a ghost story essay

25+ Ghost Story Prompts

Need a scary ghost story to tell over the campfire? Today we bring over 25 ghost story prompts to inspire you to write your own paranormal short story or novel.

A ghost story is a type of horror story that emphasises the theme of the supernatural, apparitions, and otherworldly ghost-like creatures. Generally revolving around death, hauntings or the afterlife. This genre often has an uncanny air about it, producing feelings of fear, dread, and the unfamiliar. A ghost story is one of the oldest forms of literature and can be found in all cultures.

If you’re looking for some new ideas for your next ghost story, these 25+ paranormal story prompts are perfect for writers of all levels. You might also find this ghost name generator useful.

The spookiest time of year is here, and that means it’s time for ghost stories! Whether you’re writing a ghost story for Halloween , a seasonal short story , or even a standalone novel, these ghost story prompts are a great place to start:

A young woman moves into an old house and finds herself in a terrifying situation with her new roommate, a ghost. The only way to escape is to get out of the house alive.
A man is haunted by his past and must face the demons that come back to haunt him.
A group of college students decide to spend their summer vacation in a cabin in the woods. But what starts as a fun vacation turns deadly when they realize that the woods aren’t quite as safe as they thought.
Use this story starter for a ghost story: The first time I saw it, I was only six. It was night and I was playing in my granddad’s garden when I heard this weird sound coming from the forest. I followed the sound and found myself in the middle of a circle of tall trees. It was so dark that I could barely see my hands in front of me. Suddenly, something grabbed my leg.
A woman is haunted by the ghosts of her ancestors, but she must learn to accept her fate and embrace the spirits before they are all gone forever.
An orphaned boy is taken in by a family of ghosts after his parents die in a fire. They teach him how to use his supernatural abilities to help people in need. But soon the boy starts using these powers for evil.
A group of teenagers visit their favourite haunted house during the Halloween season, but they never make it home again.
A couple gets married on Halloween night and discovers that their marriage is cursed. They must solve the mystery of the ghost bride to break the curse.
A boy finds a box of his grandfather’s old slides in the attic, and when he goes back to school, he starts seeing his grandfather’s ghost everywhere.
A man hears strange sounds coming from his attic, and he’s determined to find out what they are. He sneaks up to the attic to investigate, but when he does, he stumbles upon something much more frightening than he could have imagined.
An abandoned mansion on a lonely island is rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a pirate who was hung for his crimes. A group of friends decide to spend the night in the mansion, and they quickly learn that there’s more than one kind of ghost in the house.
A family moves back into their old family home where their son died years ago. The father becomes obsessed with finding out who killed his son. He believes he knows who the murderer is but no one will believe him.
A man is tormented by a ghostly hitchhiker. He is forced to take them on a road trip until they reach their final destination…a mysterious abandoned town.
A family moves into an old Victorian home, where the previous owner mysteriously disappeared after getting locked in one of the rooms. Now the family is trapped inside by a malevolent entity.
A man is on his way home from work when he is attacked by a group of ghosts. He manages to escape, but now he has a few more problems than he started with.
Use this story starter for a ghost story: I woke up in the middle of the night, and I felt a cold hand touching my face. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out. Then, I felt a sharp pain in my neck.
My father told me about his experience while we were driving home. He said he saw a dead girl walking towards him just after I was born, but when he got closer, she disappeared. He thought if was imagining things at the time.
My father used to scare me at night. One time he came into my bedroom and woke me up, telling me to come downstairs. He took me to the living room, and there he told me that a ghost had put a curse on me.
It was the most beautiful cemetery ever. People would come from far away just to walk through the grounds. There was a rumour about a ghost that roamed the graveyard at night.
A teenage girl is forced to spend her summer with her grandmother who believes she can communicate with ghosts.
A young woman moves into an apartment next door to an old house where she hears a woman screaming and sees a little girl standing in the window.
A woman hears a baby crying in her house, but she can’t find it. She keeps hearing it crying in another room, so she goes to check on it. When she opens the door, there is no baby there. But then, the door slams shut and locks itself.
A girl is staying at her grandmother’s house with her family for the night. She is sleeping in her grandmother’s bed, but she can’t get comfortable. Every time she falls asleep, she wakes up to see her dead grandmother sitting on the edge of her bed.
A woman is walking down a deserted road when she sees a figure standing in front of her. It turns out to be an old man in a top hat, holding a cane. He says to her, “Hello, young lady. My name is John Marley. I am a spirit from the other side.”
One night, a mother wakes up to hear her son crying in their room. When she goes into his room, he is not there. She looks everywhere for him and calls out his name. The only answer she gets is a terrible scream that echoes throughout the house.
In a small village, there lived a woman who was very lonely. Her husband had passed away and she was left all alone with her two sons. The boys were grown and had families of their own. The woman was so lonely that she began talking to herself. “I’m all alone,” she said to no one in particular. “I’m all alone.” And then she hears a voice.
There was once a man who lived by the beach. He loved the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. One day, he decided to go for a walk on the beach and ended up drowning. When he died, he came back as a ghost. Every night, he would come back to the place where he drowned, and stand there.
There was once a little girl who loved to play hide and seek. One day, while playing, she got separated from her family. She found a tree stump and went behind it, but when she peeked around the edge, she saw that no one was there. The stump began to move, and suddenly the girl felt herself being lifted off the ground and into the air. As she looked at the tree stump, she noticed that it had eyes. The eyes were staring right at her. Then, before she could scream, the tree stump opened its mouth.

For more spooky ideas, check out this list of over 110 horror story ideas .

How do you write a ghost story?

The basic structure of a ghost story includes an opening sequence that presents the reader with a situation that seems normal but is actually supernatural in nature. The protagonist then encounters the ghost and experiences events that are often strange and frightening, leading up to a climax where the ghost is defeated or disappears. Writing a ghost story is the same as writing a horror story . Before you start writing you need a good ghost story plot idea, like the list above. Both ghost stories and horror stories have a set of characters, a spooky setting, an opening, a middle part and a dramatic ending.

What is the shortest ghost story?

The shortest ghost story is just two sentences long. It was written by Frederic Brown in 1948. The story reads: “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door …” Just by reading these two sentences, we can imagine a scary situation. There are two key themes used here, the fear of loneliness and the surprise element at the end. Both these are important themes in ghost stories.

What makes a ghost story scary?

Ghost stories are typically scary as they focus on death and going into the unknown. But the key to a scary ghost story is fear. It is important to make the reader feel uneasy or frightened. Here are some key elements of a good ghost story:

An encounter with a ghost or spirit
A supernatural force that can be both good and evil
Sense of dread
The feeling of being watched or followed
Feeling helpless
Being lonely or lost

Just like all stories, a ghost story must include these basic elements of a story : Characters, Setting, Plot, Conflict and Resolution.

How do you finish a ghost story?

Most ghost stories end with the haunting being explained away as something natural. This explanation can be a spiritual one (the ghost was a real person who died), or it can be a psychological one (the ghost was a product of the protagonist’s mind). The ghost story can also end with no explanation at all. Some ghost stories don’t even bother to give an explanation for the haunting, but let the reader figure it out themselves.

Did you find this list of over 25 ghost story prompts useful? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Education and Communications
Writing Genres

How to Write a Ghost Story

Last Updated: March 4, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Grant Faulkner, MA . Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story, a literary magazine. Grant has published two books on writing and has been published in The New York Times and Writer’s Digest. He co-hosts Write-minded, a weekly podcast on writing and publishing, and has a M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 221,756 times.

Many people enjoy a good ghost story and writing your own can be just as enjoyable. Ghost stories generally follow the patterns of other fictional work, focusing on a character and their encounters with a challenging force or event. However, ghost stories have a close focus on evoking feelings of terror and dread, building them up into a horrifying climax. Learning some of the ideas and techniques behind good ghost stories can help you create your own terrifying tales.

Developing Your Plot

Think about which situations meeting a ghost would be most terrifying.
Imagine the details of the ghost and how it haunts you, noting what scares you the most.
Try watching your favorite horror films or reading other ghost stories to get inspired.

What locations do you find disturbing or discomforting?
Your setting should have a feeling of isolation, cutting the main characters off from help.

Step 3 Brainstorm ideas and plan your story arc.

Stasis. This is the introduction to your story and it demonstrates the normal life of your characters.
Trigger. This event is something that pushes your character out of their normal life.
Quest. This is where your character is given a goal or something they must do.
Surprise. This will take up the middle section of your story and will be the events along the way towards your heroes goal.
Critical choice. Your protagonist will need to make a hard choice that demonstrates their character.
Climax. This is the moment your story was building up to and the most dramatic moment of the story.
Reversal. This should be the consequence to your character's critical choice or the main challenge.
Resolution. This point is where your characters return to everyday life but are changed from the ordeal.

Write your outline in a chronological ordering of events.
Don't leave any gaps in the narrative for your outline.
Try to think about each scene and examine how they work together.
If writing an entire ghost story seems overwhelming at first, try writing a 100-word ghost story to warm up. You get 100 words to write something truly creepy and unsettling. It takes less time, and you won't have to worry as much about outlining and pacing.

Don't rush to reveal the confrontation or climax of your ghost story.
Building the tension of the story slowly can make the climax even more intense.

Developing Your Characters

Try to think of why your character is in the situation they are.
Imagine how your character would react to the events in your story.
Try to get a clear mental picture of what your character looks like.

Your ghost will need a reason or motive for existing and doing what they do.
Ghosts come in different forms, being more or less physical or having different powers.

Step 3 Consider working on foils or additional characters.

Foils usually have different personalities than the main characters in order to highlight the individual characteristics.
Your supporting characters should also have their own unique qualities and personalities.
Ask yourself what relationships these characters might have with the main characters of your ghost story.

Writing Your Ghost Story

Step 1 Avoid telling the reader what's happening.

”The ghost appeared and I was frightened” is an example of telling the reader what's happening.
”The ghost appeared and my stomach tightened up in knots. I could feel my face break out in a sweat and my heart trying to leap out from my chest.” is an example of showing the reader what's happening.

Step 2 Make your readers fill in the details.

For example, “The ghost was ten feet tall and exactly as wide as the door that it came through.” is probably too direct.
Try saying something like “The ghost was enormous, making the room suddenly feel claustrophobic and tight.”

Consider ending your story in a single sentence.
Offering too much explanation at the end of your ghost story can lessen the impact of your ending.

Community Q&A

Think about what scares you the most and let those fears inspire your ghost story. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
Have a clear understanding of what and who your characters are. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
Setting is an important part of your ghost story that can either enhance or detract from the feelings of terror you are trying to evoke. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 1

Tips from our Readers

You don't have to write about a human ghost. Try writing about a ghost animal or some other supernatural being.

Things You'll Need

Pen or pencil

↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/there-are-no-rules/the-horror-genre-on-writing-horror-and-avoiding-cliches
↑ https://www.writers-online.co.uk/how-to-write/how-to-write-a-ghost-story/
↑ http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-structure-a-story-the-eight-point-arc/
↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/7-steps-to-creating-a-flexible-outline-for-any-story
↑ https://atomlearning.com/blog/6-ways-to-build-suspense-and-tension-in-writing
↑ https://mythcreants.com/blog/three-ways-you-can-use-description-to-mess-with-your-readers/

About This Article

To write a ghost story, start by thinking about what you find scary about ghosts. Additionally, since atmosphere plays a large part in ghost stories, imagine the creepiest location you can think of for the setting. Next, work on your story’s arc, which includes the introduction, the climactic moment, and the resolution. As you draft your story, think about what you want to show your reader and what you want to leave up to their imagination, since readers will automatically fill in details with their own mind. To learn how to finish your ghost story, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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I Am Haunted by My Mother’s Ghost Story

She told us to help us understand her, but what does she want us to know.

By Oscar Villalon | October 29, 2015

The story comes unbidden. Unbidden? I mean to say that I never set out to tell it. Still, I’ve told it many times. There’s usually drinking involved, low lighting; it’s always toward the end of an evening. And so, the story unfurls. Not always, because I’ve seen its effect. I’ve lived with the story for so long—37 years, give or take a year—that I know what it can do to a listener upon hearing it, even though I feel nothing when relating it. I could just as easily be telling the plot of an old Twilight Zone episode. But the story chills people. The guests go quiet. Things get still.

The story isn’t mine. It belongs to my late mother. She was a teenager, living with her family in La Puente, when one night she heard a gentle rapping on her bedroom door. The door opened and her aunt, who was living with them, let her know in a whisper that she was getting up to make breakfast and what would she like to eat? Then she left the room. My mother went rigid with fright, because her aunt had only days before left for a trip to Yucatán. She was trying to make sense of what she had seen when she heard sobbing. It was her older sister, who shared the bedroom with her, crying in the twin bed next to hers. One of them asked the other (my mother couldn’t be sure who spoke), Did you see that? , and the answer was a crashing wave of grief, wailing that woke up my grandfather, who ran to their bedroom to find his daughters repeating over and over, She’s dead, she’s dead. Mi tía está muerta!

There’s more to the story. After my grandfather chides his daughters for being ridiculous, for believing in what they think they saw, just a short time later there’s a phone call, well before the sun has come up. Cut to my grandfather, hurriedly getting ready to leave the house, dragooning my mother—who, at 16, had just earned her California driver’s license—to take him from La Puente to LAX, amid early morning traffic, so he could fly to Yucatán where his sister had been killed in a grisly car accident. Not till many years later did it occur to me that for my mother, an inexperienced driver, having to trek all the way to LAX may have been as terrifying as what she’d seen that night. But when your mother is first telling you her ghost story in your for-whatever-reason darkened apartment, at night, and you couldn’t have been older than eight, that sort of detail can escape you.

There’s more. Soon, the home in La Puente is haunted, or at least the hallway leading to the bedrooms is. First they hear pacing, a padding of “feet” in that hallway behind them as they sit in the living room trying to watch My Three Sons . Then it’s the hallway saturated in perfume, the aunt’s perfume, an unbearable reek. Finally, their priest is consulted and he believes what they tell him, and he agrees to perform an exorcism. He sprinkles the holy water, he recites from the Bible, and he tells the ghost, You don’t belong here anymore. You’re dead. You need to leave. There’s no longer any need for you here. And she goes. No more haunting. The end.

After the sighing, after the blinking, an occasional head shake, someone will ask, When did your mother tell you that story? Of course, when I told this story as a boy, and then as a teen, nobody (or at least no one that I can remember) ever asked that, but I would volunteer that I had heard it when I was a kid, as a way of saying, If you think you’re freaked out, imagine how freaked out I was when I first heard it! It was bragging, like saying I’d ridden on this coaster a bunch of times, so no big deal. But then I’d tell this story in my 20s, 30s, and now 40s. And when revealing the age I first heard it, there’s no comment but certainly an unspoken question: Why would your mother tell you this? Why would she bequeath me her haunting?

I don’t know, and I’ll never know. Over the years, though, I’ve tried to guess. If my memory isn’t completely betraying me, my mother seemed pensive that night. I dare say she seemed sad. I don’t remember my father being in our apartment, though he may well have been shut away in their bedroom. But he certainly wasn’t in that dark living room, the only light coming from our porch light when, sitting on one end of our sofa, she told us about what had once happened to her. I think she forgot we were there, me and my younger brother and baby sister. Maybe she was telling, aloud to herself, this incredible thing from her life, as if to reassure herself her existence wasn’t what it seemed. She had seen a ghost at 16, was married at 19, and had three children by the time she was 26. Her life was circumscribed by taking care of us, taking care of the house, and working a job. But this amazing thing had happened.

Then sometimes I think she knew we were listening, but didn’t mean to terrify us. She just wanted us to know our mother had seen things. That she had been a girl who once drove her bereft father on a busy freeway because her mother and older sister didn’t drive, drove him all the way out to LAX, where she’d never driven to before, palms sweating on the steering wheel, then drove all the way back to La Puente by herself, with probably not so much as a Thomas Brothers in the car to help her if she got lost, and did this and more—had lived with a ghost. That this is the story she meant to tell but couldn’t articulate. That she was brave. That she confronted mystery. This is what she couldn’t say—didn’t know how to say—but only that she had seen the newly dead at her bedroom door, and what does it mean, children? what does it mean?

*An earlier version incorrectly referred to Villalon’s mother as having three children by the age of 24. She was 26 at that time.

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50 Spooky Writing Prompts and Horror Story Ideas

If you’re looking for scary story prompts or horror writing ideas, you’ve come to the right place! These are great Halloween writing prompts, and some of these could also be used as suspense story prompts or dark fantasy story ideas.

These are all from my book 5 ,000 Writing Prompts: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More . The book has 100 additional spooky writing prompts and horror story ideas, as well as master plots and idea starters for all kinds of writing.

If you are easily scared and have an over-active imagination, just skip this one. And anyway, just remember it’s all nonsense that I made up while I was exercising on the treadmill or sitting in bed.

Some of these are skeletal (ha) plot ideas, while others are images or suggestions. And if you’d like a spooky soundtrack to inspire you, be sure to check out my scary music playlist for writers ! Be sure to pin or bookmark the post for future reference. After all, when autumn rolls around, you might find yourself looking for Halloween writing prompts!

A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.
Frightening events in a small town lead its citizens to dig up the grave of a deceased inhabitant.
Someone gets on the elevator by himself and is never seen by his friends or family again.
The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again.
A collector buys an unpublished manuscript by an obscure writer that describes a terrible historical event a year before it occurred. The collector learns the writer wrote many unpublished stories…
Creating a hybrid of a human and this particular animal turns out to be a bad idea.
A person has the ability to make other people very ill.
The dead walk out of the sea.
An individual begins seeing and hearing from someone who looks just like her – and learns she had a twin who died at birth.
A killer places an advertisement for a willing victim and finds one.
A basement contains jars filled with unusual specimens.
A person finds new photos of herself on her cell phone that she didn’t take.
The spirit of a brutalized slave or prisoner of war wants revenge on his tormentor’s descendants.
A couple vacationing in a remote area begins having the same nightmares.
All of the circus performers were killed in the train wreck.
The television switches to another station of its own accord and plays footage of something horrible that happened long before the technology existed to record it.
A spouse or sibling dies. He or she begins to take over the body of the surviving spouse or sibling.
Weekend adventurers explore a cave and can’t find their way out again. Then they encounter something terrible…
Authorities go through the cluttered apartment of a deceased man who lived alone with no known friends or relatives for decades and find something disturbing.
A group of teenagers trolls everyone else in an online group by telling made-up stories about terrible things they’ve done. Things then get out of hand.
It’s bad luck in the theatre to call the Shakespeare play Macbeth by name, but someone in the company keeps doing it anyway… and the superstition proves true.
Every exhibit in this carnival sideshow is fake. Except this one thing.
An individual develops a terror of water – drinking it, touching it, or even being near it. There’s actually a good reason why.
The grandfather clock starts running backwards.
People in this neighborhood begin having freak accidents that involve normal appliances and machinery, such as blenders, weed whackers, and garage doors.
The cure for a new deadly epidemic is almost scarier than the disease.
He locked the doors and shuttered the windows; it came in through the roof.
A woman is happy when her dead loved one comes back to life… but he’s changed.
This centuries-old beauty secret is effective but horrifying.
A killer toys with his victims by orchestrating a series of false hopes for them.
She wakes up in the middle of the night and runs out to a certain tree.
Tourists on a ghost tour, along with their guide, fall into the hands of an evil presence.
A young woman is impregnated by her handsome new boyfriend, who turns out to be something other than human.
The empty swing is swinging.
A bride on her honeymoon discovers she’s not her new husband’s first wife… not even close.
Long ago, when he was a baby, a man’s parents made an unwise deal in order to bring him back from the dead.
Members of a family or people in a town begin sleepwalking and doing strange things in their sleep.
A young man confesses to a killing that hasn’t happened. The murder he describes takes place while he’s in custody.
Grisly events happen after the arrival of a hypnotist in Victorian London.
An author’s fictional villain stalks him.
Fraternity hazing goes way too far.
It always happens when he’s alone in the car.
A patient in a mental hospital encounters a malevolent ghost, but nobody believes her.
A mother’s young child may or may not be a changeling.
Swarms of insects appear in various places in a town, always followed by an untimely death.
The ghost at the movie theater wants everyone to watch one particular snippet of film.
A child’s imaginary friend starts to cause real trouble.
When putting together a slide show for a wedding or funeral, someone notices that for decades, the same man, dressed in the same fashion, has been appearing in the background of photographs taken in public places.
A politician, religious leader, or celebrity exerts mind control over the will of his or her followers.
The fairy godmother isn’t the good kind of fairy.

Okay, I creeped myself out a little with these spooky writing prompts! If you’re writing a novel and want a step-by-step guide to planning, writing, and editing, be sure to check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts .

5,000 WRITING PROMPTS: A Master List of Plot Ideas, Creative Exercises, and More | BRYN DONOVAN |

Do you have questions or suggestions about horror story ideas? We’d love to hear them in the comments section! And don’t miss future posts about writing. Follow my blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place you can sign up below. Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

a notebook, scissors, pens, paper clips and other school supplies

Great prompts for the coming season and for those who write about the supernatural all year round. A friend of mine and myself send photos to each other as prompts and most of the time, mine stories lean toward the macabre, supernatural or fantasy. I love it! Many of these set my thoughts in motion (the gears are turning). Thanks!

Cheryl, that’s so cool that you and your friend send image prompts to each other! So glad you liked these. Thanks for the nice comments!

Those are delightful ideas and I thank you for them. Did you hear, by the way, about the writer of bizarre tales whose stories were typed using the blood font.The one that leaves an occasional trail of blood down the background image of the screen. Isn’t technology a delightful addition to this lexicon?

Hi Robert! Holy smokes, I had not heard of that use of text. That’s amazing! Thanks so much for commenting, and for the kind words!

I really like the first one: A musician practices. When she finishes a piece, she hears someone clapping for her, although she lives alone.

My character plays the violin and she’s blind, so imagining something like that happening is kind of scary.

Oh geez, Cinthia, that would be scary. That one was my favorite one, by the way. Thanks for commenting!

The reasons why crime features so heavily in media coverage are many and varied. In practical terms crime stories are often easy to cover, relative to other issues. Police make appeals for witnesses, ‘tip off’ journalists (sometimes in ethically problematic ways), court hearings are easy to access and scheduled long in advance.

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nice stories……..give me the creeps

Haha, thank you so much Jayitha!

Thanks so much really helped me.I have to write a short story for english so thanks!

So glad it helped, Neveah! Hope your story turned out (or turns out) great!

who are you?

That was amazing, I am 11 years old and I looked up writing prompts for fun but now I want to write a whole story! Thank you!

Thank u for these ideas. Good suggestions. I am actually writing a horror/thriller story right now and I’m almost done with it. It may be my first story to publish. At least I hope so. I hope that if it does get published, people may like it. I try to make my stories as unique as possible compared to the fantastic horror books already written.

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Great article…So, I have a very sketchy idea (comments welcomed).Newly married couple, husband starts having night terrors about being trapped/lost in a cave (the type extreme potholers go down). He suffers from claustrophobia, specifically potholing. The terrors become more and more violent until one day/night he wakes up inside a shaft, wedged between the walls by his broad shoulders…can’t go forward, can’t go backwards. That’s as far as I’ve got. Apart from skipping to a potential sad ending. You may have guessed that this is a fear of mine!!!

That is unbelievably terrifying!!

ps. You may also guess that I am attempting to write my FIRST book!!!

Thank you Ember Jay

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can you have more scary stories and pin them on pinterest? If you want my email for anything its [email protected] . Thanks

lisette isabelle

Isn’t the last one the plot of Shrek 2?????

yessss broooo

Broooo thats my fav movie!!!!!

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I like #4 The Furies—the vengeance deities of classic mythology—are back in business again. I’m currently writing a story about a demon and a school girl the story is call Her name was Misaki

This sounds like a a great story!

I used the first one to get me started on brainstorming, and I warped the idea into a feature screenplay that was very fun to write. Thanks for the awesome help!!!

Yeah boiiiiii

I was sitting by the window watching the snow slowly and silently fall. Suddenly, outside, a snap of a branch and a stutter of leaves, a sad old man leaves his house over the road. I watch him as he slowly strolls down the driveway with his brown old wooden stick. Is this a good story starter?

Thanks for getting my imagination running. I needed that. J

Aw, thanks. Thanks for reading, John!

heyo…. I’m 13 years old and i want to write a horror story…..this is helpful!!! I want to be an author when i grow up…whats it like being an author???!!! i have so many ideas , too many that i actually have no idea what to write this gave me some good ideas too thanks. oh, and i love your eyes they are so pretty.

Hey there! I’m so glad you liked the list! It sounds like you have an amazing imagination. Being a writer has challenges, but it’s fantastic making up whole characters, stories, and worlds…and when readers love your stories, too, that’s a great feeling. I hope you have great success as an author. Thanks for the compliment, too!

idea 48 is probably the ex boyfriend of the girl getting married and getting revenge on the husband hehe

I love all these prompts! They give just enough detail but also leave a great amount of imagination! I am doing a spooky story contest and now I have a wonderful idea! thank you so much! -Charlotte

Love this list! I plan on entering a short story contest, and this is very helpful! I lean more towards lengthy fantasy (particularly magic or medieval related) stories, so coming up with ideas for a scary short story is not exactly easy. I now have a solid idea combining bits and pieces of a few prompts (for example: #13 and #16) plus combining my own twists. So thank you!!

Thank you so much I really needed this for English

My story Wrote by 11 yrs old girl (no name, sry) The Mystery Of The Unexpected Ghost: As my grandfather lies on his deathbed, he told me of a terrible crime he committed many years ago and got away with. He also told me that his freedom was the result of a spell someone performed and that I should expect a visit from a ghost. “He will come out from the shadows,” are his last words. Hi, my name is Naomi. I am 21 years old and I love to read ghost stories especially Mr Midnight. I love spooky things like ghost but I do not wish to meet one, until one day, an unexpected man came and it changed my friend, Ruby’s and my life, FOREVER. It all started when I woke up one morning, “Hey! Want to hang out today? Let’s start working on our club, Daring Devils!” I called my friend, Ruby, over the phone. “Sure! I have no plans anyways…” Ruby answered. “Yay! Come over now!” I hung the phone and waited for Ruby to come. Moments later, “Ring… Ring…” The doorbell rang. I thought, ‘Yay it’s Ruby!’ When I opened the door, I saw Ruby and pulled her to my room. Then, I got super serious and asked her for cases to solve. “Nah, I have none, you?” Ruby said. I replied, “Actually, I do have one, but I think ghosts aren’t real…” “Wait, this case is about ghosts? Woo hoo! This just got a little more exciting!” Ruby exclaimed as she waited patiently for me to tell her the case. “Ok, so, before my grandfather died, he told me that I should expect a visit from a ghost.” I responded. “What, that’s not fun!” Ruby complained. I continued, “But that’s not all, after that, my grandfather told me that the ghost will come out from the shadows.” After hearing what I had said, Ruby’s face lit up and imitated a ghost, “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… So this is a mystery! Did your grandfather tell you when will the ghost appear?” “No…” I replied. “O…K… So we must predict when the ghost is coming…” Ruby said, trying to think when the ghost will come. I thought really hard that I thought my brain was going to explode and I suddenly said, “At night! Ghosts always appear at night!” “Ok, then, I’ll meet you at night, got to go, bye!” Ruby replied as she ran home. I sat patiently on my bed and waited for Ruby to come at night. I kept trying to sleep but thinking about the ghost kept me awake. “Ring… Ring…” the doorbell rang. I ran to the door, drag Ruby to my room and exclaimed, “Yay! This is going to be so fun!” Ruby answered, “Naomi, I’ll not get too excited if I were you…” “What, you scared of ghosts, I don’t even believe in them!” I responded. “Naomi! The ghost might be listening! Stop making fun!” Ruby warned me. “Whatever!” I blurted. Little did I know that the ghost was spying on us, listening to every word I said. “Let’s get started on the case!” I exclaimed as I turn on my computer and typed, ‘Ghosts that can perform spells.’ “Enter!” I said as I pressed enter. Once I pressed enter, lots of information from the internet popped up on the screen. I slowly browsed through each website. “Not this, not this and not this either! At this rate, we’ll never find out about that ghost” I whimpered, feeling hopeless. “Search, ‘Visit from a ghost who performs spells’.” Ruby replied immediately. I typed, ‘Visit from a ghost who performs spells.’ “Enter.” I uttered. Suddenly, there was only one website. I click on the website and it says: The Chancer * His real name is unknown. He is believed to be the ghost of a boy who never had a second chance. This ghosts helps humans in life. He gives chances to those who have a kind heart. If this ghosts visits you, you are lucky. But… if you do not have a kind heart, you will die! If you want to risk your life, then call him… Say, “Chance, chance, give me a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance.” If you did not call him but he came to you, means someone you knew had called him before… Beware of your surroundings, he will come out from the shadows. If you do not want him to come near you, say, “Chance, chance, I don’t need a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone but me, I’m done…” If you are expecting him to come, he will say, “Second chance, second chance, second, second, second chance… What would you like for your second chance? Tell me now, tell me now…” * (BOHH) “Gosh! Naomi, quick! Take a picture of it!” Ruby shook me. “Chill! ‘Kay, ‘kay!” I grumbled. I quickly took my phone and took a picture of it. “Anyways, what’s BOHH?” Ruby questioned me. “WHAT! You don’t know!? It means Blood On His Hands. He has taken a life. You should read Mr Midnight!” I responded. “So if you are not kind hearted and you called the ghost or if someone you know has called the ghost, you will die?” Ruby asked. “Yup!” I replied. “But I don’t need a second chance, do I?” I wondered. “I guess…” Ruby murmured. Unexpectedly, the lights suddenly off. “Second chance, second chance, second, second, second chance… What would you like for your second chance? Tell me now, tell me now…” said an unknown voice. “Who are you?” Ruby hollered. “I am The Chancer, would you like to have a second chance?” The voice said. “Uh… uh…” I stammered. I quickly turn on my phone and looked at the picture I took. I took a deep breath and said, “Chance, chance, I don’t need a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone but me, I’m done…” Once those words left my mouth, I heard a loud scream and the lights suddenly turned back on. “What just happened?” Ruby asked. “Am I dreaming? Pinch me, Naomi!” Ruby said. I pinched Ruby as hard as I could to get my revenge for her pinching me in the past. “Ouch! Stop!” Ruby screamed. “So, I’m not dreaming…” She said under her breath. Weeks past as I tried to forget the memories that haunt me. After a year, I called Ruby and asked, “Have you forgotten about The Chancer?” Ruby stammered, “I…I…I…I…” I asked impatiently, “So did you forget ‘bout it?” Ruby stammered again, “Ok, Naomi, I have to tell you this, don’t… freak… out, ‘kay?” “What is it?” I asked her curiously. “The Chancer… The Chancer has visited me…” Ruby answered me with a frightened look. “WHAT DID YOU SAID?!” I asked. “How many times must I repeat? The Chancer visited me!” Ruby shouted. “Oh! I understand everything now! If someone you know saw The Chancer, he will go to someone you know or someone you are really close with, or even you! I get it now!” I explained to Ruby. Then, I asked curiously, “But, what did you do when you saw The Chancer?” “Uh… Naomi, I forgotten what to say when The Chancer come, so I said I want a second chance!” Ruby replied me, feeling frightened. “What!” I hollered. “What is your second chance?” I asked. “My second chance is to be pretty!” Ruby answered, curling her hair and blushing at the same time. “But, you know that, err….” I said. “I know what?” Ruby asked. “You know that a second chance means, A SECOND LIFE, right?” I told her. “Oh no! I’m going to die? Please tell me I’m dreaming! Pinch me, please!” Ruby shouted. I pinched her cheek as hard as I could and she shouted. “Yup, definitely not dreaming!” Ruby said, as she touched her cheek. “HOW?!” Ruby shouted in horror. “Don’t ask me! Ask yourself!” I answered her with a furious look. “What am I supposed to do at this stage?” Ruby complained. “We’ll see… Let’s observe what will happen next…” I answered, feeling worried for Ruby. “We can have a sleepover at your house, YAY!” Ruby squealed. “Ugh…” I grumbled. “It’s midnight!” I said. “Be ready for what’s going to happen next!” I continued. Suddenly, Ruby was glowing. After a few moments later, she disappeared! Feeling afraid, I tried to sleep, but as expected, I could not. It was dawn and my eyes were still wide open. Unexpectedly, I heard someone screamed, “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” I shut my eyes and covered my ears. When I opened my eyes, I saw a very beautiful girl in front of me. “Get away from me!” I screamed. “Naomi, it’s me, Ruby!” she said. “Liar, then tell me something only Ruby and I know!” I screamed, feeling afraid. “There is someone called The Chancer and he came to visit me and you.” She continued. “Oh gosh, Ruby!” I hugged her and cried. “What happened to your face? You somehow became, prettier!” I asked curiously. “Oh… About that, err… The Chancer said it is only temporary. He said if I did not use this chance correctly, I will have consequences. But if I use it properly, I can keep it forever.” Ruby explained. “You sure? This doesn’t feel right.” I said, thinking about why The Chancer would let her keep it if she used it properly. “Stop talking nonsense… Do you always act like this?” Ruby talked with a little bit of sassiness. “We need to change your name to something prettier…” I suggested. “I agree. I kind of want to be named Naomi…” Ruby said. “Let me think of a prettier name than mine. Hmmm… How about Alexi?” I suggested. “That is so nice! Ok…” Ruby Alexi replied. The next day, I went to school with Ruby Alexi. When we entered, many people were staring at Alexi with their mouths wide open, even the prettiest girl in our school, Cindy. “Hey girl, what’s your name?” Cindy asked with A LOT of sassiness. “Ru… Alexi” Alexi said. “Why you hanging around with this nerd… What was her name again? Oh yes, Naomi.” Cindy said, pointing at me. “You are the real nerd! Stop being so mean you ugly girl and don’t act like you are so pretty, because you are NOT!” Alexi screamed at the top of her lungs. “OMG… I can’t believe such a pretty girl like you to be so mean,” Cindy flipped her hair and sashayed away. After Cindy left, a lot of guys started crowding around Alexi, asking her stuff like, “Are you single?” and “Want to hang out with me?” When Alexi saw them, she started flipping and curling her hair. “Psst… Remember to use your second chance properly. Stop flipping and curling your hair and get away from this crowd,” I reminded her. “Oh sorry people, I got to go… See you guys later!” Alexi told them and sashayed away. “Ugh…” I whispered under my breath. Many days past and Alexi acts the same every day. Until one day, something odd happened to her. She stopped doing the stuff she normally do. When we walked back home together from school, I asked her, “What happened to you?” “Something is about to happen… Something bad! I know it… The Chancer is going to remove my chance! Am I going to DIE?!” She answered, feeling afraid. “No you are not! Can you stay over at my house for today? I need to observe you…” I asked her. “Ok…” She immediately agreed and plastered a fake smile across her face. We reached my house and we waited until it was night time. “What now?” Alexi asked. “We’ll see,” I replied, staring at her. “This is getting awkward… I’m going back,” Alexi said, walking away from me. When she was walking, she suddenly fainted and disappeared, AGAIN! “Ugh… Not again!” I complained. This time, I thought she was dead as she did not appear for the past few weeks and her parents said she did not return. One night, when I was about to turn off the light, the light off itself. When I was about to scream, someone covered my mouth and I immediately fainted. When I woke up, I was tied up. I took a closer look at where I was and noticed it was a cemetery. “Mmmm!” I tried to scream but my mouth was taped. Suddenly, The Chancer appeared. “I mean no harm… I just have to warn you something,” he said. “Ruby… She… Is dead!” He continued. “It’s Alexi!” I reminded him. “You can’t call her Alexi!” he warned me. “Why?” I asked. “Just don’t.” he replied. “But why is she dead?” I asked. “I tried to warn her about something but The Devi got her!” He explained. “Who is The Devi?” I asked curiously. “She is my sister, or should I say, she was my sister. She has changed. She used to be a kind girl but now, I’m not really sure what has happened to her.” He said, staring at a grave. “Her grave, is at this cemetery. It is over there,” he said, pointing at the grave he was staring at previously. I looked closer at the name at it said, “RIP DEV ‘LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE’ MAY GOD BLESS MY FAMILY” “Oh, so that’s her grave. But, why would she kill Ruby? I mean what did Ruby did? And, how do you know Ruby is dead?” I asked curiously. “You will know soon… I must get going!” The Chancer disappeared after saying that. When he left, I started feeling dizzy and lied on the floor. Moments past and I woke up after dreaming of Ruby. I immediately went to my computer, went to the internet and typed, ‘The Devi’. When I press enter, there was lots of websites popped up. I clicked on the first website and it says: The Devi * Her real name is Dev. She is believed to be the ghost of a girl who was murdered. Some say she was murdered because of her doing something ridiculous. The story goes, when she was born, she was ugly. When she grew up, she realised that other girls were prettier than her. So she went to this ghost and asked the ghost to make her prettier, but unfortunately, the ghost killed her. The Devi kills people who asked The Chancer to be pretty for their second chance. Some survived her as The Devi thinks that they are not very pretty. If you survived her, you will be unlucky for the rest of your life! But if you are lucky enough, you will be lucky for the rest of your life. Beware of what you asked from The Chancer! If The Devi wants to meet you, you will glow and suddenly disappear. If you disappear once, you will definitely survive from her. If you disappear twice, it depends if The Devi wants you dead or alive. If you disappear thrice, you will definitely die from her! * (BOHH) The Chancer, click here “Oh no… So did Ruby died or what?!” I asked myself confusedly. I took out my phone and took a picture of it. Suddenly, I heard the same voice, “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” ‘Ruby! Are you there?” I asked. Ruby appeared again. I saw a lot of blood and scars on her body. “Oh my… What happened to you?” I asked her. “Hel… Hel… Help… Me… I-I-I a… am…” After saying that, Ruby fainted. After a few days, Ruby finally woke up. “What… What happened?” she asked curiously. “You disappeared as The Devi caught you.” I explained. “Who is The Devi? I only remember there was this extremely pretty girl talking to me.” Ruby asked, scratching her head. “What did she said to you?!” I asked her, waiting for her answer. “I only remember part of what she said. She said, ‘You will disappear again and it’s up to me to decide whether you should live or die… Hmm… I guess you can…’ Then I forgot what she said.” Ruby said, trying to remember what The Devi had said. “She would either said die or live.” I told Ruby. “How would you know?” Ruby asked. I took out my phone and showed her the picture about The Devi I took before Ruby appeared. Ruby read and screamed, “AAAAAAAHH! Oh no! She said I will disappear again, means I will definitely die!” “We might not know if the internet is true…” I said. “Yeah, you are right,” Ruby said. “I guess we have to wait until I disappear again…” Ruby continued. “No… I have a plan, but I’m not sure if it would work. But we might now know unless we give it a try!” I said. “So, what’s the plan?” Ruby asked. “Ok, we have to make Dev come out.” I said. “Err…” Ruby said, feeling confused. “We have to say something to piss her off.” I explained. “Like?” Ruby asked. “Just try to think… Let’s do it now.” I answered. “Hey Dev! Are you really that ugly? If you are, come out!” I shouted. “Err… Oh yeah, come on out unless you are afraid!’ Ruby shouted. Suddenly, Ruby was glowing. I hold her hand and we disappeared together. “Where are we?” I moaned. “Oh no! Naomi! Hel…” I heard Ruby said. I looked around and realised that I was in a cemetery, AGAIN! “Ruby?” I hollered. I looked around and spotted Ruby lying at a grave that said, “RIP DEV ‘LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE’ MAY GOD BLESS MY FAMILY” “Uh oh…” I whispered. I ran towards her and carried her up. Suddenly, The Devi appeared. “Wow, you guys are the first who dares to say cruel things to me, other than my brother and… and… wow!” she said. “Err…” Ruby and I said, feeling confused. “I saw that you, Naomi, searched about me on the website. You did not believed the internet and that is very smart of you… It is all a lie. Let me tell you my real story. So my real name is Dev. I was murdered by The Chancer, my brother, also known as Chace. He murdered me because I had something he did not have, popularity. The story goes, when I was born, I was extremely beautiful. A lot of boys always hang out with me but he was not popular. Chace was extremely jealous of me, so he killed me one day.” “Then…” I gasped. “Chace is evil! Oh my!” I screamed. Immediately, Chace appeared and slid Dev’s throat with his knife. “You betrayed me! You evil little creature, you will never get a second chance to live your popular life!” Chace screamed. “Look what we have here… Two girls. Well, Ruby, you want to be pretty right? Then you shall die too!” Chace continued, taking a sword about to kill Ruby. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” I screamed. I shut my eyes, thinking of how helpless I am right now. “Don’t you worry and thank you for being so kind to me…” I heard someone whispered to me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Dev jumping in front of Ruby and defend her from the sword. A lot of things happened in a blink of an eye. Dev was sliced into half, Ruby fainted and Chace screamed, “DEV!” Chace ran towards Dev and sob. “I’m so sorry.” He said to Dev. “Oh no! Dev is dead!” I screamed and ran towards Chace and Dev. “Why did you kill her!? You are crazy!” I screamed at Chace. “I’m sorry.” He said with tears dripping off his face. “Since young, I have this illness. I will turn into someone crazy when I am jealous. But now, when I’m a ghost, I will turn into someone crazy when I give someone a second chance to be prettier.” He explained. “Then just remove the chance you gave Ruby!” I suggested. “Oh yeah! You are right!” he said with his eyes lit up, twinkling with delight. “Second chance, come to me, come to me and you shall die.” He said. After saying that, Ruby was glowing and her face turned to her own face. “Yes! It worked! Ruby, you are back!” I screamed. I took a look at Dev and she was also back to her normal self. Dev cried and thanked me then face Chace and apologise, “I’m sorry, I did not know…” “It’s alright!” Chase said. After that, life was back to normal and now, everyone is wondering where Alexi went, even Cindy. Before I sleep, Dev and Chase would always come and visit me and you will never guess what happens when they visit me…

Although James did not believe in ghosts, it was hard to dismiss the appearance and Disappearance of the girl in a white chiffon dress.

As my brother lay helplessly on his deathbed, I would only recall the memories of him talking about the tree of death. His last words were ‘beware of the undergrowth’.

Days and weeks passed since the tragic accident until I had enough of keeping the secret all to myself. From that point onward I knew both my life and Ella’s life would change…

It all started in the morning when I was deciding on which book from the series ‘GHOST OF MURDER’ I should read again. Then before I could tell what I was doing, I was moving automatically towards the telephone. Unknowingly, I started dialling the numbers 07345967781, it then came to my head that I was dialling the phone number of my friend Ella. Within seconds, the phone was received and that was when I started blabbering about the new club we started, called Devils Dare. Just like I expected she agreed enthusiastically.

Soon after Ella came, fully packed with all the necessities for the club. “Ugh…” I complained it was so annoying when Ella does not understand what I wanted to say. Then I started ambling towards her and started to mumble under my breathe” GHOSTS”! Then out of the blue “AAAAHHHHhhh”! screamed Ella in her usual high-pitched voice. Grabbing her by the wrist we fledged to my room.

There, Ella started complaining about how her wrist is broken and that its paining horribly. “What a cry-baby she is”. I said under my breathe ignoring and trying focus on what I called her here for. Ella stop, I did not mean to scare you. And do you remember my brother…. “Yeah of course I do”. Ella said in a very intense voice. Well before he died, he told me about a tree near Midview meadow was the tree of death. “WOW!!!!” whispered Ella.

Within a blink of an eye I saw Ella opening her laptop and was typing (exceptionally fast) about deaths occurring near the tree. My face then drained out of colour. I felt dumbfounded that I did not think of that earlier. We then only found one website which had the title DEATH…. the ghost of eternal darkness. It then occurred once we started reading the second paragraph, that each time someone dies at that very spot, they have a leaf fall on them and that is when they will evaporate into thin air.

Stunned by the news, we were really wanting to see if it was true. However, just before my very eyes Ella was being taken away from me by the shadows. Suddenly RING…. RING! OH! PHEW, I was dreaming.”. At one point, I had thought that all this a real dream until I realised that it was true, Ella had been taken! Running around in my room just like a headless-chicken I was really frightened until it came to me that my brothers last words were ‘beware of the undergrowth’.

It came to my mind that the undergrowth are the ghosts guarding the tree from the kind and letting the leaves on the ones who have a cold heart. Hurrying up to the tree I went to the very spot where the very people named on the website died. However, I never realised there was a test to pass. Although there was just one question (and that to the question being quite easy I quickly answered it).

As I slowly walked, there was a loud thud, which had made the ground make a little sound of pain. Running towards the core of the loud sound, I found Ella tied up with a misty rope. Fear took over me and without thinking, I noticed that I was at the exact spot where the ghost called death killed its victims. Hoping a leaf would not fall on me, I closed my eyes and wished. Though I unfortunately failed and I evaporated into thin air…

Within seconds I understood Deaths intelligence of luring me to be one of the victims. Abruptly, I found myself floating, I was a ghost!

“OH please, ghosts aren’t real and are never going to be”. James stammered. Who would believe in that. Though little did he know that he would be seeing the exact person at that exact place. Alas, the day arrived he then went with all his bravery to the Midview meadow and to his astonishment saw the last victim of the ghost Death. The next day back at school he started telling everyone about the disappearance and appearances of a ghost he had read, and he saw about. Though no one would ever believe him…

Title: The Stalker “Ring…” the bell rang. “Class dismissed!” Mrs. Ng said. “Amelia! Amelia! Wait for me, let’s walk home together.” Ari shouted. Amelia agreed and they walked home together. On their way home, “Creak…” Amelia turned behind and saw nothing but heard the wind blowing in the air. “BOOM!” When they heard the loud noise, they shouted and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. When they thought they were safe, Amelia stopped running and said, “What a relief! I could hear the loud boom just right beside my ears!” Ari panted and said, “Let’s just walk home and forget that just happened.” Amelia agreed and they continued walking home. Just when they were about to reach home, there was an unknown voice that whispered into Ari and Amelia’s ears. The voice said, “I’ll set you free when I get what I want.” Amelia shouted, “Reveal yourself!” So, the stalker revealed himself. He had spiky hair, tattoo all over his body, long claws as finger nails, a weird smile on his face and a scar on his eye. “My name is Klaus!” “Oh My Gosh!” Ari said it shockingly. Feeling afraid, Amelia whispered to Ari, “Let’s run away!” Ari nodded his head and they ran away. Before they could even move, Klaus use a metal pole and knocked them down. Klaus brought them to an abandoned house, tied their hands with ropes and taped their mouth with duct tape. When Amelia woke up, she mumbled, “Mmmm…. Mmmmm!” When Ari heard Amelia mumbling, she woke up. When Klaus saw Amelia and Ari woke up, he said, “Finally, you’re both awake. I’ve been waiting for an hour!” When he saw both of them were trying to talk, he removed the duct tape on their mouth. “Hey! What do you want?” Amelia shouted. Klaus said, “Money, obviously. Everyone wants money!” “Fine! Take it, release us and go!” Ari said. Klaus asked, “You sure?” “Yeah!” Ari replied. When Klaus was about to take the money, a siren sounded. Klaus shouted, “You called the police?” Amelia giggled and said, “Yeah, I called the police!” After hearing what Amelia had said, Klaus ran as fast as a cheetah. Ari asked Amelia, “Did you really called the police?” Amelia laughed and replied, “No, silly! That was my alarm! I am prepared for anything… Come on, let’s walk home!” s the saying goes, ‘Once bitten, twice shy’, Amelia taught Ari to be prepared for anything.

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On the Most Adapted Ghost Story of All Time

Adam scovell looks into the cinematic appeal of henry james’s turn of the screw.

Ghost stories are about seeing. If their earnest intention in simplistic terms is to scare, then that fear first and foremost arises from witnessing. Seeing becomes séance in tales of the supernatural. In the history of the literary ghost story, several writers have taken the form to its zenith through terrifying temporal lapses of perception. Those glimpsed stories of M.R. James’s or those witnessed horrors of Charles Dickens; all stories in which the act of seeing becomes the spine of the narrative.

With this in mind, it’s clear to see why several of the strongest ghost stories of the last two hundred years or so have found their way onto screens in various forms. With the act of seeing so pivotal to their narrative arcs, there is an obvious visual quality within them that renders their potential for screen adaptation irresistible. It could almost be argued that the most adapted of writers and their stories are those that convey this visual terror most effectively.

M.R. James is likely the most adapted of ghost story writers (perhaps with some competition from Algernon Blackwood), in terms of the sheer number of different stories that have made it onto the screen. An upcoming adaptation of his story The Mezzotint is due to be screened at Christmas this year on the BBC. In terms of singular stories, one of the most adapted is arguably Dickens’s A Christmas Carol , partly (like James) due to its firm position within Christmas tradition.

One story above all is returned to again and again by filmmakers across countries and eras, suggesting that it may be the most visually alarming of all English language eerie tales. That story is Henry James’s 1898 novella, The Turn of the Screw .

The novella follows the haunted and disturbing events at a manor in Bly, Essex. A group of men are being read a manuscript authored by a governess who was charged with the care of the children of the manor, Miles and Flora. Miles has been mysteriously expelled from school and returns home. The governess becomes increasingly unnerved by their behavior and the presence of a man and a woman seen variously around the property. They are said to be the spirits of the previous governess Miss Jessel and her lover Peter Quint. Soon, the governess suspects liaisons between the ghosts and children, her investigations resulting in horror and tragedy.

James’s heady novella is arguably the most successful ghost story ever written, at least in terms of creative responses to it. A cursory glance over IMDb entries reveals over two dozen screen adaptations, and that’s before including filmed versions of the chamber opera of the story by composer Benjamin Britten.

In particular, the last two decades have seen a slew of television adaptations, 2020 itself boasting no less than six screen versions of various kinds. Even this year, there have already been two adaptations, and filmmakers seem to sleepwalk into recreating it in the same somnambulist fashion as the children of the narrative; possessed of spirits older and darker than themselves.

Out of the many adaptations, Jack Clayton’s 1961 version is considered the benchmark. The film celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, having premiered in London on the 24th of November, 1961. Considering the sheer number of competitors to Clayton’s version, it is telling of the film’s qualities that it still stands far and above its many peers. In fact, it is difficult to see James’s story without those stark black-and-white images of the film coming to mind, as well as its stunning central performance by Deborah Kerr. Suffice to say, 60 years on, Jamess’ screen ghosts still haunt.

The Turn of the Screw has the sort of ambiguous ghostly heritage expected of such a celebrated tale. James was acquainted with another noted exponent of the English ghost story, E.F. Benson. Benson’s father Edward White Benson was the Archbishop of Canterbury and, on a visit to his house in 1895, the archbishop purportedly told James a story. The story was one vaguely similar to the narrative he was soon to produce, in which two children were left in the care of ill-suited servants, both of whom died and haunted the children, corrupting them even from the grave.

Roger Clarke, the author of The Natural History of Ghosts , has researched the story’s history thoroughly and highlighted the murky contradictions within its possible inspirations. “The general scholarly view is that The Turn of the Screw is not based on any known story but,” he writes, “in fact, the story recounted one January evening at the archbishop’s house in Addington…” Clarke sees some connection to the famous haunting of Hinton Ampner and its occupant Mary Ricketts, perhaps passed down through the upper echelons of society to the archbishop. He does stress, however, that E.F. Benson, along with the archbishop’s wife, could never recall the man recounting such a ghost story.

The novella was originally published by Collier’s Weekly in a 12-part serial form in 1898 between January and April. Tellingly, the visual potential of the narrative was already understood by the publishers who commissioned several pieces of artwork for each instalment, with title illustrations by John La Farge and episode illustrations by Eric Pape. Looking back on the visual culture surrounding James’s story, it’s easy to see the influence these drawings had on future adaptations. One illustration by Pape, entitled “I must have thrown myself, on my face, on the ground” looks like a possible piece of storyboard for Clayton’s later film.

James’s story quickly garnered critical interpretation. In particular, the deeply disturbing undertones of sexuality, as well as possible psychological implications of the ghosts’ presence, came to the fore in a number of well known analyses.

Virginia Woolf was particularly intrigued, and aptly turned to James’s investigation of perception to explore the undertones of his story and its fine line between inner demons and the physical body. In an essay for The Times Literary Supplement she wrote that James’s characters “…with their extreme fineness of perception are already half-way out of the body.”

The horror of James’s story is that seeing ghosts doesn’t necessarily mean a visitation of them to our world, but of the perceiver into theirs. We are midway towards death in seeing a ghost, within a momentary halfway house which we can either step back from or descend into.

Similarly to Woolf, in one of the most famous analyses of James’s story, the critic Edmund Wilson went further in determining the ghosts to be of the governess’ own psyche. Wilson was far less positive in his mildly infamous critique of James in a 1934 issue of Hound and Horn . “Observe that there is never any evidence that anybody but the governess sees the ghosts,” he wrote. The irony within his turn of phrase is that it exemplifies James’s skill. Look, the critic suggests, at the lack of evidence. He is playing James’s game without realizing. Woolf suggested something similar, albeit more positively, in that James’s ghosts “…have their origin within us.”

Wilson may have directed future discussion of James’s story down increasingly psychoanalytical paths but he, along with Woolf and many others, did highlight its chief facet: perception. Seeing and interpreting what is witnessed is key, and is really why the story has worked so well in visual formats; media whose aesthetic can further aid the original so-called trickery, and take the audience into disturbing psychological or supernatural realms.

The Turn of the Screw lived by James’s belief that happy endings and morally pure characters were of little consequence: “It matters little that, as a work of art,” he wrote in Longman’s Magazine in 1884, “it should really be as little or as much concerned to supply happy endings, sympathetic characters, and an objective tone, as if it were a work of mechanics.” In the century that followed, this potential for darkness became a ripe field, especially with the new awareness of the world and its despair in the post-war years. It was here when James’s story became in vogue to adapt on stage and screen. It was also the time when the best adaptations of James’s story were made.

Jack Clayton’s production of The Innocents is legendary for the many stories surrounding it. From script to filming, many names are associated with the adaptation. The change in name to The Innocents came from William Archibald’s 1950 stageplay. Clayton wasn’t the first to use Archibald’s stage rendering, with Lionel Harris adapting a version of it for ITV’s Play of the Week in 1956. Pamela Brown played the unfortunate governess in that rendition.

Clayton’s film took Archibald’s play and paired it down further. With the help of Truman Capote, who paused writing on In Cold Blood to work on it, the adaptation put even more emphasis on what was seen, glimpsed, and imagined. Future adapter of Merriam Modell’s Bunny Lake is Missing John Mortimer further edited the dialogue. Even Harold Pinter, who later worked with the director on an adaptation of Penelope Mortimer’s The Pumpkin Eater in 1964, went against type and suggested, contrary to the temporal collage of his own film work, not to use flashbacks in the script.

On a visual level, Clayton’s interpretation is rich yet sparse. Such was the intensity of lighting used by cinematographer Freddie Francis that Deborah Kerr was said to wear sunglasses in between takes. Jokes abounded as to Francis’s intent to set fire to Sheppteron Studios where the bulk of the studio work was shot, when not using the enigmatic location of Sheffield Park House and Garden. The resulting film became a widely celebrated British horror; one that its director was at pains to separate from other horror films made around it, particularly Hammer Studios’ colorful Gothic romps.

The Innocents epitomized one of James’s most perfectly eerily lines: “He was there or was not there: not there if I didn’t see him.” There’s a disturbing omnipresence throughout the narrative, in which visuals work via insinuation, strange shadows in the reeds and behind icy windows become apparent in their macabre nature only when slowly considered in hindsight.

A great deal of effort goes into the visual composition of Clayton’s film. Bearing witness to such unusual goings on is shared between viewer and main character. It’s a shared experience that, while only echoed in the novella via its epistemological credentials, explains why so many filmmakers are drawn to the story. We and Miss Giddings are seeing things that neither can understand. “We were cut off, really, together; we were united in our danger,” as James wrote. He could have been describing the terrifying pleasures of the cinema experience itself.

In spite of owing as much to Archibald’s stage play as James’s prose, The Innocents captures more than most that half imagined horror of the original novella. Things may or may not be seen, something of a subtlety that feels increasingly rare in screen media. “Ten years ago you could still get away with a film like The Innocents ,” Clayton concluded in a 1983 interview with Starburst Magazine , “which frightened people but used no special effects and made the audience use their imagination.” How things would change as The Turn of the Screw started to rack up adaptation upon adaptation.

Adapting The Turn of the Screw has become a messy ritual in recent decades. This is partly because there’s a sense of going through the motions. It really is the most unlikely of screen traditions. But the main reason for the strangeness is that, such is the volume of adaptation, versions begin to resemble each other. The success of The Innocents has some part to play in this, but cannot be helped considering that the film itself is also a response to an adapted stageplay. Spectral echoes continue on.

In foreshadow to The Innocents , the already discussed ITV play of 1956 played some role in laying the groundwork for its staging, as did the earliest of its screen adaptations, the surprisingly still surviving episode of Omnibus from 1955. The American anthology show adapted the story into a short television play starring the great Geraldine Page. Miles is played by Rex Thompson, the irony being that the young actor would actually have Deborah Kerr play a mother figure to him in several films, namely Young Bess (1953) and The King and I (1956)

The Omnibus script was by Gore Vidal and his version heightened the psychological readings that had dominated the criticism of James’s story; to the point where the play almost explicitly shows the ghosts to be an irresponsible projection on the governess’ part. The little-seen television play can be watched in segments today on YouTube and is still claustrophobic and effective, especially as it toes the line with James’s emphasis on vision. Characters look off behind camera, showing what they see through widening eyes and leering delusion.

Even as Clayton’s film was released, television versions were already proving popular. Aside from these two versions, adaptations were made in Canada and Germany. It was not until the 1970s when filmmakers in particular dared touch the narrative again, especially after the success of Clayton’s film.

In an odd turn, Michael Winner made a prequel to the film called The Nightcomers (1971). It follows Peter Quint played by Marlon Brando as he slowly begins his corruption of the previous governess and the children. Admittedly, the corruption seems to be lighthearted and, as a film, it cannot decide precisely how good or evil to make Quint. The corruption seems at times to be little more than breaking the codes of Victorian decorum.

Out of the later television adaptations, few stand out. The strongest is arguably Dan Curtis’s 1974 feature length adaptation (script by William F. Nolan) starring Lynn Redgrave as the governess. The version has some continuity with Clayton’s, using one member of the original cast (Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Grose) and creating a different but equally heady atmosphere in which the soft focus of the hazy television cameras lulls the viewer into a false sense of ease.

Soon, adaptations were finding other ways to stand out from the pack. Many looked to Benjamin Britten’s complex opera, filming it in relatively straightforward terms. Ironically, it became less about the witnessing of ghosts through sight and more overtly to do with sound. The same aspect could be applied to the growing jump-scare traditions of later versions, which relied on sound for scares rather than the creeping dread of a well realized image.

They would have done better to look to Kate Bush’s “The Infant Kiss,” her song inspired by James’s story featured on the 1980 album Never For Ever . Aside from emphasizing the creepiness of the story’s undertone, the lyrics show an understanding of the role perception plays in James’s story. “There’s a man behind those eyes…” she sings; an eerie reversal of one of her earlier, more famous songs, “The Man with the Child in His Eyes.” In The Turn of the Screw there is very much a child with a man and his eyes, and that man is vile. Eloy de la Iglesia’s 1985 Spanish adaptation comes closest to realizing these disturbing undertones, casting the role of the governess as a troubled male priest.

By the 1990s, the story was on screen in various forms on an almost yearly basis. Consider Rusty Lemorande’s 1992 version with Patsy Kensit, the BBC’s 1994 Britten adaptation introduced by David Hemmings (who played Miles in the early staging of the opera), or Tom McCloughlin’s 1995 adaptation, broadcast under the title of The Haunting of Helen Walker . The end of the decade finalized the trend for endless adaptations. 1999 saw multiple versions released: Antoni Aloy’s Presence of Mind starring Lauren Bacall and a PBS version by Ben Bolt.

In the last two decades, there have been over a dozen versions of the story, most of which are superfluous to use. In cinema, these include Donato Rotunno’s In a Dark Place (2004), Walter Lima Jr.’s Through the Shadow (2015), and Floria Sigismondi’s recent The Turning (2020). Television is responsible for the bulk of adaptations, however, whether it be the bland Netflix rendition The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) by Mike Flanagan, Tim Fywell’s 2009 version with Michelle Dockery, or Alex Galvin’s 2020 strange meta-take on the narrative which sets itself within a staging of Britten’s chamber opera. 2020 was the final turn in oversaturation, a point where there’s been so many that the coffin is now more metal than wood, to paraphrase one writer.

“The more I go over it,” James wrote in his novella, “the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear.” The same cannot be said for the experience of his story on screen. The more versions of The Turn of the Screw that clog up Halloween and Yuletide schedules, the lesser their shocks and shivers become. Equally, it does allow appreciation for Clayton’s version to grow; to understand the precise and water-clear intention of a James adaptation that sees ghosts as glimpsed glitches of the ongoing moment. The governess argues in James’s novella that “I was a screen… I was their protector. The more I saw, the less they would.” How ironic that those fateful days at Bly would ironically become the most seen out of any supernatural fable ever told.

Adam Scovell

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, a ghost story.

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I rarely see a movie so original that I want to tell people to just see it without reading any reviews beforehand, including my own. David Lowery ’s “A Ghost Story” is one of those movies. So I’m urging you in the first paragraph of this review to just see it and save this review for later. If you want more information, read on. There are no spoiler warnings after this because as far as I’m concerned, everything I could say about this film would constitute a spoiler.

This tale of a man who dies young and lingers around the property where he and his wife once lived is bound to be one of the most divisive films of the year. I didn’t know anything about it going in, except that its main character was a person who dies and spends the rest of the movie walking around mute, wearing a white sheet with eyeholes cut out of it. The film is a ghost story, in the sense that there’s a ghost in it, but it’s also many other things: a love story, a science fiction-inflected story about time travel and time loops, and a story about loneliness and denial, and the ephemeral nature of the flesh, and the anxiousness that comes from contemplating the end of consciousness (provided there’s no life after death—and what if there isn’t?).

The characters are so archetypal that they don’t have names, just initials. C (played by Casey Affleck ) is a musician who lives with his wife M ( Rooney Mara ) in a small house surrounded by undeveloped property somewhere in the vast flatness of Texas. C dies in a car crash early in the story but continues to linger on as a ghost, silently observing his wife’s grief and her eventual exit from the home they once shared. He stays in the house as new tenants move in, including a single mother ( Liz Franke ) and her two children (Carlos Bermudez and Yasmina Guiterrez) and some young, single people who throw parties with lots of bohemian artist-types. Time keeps moving forward. At a certain point the house gets leveled and replaced by a gigantic luxury condo-hotel type of development. C stays rooted to the spot where he died, as if he’s stuck in the “denial” phase of the grieving process.

The movie’s two most fascinating formal traits are its decision to keep C under the sheet for much of the film’s running time, and the way it moves its story along with hard cuts rather than dissolves, fades-to-black, or other signifiers that a lot of time has passed. The sheet denies the film’s leading man most of the tools he’d normally use to communicate emotion. He must instead approach the character as if he were onstage in a play where gestures are more important than words, and try to convey surprise, sadness or anger by holding his head and shoulders in a particular way, or turning quickly instead of slowly to look at something.

But this opens up a different kind of relationship between character and viewer: we’re projecting ourselves onto C as we might as children playing with dolls or stuffed animals. Simple, powerful emotions can be summoned that way, and it’s those sorts of emotions that are this movie’s specialty. There were many stretches where I was reminded of European art cinema classics like “Stalker” and “ The Passenger ,” which derive much of their power from asking you to commit to staring at the images the film has put in front of you, and think about what they might mean and how you feel about them. There are other times when the film is reminiscent of “ Groundhog Day ,” in its ability to weave guilt, karma, and fear of change into a story that might otherwise have played as a light diversion.

The hard cuts that move us through the story convey the idea that C perceives time differently than we do. In a scene that involves decay, which I won’t describe in too much detail here because it occurs in a context I didn’t expect to encounter, a body becomes a skeleton in a series of cuts that last about 30 seconds. The deeper we get into C’s story, the more Lowery teases our perceptions of time, until by the end he’s got us questioning the idea of singular, linear experience. (“A Ghost Story” would make a great double feature with Shane Carruth ’s “ Primer ” or Richard Linklater ’s “ Boyhood ,” two other Texas films about the perception and experience of time.)

“A Ghost Story” feels bracingly, at times alienatingly new. It’s a movie you can’t be quite sure how to take. There are moments where the movie seems to be handing you keys to interpretation, but I’d caution viewers against looking at such scenes for answers, because they have a rope-a-dope quality—as if they're designed to bait and trap those who would sneer at this kind of movie. In any event, this is a film that's more inclined to ask questions than answer them, much less give life advice. A long monologue by a party guest ( Will Oldham ) about humanity’s doomed attempts to leave traces that last, especially through art, would seem to suggest that a song C writes for M will outlast him, but we have no evidence of that. The film’s presentation of ghosthood as a purgatorial in-between state, inhabited by individuals who refuse to let go of the life they can no longer have, jibes with many Western religions’ ideas about the afterlife, but I don’t think the resolution of C’s story gives us any hope of Heaven; to me it seemed more like a warning to be at peace with the possibility that we may never know the answers to the big questions.

I should admit here that any take I can offer is provisional. I need to see the film a second time to sweep away preconceived notions that might’ve been lingering in my mind during my first viewing of “A Ghost Story.” The movie is so simple in its storytelling and its situations are observed so patiently that the result has a disarming purity, as if Lowery jammed a tap into his subconscious and recorded one of his dreams directly to film. It’s probably the closest that a lot of people are going to get to seeing a late-period silent movie on a big screen—a melodrama that deals in big ideas and obvious symbols, and that puts across fantastical concepts, such a ghost haunting the landscape over a period of decades, by putting a sheet over its leading man and having him walk around slowly and stare blankly at stuff. (Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo shoots the movie in the old-fashioned, square-ish “Academy” ratio, letting us see the rounded edges of the frame; this has a constricting effect, so that we seem to be spying through a keyhole at someone else’s life.)

People either seem to love “A Ghost Story” or hate it, with no in-between. It got mostly very positive notices during festival screenings, but on the eve of its commercial release I’ve found myself arguing with colleagues who think it’s the Emperor’s New Clothes and find it too precious, too sentimental, too much of a one-joke movie, or not enough of one thing or another thing. I loved everything about it, including the scenes I wasn’t sure how to take. I recommend seeing it in a theater because it’s a movie that has as much to say about our perception of time and permanence as it does about love and death. Much of the impact that it has, positive or negative, comes from having to sit there and watch it without interruptions and think about what it’s showing you, and how.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

A Ghost Story (2017)

Rated R for brief language and a disturbing image.

Rooney Mara as M

Casey Affleck as C

Kesha Rose Sebert as Spirit Girl

David Lowery

Cinematographer

Andrew Droz Palermo
Daniel Hart

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How to Tell a Ghost Story

By Jaime Lowe

Feb. 10, 2017

“The most important thing is the setting,” says Ruth Robbins, professor of Victorian literature at Leeds Beckett University in England. “In the 19th century, ghost stories were read aloud so that the atmosphere set people up to be pleasurably scared in a communal way.” Britons in the Victorian era were obsessed with ghost stories because they reflected uncertain times — the Industrial Revolution, a move to urban living and technological advances like the telegraph, a supernatural-seeming invention. “Start with elements that you may be afraid of because of that atavistic, primitive danger,” Robbins says. “Bodies that are apparently human but might not be, like dolls and portraits. If the narrative begins in a room with those items, you’re more likely to be haunted by that space.” Material detail is powerful, because ghost stories are often about objects. “People become possessed by possessions,” Robbins says.

Establish what kind of ghost is haunting the setting — ideally a figure from the past with unsettled business. Many ghosts “come back because the dead person can’t rest,” Robbins says. “Either they’ve been done violently to death or their possessions have been stolen. So they come back to put things back where they belong.” But you don’t want your ghost to be defined too clearly. “The way to get really frightening is if you go for something that you can only glimpse out of the corner of your eye and your other senses tell you that something is there. You can hear it, you can smell it, you can sense that it is really big.”

To get a feel for effective ways to be scary, read a wide range of stories, from Victorian literature to the modern day. “You might construct ghost stories in which the dead communicate through their Facebook pages or tweets or Snapchats,” Robbins says. “Ghost stories have always made use of modern technology.”

Determine what sort of resolution works best for you. A lot of ghost stories wrap things up like a “Scooby Doo” episode. Others leave your audience in a world that doesn’t feel secure. “Some of the best stories end out of nowhere, and we can’t explain it, and it leaves us feeling unsettled for ages,” Robbins says.

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A Closer Look at "A Ghost Story" by Mark Twain

Martin Lewison

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Ph.D., English, State University of New York at Albany
B.A., English, Brown University

" A Ghost Story " by Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) appears in his 1875 Sketches New and Old . The story is based on the infamous 19th-century hoax of the Cardiff Giant , in which a "petrified giant" was carved out of stone and buried in the ground for others to "discover." People came in droves to pay money to see the giant. After a failed bid to buy the statue, the legendary promoter P.T. Barnum made a replica of it and claimed it was the original.

Plot of "A Ghost Story"

The narrator rents a room in New York City, in "a huge old building whose upper stories had been wholly unoccupied for years." He sits by the fire awhile and then goes to bed. He wakes in terror to discover that the bed covers are being slowly pulled toward his feet. After an unnerving tug-of-war with the sheets, he finally hears footsteps retreat.

He convinces himself the experience was nothing more than a dream, but when he gets up and lights a lamp, he sees a giant footprint in the ashes near the hearth. He goes back to bed, terrified, and the haunting continues throughout the night with voices, footsteps, rattling chains, and other ghostly demonstrations.

Eventually, he sees that he is being haunted by the Cardiff Giant, whom he considers harmless, and all his fear dissipates. The giant proves himself to be clumsy, breaking furniture every time he sits down, and the narrator chastises him for it. The giant explains that he has been haunting the building, hoping to convince someone to bury his body—currently in the museum across the street—so he can get some rest.

But the ghost has been duped into haunting the wrong body. The body across the street is Barnum's fake, and the ghost leaves, deeply embarrassed.

The Haunting

Usually, Mark Twain stories are very funny. But much of Twain's Cardiff Giant piece reads as a straight ghost story. The humor doesn't enter until more than halfway through.

The story, then, showcases the range of Twain's talent. His deft descriptions create a sense of terror without the breathless nervousness you'd find in a story by Edgar Allan Poe .

Consider Twain's description of entering the building for the first time:

"The place had long been given up to dust and cobwebs, to solitude and silence. I seemed groping among the tombs and invading the privacy of the dead, that first night I climbed up to my quarters. For the first time in my life a superstitious dread came over me; and as I turned a dark angle of the stairway and an invisible cobweb swung its sleazy woof in my face and clung there, I shuddered as one who had encountered a phantom."

Note the juxtaposition of "dust and cobwebs" ( concrete nouns ) with "solitude and silence" (alliterative, abstract nouns ). Words like "tombs," "dead," "superstitious dread," and "phantom," surely bode a haunting, but the narrator's calm tone keeps readers walking right up the stairs with him.

He is, after all, a skeptic. He doesn't try to convince us that the cobweb was anything but a cobweb. And in spite of his fear, he tells himself that the initial haunting was "simply a hideous dream." Only when he sees hard evidence—the large footprint in the ashes—does he accept that someone has been in the room.

Haunting Turns to Humor

The tone of the story changes entirely once the narrator recognizes the Cardiff Giant. Twain writes:

"All my misery vanished—for a child might know that no harm could come with that benignant countenance."

One gets the impression that the Cardiff Giant, though revealed to be a hoax, was so well known and beloved by Americans that he could be considered an old friend. The narrator takes a chatty tone with the giant, gossiping with him and chastising him for his clumsiness:

"You have broken off the end of your spinal column, and littered up the floor with chips off your hams till the place looks like a marble yard."

Until this point, readers might have thought that any ghost was an unwelcome ghost. So it's amusing and surprising to find that the narrator's fear depends on who the ghost is .

Twain took great delight in tall tales, pranks, and human gullibility, so one can only imagine how he enjoyed both the Cardiff Giant and Barnum's replica. But in "A Ghost Story," he trumps them both by conjuring up a real ghost from a fake corpse.

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Short horror story essay 8 Models

Last updated Friday , 15-03-2024 on 11:35 am

Short horror story essay is one of the popular intimidation methods that help parents in correcting children and improving their behavior in many educational aspects.

Through this article, we will provide you with many models that talk about stories of horror and intimidation that may help or influence the behavior of children, show the goals of horror stories, and the extent of the impact of these stories on improving children’s instincts, and strengthening their personality.

Short horror story essay

The school plays an important and significant role in educating children and improving their behaviour. In a similar article that talks about horror stories, the student can learn about the dimensions of these stories, the extent of their impact and why they are used.

The student can talk about his fears and terrifying situations he went through. The teacher can take advantage of these events and try to address these fears by guiding him and talking to him, or by making him research more about the dimensions of the problem and the benefits that he benefited from despite going through a terrifying situation.

At the beginning of the article we will put several points that show the goals that must be present within the topic, and several models will be created using these points inside them, so that the articles are useful for the student in case he wants to present them to the school, or if he wants to know the aspects that he should talk about inside a similar article he talks about the horror stories and the bad situations he was exposed to.

Objectives of the article

1- To obey orders.

2- Giving up bad behavior.

3- Repressing the evil instincts that are inside every human being.

4- Controlling the child in the safety zone next to the parents.

5- Planting correct means and methods through intimidation.

Several years ago, my father told me a story about a boy who went out without telling his family where he was going. And this was late at night. After he left, he met some children and played a little with them and enjoyed this, but because of the late time these children left him, some of them returned to their home alone, and some of them their families came to to pick them up, and he found himself alone in the end.

He decided to walk around for a while, so that he might encounter other children and continue playing with them. But after walking for a long time, he found that all the streets were empty, and it was dark everywhere, and he could no longer discern where he was, and that he was far from home and lost his way.

And whenever he tried to return from where he came, he found himself in dangerous areas with street dogs, and in order to avoid them, he kept entering other streets, until he lost the way completely. So he sat crying and did not find anyone to bring him home because all the people of the town were asleep.

The time at night was getting hard for this naughty little boy. Every minute that passes feels like it’s a long time and he’s so afraid of darkness and loneliness. And whenever he heard the sound of dogs howling, intensified in crying. And whenever he called his father, he did not come to take him, because he was far from the house and did not tell them that he was going out, and did not tell them where he was going.

Then he learned that he had made a big mistake and that his father would not come to look for him because he thought he was asleep. And he decided to try to call for help and search for any place where there are people and tell them what happened.

And he kept walking in the dark crying for a long time until he found some people, and told them his name, where he lived, and the name of the neighborhood in which he lived. Fortunately for him, they weren’t bad guys, and they brought this guy home.

The father was very angry with him for this behavior and punished him for a week for this behavior. But the boy was happy that he came home and learned the lesson well and knew that this wrong behavior was dangerous and could have lost his family for life.

While hearing this story, I was very afraid and put myself in the place of this boy, and I found myself learning from him what to do. And that I must tell my family where I am going, and watch the time, and take care of myself and not stay away from home. When I finish playing, I go home.

In the early morning, I was very careful to memorize my full name, the name of the neighborhood in which I live, the name of my mother, and the house number.

Although the story was scary for me, I learned a lot from it and had a reaction to every event that takes place in it.

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horror short story essay

At the weekend I went on a trip with my friends to the forest. We took camping equipment, some food and water. The weather was nice, the trees were leafy, the birds were flying from tree to tree, the landscape was beautiful.

We wandered in the woods and ate the fruits on the trees, and as we wandered, a huge bear appeared in front of us, looked at us and prepared to attack us.

We were all very terrified, but the instructions reminded us not to run, not to scream, and to act calmly. I took out of my bag a self-defense spray bottle, which should be used in this case. But the bear left quietly and none of us were hurt.

creepy short horror story essay

I get up early and sit in the garden of the house, enjoying the fresh air, listening to the sound of birds, watching beautiful flowers and other beautiful landscapes, but yesterday something terrifying happened to me.

When I sat on the bench in the garden and was enjoying nature I felt something moving under the chair.

I quickly looked under the chair and found a large black snake.

It moves slowly, I felt very terrified and could not move, I remained frozen in my place, the snake crawled slowly and I looked at it with horror, until it moved away several meters, I called the competent authority immediately and a trained man came and caught the snake.

a short horror story essay

Last week I went with my family to the zoo, the weather was nice, and we were enjoying the nature, where there are a lot of green leafy trees and decorated with beautiful flowers and large areas that allow us to run and play, everything was beautiful.

Then we went to the animal cages and watched the animals from a distance.

But there is a person who got very close to the lion’s cage, even though there is a sign on it that says Do not go near the animal cages.

He was not satisfied with that, but he extended his hand into the cage, and the lion grabbed his hand with force, and this person was unable to rid his hand of the lion’s fangs.

The man screamed loudly from the severity of the pain, and the guard came quickly and tried to give the lion a piece of meat to leave the man’s hand, but to no avail.

The veterinarian quickly intervened and gave the lion an anesthetic injection, and the man was able to get his hand out of the cage, but it had many wounds and was taken to the hospital. It was really terrifying moments.

Short ghost story essay

There are many people who feel terrified in the dark, and my brother is very afraid of the dark and feels terrified and imagines frightening things.

So when the electricity went out and the house became dark. I went to his room quietly without feeling, and stood in front of him, making some strange sounds.

My brother jumped quickly and came out of the room saying a ghost of a ghost, but he hit the wall and cut his head and bled a lot, it was a big wound.

At that time I was telling him don’t be afraid, I am your brother, but he was very frightened. I was very sorry for him and regretted that I had caused him to feel terrified and made him crash into the wall.

And I told him I was just trying to joke with you and I wouldn’t do it again but you should train yourself not to be afraid of the dark.

A Short Scary Story Essay

Last weekend I went with my friends on a fishing trip. We chartered a fishing boat with all our fishing gear and went into the sea for a long distance, so that we could see neither the beach nor the city.

We started fishing and we were very happy because there are many fish and they are also big, and the weather was nice.

Suddenly strong winds blew and the waves rose, and the fishing boat was swinging with us over the water, up and down, and we couldn’t control it.

At this time we felt so afraid that we would drown.The fishing boat cannot withstand these bad weather conditions.

But after a while the wind calmed down a bit and we miraculously survived.

Scary short story essay

Last weekend I went with my colleagues on a school trip to one of the archaeological sites, and we had some teachers with us organizing the trip and supervising our transfers.

We entered a museum that houses great antiquities and stood listening to the tour guide talking about the history of these antiquities.

I was fascinated and listened to the tour guide with great interest, so that I did not feel the departure of my colleagues and teachers, as they left the museum and got on the bus and left this place and did not feel my absence.

When I found myself alone in the museum, I felt very afraid and searched for them all over the museum, but I could not find them, so my fear increased and my crying became louder.

Suddenly I found one of the teachers entering the museum and looking for me, so I ran towards him and grabbed his hand and felt safe.

Scary Experience Essay

At the end of the year I had a frightening experience. I went to the beach and decided to snorkel, so I bought wetsuits, put them on, and dived into the sea. But it was not what I expected and almost drowned.

I was so scared when I found myself unable to dive, and could not swim to the top.

It was a difficult situation but one of the lifeguards on the beach saw me, knew I was going to drown and ran to save me.

Therefore, I advise others to learn before we do anything that might endanger our lives.

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Ghost Story Essay.

Ghost Story Essay

It was the battle of 1801; the lives of thousands of people had been lost in the battle between two rival groups in York. The two sides, the Roundheads led by General M. Taylor and the Caxtons led by Commander L. Jackson. Both leaders wouldn’t back down; thousands of innocent people were slaughtered by the horrendous commands they received. The battle lasted several days, the Roundheads came out victorious. On the final day of the fighting the sky turned grey and gloomy, slowly the rain started and turned the battlefield into a bloody bog. The blood spread into a nearby village permanently staining the ground as a constant reminder of the events in 1801. A large operation to bury the bodies of any soldier who were brutally murdered was constructed. As the operation was under way most of the men who were burying the soldiers, mostly close friends and relatives felt an eerie presence. Even though the sun was beaming down on the battlefield many people reported that suddenly they would go completely cold, this would only be in certain place and would only last a matter of seconds then it would go warm again.

A hundred years past and the site of the battle had begun to be converted into an inn. Whilst under construction items such as timber were mysteriously disappearing only to reappear in another place. Ghostly images were seen on a regular basis and once the inn was completed no one occupied for another hundred years, as they were afraid of what terrors in held within it. During this hundred years many villagers from neighbouring towns reported seeing candles float past windows, long high pitched noises could be heard and also odd shapes were seen floating past some of the many windows.

“Jon isn’t it wonderful” Emma said to her husband “just think of the possibilities we could open the inn in a matter of weeks”.

“What’s wrong with it” Jon asked the estate agent, to his surprise “nothing” was his reply. “Why is it going so cheap?” Jon asked.

“Because it has never been occupied and to be honest we haven’t had any interest in this house”

Emma and Jon went off to one side and started to mutter amongst themselves. When they returned, straight away Jon said, “we will take it”.

Off they went to inspect what would need to be repaired. To their surprise everything was intact and working well, it was as if someone had been looming after the house for the last couple of hundred years. All that needed to be done to the house was that it needed was to be modernised.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Work was immediately started to add central heating, nothing was done to the structure as it was perfect and had the look of the time it was built. Electricity was added and most rooms were wired up with lighting leaving a couple as they were when the inn was built. As planned the inn opened within a couple of weeks. As this was the first opportunity the public had to view the inside of the magnificent house, it was fully booked for the first few weeks. At first the odd figure was seen around but gradually as time went by it turned into where ever you went you would see a ghostly image. Some guests reported seeing objects floating around their rooms and the odd guest experienced what could only be explained as a poltergeist as they had objects thrown directly at their heads and bodies. As the weeks went on guest became fewer and fewer as they were afraid of the evil within the house.

“Jon, Jon, you awake”

“What time is it”

“11:30am”.

Jon got up but as he did he thought he heard a quiet thud, thud, thud coming from the room next to his, as the sound only lasted a couple of seconds he thought that he must have imagined it. When he was eating his breakfast he heard it again thud, thud, thud, he tries to think of a rational explanation such as a heavy footed guest or it could have been his wife cleaning a room. He came up with these explanations because he was a sceptic. When Emma arrived in the room the first thing he asked her was, “Are their any guests staying at the moment”, “No” replied Emma.

“Its just that I keep hearing a” thud, thud, thud, he was cut off mid sentence by the noise coming from the first floor directly above him.

“What, What was that” Emma shrieked

“I, I don’t know its probably just a window shutting”

“Jon there’s no one up there”

“It’s probably the wind shutting it” Jon said, desperately trying to think up reasonable explanations for the noise. Jon suddenly remembered that as there was no guests in the inn then it couldn’t have been a window shutting, as they would already be closed.

“You don’t think that it’s a spirit do you” Emma asked. Emma is a strong believer in the spiritual world.

“Of course not” just as Jon said that the noise sounded again this time it was a lot louder. Jon ran up the stairs to see where the noise was coming from, but when he got there the noise had stopped. On his way back down he saw a large, dark figure of what looked like a man and without thinking he said “hi”. It was only when he told his wife about the peculiar dressed man that he remembered that no one was in the inn, it was completely empty so what had he seen, was it a ghost or was it his mind playing tricks on him, he didn’t know. Over the next few days the noises grew worse and the sightings of dark figures were seen more and more often.

“Now do you believe in ghosts” Emma asked.

“I don’t know what to believe”

Emma phoned up some spiritualists to see whether they would search the house for any wandering spirits. Two weeks later a team of spiritualist arrived, they were led by world famous Derek Acorah. For them to do the investigation then they would need to stay overnight. The whole inn was searched, looking for anywhere draughts could be getting in. Once the inspection was complete, they set up some sound test areas where the noises were mainly heard. Trip wires were set up in various corridors where the dark figures had been seen. Once darkness fell all the lights in the inn were switched off and Derek and his team were given night vision cameras. The first few minutes everyone and everything was quiet. Derek broke the silence after about five minutes.

“”O.K I feel that many lives were lost here in a great battle. Many innocent people were slain after following stupid orders from their commanders. Over in that corner” pointing towards a corner in the master bedroom “I can see a tall man dressed in what looks like clothes from the 1700’s – 1800’s”

“Can you give us a name” Martin asked who was observing the investigation and making quick notes about what was said.

“Mark Tylor or Tyson, no wait it’s definitely Tylor, Mark Tylor. I feel now that there is a great rivalry here, he keeps saying we won, we beat you”.

“Can you find out who he is talking about” Martin asked

“Lee Jackson, Commander Lee Jackson”.

Just as Derek had said this one of the trip line alarms sounded. Everyone rushed up to the first floor corridor, nothing could bee seen. Everyone agreed that it would be best if the group split into smaller groups to cover more of the house. Martin was searching the master bedroom when he saw an orb float gently past him then disappear. Martin told Jon about the orb but Jon just looked at him with a blank expression on his face. “ What’s an orb?” Jon asked

“It’s a light anomaly which is thought to be the first manifesto of a ghost”

“Hasn’t it gone very cold in here” stated Emma, as she finished her sentence the air around him went warm again.

“Wow I don’t believe it you just experienced a cold spot” Martin told Jon.

Just as the group was about to be reassembled a loud thud came from upstairs. The whole crew ran up the stairs and saw a hooded figure stood over one of the spiritualist crewmember called Danielle. As everyone approached, the hooded figure spoke in a high-pitched voice “get out”. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and slowly began to back off fearing for the well being of their fellow crewmember.

“Can you get up” Derek asked.

“No it’s got me, it won’t let me go”. The grip of the hooded figure increased around Danielle’s neck slowly squeezing out every last bit of breath. Danielle let out a low squeal, this was too much for Derek he ran towards the hooded figure and grabbed Danielle’s hand freeing her from his grip. As they stopped running Derek was sent flying as the hooded figure had charged at him. Everyone in the corridor ran down the stairs into the main living area and Jon was told to phone the local vicar to perform an exorcism. Whilst waiting for the vicar the hooded figure had been creating loud noises up stairs as if it was angry, none of the people in the house was brave enough to go to face the ghost.

Around an hour later the vicar turned up and was taken directly to the place of the spirit and started the exorcism. This only aggravated the spirit even more and it started to go mad, it kept screaming until when the exorcism was complete and the whole house went silent. After the inn was searched for any more traces of ghosts using devices that Derek had brought with him. Nothing showed up and the inn was in an eerie silence. Derek left as his job was done.

The next morning Jon and Emma decided to readvertise the inn and shortly the inn returned to its full capacity. Jon still wondered what had caused the spirits to wander the spot of the inn and it wasn’t till he went to the local library and looked at the history of the town that he found out. When he found that the inn was built on an ancient battle site and burial ground. Once he found this out he phoned the local newspaper and gave them the story, which made front-page news. No ghosts were reported again but some still say that lost spirits still wander the grounds of the house at nights.

Document Details

Word Count 1814
Page Count 3
Level AS and A Level
Subject English

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Chef Charles Withers ‘happy to talk’ to ‘ghosted’ wife after public shaming: report

He serves a mean leg of lam.

Charles Withers, the celeb chef said to have abandoned his family in Massachusetts a year ago, has finally reached out to estranged wife Ashley McGuire after her Facebook account of the incident went viral this week, the miffed mom of four confirmed.

The P.O.’d parent spoke to the radio station JAM’N 94.5 about the aftermath of her post to the popular social media group “Are We Dating the Same Guy,” which exposed her absent man.

McGuire said that Withers — who appeared on The Food Network TV show “Chopped” in 2022 and operated Falmouth’s C Salt Wine Bar and Grille — sent her a very plain text amid the scandal’s eruption.

“He reached out…and said he would be happy to talk to me,” McGuire, who said she was “ghosted” while pregnant with his second child last year.

She said his number had not changed, despite her suspecting otherwise. In total, McGuire said she has four children, two from before meeting Withers.

The frustrated femme’s very public plea sparked troves of amateur investigations and a slew of reaction videos , McGuire denied any ill will.

She said she just wanted to serve Withers, who fled to Texas, with divorce papers.

“My goal was not to disrupt his whole life. I just want to have the door closed and just move on.”

McGuire maintained she “could have been way worse” in her telling of the exodus events.

“I left a lot of details out,” the mom added. “I don’t have any ill will towards him. I did not intentionally make him, you know, the most hated man out there by any means.”

However, she still demands accountability from the Londoner.

“You just dug this hole in my life. Like you flipped my world upside down. The least you can do is not send me on a wild goose chase to find you. And just sign these papers.”

Adding insult to injury, other women had been in touch with McGuire to let her know that they had matched with Withers on dating apps like Bumble.

For those reasons, she knows Withers can pony up to support his family.

“If you can take these girls on Bumble out on dates and this, that, and the other thing, you can send a box of diapers,” she said.

“To just walk away from all responsibility, to just walk away like it never happened is just like, you can’t do that. You need to be held accountable.”

Chef Charles Withers ‘happy to talk’ to ‘ghosted’ wife after public shaming: report

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A really effective ghost story rests solidly within the purview of the stuff of real life, the grounding details of everyday routines. Henry James, who liked to speak of "the terrors of the cheerful country home," said that a good ghost story must be "connected at a hundred points with the common objects of life.".
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How to structure a ghost story
Here's an example of how this structure can be 'mapped onto' a very brilliant ghost story by Algernon Blackwood, 'The Kit-Bag': Here's a little reading exercise to try. Read a ghost story, any ghost story (if you'd like some suggestions, see the reading list I've provided below - many of these are in the public domain).
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M.R. James is likely the most adapted of ghost story writers (perhaps with some competition from Algernon Blackwood), in terms of the sheer number of different stories that have made it onto the screen. An upcoming adaptation of his story The Mezzotint is due to be screened at Christmas this year on the BBC. In terms of singular stories, one of ...
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When you're figuring out how to write a ghost story, world building is crucial. Even though setting is an important ingredient in ghost stories, don't get too caught up with describing all the spooky details. Give your readers a taste at the beginning of your story so the stage is set in their minds, and then layer in details as the story ...
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Ghost Story. PAGES 2 WORDS 617. Ghost Story, starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Alice Krige, Patricia Neal, and Craig Wasson pits four elderly men and a pair of twin sons, against a female ghost who is looking for revenge. The movie is based on the book, "Ghost Story," written by Peter Straub.
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The Cardiff Giant. "A Ghost Story" by Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) appears in his 1875 Sketches New and Old. The story is based on the infamous 19th-century hoax of the Cardiff Giant, in which a "petrified giant" was carved out of stone and buried in the ground for others to "discover." People came in droves to pay money to see ...
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Ghost Story Essay. Ghost Story Essay. Prologue. It was the battle of 1801; the lives of thousands of people had been lost in the battle between two rival groups in York. The two sides, the Roundheads led by General M. Taylor and the Caxtons led by Commander L. Jackson. Both leaders wouldn't back down; thousands of innocent people were ...
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Story by Alex Mitchell • 1d. He serves a mean leg of lam. Charles Withers, the celeb chef said to have abandoned his family in Massachusetts a year ago, has finally reached out to estranged wife ...