Sunday, March 08, 2009

GHOSTS

A ghost reading.

Seriously folks, are there any hard and fast rules for ghost stories? Have we settled on a list of can do and cannot do? Can ghosts ride a bike? Use a phone? Kill someone? Help me out?
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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why should ghosts have rules? Vampires don't, at least not any more. I'd say as long as the author stays consistent within a given story or novel, anything goes.

11:09 AM
David Cranmer said...

I prefer ghosts like Rex Harrison in Mrs. Muir who haunt but can't touch but Michael is probably right that anything goes.

11:20 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I've been amazed at how hard it is to be completely consistent within a 5000 word story. Every move a ghost makes is questionable and if they're all ghosts? And if they are novice ghosts, they can't help you much.

11:33 AM
Charles Gramlich said...

Hard question. I'd say they have to have rules or you don't have a story. And the story has to be internally consistent. But your ghosts don't have to have the same set of rules my ghosts have.

On the other hand, if your ghosts are too different from the standard view of ghosts, folks are going to wonder why you're calling it a ghost story.

Did I help? Probably not. But I enjoyed thinking about it.

12:16 PM
sandra seamans said...

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules for a ghost story, only what's consistent in the story itself. Consider all the different kinds of ghosts you find in the movies from "Ghost" to the "I see dead people" movie (the name escapes me at the moment)to "Thirteen Ghosts" both versions. It's pretty much open to your own interpretation of what a ghost story should be.

1:04 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

good point, Charles. they have to be recognizable-at least in print if not in flesh.

1:06 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Can ghosts move things? That's what I need to know. So remembering the movie Ghosts with Swayze, he could after practice. PLus poltergeists mainly move things, so my ghosts can too.

2:17 PM
Todd Mason said...

Well, since ghosts don't actually exist, it's up to you and your story as to whether ghosts can move things. If they can't, you get to speculate as to how they manage to stay on the planet, inasmuch as they presumably would simply pass through structures and the planet or its atmosphere, since presumably they are unaffected by gravity...or are they? Or do they sustain their locations by force of will? Are they interpenetrative only at will, and if they can balance on a floor, are they simply too weak to move physical objects?

Consistency is good...but not always absolutely crucial.

3:41 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Todd-I was hoping you'd step forward and give me the text where the rules were set down so I wasn't forced to rely on my favorite ghost movie The Canterville Ghost.

3:48 PM
Anonymous said...

There are no set rules except good ghosts don't listen to Rush and bad ghosts do.

5:56 PM
Todd Mason said...

Best ghost stories for parameters that come to mind:

"Shottle Bop" by Theodore Sturgeon
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
"Smoke Ghost" by Fritz Leiber
"Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come to You, My Lad," by M. R. James
OUR LADY OF DARKNESS by Fritz Leiber
The contents of WHAT DID MISS DARRINGTON SEE? edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
and, cheating a bit,
"Upon the Dull Earth" by Philip Dick

6:24 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Only one I read was the Jackson. Have you read The Bees by Dan Chaon? Just finished that one.

7:05 PM
Todd Mason said...

Haven't yet. I think I've read some short fiction by Chaon somewhere.

7:09 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Yeah, he has a collection--FITTING ENDS with a number of ghost stories. And AMONG THE MISSING, a novel which I liked a lot according to my log.

7:13 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Listening to Rush is bad for man, woman or ghost.

7:14 PM
Todd Mason said...

However, anyone listening to Limbaugh might be bored to sleep. Good for laying ghosts to rest.

7:53 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Having seen the movie, I think it's stood between me and reading the book but I should read it. I understand there are differences.

9:58 PM
Lisa said...

How fascinating! I don't have any strong feelings about what ghosts should be able to do, but when I first pondered your question, I realized that whatever it is that a ghost or supernatural being can't do is usually what's most interesting about it.

I don't think any ghosts listen to Rush...but I think poltergeists tune radios to his show to scare people away. ;)

1:47 AM
Barbara Martin said...

In the movie GHOST, Patrick Swayze's character learned how to pick up a penny and slide it up a door.

There's a real ghost in my apartment building that carries a stench with it. Also ghosts tend to drain batteries when present. The battery on my computer registers empty in an instant sometimes, when it's just been charged.

12:54 PM

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