Ghosts

[Stuart Dren]

Buildings can be haunted, vehicles can be haunted, people can be haunted. A character might linger, dragging ectoplasmic chains across the floor as a reminder to old Eb's moral failings, or visit the cliff's edge nightly to gaze upon the ocean that took her husband. Or maybe the intelligence is all gone, leaving little more than supernatural rage that can't be reasoned with (which the hero slowly learns, to her great horror). Who doesn't love a ghost car, ghost ship, ghost train, ghost town? Abandoned psychiatric facilities are okay, but I'm more partial to abandoned train stations myself.

The haunt need not be literal, of course. Sometimes a spooky place is such simply because it's normally full and now empty. It taps into a severe sense of wrongness we feel when everyone left except for us. It makes a large space massive. It makes us small.

What are your thoughts on ghosts or haunted spaces, be it as characters, symbols, settings, whatever? Do you like to use them a lot, or perhaps they're not particularly noteworthy and fit where they fit, or perhaps traditional ghosts are a bit corny and you've got your own take on them?

 

[defaux]

My December short story entry was told from the pov of a ghost, though that isn't revealed until the end. I think that's the only time I've written one.

I enjoy a good ghost story, though these days I prefer more unexpected angles of the old tropes.

Was it Agatha Christie who did the story of the face in the window that the killer impersonated for cover? Can't remember now.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

I do like a good ghost story, though I'm more interested in the haunting than the ghost. I've tried writing a few haunting stories, only one features ghosts, if I remember correctly.

My sister swears her house is haunted by ghosts. I don't know that part of me believes in ghosts, but can say part of me won't be surprised when we discover they're real.

 

[Naomasa298]

I had a football/soccer playing ghost in a story once.

 

[Trish]

Like Rigor, I'm far more interested in what causes a haunting. I want to know why they're stuck, what they're searching for, etc. I haven't written a ghost story in a long time. My house was built in 1791 and, after some interesting experiences (one of which happened during a dinner party and was experienced by every single person there), I researched and discovered this house was once the only doctor/hospital in the area. That was from 1810-1876. Make of that what you will.

 

[RMBrown]

A real short Ghost Story. Humor.

My Roommate

The room was cold. Laying in bed, warm under the blankets, keeping as still as I could, I concentrating on my breathing.
Maybe he would go away if he thought I was asleep. He was at the end of the bed, I could not see him as much as sense him. Low sobbing sounds filled the room, I could tell he was being a little dramatic.

"I know you're awake Bunky."

I pretend I can't hear, not moving a muscle or changing my breathing.

He sniffles a little. "It’s just—just not right!"

I let out a sigh of disgust; I guess sleep is out of the question. "What’s wrong now?" I ask.

"I don’t get no respect—they’re saying..."

I interrupt, "What you’re Rodney Dangerfield now? Can’t we just talk in the morning?" I can tell by his silence he's mad now.

What are the chances that the house I bought would not only be haunted, but by a ghost with low self-esteem? It’s 2 am and I am trying to make 'him' feel better.

"Really—Bunky—Really!" He sounded agitated, "Talk in the morning! Did you forget who you’re talking to?" it was his turn to be annoyed

I use my best friend voice to smooth things over. "Sorry, what da want talk about?"

"They have been giving me a hard time, calling me Casper the ghost."

I sit up in the bed to talk. "You mean by 'they' your other ghost buddies?"

"We had this conversation before. That's derogatory! 'We' can say ghost and it’s ok, you have to say spiritual entity or it is just rude. And don’t go around telling everyone it's ok for you to say-- because you have a ghost friend."

"Sorry--" I replied.

He continued. "I have a couple of buddies that are going to come over to visit."

"What!" I responded. "Now I am supposed to entertain for you and your low life, I mean no life friends?"

"Well… buddy old pal, I was hoping you could, you know, act all scared, wet your pants, scream like a little girl, call 911. Would ya… for me please?"

"You think that will get them to stop calling you Casper? – Kind of a lot to ask, isn’t it?"

He is acting all chipper now. "For me buddy old pal... would ya?"

"I’ll do something to make ya look bad ass. Maybe not wet myself, but I’ll put on a show, if it will make you feel better… When are they coming?

He sheepishly replied, "Tomorrow."

"You’re kidding me right? Tomorrow!"

"They’re on vacation and wanna stop by."

"Ghosts..." I started to say, "I’m Sorry… On vacation ... For real!"

"You know, just because you’re dead, doesn’t mean you stop living."

I sat there shivering, trying to take this all in. My roommate, my friend, is certainly a pain in the ass.

"Bunky, what’s the deal with the heat in here anyway? It’s freakin freezin! And what’s the deal with the place being so messy, you ought to clean it up. We got company coming."

"Heat is busted, got a guy comin tomorrow. Why do you care? I didn’t think you could tell one way or the other. And since when does it matter what the place looked like? I thought you guys all liked empty abandon houses that were falling down?"

Bunky, Bunky, Bunky... Too much TV, too much Stephen King… We still like nice stuff. You got to stop with this stereotypical crap."

"Me!… You’re accusing me of using stereotypes? Didn’t you just ask me to run around and act all scared…scared of the big bad ghost… I mean. Sorry again…You know what I mean. Kinda like calling the kettle black isn’t?"

The house was silent. No smart come back. I knew I had him with that one.

Finally breaking the silence in his best friend voice he asked "For me old buddy old pal… for me…would ya?"

I took a deep breath. It was my turn to be dramatic, "Ok, I will, but I have one favor to ask, its kind of personal?"

His response was immediate, "Sure buddy anything."

I lowered my voice to a whisper, barely mumbling the words.

"What, …Huh… I can’t hear you."

"I said it was personal, I’m not going to shout it out."

He comes closer and leans in, we are almost touching.








I shout as loud as I can, "BOOOO!"

He shrieked; knocking over the lamp in his attempt to flee. I couldn’t contain my laughter. And with that, he was gone

 

[RMBrown]

On a more serious note. I remember as a kid having only one spooky old building that was in town, it was an abandoned old hospital. I remember looking in the window, somehow expecting to see blood and pain and the tragedy of life, somehow contained in the empty room. While I saw none of that, what I did experience was that a lot had happened here and it wasn't good. Erie, too quiet, too dark, it didn't smell like life, but death. It was an old musty building, but something just didn't seem right.



Years later I followed some of Stephen King's advice when testing the theory of being afraid of the unknown. There was an empty house, broken windows that had the drapes moving in the wind. Junk everywhere, long abandoned. One evening with a flashlight in hand I entered the house and made my way upstairs. There was an old trunk with the lid off, I placed it back on and had a seat. Turning off the flashlight, I sat, I listened and I waited. With the exception of what was probably mice and the sound of the wind blowing through the broken windows. There was nothing. I sat for a little over half an hour, expecting some sort of fear or some revelation....nothing. Almost disappointed, I made my way out of the house. Looking back at the rundown old house thinking it was the perfect place for ghosts I realized it was just an empty house. I have never been able to write horror from the supernatural bend that did not include humor.

 

[Rzero]

I agree that the reasons or logic behind the haunting is a big part of what makes the ghost(s) interesting. I like a little lore in my spooky stories.

I wrote a flash fiction ghost story for the LM contest a couple of years ago. It was the only time I ever came in first place, so that was neat. The idea was that the first-person MC is visited every night and violently tortured by a large man and a little boy, whom he killed in a car accident and buried in his cellar. I made the ghosts gruesome with horrible injuries from being hit by the car, but they always smile sweetly before they begin their task. It's only 650 words, but it's a fun piece. Readers have differing opinions about whether the ghosts are a dream, a guilt manifestation, a metaphor or just plain ghosts.

I finished an outline for a novel about a haunting a few months ago. I probably won't write the book for some time, but I like the story. Some of this is going to sound like extremely standard fare, and some of it is, I suppose, but it takes place at a cabin in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Four cousins (two sets of siblings) and their spouses and kids end up trapped with no vehicles, cell service, etc. A couple of the cousins believe that their family is cursed. The others are skeptical, but everyone in the bloodline dies mysterious and often violent deaths somewhere in their twenties or thirties, give or take, but it turns out that there's no curse. It's a ghost. The cousins' great-grandfather was married with a baby, and the baby drowned. It was an accident, but the great-grandfather claimed that his wife did it on purpose, and she was hanged. Now she takes out her revenge on his progeny by his second wife. She only targets adult direct descendants, so she doesn't go after the spouses or kids. Having the four cousins trapped in the mountains is a great opportunity to off the whole generation over a weekend.

 

[RMBrown]

I agree that the reasons or logic behind the haunting is a big part of what makes the ghost(s) interesting. I like a little lore in my spooky stories.

I wrote a flash fiction ghost story for the LM contest a couple of years ago. It was the only time I ever came in first place, so that was neat. The idea was that the first-person MC is visited every night and violently tortured by a large man and a little boy, whom he killed in a car accident and buried in his cellar. I made the ghosts gruesome with horrible injuries from being hit by the car, but they always smile sweetly before they begin their task. It's only 650 words, but it's a fun piece. Readers have differing opinions about whether the ghosts are a dream, a guilt manifestation, a metaphor or just plain ghosts.

I finished an outline for a novel about a haunting a few months ago. I probably won't write the book for some time, but I like the story. Some of this is going to sound like extremely standard fare, and some of it is, I suppose, but it takes place at a cabin in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Four cousins (two sets of siblings) and their spouses and kids end up trapped with no vehicles, cell service, etc. A couple of the cousins believe that their family is cursed. The others are skeptical, but everyone in the bloodline dies mysterious and often violent deaths somewhere in their twenties or thirties, give or take, but it turns out that there's no curse. It's a ghost. The cousins' great-grandfather was married with a baby, and the baby drowned. It was an accident, but the great-grandfather claimed that his wife did it on purpose, and she was hanged. Now she takes out her revenge on his progeny by his second wife. She only targets adult direct descendants, so she doesn't go after the spouses or kids. Having the four cousins trapped in the mountains is a great opportunity to off the whole generation over a weekend.

Congratulations on the win. Sometimes a story just clicks, I think it is the little subtle hints given along the way that lets a reader feel and imagine what is happening. "Smiling sweetly"

Sounds like you have enough meat for a story with the outline you mentioned....lots of possibilities to keep the reader guessing.