across.
Without having to dig through back issues, the story is republished in the graphic novel anthology, “Constantine: The Hellblazer Collection.” Vertigo comics released it shortly before the movie “Constantine” came out. It’s awful and beautiful at the same time.
Peter Straub’s “Lost Boy, Lost Girl” was the last book that freaked me out so much I desperately didn’t want to get out of bed to turn off the light when I’d finished reading. There’s multiple hauntings stemming from one awful history, and it synthesizes contemporary technology like email in a surprisingly effective way.
Also, the book “Practical Magic” by Alice Hoffman is an eloquent handling of a haunting. It’s radically different and much more subtle than the treatment in the movie.
In response to Tara’s comments about zombies above, yes they’re slow and relentless, but what makes them creepy is that they’re a walking metaphor for death. The good zombie movies really go for the pathos and the inevitability of death as well as the brain-eating zaniness.
On March 18, 2008 at 5:07 pm Kira said...
Orson Scott Card wrote a truly frightening book called The Lost Boys. It’s a normal book about a family with children, la-di-dah, until it turns out that they’re living in the house where boys were tortured and killed and their ghosts can be only be seen by the oldest boy in the family.
I don’t usually enjoy scary for its own sake, but this was a very moving book.
I agree with whoever compared scary with sex. It’s good if it advances the plot and character. Voyeurism otherwise.
On March 18, 2008 at 5:25 pm Carla said...
My take (FWIW) is that there should be some sense of reality in it, like even though you don’t believe, it makes you ask “What if it *could* be real?” I watched “Ghost Hunters” the other night and really liked it. They said there were ghosts in one location and not in another, and in both cases had evidence to back up their assertions. Think “Blair Witch Project”. It was written as fiction but looked real enough to be, well, real. (When our cats decide, out of nowhere, to sit and face the wall, I tell hubby they’re doing the “Blair Witch” thing. Freaks me out a little, too.)
“Bag of Bones” had me spellbound for 3 days. I stayed up ’til 3 a.m. to finish reading it. Not a smart idea, considering the subject material, but I *could not* put it down.
If you’d consider nonfiction, can I recommend Alison DuBois (the subject of “Medium”)? “Medium” has lost some of its impact but her nonfiction books are really good and hit close to home without being terrifying. It makes me want to believe.
On March 18, 2008 at 6:24 pm Abee said...
I’m not really much for horror, preferring things that make me laugh but one thing that consistantly creeps me out is an object of innocence (ie a doll or a child) being portrayed as abject evil or ghosty.
A movie example being The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, not exactly a horror but chilly with its uncertainty of the main characters.
On March 18, 2008 at 6:59 pm JulieB said...
Here’s another *headsmack* — Kelly Armstrong’s “No Humans Involved.”
I didn’t know I’d read/seen so many ghost stories.
_I_ think the psychological duality is one of the key elements — ala Hamlet. But also their invincibility.
On March 18, 2008 at 7:48 pm Naked Under my Clothes said...
Truly terrifying: Jane Eyre (1944 version, maybe? black and white, for sure). Specifically, when the infamous “madwoman in the attic” stood over the sleeping Jane with the knife. I was maybe 11 when I saw the movie late at night (pre-VCR) and I had to leap into my bed from three feet away for years after that. Why? Because the madwoman and her knife LIVED UNDER MY BED.
Unforgettably terrifying: Silence of the Lambs. Forget about the gory stuff, the moth, suit made of skin, blah blah, whatever–I never saw any of that (hid face in hands most of the time). It was the relationship between Clarice and Hannibal that did me in. A useful counterpoint was her relationship with Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford, head FBI dude, where she’s less powerful technically but obviously more intelligent. But Clarice and Hannibal: yeow. His challenges make her more than she was before. That relationship is intellectually stimulating, emotionally manipulative, viscerally alluring, electrifying, powerful, mesmerizing, magnetic. Brrr.
It’s the relationships. Jane was essentially defenseless and we felt that, even though she was about to be married to Rochester. We knew she was too willing to trust Rochester about “Grace Poole.” And sure enough, here she comes….
Clarice + Hannibal = sheer fireworks.
On March 18, 2008 at 7:49 pm Naked Under my Clothes said...
Oh: and I’m not a big fan of Jane Eyre, the book. It was the movie, totally.
On March 18, 2008 at 7:52 pm Micki said...
When I was a teenager, I was really into that particular brand of scary — loved Stephen King when he didn’t get too gory, had a great series of books called something like “50 Ghostly Tales,” and I worked at a haunted theater. (-: OK, I don’t think it was really haunted, but it got some strange vibes at night. Oh, and my college dorm — seriously spooky.
I think McB put it beautifully when she said sometimes the scariest stuff is the stuff that *doesn’t* happen — just anticipated to a fever pitch.
What’s scary? Getting dragged into something that’s out of your control. Most of the time, it’s being lured to a miserable death, but it could also be losing your personality or losing control of your environment.
In a lot of stories, the heroine conquers, and finds out a little loss of control is a good thing. But in some very scary stories, a little loss of control leads to big, bad danger, and it’s only when the heroine regains control (often at the expense of someone’s life) that things are brought back to equilibrium.
Just a few thoughts. (-: I know you can write scary; there’s a lot of scary things in your books. Wolves with little teeth, for example, is a telling detail, but just a bit scary.
On March 18, 2008 at 8:15 pm CrankyOtter said...
I still think there’s a heart beating behind walls in brick basements. I pretty much don’t read/watch horror. At all. I watched Whoopie in Ghost and that was about my speed. But after all the analysis OWCherry put in her comment, it makes me tempted to maybe try. Unless it’ll interfere with my sleep. I’m more of the benevolent ghost fan.
On March 18, 2008 at 10:22 pm Samantha said...
I don’t know if somebody already said this, but have you seen ‘The Others’ starring Nicole Kidman? It’s the first movie to pop into my mind when you said ’scary but not gross-out or nightmare scary’. I think you would like it if you haven’t seen it already…it’s just another classic haunted house story set in the 1940s with the lovely Nicole Kidman as the lead but…there’s a twist. I won’t say what though…but it’s a ‘wowie!’ moment and its altogether a pretty good ghost story. Maybe it can give you some ideas.
)
On March 19, 2008 at 12:20 am SusanL said...
I am another fan of the 1940s film, The Uninvited. I was an adult when I saw it for the first time and it gave me a good case of the heebie jeebies. I Love this movie.
I also liked Lady in White. This is another ghost story; release date sometime in the late 80s. From IMDb “The year is 1962. The place is Willowpoint Falls. Nobody talks about what happened in the school cloakroom 10 years ago. Now, in the dead of night, Frankie Scarlatti is going to find out why.”
On March 19, 2008 at 1:07 am WapakGram said...
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with Don Knotts is just about my speed. I wouldn’t read a scary book unless Jenny wrote it, because I am home a lot by myself and I would have so many lights on planes would land on my roof. I would read hers during the day.
I am officially a Big Baby. My dad made me take my sister to see JAWS and I kept screaming and grabbing her and she was the one too young to drive. Stopped water skiing for a long long time.
On March 19, 2008 at 4:46 am Ingrid said...
I agree with the people who named M.R. James. Victorian ghost stories are mostly allusion and because of that wonderfully scary. My favourite is Vernon Lee (ps. of Violet Paget (1856-1935)).
She has a story about the malevolent ghost of an 18th-century castrato singer who makes a woman fall in love with him against her will. It’s years since I’ve read it, and of course I cannot find the book in the tip I call home. But I still remember it, though not the details. The other stories were good too.
On March 19, 2008 at 7:34 am RfP said...
Coming at it from a different direction…. I recently read a set of ghost and paranormal stories that didn’t work for me–no thrill, no chill, no surprise, no curiosity. It was Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.
I like his ideas and references on a cerebral level, but not enough to satisfy me. I find his language banal, and I get bored because all those interesting ideas don’t seem to go anywhere–I rarely see an underlying theme to sink my teeth into. (I felt much the same about the full-length Gaiman novel I read last year).
I’ve wondered if part of what I don’t get is a style that he developed as a screenwriter, where visuals can contribute enormously to the atmosphere of the story. But I think it’s more than that; I have no sense of discovery as I read. (I don’t necessarily mean discovery in the sense of whodunit, but as a changing understanding of the situation.)
On March 19, 2008 at 8:34 am JanLo said...
What a great discussion! Add to the list of fears:
terrorism – being out of control and surprise violence
poverty – nothing like the fear of ending up a bag lady
creepy crawly things – disease ridden roaches, rats, especially crawling over you in the dark
partners who cheat – especially those with murder in mind
drunk or impaired drivers on the road at the same time as me
dark city streets late at night with implied danger
law enforcement with their own agenda (a la Stephen King)
The thing hiding under the stairs on the way down into the basement
Well, that’s enough, now I’m totally creeped out!
On March 19, 2008 at 9:59 am Gin said...
First of all, RfP, I really like the look of that anthology – even though (or because?!) I read the Le Fanu title as Dick on the Devil – and that brings up a whole lot of other possibilities…
And I’ll recommend Diana Wynne Jones – The Time Of The Ghost. My mum gave it to me this year – thanks Mum. We’ve both read a lot of Wynne Jones’s books and Mum asked if I’d read this before – err, no, because there’s no way I’d ever have forgotten it! And it’s a kids book?! Wynne Jones can do a lot of dark themes brilliantly, and have a lot of very scary situations – but this took the biscuit.
It’s written from the ghost’s point of view – she knows she’s one of 4 sisters, but which one? Has the “accident” that made her a ghost happened in the future? Why is she here trying to change events? The loss of control, of identity, all are scary – and as for the old rag doll – argggh!!
It’s a weird mix of reality, dysfunctional family and creepiness almost more than scariness. It messed with my head in more ways than one, but the feel of the supernatural power, and their attempts to confront it rank amongst some of the mist vivid images I’ve read – and I still can’t believe it was aimed at kids! I must be getting soft in my old age.
On March 19, 2008 at 10:12 am LtL said...
Yeah. Beetlejuice. Think how the poor old ghosts must feel. But I don’t think ghosts are nearly as scary as those other somethings. A ghost is more or less human. But some of those “things”–that cold spot on the landing, the gateway to hell in the fireplace, the room that drives its occupants crazy. How do you deal with those things? Hmm?
On March 19, 2008 at 10:59 am RfP said...
Gin: “RfP, I really like the look of that anthology”
The twelve Gothics? I do too, but I’m not sure I can ever read the Durrell story again. I need to sleep at night!
On March 19, 2008 at 1:01 pm Val said...
The Bone Key by Sarah Monette is a spine chiller without the gore. It’s a series of short stories about a reluctant necromancer.
On March 19, 2008 at 5:44 pm Cindy said...
Movies:
The Others
Sixth Sense
The Gift
Stir of Echoes
The Ring
The Exorcist
Books:
Salem’s Lot
The Shining
On March 19, 2008 at 7:13 pm Reb said...
I’ve got very vague memories of reading something as a kid where a ghost captured someone and put them on an ancient rickety wooden ferris wheel at night. The ghost AND fear of falling AND fear of the dark … that was scary stuff. From memory, the descriptions of the ferris wheel swooping through the night were the worst. And the manic laughter.
I think it was a ghost. It might have been a person pretending to be a ghost. It didn’t matter. I was scared.
I’ll be reading Wild Ride in daylight too!
On March 19, 2008 at 8:50 pm Melissa Blue said...
I have to say if you want to learn creepy without gore watch Psycho. The mother isn’t a ghost just the figment of Norman’s imagination which I think is creepy as hell.
Stir of Echoes, definitely, I agree that movie is something to be studied.
Also have to agree the scare factor is in the anticipation. The scariest parts of the movie is when everything gets silent and you know something is about to jump out and it’s never what jumps out that makes you scared. Bascially it’s the parts where you are yelling, “No, you idiot, it’s right behind that door.”
On March 19, 2008 at 8:59 pm Jennifer said...
First, I highly recommend The Others with Nicole Kidman. Classic type of ghost story. Good spookiness.
Second, I saw that someone had mentioned Ghost Hunters from the SciFi channel. The guys on the show are highly educated in the paranormal and have great information on different types of hauntings and activities on their TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) website. They also have trips where you can go investigating with them. That might help with research.
On March 19, 2008 at 9:26 pm jessie said...
I recently read a “southern gothic” that had ghosts in it that were scary and occassionally horrific. I am not sure the people weren’t as scary as some of the ghosts. But mostly it was just a very good read. It was “Four and Twenty Blackbirds” by Cherie Priest. I have been trying to figure out why it was scary and have decided that as lots of you pointed out it is the anticipation of horror. Although you have to have a few instances of something horrible that happens to jump start the tension. It probably needs to escalate somewhat like Jenny was saying (Oh blogs and months ago) about plot development. You have conflict, you start to get a handle on it, it gets worse ad infinitum sort of thing.
On March 19, 2008 at 9:41 pm jessie said...
Also the Cherie Priest book starts out with “guardian ghosts” but the other kind get into the act too. And it has one of the best covers for a ghost story ever. It is scarry all by itself.
On March 20, 2008 at 2:42 am ChelSierra said...
I have a book that might fit what you’re looking for as well:
Bianca
by Florence Stevenson & Patricia Hagan Murray
Alibris.com Search
On March 20, 2008 at 9:20 am Becky said...
Completely off topic, but… I hear it’s a little damp in Ohio. Are you and the herd OK? No daring water rescues, I hope.
On March 20, 2008 at 9:23 am Selah March said...
Excellent taste with the loving of SUPERNATURAL. I adore the gritty dive bars, diner food and kitschy motel rooms almost as much as the monster of the week. I find the whole “is Sammy the anti-Christ” myth-arc a little less engaging, but I LUURVE the whole “Dean sells his soul” thing to a grisly little death.
Have to second Peter Straub’s GHOST STORY, and Joshilyn Jackson’s latest. And although Shirley Jackson’s short story collections aren’t specifically ghost-related, they all contain that same, subtle air of menace that make HILL HOUSE and CASTLE so creeptastic.
On March 20, 2008 at 9:31 am J said...
I just had another thought of a movie that was creepy without being gory, from what I remember. I only saw it once, on a dark and stormy day which might have had something to do with it. The movie was 13 Ghosts, not the new one, but the 1960 version. As it finished I remember thinking that it really shouldn’t have been as scary as it was. I may have to go find it and watch it again to try to figure out what it did that set my nerves on edge.
On March 20, 2008 at 9:36 am LtL said...
And there was a movie about some boys who thought they had killed a young woman, so they put her into a car and pushed it into a lake to hide it, and as it disappeared into the water, they saw the woman turn and round and look at them and all the aftermath of that. Can’t remember what it’s called.
The news is showing the Ohio river all overloaded with water. Are you & the kids okay? Their legs are so short.
On March 20, 2008 at 12:09 pm AgTigress said...
Although I am familiar with many, or even most, of Gerald Durrell’s books, I had not come across his Gothic ghost-story, and must look out for it. Thank you to whoever it was who mentioned it. Unlike his consciously literary brother, Lawrence, Gerald Durrell did not consider himself a ‘writer’ at all: writing popular, often humorous, books was just something he did in order to earn royalties to help support his zoological work. He was probably the last of the great self-taught naturalists.
On March 20, 2008 at 1:02 pm delaney said...
One of the scariest stories I have ever read is Strawberry Spring by Stephen King. It’s a short story, possibly in the Night Shift collection? I haven’t read it in a while. The idea of a great evil living in a normal person without his knowledge haunts me to this day.
On March 20, 2008 at 1:04 pm RfP said...
AgTigress, have you read Gerald Durrell: The Authorised Biography? He also did quite a lot of public speaking to support his zoological work; apparently he was an extremely popular speaker and radio guest, known for his humorous storytelling and lightning sketches of animals.
Lawrence Durrell’s Spirit of Place: Letters and Essays on Travel sheds a *little* light on the two brothers’ relationship as writers. (The title inspired Gerald Durrell’s Fillets of Plaice; that story is in the front matter of Fillets.)
On March 20, 2008 at 1:06 pm RfP said...
BTW, I see that the Smart Bitches have put Agnes up against a Nora Roberts in a contest of some sort. Ouch! Battle of the titans, eh? ; )
On March 20, 2008 at 1:10 pm Diane (TT) said...
So, a blog with which many of you are familiar is running a vote on a number of nominees within the various genres of Romance, and up now is a Contemporary contest between Agnes and the Hitman and High Noon by La Nora.
In case anyone has a yen to vote between now and (I think) 3 p.m. EDT (I seem to have missed the first round; congrats to SEP!): http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/.
On March 20, 2008 at 3:56 pm AgTigress said...
RfP: yes, I have a copy of Douglas Botting’s biography of Durrell. It is interesting particularly in clarifying the degree to which D. fictionalised some of his autobigraphical writings, notably My Family and Other Animals. I am familiar with Fillets of Plaice, but have it in a different edition from yours, without the ghost story. Gerry Durrell was a fairly major TV personality in the UK as well.
The only novels by Lawrence Durrell I have read – and that a long time ago, when I was in my ‘reading literary fiction’ phase – are the four that form the Alexandria Quartet. I never had any desire to re-read them, though I suppose I might find them more gripping now than I did then, before I had ever been to Alexandria.
On March 20, 2008 at 5:14 pm Jenny said...
Haven’t been to the SBs lately. I’m fighting a vicious cold and trying to get back to this scary writing essay theory since I have all this good stuff to draw on. I’d forgotten they’d made The Uninvited into a movie; wonder if it exists anywhere? Off to Amazon . . .
As for Crusie vs. Roberts, we don’t compete. Nobody ever read a great romantic suspense and then said, “Well, that was terrific, and I’ll never do it again.” Somebody who reads a good book wants to read ANOTHER good book. A rising tide lifts all boats. And I think Nora is a damn good writer so she lifts a lot of my boats.
Did that sound dirty? I’m sick, ignore me.
On March 20, 2008 at 5:41 pm Lou said...
Yay, Jenny – you must not be flooded. Very good news – we were a bit concerned!
So sorry you are not feeling well – my cure for all illnesses is a hot toddy (hot water, lemon juice, honey, and of course Brandy).
Sending get well wishes your way.
On March 20, 2008 at 5:47 pm robena grant said...
Hope you feel better soon, Jenny. Colds are miserable. Don’t send it my way thank you very much.
I didn’t know this competition was going on. Still I’m glad I didn’t have to vote because I read Agnes and The Hitman and High Noon and would have hated to choose one over the other. They were very different stories. Both held my interest equally. Both were very well written exciting action packed stories, with wonderful never to be forgotten characters. And on completion I had that feeling of satisfaction for a story well told mixed with the bittersweetness of coming to the end. Love that feeling.
On March 20, 2008 at 6:41 pm McB said...
well I’m glad you aren’t competing because I’d be in big trouble choosing. I was pulling for Agnes, though. Take care of that cold.
On March 20, 2008 at 7:58 pm RfP said...
AgTigress, I was unclear. Only the story about the book titles is in the front of my Fillets of Plaice. The ghost story is in The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium.
As for Crusie vs. Roberts, we don’t compete.
No, of course not. I was just amused, probably irrelevantly, by the combination. Humor? Har?
On March 20, 2008 at 10:46 pm Mary said...
There is a Dr. Who (new version) episode called “Blink” that is just the most amazing example of scary and suspenseful without crossing over into horror.
On March 20, 2008 at 11:43 pm Jenny said...
RfP, absolutely humor har.
Must catch up on Dr. Who, although the “mummy?” episode still haunts me.
Cold is still making me thick-headed. River is in flood, but not full flood. Milton went down to the fence today and was mad to get through because the water is only a couple of feet away, but he couldn’t. It’s lined with mesh. Which is good because I’m in no condition to go flailing around in the Ohio after an insane puppy.
Still working on the notes and making lists from the comments. And sneezing. Bleah.
But thank you all. This is amazing.
On March 21, 2008 at 1:22 am Karla said...
Sorry to hear you are unwell. Here’s my list:
Very effective contemporary scary ghost movie:
13 Ghosts
Just plain scary:
- movies:
Psycho (ever seen that shower scene alone, late at night …?)
The Sixth Sense — the part about the Munchhausen victim
Poltergeist — when the graveyard comes up
There was a movie I had the misfortune to see when I was a kid – say early 70’s – where a photograph was taken and when it was developed it showed red (devil) eyes showing in the window. It took me 15 years to get over that! (don’t know the title)
- tv:
and the one where the guy gets sucked into the sink (that one REALLY got me! — it is from the first season)
Supernatural — the damned scarecrow
- books:
The Shining by Stephen King (don’t read this one when you are alone, late at night …)
Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff
On March 21, 2008 at 1:29 am Karla said...
One more – the episode “Hush” of Buffy the Vampire slayer was super creepy! (season 4, episode 10)
On March 21, 2008 at 5:03 am AgTigress said...
RfP: mea culpa. It was I who muddled up titles of various Durrell editions and compilations.
On March 21, 2008 at 8:40 am Diane (TT) said...
On the subject of “not competing” between Crusie and Roberts: there are obviously a lot of fans out there for both, because I think there were 100 more votes in that contest than in any of the others so far. Since the few books that I’ve read have mostly been eliminated (I really did look into most of the others, but the blurbs mostly didn’t grab me; one that I did try was OK, but not great), my interest will be purely curiosity, not advocacy…
So glad you’re safe, and so are the puppies – but do take care of the cold and good luck with the writing project!
On March 21, 2008 at 11:40 am Scarlet Litchfield said...
My very favorite ghost story is Tryst by Elswyth Thane. I have read it a hundred times. Not scary in the expected sense, but wrenching and truly wonderful. It was written in the 40’s and reflects that era’s writing styles.
On March 21, 2008 at 11:45 am robena grant said...
I just finished Under The Lake by Stuart Woods (1985) a friend gave it to me when she knew I was attempting to write paranormal and I never got around to reading it.
I figured just for you Jenny I’d risk scaring myself. Here is what Stephen King said about it:
“Part Detective story, part ghost story, part southern gothic … it scared the living hell out of me.” Have to admit there were some spine-chilling moments. I stayed up until 1 am to finish it. What really made the story was the main characters reactions to the paranormal events. Before every “event” the crickets stopped chirping and there was an intense silence … and you knew something was about to happen, it was like in a movie where the scary music starts. All I can say is the story is still playing itself out in my head like a movie and I had a hard time getting to sleep last night.
On March 21, 2008 at 8:05 pm Jenny said...
Oh, Tryst. I LOVED that book. I should try to find that again, it was a terrific romance. Except that one of the people is dead, but hey. Everything else about him was perfect.
I am doped to the gills on cold meds now and feeling much better. I’m going to go through all the comments again with pencil and paper and make notes and then try to synthesize what I’ve got from here and from 54 episodes of Supernatural. I’ve got Danse Macabre next up to read, having just finished Spook.
I love this book already.
On March 22, 2008 at 10:09 am GatorPerson said...
Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” scared the bajubies out of me.
Watching the 3 or so seconds of the commercial for “The Shining” with whatshisname having blood on his teeth also scared the bajubies of out me. Never saw the movie. I’m no fool! Not keen on watching his movies because of that commercial.
On March 22, 2008 at 11:14 am Kieran said...
I can still scare myself when I’m at one end of a hotel hallway and I envision that little kid in “The Shining” coming around the corner and just standing there at the other end! Yikes!!
On March 22, 2008 at 12:07 pm Cheryl said...
Hi:
My suggestion for a really unnerving movie is the original black and white version of THE HAUNTING with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The heavy-handed special effects of the remake don’t even come close to effecting the degree of scariness in the original. There is one scene re: Julie Harris’ encounter with the ghost in the dark that gives me goosebumps every single time.
Cheryl Reavis
On March 23, 2008 at 7:43 am Kristin said...
I apologize if I’m repeating what’s already been suggested. I didn’t have time to read all 122 comments before mine.
As far as movies go, THE OTHERS (with Nicole Kidman), was great with suspense and spooky ghost stuff. THE SIXTH SENSE was great too, although a couple of scenes did gross me out. I absolutely love Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp. Although it too has some of the gross out stuff. The suspense combined with humor is great.
If I think of anything else, I’ll post. You know, you could also poll your faithful followers re personal experiences. When I was in high school we lived in a condo that was haunted. Very creepy. Actually the whole complex was haunted and others in the neighborhood had weird things happen too.
Can’t wait to read your ghost story!
On March 23, 2008 at 10:05 am Susanna Hugo said...
My husband just pointed out that nobody’s mentioned Polanski, which is a big oversight, although he’s too creepy for me, no sympathetic characters for me to hold on to.
On March 23, 2008 at 11:46 am LtL said...
Susanna–as in “He has his father’s eyes”?
On March 24, 2008 at 8:21 am Susanna Hugo said...
Exactly
On March 24, 2008 at 4:40 pm CrankyOtter said...
Did anyone mention H.P. Lovecraft yet?
I heard back from my friend who reads horror like I read romance. She also mentioned Lovecraft as an example of writing with victorian sensibilites resulting in less gore. Her favorite is Stephen King – she recommends “Cell” but says to avoid “Dreamcatcher” to minimize gore. Also mentions his study of horror writing, “Danse Macabre”, which advocates giving the reader the foundation and letting their imagination scare them by leaving the details sparse. Another idea is to aim to scare the character rather than the reader.
Since you’re already great at the character development, I probably don’t need to mention it, but I find it interetsting that my friend and I both look for that in our stories in such vastly different genres.
On March 24, 2008 at 11:16 pm RfP said...
One thing I consistently find frightening, in life and in fiction, is those little physical, instinctive cues. A prickle at the nape, feeling a stare between the shoulder blades, the heart tripping faster, breathing shallowly.
I always wonder whether I’m psyching myself out, or whether my subconscious has good reason for yelling “Look behind you!” And of course it’s a loop–physical reactions increase anxiety, which increases the physical reactions.
On March 25, 2008 at 4:05 am Emlyn said...
Oooh, wow. This is really an interesting thing to think about. Hmmm. Things that are scary about ghosts:
They’re scary because WE KNOW THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a ghost. We don’t believe in them. We entertain the possibility of them in stories, but that’s all. It stops being fun or entertaining if it’s reality. Reality over here, ghosts over there. Actually seeing a ghost, as opposed to imagining that they exist or scaring yourself by thinking about them, means the world you thought you had a sort of handle on is either not the world you thought it was OR that it has gone crooked. Something has happened. Portals have opened. Things are horribly, terribly amiss/askew/awry in a way that is terrifying in its implications. The certainty that what you are confronting is a ghost (or ghoul or whatever other supernatural creature that you know to not be real) means that the world as understood previously was, in fact, either not understood or worse, not true. A ghost standing (or floating) in front of you throws EVERYTHING into question, pulls the rug out from under all knowledge and assumptions the educated, science-based world makes about life and how it works. All those rules and laws and periodic tables–sky up there, pavement down here, stove gets hot when you turn it on, everybody gets shorter when they get older, if you go in the woods a tick will land on your head–what if all those things are illusion? Or what if your understanding of what they mean–the entire planet’s understanding of what they mean–has been horribly flawed? If there are ghosts, NOTHING YOU THOUGHT WAS TRUE IS TRUE.
And of course the above would hold true for a character in a realistic ghost novel just as for a person in the real world.
Another reason to be afraid of ghosts:
Ghosts are DEAD PEOPLE. We are afraid of dead people even when they aren’t ghosts.
And then there’s the sexual component to horror, too, not ghosts per se, but the whole working yourself up into a frenzy of heart-pounding, trembling fear thing. Extreme horror movies have that pornographic quality that’s sort of queasy-making. (Not that they aren’t queasy-making enough without that.) It’s titillation. Not sure what this means or where it goes, but it’s sort of interesting.
And one last thing–all realistic narrative depends to some extent on suspense, yes? Horror, seems like, just ratchets up that dependence more than other genres.
Thanks for sharing your questions. I love how you invite all these strangers into your life and work.
On March 25, 2008 at 6:28 pm Flamingo Cherry/Shawn Reed said...
I think that real fear comes from a lack of knowledge and an inability to take action — true helplessness. In most realistic situations, we have a foundation of rules about how the world works (physics, human nature, standard operating procedure, what have you). Even in the most horrific situations, we can retain some control by figuring out our opponents’ weaknesses and forming some kind of action plan, and that takes away some of the fear.
With ghosts, the rules that govern our day to day lives are gone. You can’t formulate a plan, much less take action, if you don’t know what the underpinning rules are.
The ghost can affect the human (emotionally/mentally, sometimes physically), but the human can’t touch the ghost, can’t make it go away, can’t make it stop doing whatever it’s doing. Other people don’t believe you when you ask for help from a ghost. The rare few who do may be ineffective or lack credibility. You can’t kill a ghost … they are already dead. Depending on the ghost stories you come across, you may not even be able to run away from a ghost … it may follow you.
I think that creation of fear & suspense in a ghost story comes from demonstrating helplessness, an inability to control the situation, a sense that the protagonist can do nothing to help him/herself, can’t even convince others that he/she is in any kind of danger. In order to have a happy ending, the protagonist essentially has to figure out the rules of the ghost world so that he/she can get away from the fear and take back some kind of control.
On March 25, 2008 at 7:21 pm JulieB said...
I do think, however, that while ghosts by not be bound by rules of physics, in the sense that they don’t die, so they can be very old, or that they aren’t affected by the regular rules of force, you will have to figure out what ruled you deem plausible that they _will_ have to follow.
On March 25, 2008 at 7:49 pm talpianna said...
Someone pointed out (perhaps it was Stephen King in DANSE MACABRE) that we fear souls without bodies (ghosts) and bodies without souls (zombies, vampires, and other revenants). It’s the separation from the normal body/soul connection that creates the horror. Almost all societies, from primitive to advanced, have (or have had in the past) rituals to appease or at least pen in the dead, ranging from leaving offerings on the grave to staking the deceased at the crossroads.
On March 25, 2008 at 8:10 pm Emlyn said...
Flamingo Cherry said: “With ghosts, the rules that govern our day to day lives are gone. You can’t formulate a plan, much less take action, if you don’t know what the underpinning rules are.”
Yes. Absolutely yes. This is exactly it.
Flamingo Cherry said: “The ghost can affect the human (emotionally/mentally, sometimes physically), but the human can’t touch the ghost, can’t make it go away, can’t make it stop doing whatever it’s doing. Other people don’t believe you when you ask for help from a ghost.”
I never thought of this. But you are 100% right. There’s no reciprocity. It’s like a rigged game (going back to the rules being suspended).
Sorry, not sure I pasted in quotes correctly. Probably not. Aaargh!
On March 26, 2008 at 11:51 am Jenni said...
Personally, I go for the chill down your spin and loose your lunch. The Shinning is my favorite book of all times.
Laura Benedict has a good story out called ISABELLA MOON and it’s out in hard cover now. I loved it.
On March 26, 2008 at 10:09 pm Thea said...
Alice Hoffman. Her atmosphere of Impending is terrific. And her Supernatural is natural and plausible. Great writer.
On March 26, 2008 at 10:59 pm Merry said...
This comment is so far off-topic that it might as well have originated in another space-time dimension. Very well then. Imagine, if you will, a world where dog furniture has become “cool.”
Crate couture:
http://www.dogdayarchitecture.com/shop.php
On March 26, 2008 at 11:02 pm Merry said...
Oh, like I ever stayed on topic for more than five minutes altogether. I thought that site looked cool, albeit pricy, and I do love the idea of dog crates and such blending in with the Martha Stewart view of home furnishings.
Besides, (veering back on-topic, more or less), the idea of dog furniture may well be scary to some people.
On March 27, 2008 at 7:12 pm Carrie said...
With all the comments, I feel like I’m coming in late, but no one has mentioned the “A Haunting” series that is on the Discovery Channel. While the topic of ghosts is always debatable, what always strikes me when I watch the show is how violated the homeowners feel, very out of control in the one place they should have the most control. What a creepy thought that someone or something is watching you or your family and you may never be able to even confront that person.
Kay Hooper doesn’t scare me, but I find her subject matter fascinating. I did loan some of her books to a friend and she had to return them because they gave her nightmares!
Of course, now I have to pull my Barbara Michaels books out and read them all over again. Well, it is too wet to do yard work anyway…
On March 28, 2008 at 12:24 pm Shawn said...
I know I’m coming into this late but I have a couple of suggestions.
First, for research, definitely watch “Ghost Hunters”- Wednesday nights on SciFi (or you can rent Seasons 1 and 2). They do a good job of explaining the various phenomena that can be associated with ghosts, as well as debunking a lot of so-called “evidence.” Definitely check them out.
Also, see if you can find the Stephen King mini-series “Rose Red” on DVD. That was totally creepy. I can’t remember if there was much gore but I do remember actually being scared. I read and watch a lot of horror and for something to truly scare me is rare. “Rose Red” did.
On March 29, 2008 at 10:03 am Kerry Baker said...
Have you read Tanya Huff’s “Summon the Keeper”? Talk about a ghost with personality! He also needs an anchor, either permament (futiture) or mobile (pillow) to move around.
Please don’t give up on “You Again”, it sound great so far. Just let it keep simmering in the bottom of the cauldron making sure to stir now and then to release the bubbles of inspiration.
On March 30, 2008 at 12:27 am Emlyn said...
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Edith Wharton’s ghost stories. I was just in the bookstore & saw that all 12 or so of her ghost stories are out in a trade pb. The blurb on the back of the book said she was terrified of ghosts & that as a young woman she wouldn’t sleep in the same room as a book with ghost stories in it.
On April 1, 2008 at 7:56 pm FreddyD said...
Lesser known items that I felt were worth a mention:
Film: Carnival of Souls (1962) Directed by Herk Harvey
Book: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
On April 2, 2008 at 5:51 pm Sherrie G. said...
Looking forward to the “ghost” book. Haven’t read anything really scary for a long time but from my younger days (aren’t they all?) two books come to mind. Sredni Vashtar, by Saki I think, and Burnt Offerings (the book version).
On April 3, 2008 at 4:14 pm Julie said...
The Haunting series on The Discovery Channel gave me and a roommate the worst nightmares we’d had since we were kids. (We caught a show in the middle of the day).I can’t leave my closet doors open anymore.
The Turning of The Screw is classic creepiness.
The Red Rose miniseries was a lot more scary then I expected.
On April 4, 2008 at 2:08 pm colebear said...
I have a suggestion for a spooky, but not horrific ghost story, “Tamsin” by Peter S Beagle. It’s told as a reminiscence of a young woman about what happened to her when her family moved into a haunted manor when she was 13. In addition to ghosts, there are fairies and way more British folklore than one would guess could exist.
On April 4, 2008 at 2:17 pm colebear said...
Another really interesting ghost story, but a bit preachy at the end, is “A Certain Slant of Light” by Laura Whitcomb. The story is told by a ghost who died a really horrible death and escaped hell to haunt “hosts” for over a hundred years before meeting another ghost who has stolen a mortal body.
And another is “Elsewhere” by Gabrielle Zevin which is the story of what happens after you die. The story is hear wrenching and while not really spooky, tells from the ghost’s perspective how and why hauntings happen.
Oh, and all three books are categorized as young adult, but I’ve never let Adult/YA labels keep me from reading an interesting story, no matter my age.
On April 5, 2008 at 3:28 am Gayle Hoover said...
My mother, age 84, has been seeing ghosts as of late. She has macular degeneration and very poor eyesight, but sees ghosts nonetheless. First she told them to go away and they did. They don’t move or speak but just stand by her bed. Now she wants them to come back so she can say, “I love you”. She thinks the two ghosts are my father and brother. The two little girls in the background, wearing dresses with ruffles on them, she believes are the miscarriage she had before I was born. This is the first time I’ve heard of TWO that were miscarried. Actually, I take her fairly serious.
Smoochies,
Gayle
On April 14, 2008 at 6:49 pm Shoshana said...
I know it’s coming in late but I’ve been afi (away from internet) for the past few weeks.
Anyway, my take might be a bit different: ghosts are not inherently scary. I mean, I grew up playing pirates using coffins for ships and instead of an invisible friend I had a ghost. At least, I did before my brother saw him and freaked out and my Mom chased him away. Anyway, what I’m saying is that ghosts alone aren’t scary, it’s what you do with them. Any more than a regular live person isn’t scary, unless you make them into a scary villain type.
So, along the lines of scary, and recommendations:
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s books. Those are scary.
On May 4, 2008 at 8:21 pm Mary Branscombe said...
Go right back to the beginnings of the modern ghost story. Wilkie Collins – The Woman in White is actually an anti-ghost story but very atmospheric. if you can find the 1980s BBC adaptation it’s superb. Run screaming from the musical.
Incompletely explained ghosts: Sheridan LeFanu. And the wonderful commentary Dorothy L Sayers has Harriet Vane write on him in Gaudy Night. I just assume from your writing that you know and love Sayers?