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A ghost story is any piece of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
, or
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
, that includes a
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
, or simply takes as a
premise A premise or premiss is a proposition—a true or false declarative statement—used in an argument to prove the truth of another proposition called the conclusion. Arguments consist of a set of premises and a conclusion. An argument is meaningf ...
the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006. (p. 404-5). The "ghost" may appear of its own accord or be summoned by magic. Linked to the ghost is the idea of a "haunting", where a supernatural entity is tied to a place, object or person. Ghost stories are commonly examples of
ghostlore Ghostlore is an intricate web of Tradition, traditional beliefs and folklore surrounding ghosts and List of reportedly haunted locations, hauntings. Ghostlore has ingrained itself in the cultural fabric of societies worldwide. Defined by narrative ...
. Colloquially, the term "ghost story" can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has been developed as a
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
format, within
genre fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...
. It is a form of
supernatural fiction Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction that is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist assumptions of the real world. Description In its broadest def ...
and specifically of weird fiction, and is often a horror story. While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to scare, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or
prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
s of things to come.


History

A widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form. The campfire story, a form of oral storytelling, often involves recounting ghost stories, or other scary stories. Some of the stories are decades old, with varying versions across multiple cultures. Many schools and educational institutions encourage ghost storytelling as part of
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
. In 1929, five key features of the English ghost story were identified in "Some Remarks on Ghost Stories" by M. R. James. As summarized by Frank Coffman for a course in popular imaginative literature, they were: * The pretense of truth * "A pleasing terror" * No gratuitous bloodshed or sex * No "explanation of the machinery" * Setting: "those of the writer's (and reader's) own day" The introduction of pulp magazines in the early 1900s created new avenues for ghost stories to be published, and they also began to appear in publications such as '' Good Housekeeping'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''.


Literature


Early examples

Ghosts in the classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them. Spirits of the dead appear in literature as early as
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'', which features a journey to the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead, as well as the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
in which the Witch of Endor calls the spirit of the prophet
Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
. The play '' Mostellaria'', by the Roman playwright
Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...
, is the earliest known work to feature a haunted dwelling, and is sometimes translated as ''The Haunted House''. Another early account of a haunted place comes from an account by Pliny the Younger ( 50 AD). Pliny describes the haunting of a house in
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
by a ghost bound in chains, an archetype that would become familiar in later literature. Ghosts often appeared in the tragedies of the Roman writer Seneca, who would later influence the revival of tragedy on the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
stage, particularly Thomas Kyd and
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. The '' One Thousand and One Nights'', sometimes known as ''Arabian Nights'', contains a number of ghost stories, often involving
jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...
(also spelled as djinn),
ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...
s and corpses. In particular, the tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad" revolves around a house haunted by jinns. Other medieval
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
, such as the '' Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity'', also contain ghost stories. The 11th century Japanese work '' The Tale of Genji'' contains ghost stories, and includes characters being possessed by spirits.


English Renaissance theatre

In the mid-16th century, the works of Seneca were rediscovered by Italian humanists, and they became the models for the revival of
tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
. Seneca's influence is particularly evident in Thomas Kyd's ''
The Spanish Tragedy ''The Spanish Tragedy'', or ''Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre: the re ...
'' and
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', both of which share a revenge theme, a corpse-strewn climax, and ghosts among the cast. The ghosts in ''
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
'' also resemble the Senecan model, while the ghost in ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' plays a more complex role. The shade of Hamlet's murdered father in ''Hamlet'' has become one of the more recognizable ghosts in
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
. In another of Shakespeare's works, ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', the murdered Banquo returns as a ghost to the dismay of the title character. In English Renaissance theatre, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armour. Armour, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity. The sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in the 1800s because an armoured ghost had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or lifts, and eventually became clichéd stage elements and objects of ridicule. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in ''Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory'', point out, "In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'." An interesting observation by Jones and Stallybrass is that "at the historical point at which ghosts themselves become increasingly implausible, at least to an educated elite, to believe in them at all it seems to be necessary to assert their immateriality, their invisibility. ..The drapery of ghosts must now, indeed, be as spiritual as the ghosts themselves. This is a striking departure both from the ghosts of the Renaissance stage and from the Greek and Roman theatrical ghosts upon which that stage drew. The most prominent feature of Renaissance ghosts is precisely their gross materiality. They appear to us conspicuously clothed." In
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, the legend of Catalina Lercaro stands out, a young woman from the 16th century, who committed suicide so as not to have to marry a man she did not love. From here, many people claim to see her ghost.


Border ballads

Ghosts figured prominently in traditional British ballads of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly the “ Border Ballads” of the turbulent
border country The Anglo-Scottish border runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west, separating Scotland and England. The Firth of Forth was the border between the Picts, Picto-Gaels, ...
between England and Scotland. Ballads of this type include " The Unquiet Grave", " The Wife of Usher's Well", and " Sweet William's Ghost", which feature the recurring theme of returning dead lovers or children. In the ballad " King Henry", a particularly ravenous ghost devours the king's horse and hounds before forcing the king into bed. The king then awakens to find the ghost transformed into a beautiful woman. The ''
Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...
'' was a
ghost ship A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a ship, vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the ''Flying Dutchman'', or a physical Flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict, derelict found adrift with its cre ...
that became the subject of many ghost stories.


Romantic era

One of the key early appearances by ghosts was '' The Castle of Otranto'' by
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
in 1764, considered to be the first
gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...
. However, although the ghost story shares the use of the supernatural with the Gothic novel, the two forms differ. Ghost stories, unlike Gothic fiction, usually take place in a time and location near to the audience of the story. The modern short story emerged in Germany in the early decades of the 19th century. Kleist's "The Beggar Woman of Locarno", published in 1810, and several other works from the period lay claim to being the first ghost short stories of a modern type. E. T. A. Hoffmann's ghost stories include "The Elementary Spirit" and "The Mines of Falun".Andrew Barger, "Introduction:All Ghosts are Grey" in Barger (editor),''The Best Ghost Stories 1800–1849: A Classic Ghost Anthology''. Bottletree Books LLC, 2011. , (pp. 7-12) The Russian equivalent of the ghost story is the '' bylichka''. Notable examples of the genre from the 1830s include Gogol's " Viy" and Pushkin's " The Queen of Spades", although there were scores of other stories from lesser known writers, produced primarily as Christmas fiction. The Vosges mountain range is the setting for most ghost stories by the French writing team of Erckmann-Chatrian. One of the earliest writers of ghost stories in English was Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
. His ghost stories, "Wandering Willie's Tale" (1824, first published as part of ''
Redgauntlet ''Redgauntlet'' (1824) is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels, set primarily in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland, in 1765, and described by Magnus Magnusson (a point first made by Andrew Lang) as "in a sense, ...
'') and ''The Tapestried Chamber'' (1828) eschewed the "Gothic" style of writing and helped set an example for later writers in the genre.


"Golden Age of the Ghost Story"

Historian of the ghost story Jack Sullivan has noted that many literary critics argue a "Golden Age of the Ghost Story" existed between the decline of the Gothic novel in the 1830s and the start of the First World War. Sullivan argues that the work of
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
and Sheridan Le Fanu inaugurated this "Golden Age". Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu was one of the most influential writers of ghost stories. Le Fanu's collections, such as '' In a Glass Darkly'' (1872) and '' The Purcell Papers'' (1880), helped popularise the short story as a medium for ghost fiction. Charlotte Riddell, who wrote fiction as Mrs. J. H. Riddell, created ghost stories which were noted for adept use of the haunted house theme. The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu,
Violet Hunt Isobel Violet Hunt (28 September 1862 – 16 January 1942) was a British author and literary hostess. She wrote feminist novels. She was a member of the Women Writers' Suffrage League. She also participated in the founding of International PE ...
, and Henry James. Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, "Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded ...". Famous literary apparitions from the Victorian period are the ghosts of ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...
'', in which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. In a precursor to ''A Christmas Carol'' Dickens published " The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton". Dickens also wrote " The Signal-Man", another work featuring a ghost.


Jamesian style

David Langford has described British author M. R. James as writing "the 20th century's most influential canon of ghost stories". James perfected a method of story-telling which has since become known as Jamesian, which involved abandoning many of the traditional Gothic elements of his predecessors. The classic Jamesian tale usually includes the following elements: # a characterful setting in an English village, seaside town or country estate; an ancient town in France, Denmark or Sweden; or a venerable abbey or university # a nondescript and rather naïve gentleman-scholar as protagonist (often of a reserved nature) # the discovery of an old book or other antiquarian object that somehow unlocks, calls down the wrath, or at least attracts the unwelcome attention of a supernatural menace, usually from beyond the grave According to James, the story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself, 'If I'm not very careful, something of this kind may happen to me!"James, M.R., "Preface to ''More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''
. In Joshi, S.T., ed. (2005). ''Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James, Volume 1'', pt. 217. Penguin Books.
He also perfected the technique of narrating supernatural events through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology ''Ghosts and Marvels'' (
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, 1924): "Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo. ... Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage." Another aspect James considered a requisite was "that the ghost should be malevolent or odious: amiable and helpful apparitions are all very well in fairy tales or in local legends, but I have no use for them in a fictitious ghost story." Despite his suggestion in the essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write" that writers employ reticence in their work, many of James's tales depict scenes and images of savage and often disturbing violence.


19th-century American writers

Influenced by British and German examples, American writers began to produce their own ghost stories.
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
's
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
" The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), based on an earlier German folktale, features a Headless Horseman. It has been adapted for film and television many times, such as '' Sleepy Hollow'', a successful 1999 feature film.Sleepy Hollow
at
Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...
. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
Irving also wrote "The Adventure of the German Student" and
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
wrote some stories which contain ghosts, such as " The Masque of the Red Death" and "Morella". In the later 19th century, mainstream American writers such as Edith Wharton, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and F. Marion Crawford all wrote ghost fiction. Henry James also wrote ghost stories, including " The Jolly Corner" and '' The Turn of the Screw''. ''The Turn of the Screw'', his most famous ghost story, has appeared in a number of adaptations, notably a film, '' The Innocents'', and an opera, Benjamin Britten's '' The Turn of the Screw''. The introduction of pulp magazines in the early 1900s created new avenues for ghost stories to be published, and they also began to appear in publications such as '' Good Housekeeping'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''.


Comedies and operas

Oscar Telgmann's opera '' Leo, the Royal Cadet'' (1885) includes "Judge's Song" about a ghost at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
's comic short story " The Canterville Ghost" (1887) has been adapted for film and television on several occasions. In the United States, prior to and during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, folklorists Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp collected ballads from the people of the Appalachian Mountains, which included ghostly themes such as " The Cruel Ship's Carpenter", "The Suffolk Miracle", " The Unquiet Grave" and " The Wife of Usher's Well". The theme of these ballads was often the return of a dead lover. These songs were variants of traditional British ballads handed down by generations of mountaineers descended from the people of the Anglo-Scottish border region.


Psychological horror

In the Edwardian era, Algernon Blackwood (who combined the ghost story with nature mysticism), Oliver Onions (whose ghost stories drew on psychological horror), and William Hope Hodgson (whose ghost tales also contained elements of the Nautical fiction, sea story and science fiction) helped move the ghost story in new directions.


Kaidan

Kaidan (怪談), which literally means "supernatural tale" or "weird tale", is a form of Japanese ghost story. Kaidan entered the vernacular when a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular in the Edo period. The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a printing press, led to the creation of a literary genre called ''Kaidanshu''. Kaidan are not always horror stories, they can "be funny, or strange, or just telling about an odd thing that happened one time". Lafcadio Hearn published ''Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things'' in 1904 as a collection of Japanese ghost stories which was also adapted into a Kwaidan (film), film. The book "is seen as the first introduction of Japanese superstition to European and American audiences".


Modern era (1920 onward)

''Ghost Stories (magazine), Ghost Stories'' magazine, which contained almost nothing but ghost stories, was published from 1926 to 1932. Beginning in the 1940s, Fritz Leiber wrote ghost tales set in modern industrial settings, such as "Smoke Ghost" (1941) and "A Bit of the Dark World" (1962). Shirley Jackson made an important contribution to ghost fiction with her novel ''The Haunting of Hill House'' (1959). A noted modern British writer of ghost fiction is Ramsey Campbell. Susan Hill also produced ''The Woman in Black'' (1983), a ghost novel that has been adapted for stage, television and film. Noël Coward's play ''Blithe Spirit (play), Blithe Spirit'', later made into a Blithe Spirit (1945 film), 1945 film, places a more humorous slant on the phenomenon of haunting of individuals and specific locations.


Film

During the late 1890s the depiction of ghost and supernatural events appear in films. With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres. The works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions, as well as adaptations of other playwrights and novelists. One of the well known short films was ''The Haunted Castle (1896 film), Haunted Castle'' directed by Georges Méliès in 1896. It is also considered as the first silent short film depicting ghost and supernatural events. In 1926, the novel ''Topper'' by Thorne Smith was published, which created the modern American ghost. When the novel was adapted into the 1937 movie ''Topper (film), Topper'', it initiated a new film genre and would also influence television. After the second World War, sentimental depictions of ghosts had become more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'', which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–70 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series), TV series. Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's ''The Uninvited (1944 film), The Uninvited'', and 1945's ''Dead of Night''. The film ''Blithe Spirit (1945 film), Blithe Spirit'', based on a Blithe Spirit (play), play by Noël Coward, was also produced in this period. 1963 saw one of the first major adaptations of a ghost novel, ''The Haunting (1963 film), The Haunting'', based on the well known novel ''The Haunting of Hill House''. The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's ''Field of Dreams'', the 1990 film ''Ghost (1990 film), Ghost'', and the 1993 comedy ''Heart and Souls''. In the horror genre, 1980's ''The Fog'', and the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), A Nightmare on Elm Street'' series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence. The 1990s saw a return to classic "gothic" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films are comedy and mystery from this period include 1984's ''Ghostbusters'', 1999's ''The Sixth Sense'' and ''The Others (2001 film), The Others''. The 1990s also saw a lighthearted adaptation of the children's character ''Casper the Friendly Ghost'', originally popular in cartoon form in the 1950s and early 1960s, in the feature film ''Casper (film), Casper''. Asian cinema has also produced horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film ''Ring (film), Ringu'' (remade in the US as ''The Ring (2002 film), The Ring'' in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film ''The Eye (2002 film), The Eye''. Indian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film ''Manichitrathazhu'' have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages. Generally the films are based on the experiences of modern people who are unexpectedly exposed to ghosts, and usually draw on traditional Indian literature or folklore. In some cases the Indian films are remakes of western films, such as ''Anjaane (2005 film), Anjaane'', based on Alejandro Amenábar's ghost story ''The Others (2001 film), The Others''.


Television

In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as ''Ghost Whisperer'', ''Medium (TV show), Medium'', ''Supernatural (U.S. TV series), Supernatural'', the television series adaptation of ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' and ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)''. In animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as ''Casper the Friendly Ghost'', ''Danny Phantom'', and ''Scooby-Doo'', as well as minor roles in various other television shows. Popularized in part by the 1984 comedy franchise ''Ghostbusters (franchise), Ghostbusters'', ghost hunting has been popularized as a hobby wherein reportedly haunted places are explored. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in Paranormal television, paranormal Reality television, reality television series, such as ''A Haunting'', ''Ghost Adventures'', ''Ghost Hunters (TV series), Ghost Hunters'', ''Ghost Hunters International'', ''Ghost Lab'', and ''Most Haunted''. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as ''The Ghost Hunter (TV series), The Ghost Hunter'' based on the book series The Ghost Hunter (TV series), of the same name and ''Ghost Trackers''. The Indian television series ''Aahat (Indian TV series), Aahat'' featured ghost and supernatural stories written by B. P. Singh. It was first aired on 5 October 1995 and ran for more than a decade, ending on 25 November 2010 with more than 450 episodes.


See also

* Macabre * Paranormal romance * Ghost Stories (magazine)


References


Further reading

* Bailey, Dale. ''American Nightmares: The Haunted House Formula in American Popular Fiction''. Bowling Green, OH: Popular Press, 1999. . * * Ashley, Mike, ed. ''Phantom Perfumes and Other Shades: Memories of'' Ghost Stories ''Magazine''. Ash-Tree Press, 2000. * Joynes, Andrew, ed. ''Medieval Ghost Stories: An Anthology of Miracles, Marvels and Prodigies''. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2003. * Locke, John, ed. ''Ghost Stories: The Magazine and Its Makers, Volumes 1 & 2''. Off-Trail Publications, 2010. * Jack Sullivan (literary scholar), Sullivan, Jack. ''Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story from Le Fanu to Blackwood'', Ohio University Press, 1978. . * Brewster, Scott, and Luke Thurston, ed. ''The Routledge Handbook to the Ghost Story''. New York: Routledge, 2018. * O'Brian, Helen Conrad, and Julie Anne Stevens, ed. ''The Ghost Story from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century: A Ghostly Genre''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010. * Briggs, Julia, ''Night Visitors: The Rise and Fall of the English Ghost Story''. London: Faber, 1977.


External links

- 1919
PDF of original 1919 ''The Best Ghost Stories''


{{Authority control Ghost stories, Fantasy genres Folklore Halloween practices Horror genres Psychological horror Speculative fiction Traditional stories ja:怪談