A ghost is the soul of a dead person imagined as a shadowy or evanescent form. Ghosts are often described as being able to appear and disappear at will, but they can also haunt a place or person. They can be benevolent, seeking forgiveness or revenge, or simply lost and lonely.
The most effective ghost stories use subtlety to build tension and scare the reader. They may start with a quiet noise or an inexplicable occurrence that the protagonist dismisses and attributes to natural causes, before building up to a bigger event like a knocking or a voice calling out their name, until finally they are scared into investigating.
When writing a ghost story, it is important to define clearly what the ghost can and cannot do, as this will affect the way they interact with the living characters. For example, ghosts don’t have bodies, so they can’t pick up or manipulate objects, but they can communicate with people through their thoughts and feelings. They can also phase through solid matter, enter people’s dreams or even possess and control them.
It’s also worth remembering that a ghost is not the same as a zombie or a creature from the paranormal. A ghost is a person who died, whether violently or peacefully, and is trapped on Earth because they have unfinished business or want to say goodbye to their loved ones. This can include a desire to find out how they died or to take revenge on the people who hurt them.