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HOW TO WRITE A GHOST STORY
by iisa niowx axo aoiii ciiiiix
I srssiox, 90 xixurrs
cuosr sroiiis xaxi ciiar wiirixc ixiicisis, nicausi rui\ii ivix
better when theyre short. Teir creepy otherworldliness counteracts the boredom of everyday
life. Tats why people want to believe in ghosts. It makes life more exciting. Its also incredibly
freeing. If youve decided to believe in a ghost, youve decided to that the world is full of things
you cant easily explain.
Another great thing about ghost stories is you dont have to worry too much about a
seamless plot. Ghost stories can be successful if they just concentrate on setting and atmo-
sphere. And you dont have to worry too much about the ending, either. Its better if you
dont. Te best ghost stories dont have a cut-and-dried denouement or explanation; theyre
unresolved.
A ghost story is not necessarily a horror story. In a horror story theres a lot more physi-
cal violence and theres usually a resolution. In good ghost stories theres more ambiguity,
and the drama can be more psychological than physical. In other words: inner thoughts, not
innards.
Ghost stories are certainly about fear, but theyre also about hope. A ghost story, after all,
is a life-after-death story. With all our technology, weve had no breakthroughs on death.
Death is still as terrifying now as it was thousands of years ago. Ghost stories are an authors
attempt to come to terms with that.
In this lesson plan students will practice writing their own terrifying ghost stories. First,
theyll need a few things, detailed on the following handout. Ten theyll do the exercises
below. Now, turn the page . . . if you dare.
An Exercise
Ask your students to share a real-life ghost story. Not something they heard around the nre
at summer camp involving a serial killer, but something that actually happened, to them, a
friend, or a family member, something that no one can quite explain.
What makes it scary?
What could you change to make it scarier?
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Another Exercise
Invite the students to imagine that they are ghosts. Ask them: What would you do if you
needed to get a message to somebody? What would be important enough that you would
need to make contact with the living?
Now That Everyone Is Properly Spooked ...
. . . its time to write your ghost stories. Distribute the student handout on the following page
to get them started. Turn them loose, then come back and share frights.
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WHAT EVERY GHOST STORY NEEDS
1. a srrrixo
When and where does your story take place?
Its nne to start with an ooky-spooky house. You can begin with those old clichs. Its a
great opportunity to bring in creepy and fun historical elements, too.
Remember, in many cases you might need two separate settings, one for the ghost, and one
for his hapless, haunted victim. Teres even nice time-travel-y feeling when you juxtapose
an old ghost with a modern locale; an old tragedy existing at the same time as a contempo-
rary setting.
i. rnr onosr
Who is he or she? How did he or she die? Why would he or she need to come back and
haunt someone? (Or, to put it another way, What does this ghost want?)
. rnr nauxrrn
Who is he or she? Why is he or she being haunted? Is it simply because he or she is in the
wrong place at the wrong time, or is he or she being haunted for personal reasons? Did he
or she do something to make the ghost angry, either in life or in death?
. iixirarioxs
Your story will be more focused if you set parameters for your ghost. A ghost is more inter-
esting if he or she isnt all-powerful, but exists within a circle of specinc abilities. Here are
some creepy limitations:
Te ghost can be seen, but not heard.
Te ghost can be felt, but not seen.
Te ghost can be heard, but not felt or seen.
Te ghost only appears in photographs.
Te ghost only appears renected in mirrors or glass.
Te ghost can move little things around.
Te ghost can move things around that are too heavy for humans to move.
Te ghost can leave messages on paper or chalkboards, or by tracing words into the dust on
old furniture.
Te ghost can be heard, but only says the same thing over and over again.
Te ghost can be heard, but only makes noises like screaming or crying.
Te ghost can appear in dreams.
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,. a vior
Believe it or not, a good ghost story doesnt always need a beginning, middle, and end. Its
more important that it has a creepy setup, a ghostly event, a nervous reaction, and a (par-
tial) explanation.
An example: A girl goes away for the summer to an old house in the country owned by
a grumpy uncle. She begins to hear crying in the middle of the night, and nnds mes-
sages scrawled in lipstick on the mirrors. Her uncle refuses to believe that anything out of
the ordinary is going on. One of the lipstick messages tells the girl to look in the garden.
When she does, she nnds the skeleton of her uncles old nance, presumed missing for
thirty years.
OK, thats very simple, but you get the picture.
6. soxr ooon scanrs
Now, think about what kinds of things scare you. Some hints:
Details are scary. Start with things that exist in real life, then twist them. Slightly. Te
closer your story feels to a real account, the scarier it will seem. Details build tension, and
details have their foot nrmly planted in the real world. Stephen King understands thishe
tends to create an almost hypernormal worldso that when something is on, youre so
immersed you barely notice it. Te more normal the world is, the more upsetting it is when
something out of the ordinary happens.
Uncertainty is scary. Tings are most dennitely scarier when they are unexplained. If you
have too good an explanation for all the ghostly goings-on, it becomes less frightening.
It takes a certain amount of self-control to write a good ghost story. Its easier and more
tempting to explain things, but its usually better if you dont.
Almost-but-not-quite is scary. Tink about how scary it is to see something out of the corner
of your eye, or to reach out and touch something that you cant see and cant identify.
e natural world not working the way its supposed to is scary. Cold when it shouldnt be
cold, hot when it shouldnt be hot. Being able to look through something that should be
solid, or seeing shadows without anything there to cast them. Its also good when things
are just a tiny bit on (see Almost-but-not-quite, above). Not completely onyoure not in
a sci-n or fantasy world. Youre in the real world, but something is a little odd.
Unexplained knowledge is scary. Someone knowing something that he or she could not pos-
sibly know unless the ghost has whispered in his or her ear is very unsettling.
A narrator with bad judgment is scary. It makes the reader tense, which is a good thing. Its
like shouting at the movie screen. Dont open that door! Dont go in that creepy house! A
narrator in a ghost story is constantly doing ill-advised things.
You are scary. Well, not really, or at least not all the timebut when deciding to write
about something spooky, you should take a trip through your own imagination and ngure
out your most vivid point of departure. What gets your heart beating? An enclosed
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space? A choppy sea? A box of broken toys? Remember, a ghost story is just another way of
handing on your worst nightmare to others. Kind of like the nu.
Flipping expectations is scary. Or fun, at least. Lead your readers down a path, letting them
believe in one thing, and then get the jump on them with an entirely dinerent outcome.
Tats all you need to get started. Now go! What are you waiting for? Youre not scared,
are you?
noxus vux
Set part of your ghost story in the historical past.
Write a letter to or from a ghost. Ten answer it.
For a group: Find an ordinary object and imagine that it has a mysterious past. Pass around
the object, with each of your friends contributing to its lore.
Write page 128 of a ghostly tale.
List on ten things that make a perfect ghost recipe: a dining room table, a broken mirror,
a love letter, a lost marble, an attic, a chandelier, a blind boy named Percival . . . whatever
you like. Can you invent a story with all of these elements?
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