A ghost is a spirit that has remained after the body has died, often returning to a place where they experienced a violent death or a significant event that occurred in their life. Whether they were the victim of murder, suicide or an accident, ghosts can be terrifying because they appear as dangerous but inhuman entities with the ability to arouse fear in the living.
Creating an Uneasy Environment
The setting is one of the most important aspects of your ghost story. It needs to be an environment of dread and suspicion, a world that is eerily unstable and decaying. Often ghost stories are set in specific places – castles, old houses, graveyards – to give the reader a sense of the ghost’s presence and its connection to that place.
It is also a good idea to build in other sensory triggers to make your ghosts more terrifying. The sound of dripping water, the swishing of curtains, the smell of rotting wood or even the humming of electrical wiring can help to create the sense that something terrible is near.
Dangerous Emotions
Ghosts don’t have to be negative. They can be positive things taken in a bad direction – dysfunctional love, overzealous affection, for example. It is important that your ghosts are dangerous, so you should try to use a variety of emotions in your stories that will create the right feeling. Fear is usually a very effective emotion for horror, but you could also try using anger or sadness.