Ghost stories aren’t among the stories I normally tell. Honestly, the scariest story I tell is knowing that my youngest daughter, Baby Girl, has a crush on a little boy. As a dad, I can’t think of much scarier than that. So not ready. But for others who love ghost stories, scary stories, horror stories, October has been your month. Even though I don’t tell them, I apricate them just like any other storytelling. So what makes a ghost story?
As I understand it
Using Dictionary.com, I was provided with the following definition for ghost stories: a tale in which such elements as ghostly visitations and supernatural intervention are used to further the plot and a chilling, suspenseful atmosphere. Simply put, ghost stories are stories that scare people. Normally there is some sort of supernatural element. Other story types may scare you with violence or suspense, but ghost and horror stories do so with ghost, ghouls, and goblins.
Watching the BBC video “The Story of Ghost Story” (link below), I got the chance to learn more about some of the origins of ghost stories. For example, some were made was a way to scare people away from areas that people were doing illegal activity. For those of you that watch US cartoons, that means that the concept for Scooby Doo and the Gang is more real than we thought.
The question that is always debated
There is one last question to talk about with ghost stories: Are ghost stories real? People familiar with oral storytelling overall know that some stories are real and some are fiction. I also think that some stories are real to the people that tell them and listen to them. Ghost stories can just be fun, entertaining as a tall tale. They can also be used to tell events that actually happened that are missing answers. You get to choose what you believe. I believe in telling and listening to good stories. Whatever story to tell, tell it on purpose.
References
The Story of the Ghost Story
Story Telling On Purpose 