Best ghost stories

[KEV67]

I often feel ghost stories lack punch. They are often quite short for one thing. Another thing is that ghosts have a difficult time interacting with the living while remaining strictly ghosts. They can transmit information, but quite often they are stuck in their own time loop, and ignore the living world. On the other hand, they are the supernatural entity you are most likely to meet in your earthly life. Well, you might only think you meet them, but you are far more unlikely to meet any vampires, werewolves, zombies, minor deities, or devils. Come to think of it, you might meet a witch or a warlock, but whether those witches and warlocks can actually effect any real magic, probably not. Stephen King does ghosts quite a bit. There were ghosts in Bleak House and Tess of the d'Urbervilles. My favourite ghost story is actually, GBH by Ted Lewis, which is mostly a crime story.

[timebug]

I always found M.R.James to be 'the guvnor' when it came to ghost stories. Nicely creepy with just the right amount of chill, for my tastes. As a yoof, I came across M.R.James works, and have re-read them many times. It was generally considered,among my group of friends, thet James was the man for Ghost stories, and H.P.Lovecraft was the man for general weird tales. Plenty of choice out there, it is a matter of your personal tastes, and discovering what works for YOU.

[lunababymoonchild]

I feel ghost stories lack a little punch too. I've read M R James and didn't find it that spooky, Edith Wharton has a ghost stories book and I read that and didn't find it spooky.  I have, in the past, been convinced by Stephen King though. And agree that H P Lovecraft does weird rather than spooky.  

 

Maybe it's because I just can't see how ghosts could exist but then I have no trouble believing that the Bogey Man lives in the dark where I can't see him - obviously a matter of personal taste. 

 

I love stories of were-wolves (not that common), vampires, zombies (also not that comon), minor deities, and devils, not to mention witches and warlocks and read them when I can.

[Madeleine]

 I agree re M R James.  I also agree that ghost stories can often have a feeling of anti-climax, I think it's very hard to finish a good ghost story in a satisfying way.  Michelle Paver has also written a couple of spooky ghost stories, - Dark Matter and Thin Air, both very creepy, although the ending of DM is slightly disappointing.

[johnalex]

My favorite scary book was Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth and I must scream." It's not clear whether it's the scariest. At the time I found the book in a used book store, I was about 10 or 11. I bought it because it looked interesting and the title caught my eye. When I first started reading the book, I was disgusted, but I couldn't put it down. I think I read the book all at once.

[Hayley]

9 hours ago, johnalex said:

My favorite scary book was Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth and I must scream."

I think this one deserves credit for making us picture a horrific concept before we've even opened the book!

 

I thought The Woman in Black was very good. It was a lot less scary than I expected, but brilliantly atmospheric.