So, You Want to Write a Ghost Story

So do I. But how do you do what’s been done? The Others, The Awakening, The Conjuring, Insidious, et cetera, et cetera. With so many films covering the subject, why bother writing? Who would read it?

Yes, it’s cliché. But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail. Every cliché was once a novel, profound thought. Professors will tell you to avoid clichés because overuse has caused them to lose their impact. This is very true. The key is not to avoid them, however, but to make them new again.

So, this is our cliché: a ghost, haunting, people screaming in fear.

WHY?

If you can answer that question, and it’s different from other stories, you have something.

WHY did the dead person die? WHY is he/she haunting the person/place? WHAT does he/she want? WHERE do they want/need to go to achieve peace or revenge? Handle your ghost the same way you’d handle your other characters, albeit with considerably less dialogue. Of course, the reader isn’t going to know these answers right away; pacing is part of the mystery.

Start with choosing your ghost type. Customary spirit unable to move on due to unfinished business? Fine, but don’t be afraid to complicate it more. Maybe she’s a banshee screaming at men in their sleep because her husband killed their child.

Make your own mythology. You don’t have to stick with the Christian Heaven and Greek Hades. Try combining supernatural creatures with ghosts. Perhaps your wraith is a dead elf from an alternate dimension who is greatly offended by what humans have done to this one. If you think about it, “The Mummy” is a ghost story using Egyptian mythology. And it is full of awesome.

Even better – give it an underlying message. What is your theme? What do you want to change in the world? For example, in the Middle East there exists a practice called honor killing. If a woman walks alone in the street, if she’s seen talking to an unrelated man, if she allows herself to be raped (I’m not kidding), if she is seen doing anything that might dishonor her family [read: father / husband / brother], her male relatives are permitted to stone her. There is little to no penalty for this act of violence.

Have the dead woman haunt the husband and brother than killed her. Is she angry? Does she want them to die, too? Or is she trying to send them a message to change their hearts?

There are plenty of ghost stories that haven’t been written yet, because there are plenty of human stories.

A list of ghosts from different cultures / mythologies to get you started:

Poltergeist – entwined to a location; moves / throws objects and attacks people

Spectre – supernatural representation of human or animal that has died (typical ghost)

Will o’ the wisp – faint blue light, often seen over water, mimics movement of observer

Apparition – faint outline of a human form, translucent, only appears for a fraction of a second

Doppelganger – ghost of a living person; an “evil twin,” seeing one’s double causes instant death

Duppy – wakens if a coin and glass of rum are thrown onto its grave; evil, causes illness by breathing on people; being touched by one will result in epileptic fits

Mumiai – Indian poltergeist; haunts the lazy and criminal

Bugaboo – Indian spirit, friendly; guards village against evil (not to be confused with the baby-oriented brand name)

Wendigo – Canadian spirit; half-human, half-animal; hides in forest and eats people

Umi Bozu – Japanese sea ghost; bald with enormous eyes; haunts sailors

Shojo – Japanese sea ghost, friendly; loves drinking and parties; has bright red hair and dances on the waves

Hantu Langsuir – small ghost with only a head and a tail; thirsts for blood (like a leech)

Toyol – a dead baby revived through a demonic ritual; green with red eyes; drinks blood; serves person who revived it

If you use “haunting” as a synonym for a demon’s activity on earth, there are even more classifications you can explore. Personally, I avoid that genre, since the answer to WHY is simply, “because it’s evil,” which is lazy and does not bode well for good writing. Try to create a story that contains the possibility of whichever spirit you choose being put to rest. Yes, there can be a failure to achieve this (after all, humans are flawed at communicating with each other, let alone the dead), but give your ghost a real reason to act ghostly.

Sources and further information:

http://ghosts.monstrous.com/ghosts_around_the_world/

http://ghosts.monstrous.com/classification_of_ghosts/

Today’s deviant ditty:

“Transfer” by Collide