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The ability to conjure up in the minds of every man, woman and child a belief so strong it takes over their every sense. With ears pricked for the slightest, unusual noise, their eyes forever roaming the surroundings and finally unreality becomes so real they are tense and poised, ready to bolt.

Location is not key to the success of a haunted tale, but rather creating an atmosphere of location. Everyone knows that stories told by fireside under a moon covered in transparent clouds is the ideal stage but dim lights, a fireplace or candles is sufficient most of the time to bring chills to those gathered around.

A mood of unrest in the story tellers appearance will definitely send shivers down the spine and ignite every souls imaginings. Imagination is a person's worst calaminity when faced with tales of horror and the escaped lunatic. However, those are not the only resources for terror.

Some of the most frightening tales can derive out of the most mundane of places. A butcher's shop for instance. How about a used car lot? Keep in mind, it is not the area or even the crime that will trigger the audience's ever growing fear, it's the intense drawn out suspense leading up to a culmination of events. These things are hard at work in the listener's mind and that is the key.

The audience's mind is pliable, even the occasional doubting tom has a breaking point and once that trigger is found, pull it. Tugging ever so slightly at first, then ease off and let their imagination fill in the non-existent blanks. Keep them guessing but only a little, giving small portions of terror mixed with a little bit of reality.

The ending might be the most difficult. A horror story should not drag on for hours but should have the listeners begging for mercy. There is nothing worse than a great story with a disappointing ending. Make the finale sudden and unexpected. The element of surprise will have hearts pounding frantically. Eliminate the obvious at a time it is expected, (read your listener's faces) slamming them with the big 'boo' instead.

If these key elements have been established, and a forum for the tale created surely a great ghost story is born.

Disclaimer: The author of this article in no way advocates story telling of this sort to anyone with a history of heart problems or any other illness whereby it could be hazardous to their health or cause bodily injury to another.

Learn more about this author, Crystal Molott-French.
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