What makes a great ghost story? – Part 24

The secret to telling a great ghost story is simple; atmosphere. You have to have the right atmosphere to create a potentially frightening story. If you were to gather a group of people together a group of people in the middle of the day and share with them a ghost story most of the people would shrug it off saying it was just a runaway imagination.

If you were to gather the same group after dark with only a few candles burning for light and tell the exact same story you would get a completely different reaction. There would be fewer criticisms and a lot more looking over their shoulders.

Another way to tell a great ghost story is to put emotion behind it. It’s easy enough to say, “The children screamed when they saw the ghost.” That’s not very scary and actually quite dull. It would be better to describe it this way, “A chill filled the room causing the children to shiver and they suddenly knew they were not alone. Out of nowhere a shadowy figure began to take shape. Frightened, all the children began to scream.”

This form of storytelling makes a person feel they are apart of the story instead of just listening to it. All in all atmosphere and good word choice is the key to any great story, but especially for a ghost story.