Ghost stories, where did they all go?
Published by on September 15th, 2008
I have been on the search for stories that scare me as much as those I read during my formative years, and I’m struggling to find anything that satisfies.
In addition to the big writing project (TableRappers) and its supplementary tales featuring its characters, I want to create some old-style scary stories. By old style, of course, I means some that are genuinely scary!
I have a pile of horror short story compilations in my reading pile, acquired in recent months on the search for what I find leaves me unnerved and disquieted after reading. I found I left more modern tales behind and was drawn more and more to older, classic stories from the 19th Century up to the 1950s. The purchase of a Sony ebook reader (full review on this great device in the pipeline) has helped as it came packaged with 100 classic books, one of which was the complete works of Poe.
I had not read The Pit and the Pendulum for many years and have a stronger memory of the Hammer horror movie (I’m guessing it was Hammer) of that name, than the originating story. Reading was disturbing. I began to sense what such stories once kindled within me. I was glad I had not read this alone in a dimly lit room. Fantastic!
This contrasts with most of the modern - to me that is post 1950s - horror tales I have recently read which try, frequently too hard, and fail, leaving me with little more than wanting my time refunded.
And so I am on a mission….
I wrote on my personal blog about creating a classic spooky tale audio episode for this year’s Halloween. If you like that sort of thing, please leave a comment and let me know what you would like to hear.
In addition, I have been reading anything and everything in the genre that I can get my eyes on with the aim of developing some of my own concepts into actual stories.
At the very least I believe I can create somethig that scares the willies out of me, perhaps it will do the same for you.
2 Responses to “Ghost stories, where did they all go?”
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September 16th, 2008 at 3:59 am
H. P. Lovecraft, Poe, Stephen King - I used to read the horror genre mich more as a kid than I do now, though and so I can’t think of anything else…
September 16th, 2008 at 8:22 am
So far I’ve not got on with Lovecraft, he’s a bit too gothic in style and I find his writing cumbersome. Someone recommended M.R. James so I’ll report on what I find for him.