It is a ritual as old as history itself: the seat drawn up to the fire, round faces lit by flickering flames, and the soft voice of the consummate storyteller as he ensnares each listener. This is how bards passed down the oldest legends, from generation to generation, village to village, before reading and writing became commonplace. Not much of this ritual remains today except, perhaps, in the telling of ghost stories. Even when you're reading one (alone? late at night?), a good ghost story will still conjure the feeling of someone whispering in your ear. The house is silent; your attention is total. But for this delicious experience to succeed, the ghost story must contain a few crucial elements.

* AN ELEMENT OF THE SPIRIT WORLD
A true ghost story is not a horror tale of werewolves, vampires, or chainsaw-wielders. It must contain a glimpse into the beyond. Part of what makes a ghost story deliciously frightening is the element of death-the one fear we can never escape. When the spirit world intersects with the earthly plane, we get a taste of what we aren't yet meant to see-and it scares us.

* SUSPENSE
The word is related to "suspend." A great ghost story must feed information piece by agonizing piece. While it can't drag, it fails if it doesn't suspend, or hold back, the action. The right tale keeps the reader's heart beating. Think Alfred Hitchcock.

* ATMOSPHERE
Again, Hitchcock comes to mind. What black-and-white does for film, great writing does for the ghost story. A haunted house may be a cliched setting, but it works for these reasons: broken windows and cobwebs say "neglect"; scuttling mice make unknown noises; and that greatest of bugaboos, the dark, is all around. Suspense is built on the unknown, and atmosphere must reflect that.

* SENSE OF REGRET
Ever notice the melancholy that surrounds ghost stories? Ghosts are unhappy, unsettled prisoners trapped between two worlds. The best tales include the departed spirit's backstory to build a "why" into the plot.

* SENSE OF DANGER
What's so scary about the dead returning to earth? Apart from the startle factor, ghosts have to be able to wreak real damageburn the house down, stop a heartbeat, or induce such guilt that a character kills himself. Good stories build suspense ("what is it?") and then induce a sense of desperation ("what will it do?").

* RITUAL ELEMENTS
Remember those great stories you told in your backyard pup tent on summer nights? The old fairytale device of rituals and the magic number three often played a role: The lovers who parked at Makeout Point three nights in a row, hearing the ghostly voice; a spirit returns three nights at midnight; a monkey's paw grants three wishes. This device works partly because we've all heard stories like these, so they resonate in our collective unconscious. They also work because they build suspense: Everyone knows that when the story reaches the number three, something horrible will happen.

Here's a short list of some great ghost stories that incorporate these elements. Read them and shiver:

"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Amityville Horror" by Jay Anson
"The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
"Bag of Bones" by Stephen King
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving

Learn more about this author, Claire Caterer.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about What makes a great ghost story??
We want to hear your view. Write now!